4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
He immediately brings into the frame of reference all three members of the Christian ‘Godhead,’ the Trinity. He identifies that these blessings are directly from God the Father (him which is, and which was, and which is to come), from God the Spirit (the seven Spirits which are before his throne), and then also from God the Son (Jesus Christ).
A fundamental attribute[1] of God is brought into view in the description of God, the Father, His eternality: ‘him which is, and which was, and which is to come.’ This is an attempt by a limited language (that of fallen man) to grasp something about a far higher Being that simply cannot be fully comprehended. It is identified beautifully here. Consider also Isaiah 57:15, where Isaiah identifies the same aspect of the very being of God.
For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy…
This provides us with an opportunity to add another dimension to our focus in studying this Revelation of Jesus Christ. We must always “maintain our distance” when contemplating God. There is an unbridgeable gap between God (Who has no beginning, nor end) and man (whose mortality is all too evident). We can only stand back in awe and appropriate reverence. As God said to Moses on the mount:
“The place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”[2]
One of the greatest dangers of the ‘contemporary church movement’ lies in its overfamiliarity with God. The transcendence of God has nearly been altogether lost in the use of colloquialisms, and what I like to call ‘buddy theology.’[3]
Then, speaking of God the Spirit, John writes: ‘the seven[4] Spirits which are before his throne.’ This is another attempt, using limited human language, to express something of the essence of the being of God that man simply cannot fully grasp: the fullness and mystique of the Spirit of God. Jesus Himself spoke of this when He said to Nicodemus:
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.[5]
John is speaking here in The Revelation of the utter fullness of the Spirit of God in the sense of His perfect spirituality, something that fallen man cannot fathom. When we think of spirituality, we think of an acceptable set of behavior patterns. If the Spirit of God (the only entirely spiritual One) were to manifest Himself fully in any one place among fallen men, those present could not comprehend it.[6]
Dr. Thomas M. Strouse sees something wonderful here.
Second, the Apostle described the Holy Spirit as “the seven Spirits” (twn epta pneumatwn). He probably alluded to Isa. 11:2 which states, “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.”[7]
Once again, we are left standing afar off, in awe and wonder.
[1] An attribute of God is simply something that the normal human mind attributes to be true about God. [2] Exodus 3:5 [3] This, of course, goes farther back to the days of Robert Lee Scott’s autobiography: God is my Co-Pilot (1943), and Malcom Boyd’s book of prayers: Are You Running with Me, Jesus (1965). These are only a couple of examples of books that violate the transcendence of God. [4] The number ‘seven’ is used twice in verse four: the seven churches, and the seven Spirits before God’s throne. While so-called biblical numerology can become far-fetched and highly speculative, the biblical usage of the number seven seems to suggest “completeness.” God used seven days of activity to complete His creation. (Genesis 1-2) When setting aside the Sabbath day for the Jews, God identified it as the seventh day, a day of rest, completing the ordinary week. (Exodus 20:9-10) We shall have occasion to see more of this later in our contemplations of The Revelation. [5] John 3:6-8 [6] The closest thing to this in the Bible is the Day of Pentecost, as described in Acts 2:1-13. [7] Dr. Thomas M. Strouse, To the Seven Churches: A Commentary on the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ (Cromwell CT: Bible Baptist Theological Press, 2013), 40.