Revelation 1:4 "John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne,..."
The seven churches that John is writing to are in Asia. There are certainly more churches in Asia at that time and it is a quandary as to why John chose these seven, which are listed in verse II as: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
Four possible reasons:
1. Postal districts. It is possible that these churches are in an area where the letters can be circulated easily and reach the greatest number of persons.
2. John has a preference for the number seven as it is listed 54 times in the book of Revelation. In addition, the number seven stands for completeness. It is evident that with these letters, John is speaking to all the churches even though they are written to these seven.
3. John may carry a special authority in these churches.
4. It is considered by many that these churches stood for the seven stages of Church history.
We then continue on to a blessing of grace (which is an undeserved gift of the love of God) and peace (which is being in harmony with God and all of God's creation,the realization that everything is as it should be) from The Trinity -the Father ("him who is, and who was, and who is to come"), the Holy Spirit ("the seven spirits"), and the Son (Jesus Christ)
Why the Holy Spirit is refereed to as"the seven spirits"?
One possible explanation comes from the passage in Isaiah 11:2 here the spirit of the Lord, the spirits of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and piety: "by this spirit he shall be filled with the fear of God." This passage is considered the basis of the concept for the sevenfold gifts of the spirit.
I believe this one verse is plenty to stand on for this blog and deserves to stand alone so as not to get into "information overload" to early.
Until the next time,
Blessings to all,
- Calabash
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