The Dove, The Lamb & The Seven Spirits of God
The Dove Series Part 2
In my previous article, I argued:
This is the Dove Company, the Body of Christ clothed in Lamb skin and full of New Wine testifying of the Crucified and Risen Lord, the firstborn of New Creation. This Lambskin bears the marks of Christ.
Now, I desire to correlate the significance of the Spirit coming like a dove with the Seven Spirits of God. Several things can be said about the Seven Spirits of God, which are also significant. Scholar Richard Bauckham argues that John seems to have Zechariah 4:1-14. This would also mean that the Seven Spirits of God are connected to the two witnesses in Revelation 11:4 and John’s answer to how the church overcomes the beast’s power…not by might or power, but by the Spirit (Zechariah 4:6). For the purpose of this series, I will focus more on the connection between the Dove, the Lamb, and the Seven Spirits of God.
John 1:32-35
32 And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. 33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
35 Again, John stood with two of his disciples the next day. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
The Word of God became human, whom the Spirit descended upon like a dove and remained. The Spirit rested upon Jesus, the Incarnate Word, and the Lamb of God as a sign that He is the New Creation. Once again, referring to the previous article of this dove series,
The Word of God is incarnate in the flesh, also called the Lamb of God, upon which the Spirit who came as a dove rested.
The language of the dove resting upon the Word of God is intriguing when one considers Isaiah’s word of how the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon the Messiah.
Isaiah 11:1-2
1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 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 the fear of the Lord.
Isaiah is prophesying the royal king that would arise out of the root of Jesse, David’s Father, represented by a decaying tree or stump. The Spirit of Lord Isaiah declares that will rest upon him. The Spirit of God will not come upon him and leave but will remain. According to Revelation 5:5-6, we can see a robust correlation between Isaiah 11:1-2;
5 But one of the elders said, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
6 And I looked, and behold, amid the throne and of the four living creatures, and amid the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
One of the elders declares that it is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, that has overcome. This is referencing Isaiah 11, but instead of including David’s Father, Jesse, it directly points to the overcoming victory coming through the offspring of David. Although the elder declares the Lion of Judah has overcome, which represents the military and governmental power of the seed of David, it is a Lamb that is ruling amid the throne John describes. The military force that is meant to rest upon the seed of David, represented by the governmental power of the Lion, is upon the Lamb. It is also important to note that in the Book of Revelation, the word throne appears 43 times, and the word Lamb appears 28 times. This brings profound significance to the Lamb, who is on the throne with the Seven Spirits of God.
The Seven Spirits of God are resting upon the Lamb, standing amid the throne as if it had been slain! Therefore, the governmental power of the kingdom is “Lamb power.”
The Spirit of the Lord that rested upon the One who is called the Word of God and became human is also called “The Lamb." Therefore, the Spirit who came as a dove and rested upon New Creation is also the Seven Spirits of God resting upon the Lamb. It is through the power of the Lamb on the Cross that we are created in the image of the Lamb. The Seven Spirits of God rest upon Jesus the New Creation, the firstborn from the dead.
Colossians 1:16-18
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him, all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that He may have preeminence in all things.
The profound correlation seems to be that the Spirit that came in the form of the dove landed upon Jesus, the Eschaton, and finished Adam, the firstborn of the New Creation. The firstborn of the New Creation, who was born from a virgin womb, was also, through His death and resurrection, taken from a virgin tomb. By His death, New Creation was birthed, and death became a door into life.
It is the flood in Noah’s time that was a type of baptism and cleansing of the earth that brought forth a kind of New Creation (1 Peter 3:21). It was at the end of 120 years God said would be the end of all flesh; therefore, it was 120 in the upper room on Pentecost who came to the end of themselves waiting for the same Spirit who came as a dove and rested upon Jesus to rest upon them.
Through our baptism into Christ, it opens the heavens and releases the affirming voice of the Father, translating us out of darkness into the union with He who bore the Spirit for us…and as us. We are destined to be conformed and transfigured into the mature image of the Son, who runs the Seven Spirits of God as a sign of New Creation. It is the fullness of sight and the fullness of power that flows and is sent into the earth from the Lamb standing and ruling amid the throne, from a Cross. Could the Lamb stand
amid the throne as if it has been slain by Jesus heading from the Cross saying, “It is finished”?
19 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:
JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
20 Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
The Seven Spirits of God are associated with the victorious Lamb. The power of the Seven-fold facet of the Holy Spirit fills us with the power of the new wine of the New Testament embodied in the wine…skin of New Creation…Lambskin. This power empowers us to give testimony to Jesus using the Spirit of Prophecy. Through the Cross's victory and the power of His resurrection, we embody the Seven Spirits of God to give prophetic witness to His victory on the Cross.
As I argued in the previous article, The Spirit that came as a dove landed on the New Creation called Last Adam, who reconciled in himself what was separated, Heaven and Earth, the Creator and Creation. The New Wine of the Spirit can only be contained in the Lamb Skin of New Creation woven together in the Virgin's womb in the Cross's sufferings.
The New Wineskin of New Creation is Lambskin with seven horns and sevens eyes of the seven-fold Spirit of God. John associates the Seven Spirits of God with the Holy Spirit in Revelation 1:4-5;
4 Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, five and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
The Body of Christ is called to incarnate “the Word of God” as “a word of God” that shines His light life in the hearts of unbelievers. It is the inheritance of the Father we receive in union with the Son, who took on the Spirit for us, and as us so that we might be the offspring of the firstborn from the dead clothed in Lambskin and the Seven Spirits of God.