7 (Part 6)

7 (Part 6)

The Holy Spirit of God is symbolized by seven horns, seven spirits, and seven eyes in Revelation 3:1 and 5:6.
 

a. The seven horns represent His omnipotence, the totality of His power. 

He is all powerful:

-Power that doesn't diminish. 

-Power with no source. 

-Power with no beginning or end point. 

-Power that neutralizes all power. 

-Power that's not subject to any physical laws.

 

b. The seven spirits represent His omnipresence or the totality of His Presence. He is everywhere at the same time. 

He is:

-Not bound by space or time. 

-Not subject to physical laws of speed, form or gravity.

 

c. The seven eyes represent His omniscience. He is all-seeing and all-knowing. 

His knowledge:

-Has no defect. 

-No beginning or terminal point.

-Is unlimited knowledge. 

-It comprehends before something happens. 

-It appreciates the when, why, what, who or how of everything. -It surpasses all other knowledge.

These prophetic symbols indicate that God’s rule is complete. He is over all and sees all.  You have no need to fear circumstances today, in the future, or in the end-times. 

God is in control! 

7 (Part 5)

7 (Part 5)

Seven is a number of prophetic fulfillment. The book of Revelation, which unfolds God’s end-time plan for the culmination of the ages, is filled with "sevens". These include the:

a. seven churches
b. seven Spirits of God
c. seven golden candlesticks
d. seven stars
e. seven lamps
f. seven seals
g. seven eyes
h. seven horns
i. seven angels
j. seven trumpet judgments
k. seven crowns
l. seven vials containing the seven plagues that fill up the wrath of God
m. seven thunders
n. seven mountains
o. seven kings. 

In each case, the number 7 indicates completion of God's purposes. 

In the vision recorded in Revelation chapters 1-3. Jesus stands in the midst of seven candlesticks, symbolic of Christ standing in the midst of the seven churches of Asia.  The seven stars are God’s messengers to these churches.  The seven churches were actual churches at the time of the writing of Revelation, but they can also be viewed in terms of  the periods of church history.  When God addresses these churches in Revelation chapters 1-3, He is not just speaking to them.  His  message is for all believers and all churches of all time, communicating blessings to the faithful and warnings to the unfaithful. 
 

Another example is illustrated by the seven heads of the dragon in Revelation 12:3: 

"And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads." 

The seven heads are seven mountains, which symbolize kingdoms.   The seven heads and crowns indicate the totality of their authority.  This is not indicating that Satan's plan is perfect, but rather the complete authority with which evil will rule in the end-times.  The seventh king will eventually fall, however, and God will extinguish Satan’s reign of terror.

The entire book of Revelation is filled with symbolism pertaining to the number 7. The  seven seals on the book that is opened by the Lamb indicate that it is completely secured. The sounding of the seventh trumpet indicates God's judgments are completed. The seventh vial indicates the totality of the wrath of God that has been poured out upon the earth. When the seven thunders have finished sounding,  God’s plan and purposes will be complete. 
 

7 (Part 4)

7 (Part 4)

The book of Leviticus records details of seven feasts that were instituted by God. These feasts were spread over seven months of the Jewish calendar and they symbolized God's complete prophetic plan as revealed and fulfilled through Jesus Christ.

-The Passover symbolized Israel's protection by the blood of the slain lamb and their deliverance from Egypt which is symbolic of sin in Leviticus 23:5.  Jesus is the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world in Revelation 13:8.

-The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a time when Israel cleansed their homes from leaven and presented their offerings to the Lord for seven days in Leviticus 23:8.  This feast symbolizes the Messiah's sinless life, as leaven is a picture of sin in the Bible.

-The Feast of First Fruits prophetically indicated the resurrection of the Messiah as the first fruits of the resurrection of all the righteous in Leviticus 23:10, 11. Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week, which is one of the reasons that Paul refers to Him  as the "first fruits from the dead" in 1 Corinthians 15:20.

-The Feast of Pentecost was determined by counting seven Sabbath days or forty-nine days from the day they made their wave offering to the Lord in Leviticus 23:15.  This feast pointed to the great harvest of souls and the gift of the Holy Spirit that would be given to both Jewish and Gentile believers during the church age in Acts 2. 

-The Feast of Trumpets was on the first day of the seventh month in Leviticus 23:24. This feast points to the rapture of the church when the Messiah (Jesus) will appear in the heavens as He comes for the church. The rapture is always associated in Scripture with the blowing of a loud trumpet as recorded in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:52.

-The Feast of Tabernacles started on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and the children of Israel presented their offerings to God for seven days in Leviticus 23:24.  This feast symbolizes the Lord's promise that He will once again “tabernacle” with His people when He returns to reign over all the world according to Micah 4:1-7.

-The Day of Atonement was on the tenth day of the seventh month in Leviticus 23:27. This feast points to the Second Coming of Jesus when He will return to earth and the Jewish remnant will "look upon Him whom they have pierced," repent of their sins, and receive Him as their Messiah according to Zechariah 12:10 and Romans 11:1-6.

7 (Part 3)

7 (Part 3)

-Leviticus 4:6 uses the number 7 in relation to total forgiveness. 

This scriptural directive said that "... the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary."  

The blood was to be sprinkled seven times, indicating that the person was totally forgiven by God and completely clean.
 

-The number 7 also provides insight as to how we are to forgive others. 

In Matthew 18:22 Peter asked how many times he should forgive someone, Jesus answered:  "... seventy times seven."  Jesus did not mean that the actual number of times we should forgive someone is 70x7, or a total of 490 times.  What He meant is that we should forgive completely and freely as many times is necessary.

We are to forgive, as we have been forgiven, which is totally and without reservation:

Matthew 6:14, 15 "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Forgiveness is giving up my right to hurt you, for hurting me. It is impossible to live on this fallen planet without getting hurt, offended, misunderstood, lied to, and rejected. Learning how to respond properly is one of the basics of the Christian life.

The word “forgive” means to wipe the slate clean, to pardon, to cancel a debt. When we wrong someone, we seek his or her forgiveness in order for the relationship to be restored. It is important to remember that forgiveness is not granted because a person deserves to be forgiven. Instead, it is an act of love, mercy, and grace.

How we act toward that person may change. It doesn't mean we will put ourselves back into a harmful situation or that we suddenly accept or approve of the person's continued wrong behavior. It simply means we release them from the wrong they committed against us. We forgive them because God forgave us 

7 (Part 2)

7 (Part 2)

-Seven represents multiplication. 

The seventh year was considered to be the Sabbath year, or a year of rest in which Israel was directed by God not to sow or reap.  God promised such an abundant blessing upon them during the sixth year that it would bring forth a harvest that was sufficient for three years!
 

-Seven represents freedom and debt-cancellation. 

God directed Israel to count seven Sabbath years or seven times seven which equals forty-nine years. The fiftieth year was the year of Jubilee. On the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement, the trumpet sounded, heralding the day of Jubilee. It was a time of freedom and debt cancellation. Slaves were set free, the land was returned to its original owners, and debts were forgiven. They did not sow or reap that year, but ate of the increase from the previous year as we read in Leviticus 25:11, 12. 

-Seven represents total divine sufficiency. 

Jesus multiplied seven loaves and a few small fish to feed a multitude of four thousand men, besides women and children. After everyone had eaten, there were seven full baskets remaining! 

Matthew 15:37 "And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full." 

Not only was there enough to meet the immediate need, but there was  total divine sufficiency.

-Seven represents the inclusiveness of God's healing power. 

Jesus performed seven miracles on the Jewish Sabbath which was from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.  These miracles confirmed the sacredness of the day as well as targeted the unfounded beliefs of religious leaders who did not think such acts should be done on the Sabbath.

 

a. Jesus healed the withered hand of a man attending synagogue services-Matthew 12:9

b. At a Capernaum synagogue, Jesus cast out an unclean spirit- Mark 1:21  

c. Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law of a fever-Mark 1:29  

d. A woman attending synagogue, who had suffered for eighteen years, was released from her bondage-Luke 13:11

e. Jesus healed a man with dropsy-Luke 14:2

f. A crippled man was healed at the pool of Bethesda-John 5:8, 9

g. Jesus healed a blind man  at the pool of Siloam-John 9:14 

His healing power is the perfect remedy for every physical, mental, and spiritual need you may experience.
 

7 (Part 1)

7 (Part 1)

Seven indicates perfection and completion. It is one of the most frequently used numbers in the Bible. It is used approximately 735 times, including its derivatives. The number is used extensively in the books of Daniel and Revelation. 

-Seven is considered to be God's seal of completion. He stamped His approval on creation by resting on the seventh day and declaring it good.  Creation was complete.
 

-God blessed and sanctified the seventh day and set it apart as the Sabbath, which is to be kept holy unto Him:  

Genesis 2:3 "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."   

-The tabernacle was completed and dedicated on the seventh day after the start of its construction  according to Exodus 40:17.  It took Solomon seven years to build the temple in Jerusalem as told in 1 Kings 6:37, 38.  Both of these projects speak of completion and perfection. 

-There were seven pieces of furniture in the tabernacle, including the bronze altar and laver, the golden menorah, the table of the bread, the golden altar of incense, the ark of the covenant, and the atonement seat. These seven pieces of furniture symbolized God's plan for the complete spiritual restoration of sinful mankind.

Seven also represents complete spiritual victory secured by Jesus Christ:

-It is a representation of our total consecration. Before Aaron and his sons began ministering as priests, they were consecrated for seven days  according to Leviticus 8:31-36.  

-It is a picture of our total redemption through Christ. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice upon the mercy seat seven times according to Leviticus 16:14.

-It represents total victory. When the children of Israel approached Jericho, God told them to march around the city for seven days. On the seventh day, when they marched around seven times, the work was completed. Joshua 6:1-16 says they shouted, the walls fell, and God gave them the city.

-It represents total deliverance. There were seven years of plenty and seven years of famine in Egypt. God revealed to Joseph in Genesis 41 what was coming in the future and gave him a strategy to prepare for it in order to save the world from starvation.

 

The Fire (Part 8)

The Fire (Part 8)

Hosea 7 reveals God's spiritual analysis of the people groups known as the Ephraimites and the Samaritans which were part of the nation of Israel.  These people did not realize their true spiritual condition in Verse 9.  "Grey hairs,” when applied spiritually, is a sign of declining spiritual strength and approaching spiritual death.  

In the natural world it is one thing to have gray hairs, it is another thing to have them and not know it.  It is contrary to nature for a person to have gray hair and not know it.  God's problem with His people is not that they have gray hairs, but that they have them and do not know it. Having gray hairs and not knowing it is an example of an unexamined life.  Verse 2 records that they "considered not in their hearts.” In their own hearts, they did not recognize the signs of declining spiritual strength and approaching spiritual death (gray hairs).

Here are some things that caused their declining spiritual strength and put out their personal fire for God:

(1) A false or lying appearance:

God used an oven to illustrate this in Verses 6-7. The fire in the oven appeared to be out, but in reality was smoldering.  Do you know people whose outward appearance is good?  They act like a Christian, talk like a Christian, do good works, but inside their fire is smoldering.  There is hurt, resentment, anger, criticism, envy, greed, unforgiveness.  God opens the oven door to reveal the problem.  He allows circumstances to come into our lives to enable us to discover we do not have the victory we thought we had and that it's time to re-kindle our fire.

(2) Partial Obedience:

God uses a half-baked cake to illustrate this in Verse 8.  They had done some things that God commanded, but left others undone. Partial obedience is total disobedience. A women who is 85% faithful to her husband is actually 100% unfaithful to Him.

(3) Unstable loyalty:

The example of a silly dove in Verse 11 illustrates this fact.   Looking here and there will not solve our problems.  The solution is not in Egypt or Assyria.  It is in the Lord Jesus Christ. The fire's not burning today in many churches because people are looking for it elsewhere instead of building it where their at.

(4)  Unreliable service:

This is illustrated by a faulty bow in Verse 16.  God compares these people to a slack bowstring that has lost its effectiveness.  If we are unreliable in our Christian service we continually fall short of the goal. We are never driven to the target.  We never reach the purpose God has for our lives. The fire of Pentecost won't be burning in a heart that is not dependable.