Question

My question is actually regarding the 7 Spirits of God. Have you researched how the Seven Spirits of God mentioned in Isaiah 11:2 correlate to the 7 Spirits of Evil?

Answer

Small clarifications

The passage that the visitor is referring to is the following:

Years ago, I was taught that this passage was a list of the 7 Spirits of God. However, as I would look at this passage, I couldn't help but wonder if there was something we were missing about this passage. As I would ask the Lord to help me in truly understanding the 7 Spirits of God, I would turn to this passage, but I would feel no "answers" coming from it. One day, the Lord made me notice something quite interesting about this verse...

Traditionally, it is taught that this passage lists 7 Spirits: the "spirit of the Lord", the "spirit of wisdom", the "spirit of understanding", the "spirit of counsel", the "spirit of might", the "spirit of knowledge", and the "spirit of the fear of the Lord". However, if you go to the passage above, you will notice that the word "spirit" is only used 4 times, once to refer to the "spirit of the Lord", and 3 times to refer to spirits related to "pairs". In other words, the passage does not say, "the spirit of wisdom and the spirit of understanding"; it simply says, "the spirit of wisdom and understanding", and it says "spirit" in the singular. It is worth noting that the King James translation quoted above is consistent with the original Hebrew text.

If God had designed Isaiah 11:2 to be a list of the 7 Spirits of God, as is traditionally taught, why wouldn't He use the word "spirit" 7 times? Wouldn't each Spirit be significant enough to be deserving of its own "spirit" word? After all, they are the Spirits of God.

There is also another issue to consider. The word "LORD" in Isaiah 11:2 was translated from the Hebrew word Jehovah. In other words, Isaiah 11:2 says, "And the spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon Him ...". Why would the "spirit of Jehovah" be one of the 7 "Spirits of God". Isn't Jehovah God? Also, why would this spirit be the only one associated with a name, while the other spirits are associated with concepts such as "wisdom" and "knowledge"? Why is the "spirit of Jehovah" separated from the other spirits by the phrase "shall rest upon Him", while the other spirits are listed in succession? All these inconsistencies make it evident that man's traditional interpretation of Isaiah 11:2 is amiss. Isaiah 11:2 was not intended to act as a list of the 7 Spirits of God. Instead, it is a list of something else.

To understand Isaiah 11:2's spiritual "syntax", let us look at another passage in Scripture that has a similar syntax:

"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

The spirit of wisdom and understanding

"Wisdom and understanding" are a pair that appears frequently throughout Scripture. Here is one example:

"¹⁹The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. ²⁰By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew." (Proverbs 3:19-20)

Notice that "wisdom" points downward, while "understanding" points upward. Through wisdom, spiritual foundations are laid on the earth below; through understanding, heavenly things above are "established".

The word "established" in verse 19 was translated from the Hebrew word kuwn, which can also be translated as "make firm". The heavens are by definition "intangible" and "ethereal"; therefore, the Lord is saying that "spiritual understanding" makes firm or "gives solidity" to heavenly things that seem intangible or ethereal to the natural mind. This is the reason why the Hebrew word for "understanding" is used in the following passages:

"And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man." (Daniel 8:15)

[The word "meaning" was translated from the Hebrew word biynah, which is the same word that was translated as "understanding" in Isaiah 11:2]

"In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision." (Daniel 10:1)

[The word "understanding" was translated from the Hebrew word biynah]

Notice that Daniel had a prophetic vision, and he sought "understanding" in order to find the meaning behind the vision. Without that "understanding", the vision would be nothing more than an ethereal, intangible image. Through His understanding, God allows us to "crack the mystery" behind the prophetic visions that He places before us. Through His understanding, we can "crack the code" and comprehend the hidden things of the Spirit:

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding." (Proverbs 9:10)

The "Holy of Holies" in the Temple was hidden behind a veil. This shows that "holy" things are not exposed to public, mundane view. Instead, they are set apart and hidden to be viewed only by those who recognize their true, invisible value, preventing them from being viewed and misused by those who are too blind to recognize that invisible value. Therefore, the passage above is saying that, through "understanding", we can get to see "behind the veil" and know hidden things whose value is invisible to others.

As we have shared before, wisdom is most directly related to the apostolic ministry, which is the ministry most directly related to the ability to abstract general laws and principles out of specific items or events. In other words, God's apostolic wisdom allows us to "generalize" and to understand the spiritual laws and principles that govern the universe.

While God's wisdom allows us to "generalize", His "understanding" allows us to "find specifics". Through His understanding, you can see a "generic" vision and discern the specific meanings hidden behind the details in the vision. You can do this as you apply the general laws you have learned through God's wisdom. Wisdom and understanding work together.

Fellow believer, in order to move in God's understanding, you must be willing to abhor the "spirit of simplicity":

"Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding" (Proverbs 9:6)

[The word "understanding" was translated from the Hebrew word biynah that appears in Isaiah 11:2]

The word "foolish" above was translated from the Hebrew word pethiy, which literally means "simple, naive", and is derived from the word pathah meaning "to be spacious, wide". In other words, a naive person is a person who sees life in terms of "wide" or "broad" strokes, and who is uninterested in discerning the complexities or intricate details of things. According to Proverbs 9:6, when we choose to move in God's understanding, we become "anti-naive", meaning that we will become interested in the subtle details. Instead of seeing the "visions" around us in terms of "broad strokes", we will notice the "subtle strokes", the subtle "color tones", and we will be able to discern the hidden meanings behind those subtle strokes and tones.

In order to move in God's "spirit of wisdom and understanding", we must also proactively cry out for it:

"¹My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; ²So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; ³Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; ⁴If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; ⁵Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. ⁶For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. ⁷He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. ⁸He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. ⁹Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path." (Proverbs 2:1-9)

Notice that wisdom and understanding must be "cried after" and sought after, the way one searches for a hidden treasure (v4). A simplistic mind cannot find God's treasures because it is unable to visualize underneath the surface it sees, and it is too indolent to make the digging effort required to find God's treasures.

As you look for God's treasures in His "understanding", an important quality is required:

"He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour: but a man of understanding holdeth his peace" (Proverbs 11:12)

This means that a person with understanding must be willing to "be silent and listen" before jumping to any simplistic conclusion. A person with understanding waits for all the relevant evidence to come in and is afraid to speak a judgment based only on superficial evidence. In his or her desire to get at the hidden core truth, a person with understanding will stop to look at the "small details" to see if there is some hidden information in them worth considering. All of this will not prevent the person with understanding from reaching a final judgment (and being forceful about it), but he or she will be very careful about saying something too hastily (1 Corinthians 4:1-6). He or she will be especially careful not to dismiss a message simply because of the "smallness" of the messenger (2 Kings 9:11). This is the reason why Proverbs 11:12 speaks of not despising one's neighbor.

Jacob showed himself to be a "man of understanding" in his "silent weighing of the evidence" as he listened to his youngest son rant about some "crazy" dream he had had:

"⁹And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. ¹⁰And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? ¹¹And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying" (Genesis 37:9-11)

[While Joseph's brothers were quick to dismiss the "rantings" of their youngest brother, Jacob "observed the saying", meaning that he guarded his mouth against saying anything before "getting all the facts". Even though Jacob's initial reaction was to "rebuke" Joseph (v10), it is as if the Spirit inside of him said, "Don't be too quick to judge; shut up and listen!".

As you all know, Joseph's crazy dream turned out to be true, and all his brothers -- and even his father Jacob -- eventually bowed before him after he became ruler over Egypt.]

To summarize, God's wisdom allows us to infer general laws and principles, and God's understanding allows us to infer hidden specific meanings from general "visions"; these specific meanings are inferred as we apply the general laws we learn through God's wisdom. As we have said before, laws and wisdom are most directly related to the apostolic ministry, and "hidden" things are most directly related to the prophetic ministry. Therefore, God's "wisdom" refers to God's apostolic anointing, and His "understanding" refers to His apostolic wisdom combined with His prophetic anointing, which enables us to find the hidden things of the Lord. In short, the spirit of "wisdom and understanding" is the apostolic spirit of God operating in God's prophetic "x-ray vision". An apostle who stops operating in the prophetic anointing quickly degrades into a Jebusite who is quick to condemn any effort to find the prophetic hidden meaning behind seemingly insignificant details.

"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding" (Proverbs 4:7)

The word "counsel" in Isaiah 11:2 was translated from the Hebrew word etsah, which also appears in the following passage:

"Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors" (Psalm 119:24)

Notice that the Lord relates His "testimonies" to His spiritual counsel. The word "testimony" is synonymous to "witness", and, as we have said before, spiritual "witnessing" is a prophetic endeavor.

"Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?" (Isaiah 40:13)

[The word "counsellor" was translated from two Hebrew words: iysh meaning "man, male" and etsah meaning "counsel". Therefore, the original text says, "... or being His man of counsel"]

Notice how this passage relates "counsel" to the Spirit of the Lord and to teaching, all of which points to the following passage:

"²⁶These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. ²⁷But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him" (1 John 2:26-27)

As we have said before, the Holy Spirit is prophetic in His nature, and the ministry most directly related to the anointing is the prophetic ministry. Therefore, we can conclude that we operate in God's "counsel" as we prophetically hear the witness of the Holy Spirit in us. As God's counsel works in us, we ourselves become prophetic witnesses unto others.

The word "might" that appears in Isaiah 11:2 was translated from the Hebrew word gebuwrah, which comes from the word gibbowr meaning "strong man", which in turn is derived from the word gabar meaning "to prevail". Therefore, the word "might" points to the evangelistic ministry, since that is the ministry most directly related to the tearing down of Amorite-giant strongholds and to the conquering of spiritual regions unto God in order to expand God's Kingship in the spirit realm.

From all of the above, we can say that the "spirit of counsel and might" points to the following passage:

"¹⁹And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, ²⁰Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: ²²And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, ²³Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." (Ephesians 1:19-23)

As we operate in the "spirit of counsel and might", the fullness of God's prophetic anointing permeates the spiritual atmosphere, conquering it unto God.

"³Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. ⁴Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, ⁵Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? ⁶ This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. ⁷Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. ⁸For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. ⁹Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; ¹¹Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus." (John 12:3-11)

Notice how the aroma of the anointing permeated the house (v3), and notice how verse 9 declares that "much people of the Jews therefore knew that He was there", which then led to many "believing on Jesus" (v11). This means that the prophetic fullness initiated by the anointing (v3) led to the hearts of many being evangelistically drawn (v9) and conquered (v11) unto the Lord. Therefore, the passage above is an example of prophetic "counsel" releasing evangelistic "might".

Just like Isaiah 11:2, the following verse speaks about "knowledge" and "fear of Jehovah":

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Proverbs 1:7)

The word "beginning" was translated from the Hebrew word reshiyth, which literally means "chief, choice part", and is derived from the word rosh meaning "head". In Scripture, the word "head" is spiritually associated with "kingship", which is in turn related to the evangelistic ministry, since evangelists topple Amorite kings in order to establish God's kingship in the spirit realm.

When God's kingship is established in a place, His Name is "broadcast" across the "airwaves" of that place, instilling fear in all those who hear it. To "fear Jehovah" is, in essence, to recognize Him as Head (i.e.- King) and to be constantly concerned about His will, fearing at all times not to stray from it either to the right or to the left, just like a loyal subject who reveres the sovereign will of his mighty king.

The following well-known verse (quoted earlier) also speaks about the "fear of Jehovah":

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding" (Proverbs 9:10)

The word "beginning" that appears above was translated from the Hebrew word techillah, which is different than the word reshiyth used in Proverbs 1:7. While reshiyth has the connotation of "head, chief", techillah has the connotation of "opening" or "inaugurating" a new thing. As we have said before, apostles are spiritual trailblazers who open up or inaugurate new territories (literal or spiritual) unto the Lord. Therefore, Proverbs 9:10 is declaring that, when your heart recognizes God's sovereign Kingship over your life ("fear of the Lord"), God begins to inject His apostolic wisdom into your mind. When you recognize God as an Evangelist, He will act as an Apostle in you, opening up your mind to new truths.

As God's apostolic wisdom is injected into your life, you begin to know Him in His judgments, and, according to Hosea 4:5-11, that is what "knowledge" is all about. As you increasingly know God in His righteous nature, your fear of His sovereignty will grow in your heart, and a virtuous circle is started. His evangelistic fear in your heart will spawn His apostolic wisdom in your mind, and His apostolic wisdom will in turn increase your fear of Him as you submit all the more to Him. You will then have a heart that is interested in carrying out His will and His will only, and you will have a mind that will execute the judgments that enable the carrying out of His will. In that sense, the "fear of the Lord" is the "head" (reshiyth), and "knowledge" is the "body". The body is the means through which the head's will is carried out.

From all of the above, we can say that the "spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord" makes us (and the people around us) aware of God's sovereign Kingship, and it fosters the knowledge of His apostolic judgments. The spirit of "knowledge and of fear of the Lord" is evangelistic in its fear and apostolic in its knowledge.

Linkage

As we have studied before, the 3 "male" ministries are related to the Trinity. The apostolic ministry points to the Son, the prophetic ministry to the Holy Spirit, and the evangelistic ministry to the Father. Therefore, we can safely say that the 3 Spirits of Isaiah 11:2 are actually a portrayal of the Trinity:

[Notice how God declares that the lion shall come against the shepherds and will not be stopped (v19). This is a figure of how the Canaanite judgment-hating pastors who rule the Church will not be able to stop God from manifesting His lion judgments on Earth and in His Church in these latter days (Amos 3:12). God shall send His lonely fighters against the matriarchal Church; He will send the ones who have chosen to hear His counsel and not the counsel of man. These are the ones who will liberate others so that they may also follow the voice of our one and only Shepherd: God (John 10:27, Psalm 23:1). Pastors are to be anonymous conduits of God's Shepherding. Any pastor who emphasizes that he or she is the pastor, and who does not make a conscious effort to portray him or herself as a mere conduit of the One and Only owner of the flock, is not a pastor of God, for no man can be owned by any other man under the New Covenant (Ezekiel 34:31, Jeremiah 34:8-22).]

Based on all of the above, we can now associate the 2 "female" ministries to the Spirits of Isaiah 11:2:

Now that we have related the 3 Spirits of Isaiah 11:2 to the 3 "male" ministries and to the 2 "female" ministries, we can now relate them to the 7 Spirits of God. As we have briefly shared before, the 5 ministries of Ephesians 4:11 are manifestations of 5 of the 7 Spirits of God:

The other 2 Spirits of God, the Spirit of Philadelphia and the Spirit of Laodicea, are not directly linked to any one ministry. However, they are both indirectly linked to one ministry. As we have studied before, Joseph (the son of Jacob) is a figure of believers with the Spirit of Philadelphia. Joseph was willing to dream big dreams and to visualize big visions, even in the middle of his human smallness and powerlessness, and, eventually, God exalted him and made him head over the most powerful nation on Earth at that time. Once he was made ruler, Joseph lived in the prosperity of a king. Therefore, we can say that both the Spirit of Philadelphia (i.e.- the Spirit of Dreams & visions) and the Spirit of Laodicea (i.e.- the Spirit of Prosperity) point to "headship" or "kingship", meaning that they are both related to the evangelistic ministry and to the Spirit of Pergamos.

Putting all of this together, we can now "convert" the "ministries table" shown above and associate each of the 7 Spirits of God with the 3 Spirits of Isaiah 11:2:

We can represent the 3 Spirits of Isaiah 11:2 in the following way:

Each Spirit of the Trinity combines 3 of the 7 Spirits of God. As you may have noticed, each combination of 3 overlaps with the next. The Son and the Holy Spirit overlap at the prophetic Spirit of Self-Sacrifice. The Holy Spirit and the Father overlap at the evangelistic Spirit of Conquest. The Father and the Son overlap at the apostolic Spirit of Judgments.

As we have shared before, each endowment of the 7 Spirits of God can be distorted by man into one of the 7 evil spirits. The Spirit-of-Judgments endowment can be distorted into the Jebusite spirit of legalism; the Spirit-of-Self-Sacrifice endowment can be distorted into the Hittite spirit of deceit and pointless suicide; the Spirit-of-Conquest endowment can be distorted into the Amorite spirit of self-glorification; the Spirit-of-Service endowment can be distorted into the Canaanite spirit of people-pleasing and anti-judgment; the Spirit-of-Perfection endowment can be distorted into the Girgashite spirit of earthliness and literal understanding; the Spirit-of-Dreams endowment can be distorted into the Perizzite spirit of low self-esteem; and the Spirit-of-Prosperity endowment can be distorted into the Hivite spirit of self-indulgence and grace-abuse.

Combining the above with the previous table, we can conclude the following:

Conclusion

Contrary to traditional thought, a close look at Isaiah 11:2 reveals that it is not a list of the 7 Spirits of God. Instead, it is a portrait of the Trinity, and it shows how each Spirit of the Trinity is a combination of 3 of the 7 Spirits of God.

Each of the Spirits mentioned in Isaiah 11:2 was invested upon Yeshua, and we can operate in each of these Spirits as we allow Yeshua to be manifested through us. When we search and long for "wisdom" and "understanding" (as one who searches for a hidden treasure), we become apostles with prophetic x-ray vision into the hidden things of God. When we open our ears to the prophetic "counsel" of the Holy Spirit, evangelistic "might" will flow out from within us to conquer the spiritual atmosphere unto God. When we surrender in "fear" to the sovereignty of God's Kingship, we will come to the "knowledge" of God's judgments, and those judgments will operate in and through us to expand the "fear" of God, not only in our own hearts but in the hearts of others. When that happens, we beget other sons and daughters unto God.