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Naturally, we must next talk about the Holy Spirit in Revelation. The Spirit is not as prominent as the other two persons of the Trinity in terms of how often he is mentioned. The first time we encounter a reference to him, he is described as “the seven spirits who are before his throne” (1:4; cf. 4:5). This is a unique way of referring to the Spirit in the NT, but it is rather clear that the one called “seven spirits” is being referred to as God in that he, along with the Father and the Son, is said to be the source of the grace and peace John wishes to his audience (1:4), which is unique to John among the other letter greetings in the NT. Why, then, is he referred to as “seven spirits”? I do not have a completely satisfactory answer for this peculiarity of John’s. At least partly, it has to do with how this imagery is drawn from Zech 4:2–10 with the seven lamps symbolizing God’s Spirit. The difference is that John refers to plural spirits, though this could simply be a case of perceived consistency. Seven, being a frequently recurring number of symbolic significance in Revelation, also has the sense of completion or wholeness, which makes it appropriate to attach to the Holy Spirit.
One might also ask why the seven spirits are before the throne (1:4; 4:5). Unlike the Lamb and God the Father, the one most often described as “sitting on the throne,” the Spirit is never directly said to occupy the throne in the heavenly vision (at best, one could suggest this by virtue of his imagistic link to Christ as his seven horns and seven eyes in 5:6; since he is on the throne, the Spirit is on the throne as well). This appears to be because, even as the Son is the executor of God’s will, the Spirit is the primary immanent expression of divine agency in the world, for when the Spirit is acting, God is acting (as it was from creation in Gen 1:2 and as it will be in the resurrection, according to Rom 8 and others). We will see this later as the Spirit is described as having been sent out into all the world (5:6). He is before the throne rather than sitting upon it because he is the dynamic, active one in whom God reaches out to implement his purposes in the world, particularly in the time between Jesus’s ascension and his Second Coming.
The next reference to the Spirit is in John’s description of being “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” This is the precondition for the vision that follows. And this is but the first instance of what we will see elsewhere in Revelation of how the Spirit’s presence and activity is the key to Revelation in the sense that he is the one who mediates John’s visions. Without him, the book would not exist. The Spirit himself does not speak directly as much as others in the book, but he is ultimately the one who enables John to see and hear what he sees and hears.
Notably, each of the seven letters John is directed to write to the seven churches features a formulaic closing: ὁ ἔχων οὖς ἀκουσάτω τί τὸ πνεῦμα λέγει ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις (“The one who has an ear should hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches”; 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13; 3:22). This closing reiterates the importance of hearing and responding appropriately to what the audience hears. The formulaic reference to the churches also indicates that these letters were circular. Even as specific messages addressed specific churches, all of the churches were to heed all of the words of the Lord. Finally, the fact that the words of Christ are identified as the words of the Spirit indicates one can no more separate the words of Christ and the Spirit than separate the throne of Christ and the Father. Craig Koester articulates well how Christ and the Spirit are intertwined as speakers here:
Although this message began as a word from Christ, it concludes by saying that ‘the Spirit’ speaks to the assemblies (2:7). The Spirit meditates the word of the risen Christ Jesus in two ways. First, the Spirit enables John to receive the words of the risen Christ through his vision. John said that he received the vision ‘while in the Spirit’ (1:9). This expression likens him to the biblical prophets, who were moved by the Spirit to convey w word from God. Second, the Spirit enables the readers to receive the risen Christ’s words through John’s text. Communication is complete when the word given to John in visionary form is received by the readers in written form. In this process the Spirit shares Christ’s authority: both speak as one (2:1, 7).1
Again, Christ and the Spirit are not one and the same person, but they can be spoken of so interchangeably because they are one God. What Christ exhorts, commands, and promises, the Spirit exhorts, commands, and promises.
One other reference to the Spirit in these letters inspires comment because Jesus describes himself as the one who “has” the seven spirits of God (3:1). This identifies Jesus with God even as it does the Holy Spirit. After all, the Spirit is none other than God’s Spirit and so is not separable from God. The fact that he is Christ’s Spirit equates Christ with God (though not the Father, per se), as in other references to the Spirit as the Spirit of Christ (Rom 8:9; Gal 4:6; Phil 1:19). Unlike our spirits, the breath of life we receive from God, which we give up upon death, the life-giving Spirit is intrinsic to God and is so forever, as he did not receive it from anyone else and there was never a time at which the Spirit was not.
As the book shifts in ch. 4 to John coming up to heaven to see the other visions, it is notable that when he is called up to heaven by Jesus that he says, “Immediately I was in the Spirit” (4:2). This highlights the necessity of the Spirit for revelation, as the first vision in ch. 1 and the visions that follow are made possible by John being “in the Spirit.” The fact that these instances are linked with the voice of Jesus as well show how Jesus and the Spirit share in the action of revelation. Similarly, although it does not explicitly connect Jesus with the Spirit like these texts, one should note 17:1–3 that also connects John being “in the Spirit” with receiving revelation. Finally, John is carried away “in the Spirit” to be shown the new Jerusalem (21:10). Thus, it makes sense to refer to him as the Spirit/spirits of the prophets (22:6).
I noted last time how the vision of the Lamb in ch. 5 includes the Spirit (v. 6). Indeed, the Spirit is inextricably linked to Christ, as we have seen many times across the NT (for example, see here). The fact that he is presented in both static fashion—as being the horns and eyes of the Lamb—and dynamic fashion—as being sent into all the earth—befits the fact that he is God. He is both transcendent and omnipresent, being present in heaven while also going throughout the earth. He is also the expression of Christ’s complete power (the seven horns) and complete knowledge (the seven eyes) in his work in the world. And the fact of his connection with the Lamb means that what he is doing throughout the earth is communicating the Lamb’s work, and in light of how victory looks like Christ in terms of being faithful and true witnesses, the larger implication of Revelation is that the Spirit is forming people throughout the earth in the image of Christ. And as he is himself inherently united with Christ, he is the one who effects union with Christ for others.
The Spirit may be referenced in 11:11, where there is an anarthrous “spirit/Spirit of life.” Of course, the term could simply indicate “breath of life.” But the anarthrous reference to the Spirit could simply be because John does not perceive a need for the article; the breath is from none other than God and is thus the expression of none other than the Spirit of God. Furthermore, in light of how this text draws on Ezek 37 in its description of the resurrection of the two witnesses, it would make sense for John to write in the same way as that text of God’s Spirit being the one who gives life, and thus to refer to him as “Spirit of life.” It also fits with how we have seen many times in the NT that the Spirit is linked with resurrection and the reception of everlasting life as the most proximate cause, due to the Spirit being the one who indwells God’s people and united them with Christ.
Interestingly, the one time the Spirit distinctly speaks in Revelation without overlapping identification with Christ is in 14:13. After a voice instructs John to write, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on,” the Spirit confirms this declaration, “because they will rest from their labor, for their works follow with them.” The Spirit himself is the one who ensures this, for the Spirit is the one who performs the work of sanctification in the faithful. Moreover, he is the one who unites believers to Christ, and his sanctifying work upholds this union. Finally, since this is said of the dead in Christ/the Lord, the Spirit is pointing forward to his own work in bringing about their resurrection to everlasting life, which will involve their works following them and him giving them rest.
The final two references to the Spirit to discuss are in some fashion reminiscent of Paul speaking of the Spirit interceding for us in prayer in Rom 8 and his enabling the confession of Jesus as Lord in 1 Cor 12:3. First, we are told that the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy (19:10). This is reminiscent of the 1 Corinthians text in how the Spirit is the one who ultimately proclaims and enables the proclamation of the testimony of Jesus that concerns the gospel story. Second, as the book draws to a close, we are told, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ Let the one who hears say, ‘Come’” (22:17). Though the Spirit is on the Creator side of the Creator-creature distinction, he motivates the creatures to speak in entreaty as those eagerly awaiting the coming of their Lord (cf. Rom 8:24–27).
Craig R. Koester, Revelation, AB 38A (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014), 270 (emphases original).