The Sevenfold Holy Spirit as the Pillars of Wisdom
The Sevenfold Holy Spirit as the Pillars of Wisdom.
“Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out its seven pillars.” (Proverbs 9:1).
This verse pictures the quality of wisdom as a wealthy woman who has built her lavish mansion with seven columns that support and stabilize her home. She welcomes all who want to partake of wisdom’s delights to come into her house and enjoy the spectacular feast that will feed the soul of all who dine with her. The Hebrew word “chokmoth” is used for wisdom over 200 times in the Hebrew Bible, and is taken to mean the divine gift of using sacred sense in how one lives one’s life at a practical level. Biblical wisdom as described below is the biblical key to a life of blessing and success. The foundation on which the house of wisdom is built is a reverent awe of the Lord, a humble adoration of God and His character, a faithful and fearful trust in His mercy and goodness. Solomon, the probable writer of Proverbs, never went into detail on what he meant by the seven pillars of wisdom. But this verse can easily and biblically point to a number of ways we can understand these seven pillars that support and beautify the house of wisdom.
Wisdom can be described biblically as sensible judgment; moral discernment; gifted insight; profound understanding; shrewd and righteous street smarts; spiritual intelligence; prudent decision-making; cleverly practicing the truth in daily life; the opposite of being gullible, naïve, foolish. In Scripture it also refers to being highly skilled in a particular area of expertise.
Seven: a Biblical symbol for perfection, completion, fullness, fulfillment, wholeness, finished. A case can be made that seven (7) is God’s favorite number. Because of what it represents, the number seven seems woven into the very fabric of Holy Scripture. Between the Hebrew Bible (OT), and the Gospels (NT), the number seven is mentioned in well over 700 passages. One particular number mentioned that many times is not coincidence. It is significant. Scripture reveals that seven represents an idea that is part of so many passages that it would be tiresome and tedious to relate them all. God decided in His wisdom to create the universe in seven days, and the number 7 has been kept busy ever since. Many theologians consider seven to be a holy number because of its weighty presence in Scripture. Knowing what seven means in the context of a biblical passage will help us to understand that passage better. Seven (7), the biblical number that tops all other numbers.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The vague reference to the house of wisdom and its seven pillars in Proverbs 9:1 can easily point to any number of meanings. We could also conclude that there is no intended reference to anything in particular, except perhaps to the complete perfection of wisdom in its very nature. The seven pillars may be a figure of speech referring to the nature of wisdom being complete in and of itself, and not referring to seven principles or seven particular qualities of wisdom. It could be that the seven pillars of wisdom are simply pointing to that quality of divine wisdom that lacks nothing. On the other hand, many biblical scholars have claimed that the seven pillars could logically point to either the seven days of creation, the Sevenfold Holy Spirit, the seven qualities of wisdom according to St. James, or even the gaining of wisdom through the seven formal times for prayer found in Psalm 119:164. But why feel like we have to choose one of those perfectly reasonable options? All four of those understandings make sense, and so they all could be true.
“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 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 godliness. His delight is in the fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:1-3).
The Early Christian Church Understanding. As taught by the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the house of wisdom in Proverbs 9:1 was considered to be a direct reference to the Christian Church. The seven pillars holding up the Church were believed to be the ‘Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit’ as listed in Isaiah 11:2-3: “Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Might, Knowledge, Godliness, and Fear of God.” These seven qualities of the Spirit are the divine graces that rested on Christ, the perfection of His anointing at His baptism.
The Branch. The glorious kingdom of Christ had humble beginnings, a mere branch emerging from a seemingly dead stump in the ground, a tiny twig from a hidden root. As Isaiah says later in 53:2, “He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground.” But the Spirit of the Lord rested on this Branch, the Holy Spirit alighted on Him like a winged bird from heaven. One thinks here of the testimony of John the Baptist, when he “saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Jesus.” (John 1:32).
This passage in Isaiah 11:1-3 celebrates the profound giftedness of the Spirit as He came in full force upon the Messiah Jesus, and remained there forever. These sevenfold qualities represent the perfection of the Messiah’s anointing at His baptism, and they reveal divine gifts offered to believers which only increase in power and usefulness as the believer earnestly follows God. These gifts come in the believer’s anointing as a new believer, and are given to each Christian “according to each one’s ability to receive them.” (Maurus). The Spirit’s gifts “do not come through our natural abilities, but through the divine power that confers them.” (Maximus). As we exercise these gifts in the power of the Spirit, they increasingly become that much more of an ingrained part of our redeemed nature. The Spirit offers to us the probability of becoming wise and insightful, able to guide others with God’s strength and valor, gaining in spiritual knowledge and godliness, and of developing a deep reverence for God. In other words, the Holy Spirit enables each believer to become like Jesus. Jesus the Messiah, the Anointed One.
These seven attributes remained in the Christian tradition all the way to John’s book of Revelation, in which John refers often to the “Seven Spirits of God.” (Rev. 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6). The seven gifts of God are also referred to as the “Sevenfold Holy Spirit.” These attributes of the Spirit continue to this day as properties of the Spirit that we live into as we follow the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.