A) GOD’S SEAL EQUALS.

B) MANKIND’S MARK & SEAL IS.

C) WHAT GOD SEALS.

D) GOD’S MARK/SEAL IS GIVEN TO.

E) THE MARK AND THE SEAL TOGETHER EQUAL.

F) THE MARK OF THE BEAST EQUALS.

 

 

A) GOD’S SEAL EQUALS

 

 

According to Second Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30, the “Holy Spirit” is the (One that does the) “seal[ing].”  Confirmed by seeing Revelation 7:2, where and “angel” carries “the seal of the Living God.”  Common-sense tells us that an “angel” does not carry the Holy Spirit.  Also bear in mind, that God is NOT going to “seal” someone who does NOT have the “Holy Spirit” within them already.  See Ephesians 4:30.

 

If we continue on in Ephesians to 1:14, we learn that the “Holy Spirit,” verse 13, is “the earnest of our inheritance.”  The “earnest,” Greek, “G728; arrhabon,” meaning, “the downpayment” or “pledge,” as in “earnest money,” that is promised to be paid.

 

Since the “Holy Spirit” does the “sealing,” and is not the “seal,” all-be-it, again, one must have the “Holy Spirit” in order to be “sealed,” let’s discover what He seals.  Noting that this “seal” is invisible, just as God’s Spirit is invisible.

 

According to Second Timothy 2:19, that “seal” equals those that “depart from iniquity.”  In other words, those that obey God’s Law.

 

By contrast, Abraham received “a sign” of “a seal” through the “sign of circumcision,” in Romans 4:11.  Note here how Biblically a “sign” and a “seal” are used interchangeably.  This is called, Biblical parallelism.  Meaning, one equals the other; one-and-the-same-thing.  However, Abraham’s was a physical “mark,” given to him because he obeyed God’s Law, his “righteousness.”  See Genesis 26:5.

 

Also, as with Abraham, the “Law of God” was to be the “seal” that binds God’s “disciples,” Isaiah 8:16.  Here plainly, God’s Law is the “seal,” given to obedient believers.  This can be confirmed also by seeing Ezekiel 9:4, where “a mark [is set] upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done” against God’s Law.

 

While, according to Exodus 31:13 & 17; Ezekiel 20:12 & 20, these texts state that the “Biblical Sabbath” is “a sign [Hebrew H226, meaning “sign, mark”],” remembering that (Rom. 4:11) a “sign” and a “seal” in Scripture can be used interchangeably.  In other words, the “Sabbath” is a portion of “God’s Law” that acknowledges His authority.  Notice that of all of the “Commandments” God could have stressed, He in particular points to the “Sabbath” as “a sign,” Ezekiel 20:20, showing that you are “sealed” by God when you obey the “Sabbath Law.”

 

We should see also First Corinthians 9:2, where Paul teaches he was “sealed” because of the bringing into the fold people he converted.  And according to Deuteronomy 12:5, where God wants to dwell, He will put His “Name there.”

 

Lastly, Revelation 7:2-3, God tells His angels to “have” an obedient group “sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”  Meaning, when we get to Revelation 14:1, we can see that those “sealed” are those that have the “Father’s Name written in their foreheads.”  Thus, this particular “sealing” is different, in that it applies specifically to the last days, during the “time of trouble,” Daniel 12:1, and only for a particular group, the 144,000.

 

Thus, to be “sealed,” one must be a “servant” and have the “Father’s Name” imprinted into their “foreheads,” meaning being obedient to Him.  Compare with Isaiah 42:1 & Acts 2:18.  Once again, this is not a physical mark, but an acknowledgment to the angels that this particular person is obedient to the Law of God, and therefore can be “sealed.”

 

 

B) MANKIND’S MARK & SEAL IS

 

 

In First Kings 21:8; Esther 8:8; Jeremiah 22:24; Matthew 27:66, we learn that mankind’s seal is a “signet,” (Hebrew, H2368, “signet or seal”) meaning, “A piece of wax, lead, or other material with an individual design stamped into it, usually attached to a document to show that it has come from the person who claims to have issued it and to authenticate it.”

 

In Esther 8:8, what was “sealed” also means being “marked,” Hebrew “chatham, H2856.”  That “mark” and “sign” can mean the same thing and be interchangeable -- see Romans 4:11 -- which also expresses that a “sign” can be “a seal.” Therefore, when reading Ezekiel 20:12, we can conclude that the “sign” mentioned therein is God’s “seal,” in order “that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.”  Thus, the “Sabbath,” being a portion of “God’s Law,” being specifically mentioned, is part of the “seal” of God, with, of course, all of “God’s Law” being the “seal of God.”

 

In First Samuel 25:25, we learn that “Nabal” is considered to be a “man of Belial,” and is “sealed” if you will, with that “name,” “for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name.”  He is a representation of those who follow in Satan’s footsteps and choose not to follow God’s Law.  Thus we can learn, that the Bible is all about “CHARACTER.”

 

Therefore, when we get to Revelation 13:17, if you are obedient to mankind’s laws, in order to be able to “buy” and “sell,” you will receive mankind’s “mark,” and “the name of the beast,” and “the number of his name.”  And if we back up to Revelation 13:1, we see that this seal “upon his heads,” is “the name of blasphemy.”  Meaning, these have “blasphemed” God’s Law.  So, if obedient to God’s Law, you are sealed for the Kingdom of God.  Or if obedient to man’s laws, you are sealed for destruction.

 

Consequently, what law of mankind is contrary to God’s Law?  Only the change of the weekly Sabbath to the first day of the week, and the dropping of the Second Commandment, forbidding the worship of idols, meet those criteria, and as a consequence for doing such, you will be committing “blasphemy” against God’s Law.

 

 

C) WHAT GOD SEALS

 

 

According to Isaiah 8:16, God “seals the Law,” in or “among My disciples.”  Compare with Jeremiah 31:33; Second Corinthians 3:3; Hebrews 8:10.

 

According to John 16:13, the Holy “Spirit” will only “guide you into all truth.”  And if we go to Psalm 119:142, we learn that God’s “Law is the truth.”  Whereas Psalm 119:151 states it as, “all Thy Commandments are truth.”

 

The point is, after God “seals” us with His “Holy Spirit,” He then “seals” His “Law” into our hearts.  Here is Ezekiel 36:27:  “And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My Statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do Them.”

 

Those who are “sealed” are, must first be, “servants,” Revelation 7:3, “of the Living God,” Revelation 7:2, in order to be “sealed.”  See Ephesians 6:5-7.  Thus, these “servants” already have the “Holy Spirit.”  See Second Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30, above.  And in the end, only 144,000 will be “sealed” prior to “the time of trouble,” and the Second Coming of Christ.

 

“Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads,-- it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved,-- just as soon as God’s people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come.”  1MR:249.2; FLB:287.7; LDE:219.4.

 

“Too late they see that the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment is the seal of the Living God.”  4SP:457.2; GC:640.1.

 

 

D) GOD’S MARK/SEAL IS GIVEN TO

 

 

According to Ezekiel 9:2-4, God’s “mark” is only put upon those, “that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst” of Jerusalem.  Or better, among those righteous claiming to be, the people of God.  Compare with Ezekiel 9:6, where these people who have God’s “mark” are saved.  And those who don’t have the mark/seal, God judges, beginning at the professed followers of Christ (1Pe. 4:17).  Then, those that do have the “mark/seal” will have the “Father’s Name written in their foreheads,” Revelation 14:1.  Why?  Because these are they that “keep the Commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”  Revelation 14:12.

 

Revelation 7:2-3 speaks of God’s “servants” being “sealed.”  But the reason and why these are “sealed” is found in Revelation 14:1-5, in particular, verse 4, “These are they which were not defiled with women;” and “women” in the Book of Revelation equals “a church,” whether righteous or unrighteous (see my Bible Study:  “REVELATION’S SYMBOLS”).  And verse 5 states, “And in their mouth was found no guile:  for they are without fault.”  These -- speaking of the 144,000 -- have perfected their Christian character.  And as such, they will be “having his Father’s Name written in their foreheads.”  Revelation 14:1.  That is a physical “mark.”  They thus will “follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth,” and be “redeemed from among men,” Revelation 14:4.  

 

The point is emphasized in Revelation 14:12 of why these are “sealed,” “Here is the patience of the saints:  here arethey that keep the Commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”  If you haven’t figured it out by now, the keeping of the Commandments of God is, as it has always been, from Eden to the Second Coming, the point of contention; and discovering who will obey and who will not.

 

 

E) THE MARK AND THE SEAL TOGETHER EQUAL

 

 

Seal and Mark:  Exodus 31:13 & 17; Ezekiel 20:12 & 20; Second Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30; Second Timothy 2:19; Revelation 16:2; 19:20.

 

“The Sabbath question is to be the issue in the great final conflict in which all the world will act a part.  Men have honored Satan’s principles above the principles that rule in the heavens.  They have accepted the spurious sabbath, which Satan has exalted as the sign of his authority.  But God has set His seal upon His royal requirement.  Each Sabbath institution bears the name of its author, an ineffaceable mark that shows the authority of each.  It is our work to lead the people to understand this.  We are to show them that it is of vital consequence whether they bear the mark of God’s kingdom or the mark of the kingdom of rebellion, for they acknowledge themselves subjects of the kingdom whose mark they bear.  God has called us to uplift the standard of His downtrodden Sabbath.  How important, then, that our example in Sabbathkeeping should be right.”  6T:352.1; 7BC:977.7; ST, March 22, 1910, paragraph 13.

 

“This is the test that the people of God must have before they are sealed.  All who prove their loyalty to God by observing His Law, and refusing to accept a spurious sabbath, will rank under the banner of the Lord God Jehovah, and will receive the seal of the Living God.  Those who yield the truth of Heavenly origin, and accept the Sunday sabbath, will receive the mark of the beast.  What need will there be of the solemn warning not to receive the mark of the beast, when all the saints of God are sealed and ticketed for the New Jerusalem?”  1888M2:701; 15MR:15; (Letter 11, 1890) 7BC:976; Mar:164.

 

“If the light of truth has been presented to you, revealing the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment, and showing that there is no foundation in the Word of God for Sunday observance, and yet you still cling to the false sabbath, refusing to keep holy the Sabbath which God calls ‘My holy day,’ you receive the mark of the beast.  When does this take place? -- When you obey the decree that commands you to cease from labor on Sunday and worship God, while you know that there is not a word in the Bible showing Sunday to be other than a common working-day, you consent to receive the mark of the beast, and refuse the seal of God.  If we receive this mark in our foreheads or in our hands, the judgments pronounced against the disobedient must fall upon us.  But the seal of the living God is placed upon those who conscientiously keep the Sabbath of the Lord.”  RH, July 13, 1897; RH, April 27, 1911; Ev:235; Mar:211; 7BC:980.

 

 

F) THE MARK OF THE BEAST EQUALS

 

 

According to Revelation 13:17; 16:2; 19:20, the “mark of the beast” equals those who have “the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”  Just like the name Christian identifies oneself as one who worships Christ.  Now we can see how important it is to have God’s Name imprinted into our foreheads (Rev. 7:3; 14:1; 20:4; 22:4), or the “beasts” name written in their foreheads (Rev. 9:4; 13:16; 14:9).  Taking note that this number is “the number of the beast” and the “number of a man,” Revelation 13:18, who is the head of the “beast.”  And according to Revelation 14:9, those who “worship the beast and his image,” shall “receive his mark.”  This verse also mentions ones “hand.”  The difference is, the “forehead” equals your thought process or belief system.  Whereas the “hand” is equivalent to what your do.

 

NOTE:  Since the “mark of the beast” is the “number of the man,” it cannot be a physical bar code or the such like.  It is a “mark” that identifies your allegiance to that “man.”  Such as who’s law will you keep?  Gods or this man’s?  Sabbath or Sunday?

 

“Those who desire to have the seal of God in their foreheads must keep the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment.  Thus they are distinguished from the disloyal, who have accepted a manmade institution in place of the true Sabbath.  The observance of God’s rest day is a mark of distinction between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not.”  RH, April 23, 1901; 7BC:981.

 

“That institution which points to God as the Creator is a sign of His rightful authority over the beings He has made. The change of the Sabbath is the sign, or mark, of the authority of the Romish Church. Those who, understanding the claims of the Fourth Commandment, choose to observe the false in place of the true Sabbath, are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it is Commanded.  The change in the Fourth Commandment is the change pointed out in the prophecy, and the keeping of the counterfeit sabbath is the reception of the mark.  But Christians of past generations observed the first day, supposing that they were keeping the Bible Sabbath, and there are in the churches of today many who honestly believe that Sunday is the Sabbath of Divine appointment.  None of these have received the mark of the beast.  There are true Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion.  The test upon this question does not come until Sunday observance is enforced by law, and the world is enlightened concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath.  Not until the issue is thus plainly set before the people, and they are brought to choose between the Commandments of God and the commandments of men, will those who continue in transgression receive the mark of the beast.”  4SP:281.2; SR:383.1.  See also:  1SP:225-226 & 261; 1RH:169; 1ST:150 & 413; 1T:76; 2RH:7; 2T:39 & 390 & 693; 3RH:471 & 481; 3T:38; 4MR:340-341; 4RH:462; 4T:246 & 539; 5MR:84; 6MR:294; 6T:357 & 362; 7BC:976 & 979 & 980; 8T:117; 10MR:9; PUR:240; Ser.A:162; YI:15.