THE MARK OF THE BEAST AND THE SEAL OF GOD
God has an extremely important message to give to His people in these last days of Earth's history! In fact, this message is so important that we see three special angels flying in the midst of heaven to deliver it to the entire world. Those who reject this message will receive the dreaded Mark of the Beast and they receive a devastating punishment for doing so. It is referred to in Revelation Chapter 14 as The Everlasting Gospel (verse 6). The momentous events described in Revelation 14 are portrayed as occurring right before the second coming of Christ, otherwise known as "The Harvest" (see Rev. 14:14-20 and compare with Matt.13:30).
Now let's take a closer look at the Three Angel's Messages, for they concern us all:
Revelation Chapter 14:
6: And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7: Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
8: And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
9: And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
10: The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
11: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
12: Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
After the warning against the worship of the beast and his image the prophecy declares: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Since those who keep God's commandments are thus placed in contrast with those that worship the beast and his image and receive his mark, it follows that the keeping of God's law, on the one hand, and its violation, on the other, will make the distinction between the worshipers of God and the worshipers of the beast. And so obviously, those who do receive the Mark of the Beast will have no regard for the commandments of God, while at the same time, God's people do observe them.
Friends, do you see that if we will just allow the Bible to explain itself, that it becomes easy to understand what it means? Instead of imagining all sorts of theories about what it means, we need to let God reveal the truth to us by comparing scripture with scripture. 1Cor:2:13: Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Now let's examine this in even more detail.... Revelation 14 verse 9 says that those who receive the Mark of the Beast will receive it in their forehead or in their hand. Interestingly enough, in Deuteronomy 6 verses 1-8 we read that God told His people to keep His commandments. Notice that they are told that the commandments of God are to be a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes (on their forehead)!
Deut. 6:
1: Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them
5: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6: And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart
8: And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
Thus we have now learned that God's commandments were as a sign or "Mark" on the forehead or hand of His people, while the Mark of the Beast would be His sign or "Mark" on the forehead or hand of his people. Not only that, but this evil mark would involve a disregard for the commandments of God.
We will take note now of Rev. verses 6 and 7:
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
The Angel just now quoted right straight out of one of the ten commandments. Does anybody recognize which of the commandments? No? -well let me show you:
Exodus 20:
8: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9: Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
The Angel just reminded us to worship God, our Creator, that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters, quoting from the 4th commandment... the Sabbath command! Amazing! And so this "Beast" must hate it when God's people keep His commandments and especially when they recognize Him as their Creator, as we are admonished to do in the 4th commandment.
What is the Seal of God?
And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." Revelation 7:1-3.
Well friends, what is God's "seal?" A seal has to do with legal affairs. Laws are created, and they are stamped with the seal of the ruling government. A seal consists of three parts:
The name of the ruler.
The ruler's title.
The territory over which he rules.
When the government seal is placed upon a law, or on currency, it then becomes "official". The nation that is loyal to that government who made the law is to stand behind the law. In the same way, God's seal makes His law official, and the whole loyal universe is to then stand behind it!
Anyone who is disloyal to the seal of that government, and to the law upon which it is placed, is looked upon as being disloyal to the government itself. God's seal is also placed in His law. "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." Isaiah 8:16.
We just read that the seal of God was to be placed in the forehead of God's faithful and loyal people as well. His law is in our hearts and in our MINDS (forehead). Under the new covenant, God's promise is this: "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those day, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them." Hebrews 10:16.
The Holy Spirit who is the one who "seals" us, places the seal of God in our foreheads if we allow it. We now have God's law in our minds, in our conscience, --and we are loyal to it, showing that we are also loyal to the Creator, the Ruler, who Himself declared that we must keep it!
Just as a government ruler uses his "seal" of government to enforce the laws of the land, God uses His "seal" to enforce His law. And at the same time, the Beast will use his seal or mark, to try to enforce his law in the place of God's.
If the 7th day Sabbath is indeed God's seal, then we ought to be able to find the three different parts of a seal within that commandment, correct? Indeed it is there, let's take a close look:
"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work . . . For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." Exodus 20:8-11.
This is the only place in the Bible where you will find God's seal. Here are the three parts of the seal.
His name - "the Lord."
His title - "thy God" (Creator).
His territory - "heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is."
Isn't that amazing? And we ought to expect then that the Beast power would work very hard to hide the truth of the sacred Sabbath from us. After all, it is God's sign or seal!
You may ask, Is the Sabbath really the seal of God? Look at Ezekiel 20:12. "Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." "And hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God." Ezekiel 20:12,20. Note that the word "sign" means the same as "seal" --see Romans 4:11.
The Elijah Message
The coming of the bridegroom was at midnight--the very darkest hour (Matt. 25:6). So too will the coming of Christ take place in the darkest period of this earth's history. The days of Noah and Lot pictured the condition of the world just before the coming of the Son of man. The Scriptures pointing forward to this time tell us that Satan will work with all power and "with all deceivableness of unrighteousness." 2 Thess. 2:9, 10. His working is plainly revealed by the rapidly increasing darkness, the multitudinous errors, heresies, and delusions of these last days. Satan is leading the world captive, yes --but his deceptions are affecting even the professed churches of our Lord Jesus Christ! This great apostasy from the truths of the Scriptures will develop into darkness deep as midnight.
But at this terrible dark time of earth's history, God has a special message to give to the world that is not unlike that given by God's servant Elijah. Before the day of the Lord, Elijah was to be sent to the world to warn them. Malachi 4:4-6: "Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD." And what was the message that Elijah gave? "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him." I King 18:21. The Israelites had at that time forsaken God, and turned to the worship of Baal. In this they had departed from God's commandments, and the work of Elijah was to cry out against their worship of Baal, pleading with them to return to the commandments of God.
The Three Angel's Messages of Revelation are a counterpart of that proclaimed by Elijah, because it too calls for people to decide between the worship of the beast and the worship of God (Revelation 14:6-12). This will cause those who understand the sign of the times to cry out against the sinful practices of the people, appealing to them to return to God by keeping His commandments. Revelation 14:9-12: "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation... Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."
This prophecy concerning the Elijah message was partially fulfilled in John the Baptist: "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come." Matt. 11:13,14
Luke 1:16,17: And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. This spirit and power of Elias was to be manifested "Before the great and dreadful day of the Lord". Malachi 4,5.
In John the Baptist the Lord raised up for Himself a messenger to prepare the way of the Lord at the first coming of Jesus Christ. He was to bear to the world an unflinching testimony in the denunciation of sin. Luke, in announcing John's mission and work, said, "And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:17). Many of the Pharisees and Sadducees came to the baptism of John, and addressing these, he said, "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father..." Matt 3:7-12.
...so too are the Three Angel's Messages of Revelation the "Elijah Message" of our time, to be given just before the second coming of Christ!
Come out of her, My people
In the Book of Revelation, not only are God's people called to keep His commandments and to avoid receiving the Mark of the Beast, but they are also given the call to "come OUT of Babylon":
Revelation 18:1-4
1: And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
2: And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
3: For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
4: And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Now that we know who God's people are... those who keep His commandments and His Sabbath, --the question is, Who or what then is this "Beast" of Revelation chapter 14? And what is "Babylon"; why are God's people called to come out of her? It would make sense that this Beast power would endeavor to somehow change the Sabbath or otherwise try to hide or get rid of it in some way, right? ...you would be correct in your assumption if that thought crossed your mind. The prophetic book of Daniel also identifies him here:
Dan:7:25: And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws.
Yes, this wicked being would think to change the very law of God... --the Sabbath, God's Seal! As a matter of fact, the prophet Isaiah, when prophesying about the end of time when the wicked would be destroyed, gave the very reason why it was that God was so angry with them: Isa:24:5: "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant."
...if you will let it, the Bible explains itself. And you dont have to speculate about what it means or invent all sorts of far-out theories about what the Mark of the Beast means.
Claudia
