THE SEAL AND THE MARK

Greetings church family!

We are nearing the end of our Revelation series. For the next 3 weeks, I’d like to address 3 topics that are strongly related to the book of Revelation and end-time theology. They are the seal of God, the state of the dead (what happens after we die), and the rapture. Dealing with these topics via the Flocknote will go a long way to keeping the last 2 sermons on Revelation shorter in duration.

Revelation 7:3 says “Don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

Revelation 13:16-17 says “And [the land beast] makes everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of its name.”

These two texts (and their context) inform us that, in the time just before Jesus comes again, there will be two groups of people - the faithful followers of God who will be sealed by Him, and those who give their allegiance to the beast system who will be marked by the beast system.

What is this seal, and what is this mark? These are important questions for us to ponder as students of Jesus and His revelation.

The traditional Adventist stance on these two questions is that the Sabbath is the seal of God, and Sunday worship is the mark of the beast. I believe there is more to understand here than Sabbath keeping and Sunday worship only.

The idea that the Sabbath is the seal of God’s comes from Ezekiel 20:12, which states, “I also gave them (the Israelites) my Sabbaths to serve as a sign between me and them, so that they would know that I am the Lord who consecrates them.” (It should be noted that the word “seal” is not used here, but “sign” instead). The idea of the Sabbath being the seal of God is further supported by the concept of king’s seals in ancient times. A king’s seal typically had 3 elements, the king’s name, the king’s title, and the king’s domain. For instance, King Henry IV’s seal would have his name - Henry IV, his title - King, and his domain - England. God’s version of a seal can be found in the 10 commandments, or more specifically, the 4th commandment, found in Exodus 20.

Exodus 20:8 says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates. For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.”

In the aforementioned passage, God’s name is given - Lord. God’s title is implied - Creator (For the Lord made…). God’s domain is described - the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them. Thus, the Sabbath is seen as the seal of God.

However, it is important to note that there are at least 3 Scripture texts that explicitly state the Holy Spirit is the seal of God. Ephesians 1:13 says, “In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed.” 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 says, “Now it is God who strengthens us together with you in Christ, and who has anointed us. He has also put his seal on us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.” And finally, Ephesians 4:30 says, “And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by him for the day of redemption.”

So which is it? Is God’s seal the Sabbath or the Holy Spirit? I think it’s best to look at this in a more biblically holistic manner. Scripture explicitly states that God seals His people with the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel 36:27 tells us that “And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” It is the Holy Spirit who empowers us to embrace and live out God’s laws and principles, including keeping his Sabbath, which is the sign between God and his people. We are powerless to truly be the Sabbath keepers God invites us to be without the Holy Spirit.  

Also, bear this in mind.  The Sabbath commandment is no more important than the other nine. One of the problems with a non-holistic view of God’s seal, (i.e. God’s seal is the Sabbath, without any reference to the Holy Spirit) is that it can lead people to believe that the Sabbath is our Savior. It can also lead to people putting their effort into keeping the Sabbath while giving themselves permission to be absolute jerks towards others (if you’ve avoided experiencing this in your life among Adventists, be grateful). The Holy Spirit, as God’s seal on our heart, causes us to walk in ALL of God’s statutes, not just one of them. In talking about the faithful believers at the end of time, Revelation 14:12 says, “This calls for endurance from the saints, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.”  Notice, the text did not say, “who keep the Sabbath and their faith in Jesus.” It said, who keep God’s commands (including keeping the Sabbath) and their faith in Jesus. In the end, God’s people will not just be Sabbath keepers, but commandment keepers. They will be Spirit-filled believers who are committed to loving God and loving others.

With this in mind, we can also look at the mark of the beast more holistically. Is the mark of the beast Sunday worship only? Since the mark of the beast stands in direct contrast to the seal of God, the more holistic view of the mark of the beast would be the state of NOT being filled with the Holy Spirit. This would lead either to lawlessness or legalism (attempting to keep the law by one’s own power). In Matthew 24, Jesus shares with his disciples what the last days before his 2nd coming will be like. Matthew 24:12 says, “Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold.” Jesus makes it clear that there will be a lack of honor given to all of his principles of love, as lawlessness will multiply and love will grow cold. Paul elaborates on this in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, which says, “But know this: Hard times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people.” Those who receive the mark of the beast will be people who have shut out the Holy Spirit, and will therefore replace love for God and love for others with love for themselves. They will dishonor all of God’s principles, including preferring to give in to the beast system’s coerced Sunday worship rather than keeping God’s hallowed Sabbath.

In summary, those marked by the beast will have shunned the Holy Spirit, leaning on their own power to choose and reason and decide. This will lead to a rebellion against God’s law (including His Sabbath, the sign between God and his people), and them living in the most unloving of ways, a reflection of the nature of the beast system. In contrast, God’s faithful followers are sealed with the Spirit, they will be filled by God’s love by the Spirit (see Romans 5:5), and this love will move them to keep God’s laws of love (including honoring the Sabbath), even in the darkest and cruelest of times.  

Church family, as we near our next sermon on Sabbath, March 8 covering the three angels’ message, I pray that this devotional brings clarity to the subject of the seal and the mark. More importantly, may you be filled with the Holy Spirit like never before. It is through the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives that we can be assured that God is for us, God is with us, and God loves us!

Pastor Chris

P.S. Next week we will look at the question: What Happens After We Die?