The Sealing Message by Stephen Nelson Haskell

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 4, 1900

The Sealing Message.

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

S. N. Haskell.

In the seventh chapter of Revelation we have a special message to the people of God. It begins when four angels take their position to hold the four winds, that “the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.” They are held until another angel from the “sun rising” goes forth to seal the servants of God. On Feb. 22, 1848, there was a breaking loose of restraint among the Powers of Europe, beginning in France when the king was deposed, his throne burned, and he and his family fled to England for safety. This revolution “was like a lighted match touched to the dry prairie grass after a drought. The flames flashed at once throughout the Continent.”—Judson’s “Europe in the Nineteenth Century,” page 103.

In a pamphlet published by Joseph Bates in January, 1849, in speaking of this time, he says: “See what a rushing and struggling has been, and is now, going on among the people to overthrow and cast down the thrones of the potentates of Europe; namely, Prussia, Hannover, Sardinia, Sicily, Naples, Venice, Lombardy, Tuscany, Rome, etc. See the account, in the Boston Times of Oct. 26, 1848, of the flight of the emperor of Austria from Vienna, the capital of his vast dominion; and of the insurrection and siege of that city for eight successive days from the sixth of October. Notice how they, too, in their work of slaughter, when they became victors, tore up the railways, and demolished bridges, to stop all further intercourse. See also a similar state of things in Berlin, under the king of Prussia.”

“Here then I say, is where God’s people that have ‘the seal of the living God’ find out when this sealing message begins; namely, France beginning to let go, or show her disorganized state, and the surrounding nations following her example. Ruler against ruler, neighbor against neighbor, friends becoming each others’ deadly foe; giving the world a specimen of what will be when Daniel 12:1 is fulfilled.”

In a brief period of time many crowned heads of Europe submitted themselves to the people. Finally, unexpectedly, there was a reverse in matters; in about as brief a period of time there was as great a calm as when Christ spoke to the billowy sea. The four angels took their position to hold the four winds. Any one wishing to read a condensed account of the troubles of 1848 will find it in “Europe in the Nineteenth Century,” by Judson.

From that time to the present, Europe and the world have been like the pent-up fire of a volcano bursting forth every now and then. But the angels have held the four winds that the servants of God might be sealed. But what is this special work of sealing the servants of the living God? And what is the seal of the living God? And who are they who are being sealed? These are important questions, upon which the Scriptures give no uncertain sound. “Seal” and “name” are synonymous terms. See Esther 3 : 12; 8 : 8–10; 1 Kings 21 : 8. “Seal” and “sign” are also the same. Rom. 4 : 11. In Ezekiel 9 the same work is referred to, and the term “mark” is used. So we have the terms, “seal of the living God,” “his Father’s name written in their foreheads” (Rev. 14 : 1), “a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.” Eze. 9 : 4. These are different expressions referring to the same people and work.

As to what the “sign,” or “seal of God,” is, the Scriptures speak definitely: “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.” Again, “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.” Eze. 20 : 12, 20. In Ex. 31 : 13 we read: “Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” Once more, in verse 17: “It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” The Sabbath of the Lord, then, is a sign, or seal, of God. And in 1848 God sent his angels to hold in check the Powers of earth, that the Sabbath reform and kindred truths might be preached, and the servants of God be sealed, throughout the world. This message is the same as the Third Angel’s Message: “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,” etc. Rev. 14 : 9. The seal of God “is a mark which angels, but not human eyes, can read; for the destroying angel must see this mark of redemption.”

In the pamphlet already referred to, Elder Bates speaks of a meeting of a company of brethren and sisters at Dorchester, Mass., and in a conversation on the sealing message they did not fully agree, so, as was usual in those days, they sought the Lord in prayer for light. And in answer to their prayer, God gave a Testimony, and the following words were spoken, while in vision: “Where did the light break out? Let thine angels teach us where the light broke out. It commenced from a little, and then thou didst give one light after another. The testimony and commandments are linked together, they can not be separated. It was very small, when it arose, though it rose in strength; it was weak back there; when it came up, it increased. If they will not hear it, they are as accountable as though they did hear it. He was well pleased when his law began to come up in strength, and the waste places began to be built up.

“Out of weakness it has become strong from searching his word. The test upon it has been but a short time. All who are saved will be tried upon it in some way. The truth arises, and is on the increase stronger and stronger. It’s the SEAL! It is coming up! It arises, commences from the rising of the sun. Like the sun, first cold, grows warmer, and sends its rays. “When that truth arose, there was but little light in it, but it has been increasing. Oh, the power of these rays! It grows in strength, the greatest weight and light are on that truth, for it lasts forever when the Bible is not needed. It arose there in the east, it began with a small light, but its beams are healing. Oh, how mighty is that truth! It is the highest after they enter the goodly land, but it will increase until they are made immortal. It commenced from the rising of the sun, keeps on its course, like the sun, but it never sets. The angels are holding the four winds. It is God that restrains the Powers. The angels have not let go, for the saints are not all sealed.”

These words need no comment, as they fully explain the first portion of this chapter. Whiting’s translation of the expression “ascending upon from the east,” reads, “from the sun rising,” referring to the manner of the rise of this work, rather than the location. It began, like the sun rising from the ocean bed, small, and its power feeble, but increased in warmth and power, transcending all other power. Thousands and tens of thousands to-day testify that its cheering rays give joy and health. The Sabbath truth has arisen free from the sectarian shackles of Babylon. It stands forth as a beacon light in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, and in the islands of the sea. Notwithstanding the opposition, the angel from the rising of the sun has gone forth on his mission, sealing the servants of the living God, and thus preparing them for the great day of God’s wrath, when God shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and shake the heavens and the earth.

But who are the ones to be sealed? The answer is given in Rev. 7 : 3: “The servants of our God.” See also Rom. 2 : 28, 29; 9 : 4–7. All who live in the period of time referred to in Revelation 7 and are the servants of God, are the ones to whom the message is sent. They are not the entire redeemed host; for these are referred to in verses 9, 10. The angels, the four living creatures, and all the intelligences in heaven, are interested in every step of the history of God’s people on earth, and will be until the conflict is over. All heaven is interested in the experiences of the people of God, who are now struggling with the powers of darkness to gain the victory. They lie near the great heart of God, and are the objects of his special interest, “the apple of his eye.” Zech. 2 : 8.

Onward from the thirteenth verse of Revelation 7 the one hundred and forty-four thousand are again referred to. Before the remnant is a tribulation which exceeds all the past for severity, but it is of short duration. Every one of them washes his robes and makes them white in the blood of the Lamb. Because of this and their faithfulness in their work, as trophies of grace they will surround the throne of God, and “follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.”

“The hundred and forty and four thousand,” “were redeemed from the earth.” Rev. 14 : 3, 4. It is grace that brings them near to the throne of God. For “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Rom. 5 : 20. He that has come the farthest, and struggled the hardest with temptations and hereditary tendencies, requires more grace, and will be nearest the throne in glory. So near the throne are they that notwithstanding the sun shines sevenfold brighter than now (Isa. 30 : 26; 60 : 19, 20), yet the glory of God so outshines the brightness of the sun that it will no more shine upon them than a candle would shine on objects in the brightest noonday sun.

“The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters.” In the earth made new he will lead them to the living fountains, and unfold to them the dark providences

in this life. All will then be made to realize the grand truth, “God never leads his children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning, and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with him.”—“Desire of Ages.”