THE SEAL OF THE LIVING GOD
By R. C. Porter
Must Show His Authority and His Territory This is the second of four articles by Elder Porter on the general theme of the seal of God as contrasted with the mark of the beast, presented in verses 9 to 12 of Revelation 14. In his article last week, he showed what the beast of this prophecy symbolizes. His article this week, as will be seen, considers the seal of God, which is set in opposition to the mark of the beast. His article next week will deal with the mark of the beast and its enforcement, predicted in that striking prophecy; while his concluding article will be on the theme of God’s last appeal to a lost world, as set forth in the thrilling messages of warning in this fourteenth chapter of Revelation. THERE is a seal in the law of God. “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among My disciples.” Isa. 8: 16. The time here alluded to is when the people of God are looking for the return of the Lord. “And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him.” Verse 17. It is evident that this work of restoring the seal in the law of God takes place at the same time the beast of Rev. 14: 9-12 is enforcing his mark upon the inhabitants of the earth. If we can learn what the seal of God is, we shall have no difficulty in ascertaining what the mark of the beast is, for they are directly opposed. The mark of the beast is the counterfeit of the seal of God. Once having the genuine before us, the counterfeit will be easily detected. The law of God is the only document the world has, in God’s own handwriting, that demands obedience. The seal of that document, like any other seal, must show by what authority the document demands obedience. A document signed “Woodrow Wilson” would be worthless as a state document unless the government seal were affixed, showing that he was president of the United States. The seal not only points out that Woodrow Wilson issued the order, but indicates by what authority he issued it. This is the purpose of a seal. Somewhere in the law of God such a seal will be found. When found, it will specify the true God, and distinguish Him from all false gods. The first commandment says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” The name of God is here mentioned, but there is nothing in this command to distinguish between Him and false gods. This command therefore cannot contain the seal of the law. The second commandment contains the name of God, and forbids the making and worshiping of images. It does not specify the true God, however. Hence it is not the seal of the law. The third commandment reads, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” There is no word here to point out the true God, or to give the authority upon which this command rests. Passing the fourth commandment, as some claim that it is no longer binding, we note that the fifth command says, “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” In all these commands, the name of God is mentioned, but in none of them is any seal found that refers to the authority or jurisdiction of the God who gave the law. In the remaining commandments, the name of God is not used. THE CHINAMAN NOT CONVINCED
To illustrate the importance of a seal: The writer is at this time in the heart of China, surrounded by idolaters. He finds it impossible to convince them, by reference to any of the foregoing commandments, that they are not worshipers of the true God. When these commands are read, the idolaters say it is their god that is speaking. The seal of the law must be presented in order to reveal its Author and declare His right to command obedience. Failing in all the other precepts of the divine law, we are forced to turn to the fourth commandment, which has been declared by some to have become obsolete since the death of Christ upon the cross. It reads: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, 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, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 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.” Here we find the seal of the law. It not only declares God to be the author of the law, but it points out the God who made the heavens and the earth as the God who gave the law, of which this commandment is a part. It gives as the domain over which He has a rightful jurisdiction, the whole universe that He created.507 CONVINCING TO THE HEATHEN
With this command, we can go to the heathen who is worshiping the sun, and point out to him that in worshiping the sun he is not worshiping the Creator, but the works of the God who commands his worship. Here is plainly the seal of the law. It is the only command that reveals the true God. If this command had always been properly observed, there never would have been a heathen or an infidel. It is evidently the very command to which the prophet refers in Isa. 8: 16, where he says, “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among My disciples.” This scripture indicates that by false teaching, this precept has been removed from its place in the law. It is to be restored when the return of Christ is expected. That time is when “I will look for Him.” Verse 17, last part. The people to whom it is to be restored are disciples. A disciple is a follower. The text therefore refers to followers of Christ. It could apply only to Christ’s followers. The seal of the law is thus found in the fourth commandment. That command enjoins the worship of the true God upon every recurring seventh day of the week. A false theology has attempted to change this, but it is to be restored among Christ’s disciples at the time when they are looking for His second advent. “Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.” Isa. 56: 1, 2. “And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isa. 58: 12-14. This is the time when warning is to be given against the worship of the beast and the reception of his mark. GOD’S SEAL, SIGN, OR MARK
The first angel’s message prepares the way for that of the third by calling the people back to the worship of the true God. “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.” Rev. 14: 6, 7. Keeping the seventh-day Sabbath is the seal, sign, or mark, of the worship of the true God. “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: 20. “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.” Verse 12. The words “sign” and “seal” are used interchangeably in reference to the Sabbath as the seal or sign of the power and authority of the true God. In Rev. 11: 18, 19, John sees the law of God, which was placed in the ark of the covenant from Sinai, as it will stand at the time of the final Judgment, and before which all must pass and be judged. “And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” It is the work of the proclamation of the third angel’s message so to present that law during the hour of God’s Judgment that the people living at that time will accept it and live it through the faith of Jesus, and be prepared to pass successfully the test of the Judgment. The third angel’s message declares that as the result of its proclamation, “here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14: 12. At the same time, as we have learned from Isa. 8: 16, the Sabbath commandment, containing the seal of the law, will be restored to its proper place among Christ’s disciples. This work will call for the observance of the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, according to that commandment. John, in the Revelation, speaks of this same work thus: “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.” Rev. 7: 1-3. The mark of the beast is received either in the forehead or in the hand; but the seal of God, which is presented with the warning against the reception of the mark of the beast, is received only in the forehead. The forehead is the seat of the intellect. The seal of God appeals to the reason and intelligence of all to whom it is presented, and is accepted only because it appeals to the reason. The beast imposes its mark by brute force, hence outward conformity to its claim is sufficient to satisfy its demands. EZEKIEL FORESAW THE SEALING
The same sealing work is presented by Ezekiel under the term “mark.” “He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon He was, to the threshold of the house. And He called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set 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: 1-4. The marking here mentioned is the same as the sealing with the seal of the living God, in Rev. 7: 1-3, and the sealing of the law “among My disciples,” of Isa. 8: 16. THE JUDGMENTS THAT FOLLOW
That this work is identical with that of the third angel’s message of Rev. 14: 9-12, is evident, because it is followed by the visitation of the unmingled wrath of God upon those who refuse to accept it. Ezekiel continues: “And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eyes spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And He said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.” Eze. 9: 5-7. The words “sign,” “seal,” and “mark” are therefore used synonymously in referring to the work and warning of the third angel’s message of Revelation 14. It restores the Sabbath precept to its place in the law and in the foreheads of God’s people. Thus the law is sealed among His disciples.