The Sealing of the 144,000.
By Uriah Smith
IN a gospel prophecy found in Isa. 8, we read: "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples." Verse 16. This must refer to a work of reviving some of the claims of the law in the minds of the disciples, which had been overlooked, or perverted from their true meaning. And this, in the prophecy, is called sealing the law, or restoring to it, its seal, which had been taken from it. Again, the 144,000 who, in the chapter before us, are said to be sealed with the seal of God in their foreheads, are again brought to view in Rev. 14:1, where they are said to have the Father's name written in their foreheads. From the foregoing reasoning, facts, and declarations of Scripture, two conclusions inevitably follow:— 1. The seal of God is found in connection with the law of God. 2. The seal of God is that part of his law, which contains his name or descriptive title, showing who he is, the extent of his dominion, and his right to rule. The law of God is admitted by all disinterested evangelical denominations to be summarily contained in the decalogue or ten commandments. We have then but to examine these commandments, to see which one it is, that constitutes the seal of the law, or in other words makes known the true God, the law-making power. The first three commandments mention the word God; but we cannot tell from these who is meant; for there are multitudes of objects to which this term is applied. There are "gods many and lords many," as the apostle says 1 Cor. 8:5. Passing over the fourth commandment for the time being, the fifth contains the words Lord and God, but does not define them; and the remaining five precepts do not contain the name of God at all. Now what shall be done? With that portion of the law which we have examined it would be impossible to convict the grossest idolater of sin. The worshiper of images could say, This idol before me is my god, his name is god, and these are his precepts. The worshiper of the heavenly bodies could also say, The sun is my god, and I worship him according to this law. Thus, without the fourth commandment, the decalogue is null and void so far as it pertains to enforcing the worship of the true God. But let us add the fourth commandment, restore to the law this precept which many are ready to contend has been expunged, and see how the case will stand then. As we examine this commandment which contains the declaration, "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is," etc., we see at once that we are reading the requirements of Him who created all things. The sun, then, is not the God of the decalogue, but he who made the sun. No object in heaven or earth is the being who here demands obedience; for the God of this law is the one who made all created things. Now we have a weapon against idolatry. Now this law can no longer be applied to false gods, who "have not made the heavens and the earth." Jer. 10:11. Now the author of this law has declared who he is, the extent of his dominion, and his right to rule; for every created intelligence must at once assent that He who is the Creator of all, has a right to demand obedience from all his creatures. Thus, with the fourth commandment in its place, this wonderful document, the decalogue, the only document among men which God ever wrote with his own finger, has a signature; it has that which renders it intelligible and authentic; it has a seal. But without the fourth commandment it lacks all these things. From the foregoing reasoning it is evident that the fourth commandment constitutes the seal of the law of God, or the seal of God. But the Scriptures do not leave us without direct testimony on this point. We have seen above that in Scripture usage, sign, seal, token, and mark, are synonymous terms. Now the Lord expressly says that the Sabbath is a sign between him and his people. "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." Ex. 31:13. The same fact is again stated by the prophet Ezekiel, 20:12, 20. Here the Lord tells his people that the very object of their keeping the Sabbath, that is, observing the fourth commandment, is that they might know that he was the true God. It may be said that the Sabbath was only a sign between God and the Jews. True this was spoken to the Jews, who were then separated from all other nations, to be God's people, and the depositaries of all divine truth in the earth. But when they, through disobedience were broken off, and the Gentiles grafted in through Christ, becoming "Israelites indeed" and "Jews inwardly," would it not apply equally to them? Thus the fourth commandment, or the Sabbath, is taken by the Lord as the sign between him and his people, or the seal of his law; the people by that commandment signifying that they are the worshipers of the true God, and God by the same commandment making himself known as the great Creator of all things. We refer again to the fact that the same company who in Rev. 7, have the seal of the living God in their foreheads, are brought to view again in Rev. 14:1, having the Father's name in their foreheads. This is good proof that the "seal of the living God," and the "Father's name," are used synonymously. The chain of evidence on this point is rendered complete, when we ascertain that the fourth commandment, which we have found to be the seal of the law, is spoken of by the Lord as that which contains his name. The proof of this will be seen by referring to Deut. 16:6: "But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in, there shalt thou sacrifice the passover," &c. What was there where they sacrificed the passover? There was the sanctuary, having in its holiest apartment the ark with the ten commandments, the fourth of which declared the true God, and contained his name. Wherever this was, there God's name was placed; and this was the only object to which the language could be applied. Having ascertained what the seal of God is, we are prepared to proceed with the application of the prophecy. By the scenes introduced in the verses before us, namely, the four winds apparently about to blow, bringing war and trouble upon the land, and this work restrained till the servants of God should be sealed, as though a preparatory work must be done for them to save them from this trouble, we are reminded of the houses of the Israelites marked with the blood of the paschal lamb, and spared as the destroying angel passed over to slay the firstborn of the Egyptians, Ex. 12: also of the mark made by the writer's inkhorn, Eze. 9: upon all those who were to be spared by the men with the slaughtering weapons who followed after; and we conclude that the seal of God, here placed upon his servants, is some distinguishing mark or religious characteristic, through which they will be exempted from the judgments of God that fall on the wicked around them. As we have found the seal of God in the fourth commandment, the inquiry follows, Does the observance of that commandment involve any peculiarity in religious practice? Yes, a very marked and striking one. It is one of the most singular facts to be met with in religious history, that in an age of such boasted gospel light as the present, when the influence of Christianity is so powerful and wide-spread, one of the greatest crosses a child of God can take up, even in the most enlightened and Christian land, is the simple observance of the law of God. For the fourth commandment requires the observance of the seventh day of each week, as the Sabbath of the Lord; but all Christendom through the combined influence of paganism and the papacy, have been beguiled into the keeping of the first day. A person has but to commence the observance of the day enjoined in the commandment, and a mark of peculiarity is upon him at once. He is distinct alike from the professedly religious and the unconverted world. We conclude then that the angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, is a divine messenger in charge of a work of reform to be carried on among men in reference to the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. The agents of this work on the earth, would of course be ministers of Christ; as to them is given the commission of instructing their fellow creatures in Bible truth; but, as there is order in the execution of all the divine counsels, why may not a literal angel have the charge and oversight of this work? We have already noticed the chronology of this work as locating it in our own time. This is further evident from the fact that as the next event after the sealing of these servants of God, we behold them before the throne, with palms of victory in their hands. The sealing is, therefore, the last work to be accomplished for them prior to their redemption. In Rev. 14, we find the same work again brought to view under the symbol of an angel flying in the midst of heaven with the most terrific warning that ever fell upon the ears of men. It is the last work to be accomplished for the world before the coming of Christ, which is the next event in the order of that prophecy, and hence must synchronize with the work here brought to view in Rev. 7:1-3. The angel with the seal of the living God in chapter 7, is therefore the same as the third angel of chapter 14. And this fact gives additional strength to our view of the seal. For while as the result of the work in chapter 7, a certain company are sealed with the seal of the living God, as the result of the third message of chapter 14, a company are brought out rendering scriptural obedience to all the "commandments of God." Verse 12. But there is no commandment of the decalogue except the fourth, upon which the Christian world theoretically needs reforming; and that this is the representative question in this message is evident from the fact that the keeping of the commandments, observing, with all the other moral precepts, the Lord's Sabbath, is what distinguishes the servants of God from those who worship the beast, and receive his mark, which is the observance of a counterfeit Sabbath. U. S.