The Sealing | AdventAI

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 23, 1862

The Sealing.

THE angel of Rev. vii, 2, 3, having the seal of the living God, cries to the four angels to whom it is given to hurt the earth and the sea, "Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." This indicates a time of comparative peace during which the work of sealing will be accomplished. When the servants of God shall be sealed, the winds will blow unrestrained.

Jer. xxv, 31-38: "A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard; for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture. And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord. He hath forsaken his covert as the lion; for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger."

The above is doubtless a prophecy of the unrestrained blowing of the four winds, after the work of sealing shall have been accomplished. The dreadful scourge of war shall go forth from nation to nation. The winds of political strife and war will rage with such fury as to be here represented by the prophet, by a great whirlwind being raised up from the coasts of the earth. Terrible day of slaughter! From one end of the earth to the other will be the slain, unlamented, ungathered, unburied. And this is to be followed by the seven last, dreadful plagues, which, judging from their description in chap. xvi, will far exceed in anguish the slaughter of the battle field.

Then the false shepherds, who have been teaching that there was no cause for the alarm given by the Seventh-day Adventists, and have been proclaiming peace when God hath not spoken it, and have been teaching that the nations were soon to cease to learn war, will be dreadfully exposed to the desperate anger of the people whom they have deceived. They will, howl, and cry, and fall like a pleasant vessel.

But before all this, the faithful watchman, seeing the sword coming, has given the alarm, and stands clean from the blood of souls. He has obeyed the prophetic injunction, "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand." Joel ii, 1. He has not only heralded the near coming of that day, but has also set forth the necessary preparation in order to stand in that day; namely, the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Under this preparatory message the servants of God are sealed.

The seal preserves the servants of God in the day of wrath from the seven last plagues. The first plague falls on those who have the mark of the beast. Rev. xvi, 2. From this we may suppose that those who have not the mark of the beast, but have the seal of the living God, will not suffer from this and the succeeding plagues. The prophetic language of the Psalmist is most applicable. It inspires the mind with confiding trust in God, and lights up the dark future to those who make the truth their shield and buckler.

Ps. xci, 1-10. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust; his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling."

The vivid illustration of the prophet Ezekiel, chap. ix, 2-6, also shows the safety of those who have the seal or mark of God:

"And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughtering weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's ink-horn 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 men clothed with linen, which had the writer's ink-horn 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. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city and smite; let not your eye 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."

Those whose eyes are opened to the sins of the age, who sigh and cry for the abominations that are done in the land, receive the sacred mark, and are safe in the day of slaughter. Those who are at ease in Zion, lulled to sleep by the song of peace and safety, dreaming of worldly prosperity and happiness upon the very threshold of the day of unmingled indignation of the Almighty, will not receive the mark, but will fall in the slaughter which follows the work of marking.

Dear reader, seek for the truth, and be sanctified through it, and soon, when all earthly hopes are perished, it will be your shield and buckler. Now is the time for humiliation and prayer before the God of high heaven. The mark is placed upon the foreheads of those who in the sealing time, sigh and cry for the abominations done in the land. Do not let these precious moments pass, and you be left in hopeless anguish when the sealing work is finished, to pay your devotions to rocks and mountains. Rev. vi, 15-17.