The Mark of the Beast, and Seal of the Living God.
By Moses Hull
"AND the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 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, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." This is the last of a series of messages introduced in Rev. xiv, with which we most solemnly believe God designs to prepare a people for the second advent of the Messiah. That this message is the last note of warning before the second coming of our Lord, will be seen by what follows: "And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped." Verses 14-16. It is evident from the above that the third angel's message ripens the harvest of the earth. Hence no subject has a greater claim to a thorough and impartial investigation at this time than the one here introduced. All Bible subjects are important; but the fact that we are living in the time when this proclamation is going forth, together with the fact that this is the most solemn warning, accompanied with the most fearful threatening that the pen of inspiration has recorded, renders it doubly so. God's word has not elsewhere recorded the warning against the worship of the beast and the reception of his mark. In no other place does the Bible threaten men with the unmixed wine of the wrath of God. This message alone records the fearful announcement that its rejecters shall be "tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb." In this message there are three prominent points: 1. A warning against the worship of the beast, and the reception of his mark. 2. The unmixed wine of the wrath of God is brought to view to be poured out on those who reject this warning, and 3. Those who receive, and heed, this warning, are introduced as those who "keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." To the first of these points we call attention in this discourse. The fact that we are warned against the worship of the beast and the reception of his mark, is all-efficient proof that there is great danger of our being guilty of the sin here specified. God does not give his warnings when they are not needed. He did not warn Adam of the flood, or Noah of the destruction of Jerusalem, nor would he in mercy give us this warning, were there no danger now of our worshiping the beast. In order that we may know whether we are worshipers of the beast or not, we inquire, What is the worship of the beast, and what the reception of his mark? It is objected by some that we cannot tell; that there are various opinions respecting it, and we cannot decide which is correct, or whether all are wrong. To this we answer, Then we cannot tell whether we are servants of God or of the beast; for we never can decide whether we are worshipers of the beast until we can learn what the worship of the beast is. If then our search after the worship of the beast is to be but a fruitless chase after an ignis fatuus, we must conclude that our Bibles are imperfect, that God has given us a warning, threatening us with "wrath without mixture" if we do not obey, and yet giving us no rule by which to determine whether we are receiving and obeying the warning or not. Whatever sin may be characterized as the worship of the beast, it is evident that it is a sin universally practiced; that it is one of which the whole world will at some time be guilty. In Rev. xiii, 3, we find the whole world "wondering after the beast," and in verse 8 we read, "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." See also Rev. xvii, 8. If we allow the above testimonies to have any weight in making up our decisions, we must conclude that beast-worship is so near universal, that the time is not far distant when all, except those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life, will be engaged in it. It has been suggested that persons in receiving sprinkling as baptism instead of immersion, receive the mark of the beast, and thus prove themselves to be his worshipers. But this cannot be; for it never was, and never will be true, that all except true Christians receive sprinkling as a religious ordinance. Some have advocated the idea that the sign of the cross is the mark of the beast. But this position is exposed to the same objection as the other. It is not true that all except true Christians receive the sign of the cross. If that be the mark of the beast, the whole host of infidels, Spiritualists, and non-professors, are not beast-worshipers; and we must therefore, on this ground, conclude that their names are written in the Lamb's book of life. The worship of the beast is in our text placed in opposition to the keeping of the commandments of God. In the message, the warning is first given against the worship of the beast, and the awful consequences of rejecting the warning are foretold; after which the angel seems to look back with a degree of satisfaction upon the ground over which he has gone, and exclaims, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." The company thus described are evidently those who have heeded his warning. Again, those who worship the beast, worship him because their names are not written in the Lamb's book of life, Rev. xiii, 8, while those who keep the commandments of God, keep them in order that they may "have right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. xxii, 14. In Rev. xiv, there are two marks or names brought to view. 1. In verses 1-4 a company are introduced having the Lamb's "Father's name written in their foreheads." 2. In verses 9-12 we are warned against receiving the mark, or name, of the beast in our foreheads or in our right hands. So there are two classes of worshipers: one that worships the beast, and one that worships God by keeping his commandments and the faith of his Son. This being true, we shall, in order to assist us in our investigation of the mark of the beast, first inquire, WHAT IS THE MARK OF THE LIVING GOD?
It may be well, before entering directly upon the investigation of this question, to show that the terms, "seal," "name," "mark," "sign," and "token," are synonymous—that whatever may be affirmed in truth of one of these, may as truly be affirmed of either of the others. If the reader will take the trouble to examine Webster's Dictionary he will find, among the definitions of the term, seal, the following: "To set or affix a seal, as a mark of authenticity;" "to confirm, to ratify, to establish." Sign, according to the same authority, signifies, "a token," or "a mark." Token is defined, "a sign, mark, memorial, to make known," &c. But Webster is not with us the highest authority on this point. Rev. vii, 1-4. "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. And I heard the number of them which were sealed; and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." Now by comparing Rev. xiv, 1-4, with the above, it will be seen that the same 144,000 are introduced, "having the Father's name written in their foreheads." In Rev. vii, the seal of the living God is placed in their foreheads lest they should be hurt by the judgments there described. In Eze. ix, the same hurting process is brought to view under a different figure. There six men are represented as drawing near with "slaughter weapons," or "weapons for breaking to pieces" (margin), in their hands; but they are not permitted to do their work of destruction until the "man with a writer's inkhorn by his side" goes through the city and sets "a mark upon the foreheads of all the men that sigh, and that cry, for all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof." Then the men with the slaughter weapons receive their commission to slay utterly all except those upon whom is the mark. See verse 6. The slaying here, we understand to be the same as the "wine of the wrath of God," in Rev. xiv, 9. That sign, and seal, are synonymous, we prove by Rom. iv, 11. "And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised." In Gen. xvii, 11, the Lord says, "I have given thee circumcision for a token of the covenant." We now come to the question, What is the sign, or seal of the living God? The sign of a power is something connected with the name, which shows the authority of such power, and by which those under it are secured from deception which could otherwise be practiced upon them. Every power, from the smallest town officer up to the President of the United States, has his seal; and that sign is generally connected with the name of the one having the power thus signified, signed in his own hand-writing. To illustrate: Suppose that John Smith, a justice of the peace, issues a warrant for James Strong, who is to be brought to justice for some crime; this warrant authorizes George Jones, the constable, to bring James Strong to the office of John Smith, immediately, to be tried for the crime specified in the warrant. But being a novice in the business he forgets to put the seal of his office to the warrant, and simply signs the name John Smith. What is the result? We answer, the document is illegal, although issued by one duly chosen to the office; it has no more authority than if no name were attached to it. If simply signing the name of the justice of the peace rendered the warrant authoritative, almost any one could render it so, for there are but few but that could write the name, John Smith. Indeed, there are many John Smiths in the world, all of whom have a perfect right to use the name, but have no right to use the sign connected with the name which shows that a certain John Smith is justice of the peace. Thus we trust all see the necessity of a seal, even of this small office. To extend our illustration to a larger scale, we will say that any law, or edict, to be authoritative, must have a seal, which is a sign of the authority of the one issuing such document. For instance: the President of the United States finds that at this time (August, 1863) Gen. Gilmore's forces at Charleston, S. C., are in a perilous situation; that the general must be reinforced immediately, or his army will be cut to pieces and he will not succeed in capturing the seat of the rebellion; hence he issues an order to Gen. Grant to send re-enforcements to Gen. Gilmore immediately, but in his haste forgets to sign the order officially, and simply signs it, Abraham Lincoln. Gen. Grant would not dare to obey the order, and why not? Because there may be a number of Abraham Lincolns, and it does not tell us which of the Abraham Lincolns is its author. But let him add to this order, "President of the United States," and affix the seal of government, and it will be obeyed. This addition is the sign of his authority. It tells who Abraham Lincoln is: he is President. It gives us the boundaries of his jurisdiction: the United States. Hence it must be obeyed. Now the question arises, Is the living God less jealous of his name and authority than the President of the United States is of his? or, has he a mark or seal connected with his name by which his loyal subjects can be secured against impostors? If the Bible had remained silent upon this point, we should decide from the nature of the case that he has. But the word of God has spoken so definitely that we cannot misunderstand it. "And I saw an angel ascending from the east having the seal of the living God." Or, as rendered by others, "the sign of the living God." Rev. vii, 2. It has already been shown that the seal must be in the laws or decrees of the power thus signified, and that it usually comes in connection with the name of the one having the power, signed in his own hand-writing. Hence we must expect to find the seal of the living God in his law, and if any part of that law has been given in his own handwriting, that part must contain it. Alexander Campbell never made a more truthful remark than when he said, "The law of ten commandments is the only instrument ever given in the handwriting of Jehovah." The above being true, we must look for the seal of the living God in the ten commandments. John says, "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that said, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." 1 John ii, 3, 4.