"And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father's name in their foreheads."-Revelation 14:1
This Bible study will explore the wonderful truths of God's Word concerning the Seal of the Living God which is to be written in the foreheads of every disciple of Christ.
"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 not the sea, not on any tree. 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 seam not the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads."Revelation 7:1-3
John the Revelator is shown a scene in heaven, four angels holding back the four winds (see Jer 51:1) till the servants of the living God can have His seal written in their foreheads. What is written in the forehead of the Saints?
"And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, (Rev 7:4) having His Father's name written in their foreheads."Revelation 14:1
What does it mean to have the Father's name written in the forehead? the Father has many names, Jehova Jira, Elohim, Jahova Nisi, YWHV, many names can be applied to the Father... and for what purpose would God write His name in our foreheads?
To answer this question we must ask another question, what is the actual name of God? Yes He has many names to describe His character, but surely we must be able to show from scripture that He has a name which can here be applied as being written in the foreheads of the saints.
"And he (Moses) said, 'I beseech thee, show me thy glory.' And He (God) said, 'I will make My goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.' And He said, 'Thou canst not see My face: for there shall no man see Me and live.'"Exodus 33:18
Woa! Did God just say He was going to tell Moses His name?!? Well, what does He say? This will answer our question.
"And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him, and proclaimed the name of the Lord, 'The Lord the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generation.'"
Exodus 34:5-7
Wow! Did you see that, the Lord just said that His name is "Merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth..." What does that mean exactly? Well, this is where it gets exciting, God's name is His character! If God's name is His character, than does that mean His character is written in the foreheads of the saints? Wow, that is really wonderful, but what is the Seal of the living God?
If God's name is His character, what is a reflection of his character that was given unto man?
The Ten Commandments are just such a reflection of God's character, let's see a comparison....
this chart courtesy of tencommandments.org displays many of the examples where God's law and God's character are revealed to reflect one another.
The law of God is a reflection of His character, but what does that mean for us?
"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put My laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."-Heb 10:16,17
God has promised to write His law upon the heart of His servants, meaning that we will have a totally changed character. God will shine through us to put His Holy character on display. God's character, His law is being written into the forehead of His saints, God wants us to be holy just as He is holy. The Lord has given each of us this amazing light, but there is more to the issue.
What aspect of the Ten Commandments exactly is the seal of the commandments? There is one commandment in particular. Think about it, what aspects do a seal need to have?
- the name of the sealer (they mean nothing if you don't know who is doing the sealing)
- the title of the sealer (the title gives authority)
- the jurisdiction of which they have authority
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, 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, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it."
-Exodus 20:8-11
As you can see the sabbath has all the neccessary attributes of a king's seal
- the name (The Lord thy God)
- the title (Creator of heaven and earth)
- the jurisdiction (heaven, earth, the sea, the sky, basically the universe is all His jurisdiction)
Furthermore, was this the first mention of the sabbath? Not at all! The sabbath is mentioned in Exodus 16 when God's people are reproved for not keeping true to the seventh-day sabbath (Exo 16:23-29)
The fourth commandment is the only one prefaced with the word "Remember" but why? Obviously God wants us to remember them all, otherwise why write them with His own finger onto tables of stone? Yet He gives them special instruction to remember this one, that is because this one can be traced back to the very beginning. The first sabbath was in-fact the seventh day of earth's history, when God Himself rested from His work of creation. This separates the ten commandments from the rest of the decalogue, in that the Ten Commandements point back to creation, the Mosaic law (feasts, fasts, and sanctuary service) pointed forward to Christ and therefore was nailed to the cross (Colo 2:14) These were also called "sabbaths" but these were not the weekly Sabbath, these were not the Sabbath that God established at creation.
Where does the Bible say that the Sabbath is God's seal?
"Moreover I also gave them My sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them."
"And hallow My sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you that you may know that I am the Lord your God."-Ezekiel 20:12,20
God declares through the prophet what His sign is, and what does the Bible say that a "sign" is?
"And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also."Romans 4:11
God declares through Paul that a sign and a mark are interchangeable terms in scripture. The sign of God being the Sabbath making the Sabbath His divine Mark, or seal.
This is not just the keeping of the seventh-day of the week, this is having the commandments written in your heart, and realizing that you cannot do it on your own, that even the sabbath you cannot keep unless you rely wholly on Christ. But that said, with Christ all is possible (Phil 4:13) we can keep the Sabbath with Christ in our hearts and be sealed by His righteousness.
New Testament References
I am going to put just a few of the important places in which the New Testament talks about the Sabbath.
"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day."
-Matt 24:20
Jesus talking about the fall of Jerusalem about 70 years after the cross of Calvary councils His disciples to flee from the falling city, but to remember the sabbath and not to violate it in the process of their flight.
"The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath."-Mark 2:27,28
Jesus declares Himself Lord of the sabbath, making the sabbath and not the first day of the week the Lord's day.
This in particular quote comes at an interesting point, the pharisees accuse Jesus' disciples of sabbath-breaking. Jesus responds not by saying that the sabbath doesn't matter, He says the opposite! First He calls out the fact that the pharisees had added on their own man made requirements to the sabbath which made it a burden, He does this by pointing out that the way the Law was written it was to be a benefit, and not a curse to keep the sabbath. He declares that the sabbath was made for man, not just Jews, referring to the fact that 2300 years before there was ever a "Jew" the sabbath was given to Adam, and kept by God. Then He crowns His argument by declaring Himself the Lord of the sabbath, meaning that not only is the sabbath the Lord's day, but Jesus is the maker of the sabbath and the one who gives the sabbath its meaning.
"And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day."-Luke 4:16
Jesus kept the Sabbath, and in Acts 17:2 Paul did as well.
In Conclusion
As Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." John 15:10 When we love Christ and let Him into the heart to write His law there, then there is nothing we won't do for Him. Let us all be numbered with the saints who "Keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Rev 12:17
Dearly beloved reader, take the Seal of God upon yourself, and accept His very character into your heart and mind, to do the work He has for you. Praise God for the Words of Truth. May You be blessed by the Words of Truth.
If you have any questions about this article please e-mail me at hugheskevin117@gmail.com.
God bless you and may His Holy Ghost be with you in your studies of His Word.
