The
Marked and the Sealed
Revelation
13, Verse 16, parts c & d
r13h
13:16c
Two final groups:
the marked and the sealed
"And he
causeth all . . . to receive a mark. . . ." (Rev. 13:16)
In the final conflict between
good and evil at the coming of Christ, everyone will be in one of two groups,
the righteous and the wicked. In my study of the Bible, I find no get-ready-later
group. We can see this in the story of the wheat and the tares (weeds).
"Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven
is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men
slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared
the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him,
Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it
tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto
him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest
while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let
both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will
say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in
bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn." (Matt. 13:24-30)
Image from
an old book.
At the time the wheat is gathered
into the safety of the barn, the tares are already bound ready to be burned.
They will make covenants, such as in labor unions, at the price of conscience
and liberty for all. Before this time, no wheat is gathered from among
the tares and no tares are uprooted. In another parable, the woman left
grinding at the mill is never said to be taken into the safety of the ark
(See Matt. 24:37 to end of chapter; and see Luke 17:36, 37). Jesus will
deal with the two groups of people when he comes. Here is how it was shown
to the Apostle John:
"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 another angel came
out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And
another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried
with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy
sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her
grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth,
and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress
of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and
blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space
of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." (Rev. 14:14-20) Also see
on these verses.
Two classes
Just before this passage
about the grain and the grapes, the righteous and the wicked are represented
as those with the mark of the beast who receive the full wrath of God (vs.
9, 10) and as the saints who endure (v. 12). We will look closely at these
passages when we get to them in our study. At the beginning of chapter
7 we saw the two classes as the sealed ones and the earth, sea, and trees
who were to be hurt by the four winds.
"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)
In comparing this passage
with the one describing the mark of the beast, we find the two final classes
as the righteous, identified by the seal of God, and the wicked, by the
mark of the beast. Because the prophecies of Revelation are in symbols,
we think of what a seal or a mark might represent. The fact that the mark
is called such indicates that it a kind of identification. In other words,
everyone can know who has the mark. The word "seal" does not represent
the same degree of observable clarity but everyone will finally know because
the sealed ones will not have the mark. We would not expect the seal and
the mark to be visible like a star or a "666" tattooed in the forehead.
Malachi describes the time when righteous and wicked will be clearly identified.
"Then they that feared the
LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it,
and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the
LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the
LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them,
as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and
discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth
God and him that serveth him not. (Mal. 3:16-18).
We have read several precious
passages of Scripture and have seen that the mark is a mark of identification.
Earlier we realized that both the mark and the seal are symbols of loyalty.
When we pick up again, we will look at the seal of God. Then we can more
easily understand its counterfeit in the mark. One day the evil and the
sorrow of this old earth will be over. We can be among those who abide
eternally in Christ.
13:16d
A sign in the
forehead or the hand
Remember
to pray as you read the Word.
"And he causeth all . .
. to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads." (Rev.
13:16)
The hand of those who rebel
by their behavior is marked. The forehead is marked for those who rebel
by their decisions or motives. Compare Zech.
5:4.
Standing as the alternative to the
beast's mark is God's seal. Let's look at what we know about the seal in
order to recognize the counterfeit.
"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)
This statement doesn't exactly
say what the seal is but we can learn quite a bit. First the winds are
going to damage the whole earth. I hadn't noticed before that they are
the "winds of the earth." The earth is the domain of the beast from the
earth which sets up the image to the first beast, bringing on the mark
of the beast. We may thus expect the winds to be the trouble brought on
by the beast and the image. The earth and the sea which the winds will
hurt are the domains of the earth people and the sea people, those who
follow the beast from the earth and the beast from the sea.
Who then are the trees? Since
we have sea beast and earth beast, our first guess is that the trees are
the people or place of the dragon. But trees just don't seem to fit that
picture. Because the winds are held until the righteous are sealed, we
may infer that the righteous are being protected. Might the trees represent
this group?
"Blessed is the man that
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law
of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall
be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his
fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he
doeth shall prosper." (Ps. 1:1-3)
Ah, this fits better. The
"servants of our God," in the vision of the angels holding the winds, are
sealed in their commitment. They are like the tree planted by the waters.
The prosperity mentioned in the last clause I see as spiritual and, in
a sense, material. The behavior of those who meditate day and night on
the divine instruction does not spoil their spiritual prosperity. They
cannot be moved.
"He only is my rock and my
salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved. . . . my refuge, is
in God." (Ps. 62:6, 7)
Notice that the four angels
are commissioned to "hurt the earth and the sea," the homes of those who
follow the beasts from those locations. They have no command to hurt the
trees. This strengthens our identification of the trees as the righteous
ones. The winds would certainly blow on followers of the dragon, too, but
this group is not directly part of the picture in Revelation at the point
of establishing the image. These people are perhaps included with worshippers
of the sea beast since it inherited characteristics of the dragon (Rev.
13:2).
The seal signifies loyalty
to God just like the mark identifies those loyal to the beast. In our last
study we saw how the marks in forehead and hand are patterned after God's
requirement for His Old Testament people to remain faithful in their hands
and minds — behavior and thinking.
These ideas are developed
from Deuteronomy 6:5-8 and Exodus 13:9.
Sign of love
for God
Loving God with the whole
heart and soul is symbolized by the sign between the eyes. Loving Him with
all the might is having the sign in the hand. We saw how the passage in
Deuteronomy came in the context of Moses' restatement of the ten commandments
along with mention of other specific requirements for the time. The first
four commandments require loyalty to God and the last six, loyalty to other
humans (". . . and thy neighbor as thyself," Luke 10:27). Let's look at
the first four in summary form:
I Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
II
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any
thing . . . . Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.
. . .
III
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain. . . .
IV
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour.
. . . But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou
shalt not do any work. . . . 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. (Ex. 20:3-11)
Notice that commandments 2
and 4 directly require faithfulness in head and hand.
II
You may not bow down to an image (forehead / worship)
You may not serve an image (hand / behavior)
IV You
must keep the Sabbath holy (forehead / worship)
You may not work on the Sabbath (hand / behavior)
Actually these two commandments
are expansions of the ones that precede them (I and III). Image worship
(II) is having other gods (I), and neglecting the Sabbath (IV) is taking
the Lord's name in vain (III). Let me explain. The fourth commandment gives
God's name — the one who created everything. If we fail to acknowledge
God, neglecting worship on the day that bears His name as creator, we are
taking that name in vain.
Satan wants our worship.
He said, "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like
the most High." (Isa. 14:14). These first four commandments protect us
from falling into His trap and receiving the mark of his beast.
In chapter 9, we see an evil
king with a name in two languages. We compare this to classes of people
who receive the mark for two different reasons 0911.
The mark of Cain
There
are good reasons why the Holy Spirit had John describe following the false
religious power as a mark. Remember that the end time conflict will be
between the dragon and the remnant of the woman's seed r12w
— or here in chapter 13, between beast plus image and all who refuse the
mark. This conflict will thus be all the forces of evil against the small
group who are determined to remain faithful to God. Read the story of the
first conflict between the righteous and the wicked. It's the account of
Cain slaying Abel in Genesis 4. God separated Cain from His presence and
placed a mark on him!
Satan's attack
on the seal
It is interesting that the
second and fourth commandments were specifically set aside as the church
that had begun with Christ and the apostles gradually adopted the concepts
of Paganism. This apostasy had been predicted (Acts
20:29, 30; Rev.
2:2-5; Jude 3;
2
Thess. 2:3).
As the Protestant reformers
gradually discovered living by faith (Rom.
1:17; Hab. 2:4) and
other forgotten truths of the word of God, their followers discontinued
image worship among other things. For the most part, however, the Sabbath
commandment is still obscured by tradition. Various reasons are given for
Sunday worship which I'll leave you to think about, or see the page of
links to the topic. I appreciate
your patience in allowing me to share how I read the Scriptures.
As I understand our chapter,
the beast from the earth has not yet set up the image. We know that no
religious power has commanded, on pain of death or economic isolation,
that everyone believe or worship something (mark in the forehead) or do
something (mark in the hand) to show loyalty. Obviously, until that happens,
no one will have the mark of the beast. I have shared what I see as the
Biblical evidence for identifying the mark of the beast, and I have hinted
about what I believe it will be. As religious and political forces begin
to demand more and more from us, we can go to Revelation 13 and ask for
the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Then we will know.
May we each pray for the
sealing power of the Holy Spirit to help us be loyal day by day like trees
planted in Jesus Christ by the rivers of water (Ps. 1)!
