We read in, Revelation 7:2-3;
‘Then
I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living
God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given
power to harm the land and the sea: Do not harm the land or the sea or
the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.’
This is a parallel to Mt 24:31, “His
angels shall gather together His elect from the four winds.”
God’s love is such, that He cannot do anything in
the way of judgment until His people are secured from hurt. The angel of the Lord said to Lot when he came
to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and to save him in Genesis 19:22;
“But
flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town
was called Zoar.)
The design of sealing the persons referred to seems
to have been to secure their safety in the impending calamities. Thus, the
winds were held back until those who were to be sealed could be designated, and
then they were to be allowed to sweep over the earth.
There is also an allusion here to Ezekiel 9:4-6:
“Go
throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of
those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in
it.” As I listened, he said to the
others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or
compassion. Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do
not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began
with the elders who were in front of the temple.””
This mark is the witness of the Holy Spirit printed
in the hearts of believers. And the Lord would not let His people to be
afflicted before they were marked. And of those who are sealed by the Holy Spirit,
the seal must be on the forehead.
The seal was also a mark of ownership. The seal of
God on the forehead would mark those sealed at God’s. The seal mark on the
forehead would be visible to everyone; therefore the seal in the forehead has
been understood to be the public confession and profession of Christ.
Christ has the Spirit, with His gifts and graces,
without measure, by which the saints are sealed unto the day of redemption; and
moreover has likewise the seal of the book of life, or of eternal election, in
His hands; the elect are chosen in Him, and the Book of Life, in
which their names are written to eternal life, is in His keeping, and is
therefore called the Lamb’s Book of Life.
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