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Sealing of the 144,000

Rev.7:

1: 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. 2: 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, 3: Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. 4: 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.

After reading this passage the first question that comes to mind is: What is the Seal of God? According to the dictionary, a seal is a legal instrument, a device that makes a ratifying impression on wax or some other receptive substance to prove that it is genuine. The word 'seal' in this context is synonymous with an owner's name, his signature, his sign, his stamp, his brand or identification mark.

Yahweh's Seal, in other words, represents His name, His signature, His stamp of ownership, the ratifying sign He seeks to place in the foreheads of His followers. The forehead represents the mind, the seat of a person's intellect, allegiance and faith. We are told in this chapters 7 and 14 that 144,000 believer's will accept the Father's Seal or Name in their foreheads. This means they will willingly accept Yahweh's ratifying seal in their minds. They will believe it, remember it, bear it in mind and be willing to live by it. Obviously they will be moved to this high degree of acceptance by the Holy Spirit. But do not make the mistake of supposing that the Holy Spirit is God's Seal, because He isn't. A believer is sealed by the Holy Spirit with the Seal of God, just as a sheep is marked by a shepherd with a special mark. But the shepherd is not the mark any more than the Holy Spirit is the seal.

The Holy Spirit of God is the Agent who does the sealing, but the Holy Spirit is not the Seal. What, then, is the Seal or Sign of Yahweh the God of Israel? To find out we will again resort to that reliable guideline of allowing the scriptures to interpret themselves. When we do this we find that Yahweh's Seal, the identifying sign he places in the minds of followers is His LAW. Yes, the law of God is the Almighty's seal and the Sabbath commandment in His law is the unique, ratifying SIGN (signature) the Almighty places in the minds of His followers, to signify to the universe that they are His special people.

In other words, God's people are to be signed and sealed with obedience. Here is proof of this astonishing fact.

Isaiah 8:	16 Bind up the testimony, says God, seal the law among my disciples.
Hebrews 8:	10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
Exodus 31:	13: Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a SIGN between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
Ezekiel 20:	12: Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a SIGN between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. … 20: And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.
Exodus 13:	9: And it shall be for a SIGN unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.
Hebrews 10:	16: 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;

These texts clearly prove that Yahweh's law, and the Sabbath commandment in His law, constitutes the identifying seal and signature He places in the minds of His followers. Consequently, when a believer remembers them, bears them in mind and keeps the Almighty's commandments, especially His Sabbath commandments, he/she is in effect declaring to the universe that Yahweh, the God of Israel, is his/her Father. And what, you may well ask, are the Almighty's Sabbath commandments?

The answer is:

• They are the True Weekly Sabbath recorded in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11)
• And the Seven Annual Sabbaths mentioned in Leviticus chapter 23. Together with the true seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday), these annual Sabbath days constitute the signature (sign) of Yahweh, the Creator of the universe.

If you would like to know more about the Sabbaths of the Almighty and about the Sacred Calendar which He is currently using to organise His work, write to us for our free booklet entitled The Sacred Calendar of the God of Israel.

When , you may well ask, does the sealing of the 144,000 take place? The answer is, the sealing begins shortly after the 6th seal and finishes just before the 7th seal. Indeed, the events of the 7th seal (the hurting of the earth, the sea and the trees etc.) are held up till the sealing of the 144,000 is finished,

Rev.7:

1 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. 2: 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, 3: Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

The four winds which are scheduled to hurt the earth, the sea and the trees are not merely physical winds like hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons etc. They are far more than that. These 'winds' also represent the enormous spiritual authority and power angel or spirit-beings possess. Spirit-beings are themselves often referred to in the Scriptures as 'winds' and even the work of God's Spirit is likened to a 'wind.'

John 3:

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

The four angels are granted authority to hurt, that is to wreck havoc upon the earth, the sea, the trees and the grass once the sealing of the 144,000 is finished. And in measured onslaughts of destruction that is exactly what we will find them doing at the 7th seal. See Trumpets 1 to 3 later.

The Innumerable Multitude

It is not specified in chapter 7 whether or not these believers accept the Almighty's Seal at the same time as do the 144,000. But this much is certain, they will eventually all come around to keeping the commandments of God; and that includes the keeping of His weekly and annual Sabbath days. Here is proof of this amazing fact:

Rev.7:

13: And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14: And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15: Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 16: They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17: For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

Note the words, these are they which came out of the great tribulation. These believers, in other words go through the tribulation or at least part of it. We are expressly told that they shall hunger and thirst no more, implying that they had already experienced hunger and thirst during the tribulation. Remember this important point.

The prophecy goes on to say that they washed their robes. What does this mean? It means that through the merits and power of the blood (life) of the Saviour these believers now begin to keep the commandments. The figurative phrase 'wash their robes' in chapter 7 is translated 'do the commandments' in Revelation 22.14. The innumerable host, in other words, will begin to keep the commandments of God. They will clean up their lives (wash their robes) by bringing them into line with the high and holy standards of Yahweh's law.

If this multitude hadn't accepted the claims of God's law at the time of the sealing, they will most certainly do so shortly after during the tribulation. That is what these Scriptures are impliedly saying.

The Blood of the Lamb

As the old hymn POWER IN THE BLOOD puts it:

Note that the innumerable multitude of blood-washed believers is not in heaven at the moment. Nor will they be caught away to heaven before the great tribulation, as some suppose. We are plainly told in verses 14-17 that they will come out of the great tribulation after having experienced hunger, thirst and the great heat of the sun. And only after that terrible time, after they have washed their robes (begun to keep the commandments) will they stand before the throne of God. Then it shall come to pass that God will wipe away all tears from their eyes and the Lamb shall lead them to fountains of living waters. The word shall is repeated several times in this passage and it clearly places the fulfilment of this part of the prophecy after the great tribulation.

In view of these texts, and there are others, there is obviously no truth in the popular theory about the church being secretly caught away to heaven before the tribulation. In this chapter we can plainly see that an innumerable host of Gentile believers will be on earth during the tribulation. See The Secret Rapture

Summary of Chapter 7.

1. The chapter briefly tells of that unique, end-time work of God the sealing work.
2. The sealing work will begin after the fearsome events of the 6th seal have occurred: that is, after the great earthquake, after the sun is darkened, after the mountains and the islands have moved, and after the sky is rolled back as a scroll and after world-wide panic overtakes the peoples of the world. (Rev. 6:12-17)
3. The sealing work must however be finished before the 7th seal starts: that is, before the four angels begin to hurt the earth, the sea and the trees. (Rev. 7:1-3)
4. The Seal of Yahweh the Almighty God of Israel is His law, and the Sabbath days in His law represent His signature. They are the divine, identifying SIGN of sanctification which the Holy Spirit places in the minds of believers willing to obey Him. (Eze. 20:12 & 20, Isa. 8:16)
5. 144,000 believers accept Yahweh's Seal in their minds. They are Israelites, but some Gentile believers willing to obey the Almighty's commandments are numbered among them. (Rev. 7 and Romans 11:17-24)
6. The innumerable multitude from all nations will suffer hunger, thirst and scorching heat of the sun during the great tribulation. But they will eventually come out of it and wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb. That is, they too will begin to keep the commandments of God and will accomplish this seemingly impossible feat by the life-giving power of the Son of God.
7. At the end of the great tribulation they will stand in the presence of the Almighty. And then God will wipe away all tears from their eyes. (Rev. 7:13-17)
   

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