The Seal of God has provoked much speculation by Christians over the years, and some bizarre ideas have been proffered as they try to explain what it is.

To begin to answer the question, we need to understand what an ancient seal was and its purpose.  “Now, O, king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be changed” (Dan 6:8).  “That is, affix the signature of royalty, that it may have the proper authority, and thus be of force.  Anciently it was customary for kings to use a ring, containing their name, initials, or monogram, for this purpose.  Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, ‘wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal’ (1 Kings 21:8).  Of the decree issued under Ahasuerus for the slaying of all the Jews throughout the Persian Empire, it is said that ‘in the name of King Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring’ (Esther 3:2)”.

To be complete, an official seal must show these three things:

• The name of the lawgiver
• His official position, title, or authority, and thus his right to rule
• His kingdom, or the extent of his dominion and jurisdiction
• Thus, ‘Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States’; ‘George IV King of Great Britain’; ‘Nicholas II, Czar of Russia’.

The seal of God, therefore, consists of these three elements which are delineated in scripture; namely: “Bind up the testimony, seal THE LAW among my disciples (Isa 8:16)”.

The first commandment shows who the author of the law is: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me (Ex 20:3)”.

Who the “me” here spoken of is, the commandment does not state.  Such a prohibition might come from any source.  Any heathen could claim it as a command from his god, and, so far as the commandment itself goes, no one could disprove his claim.

This applies also to the second, third, fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth and tenth commandment; these do not indicate who the author of the Decalogue is.  Indeed, the name of God is not even mentioned in the last five commandments.

The only commandment of the Decalogue which reveals the true God and Author of the law is the fourth commandment: ^“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, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 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 20:8-11).

Thefourthcommandment alone reveals the name, authority and dominion of the Author of this law.  In six days, (1) the Lord (name); (2) made (office, Creator); (3) heaven and earth (dominion).  This commandment alone, therefore, contains “the seal of the living God”.  By what is revealed in this commandment is shown which God is referred to in the other commandments.  By the great truth revealed here all other gods are shown to be false gods.  The Sabbath commandment, therefore, contains the seal of God; and the Sabbath itself, the observance of which is enjoined by the commandment, is inseparably connected with this seal; it is to be kept in memory of the fact that God is the Creator of all things; and is itself called a ‘sign’ of the knowledge of this great truth (see Ex 31:17; Eze 20:20).

God gave the Sabbath as an everlasting sign between him and His people: “It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed” (Ex 31:17).

Thus, we see that the Sabbath is the sign, or mark, or seal, of the true God, the Creator.  And when his people hallow the Sabbath, they have assurance that God is their God: “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” (Eze 20:20).

But not only is the Sabbath the sign of the knowledge of God as Creator, it is a reminder that God sanctifies his people: “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” (Ex 31:13).

The Sabbath is the great sign of God’s creative power wherever and however manifested, whether in creation or redemption; for redemption is creation – re-creation.  It requires the same power to redeem that it does to create.  “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Ps 51:10).  “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Eph 2:10).  At each recurrence of the Sabbath, God designs that it shall call him to mind as the One who created us, and whose grace and sanctifying power are working in us to fit us for his eternal kingdom.

A Special Sealing Work just before God pours out his judgments on earth

“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” (Rev 7:1-4; 14:1).

“He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.  And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.  And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.  And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house” (Eze 9:1-6).

The seal of God and the Father’s name must refer to the same thing.  The seal is the sign or stamp of perfection.  And the Sabbath of God, kept as God ordained it to be kept, holy, and in holiness, is a sign of this same thing – perfection of character.  When this seal is finally placed upon God’s people, it will be evidence that his grace and his sanctifying power have done their work, and fitted them for heaven.  In the world to come, all will keep the Sabbath,and will therefore have this seal or mark of sanctification, holiness, and perfection of character. (Isa 66:22, 23).

These sealed ones are seen as being faultless before God (Rev 14:5).  They are the remnant church, so called because they obey God and keep his holy law: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Rev 14:12).

Of those who do not have the seal of God by hallowing the seventh-day Sabbath, the third angel gives them a dire warning: “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” (Rev 14:9-10).

The beast represents the Papacy; the image to the beast represents another ecclesiastical body dominating civil power.  And over against the seal of God stands the mark of the beast, the mark of apostasy.  Against this false and idolatrous worship and the reception of this mark, God sends this solemn warning.

But there is another Power, mentioned in chapter 13, who is to enforce this mark: “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads” (Rev 13:16).

Note: The two-horned beast is understood to represent the United States of America.  As this nation repudiates her principles of civil and religious liberty, and becomes a persecuting power, other nations will follow her example in oppressing those who refuse to yield their allegiance to God.

The following is a direct quote from “Bible Readings for the Home Circle” with reference to our subject.

“15.  What does the papacy set forth as the mark, or sign, of its power and authority?

‘Question – How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?

‘Answer – By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of. ‘Abridgement of Christian Doctrine’ by Rev Henry Tuberville, D.D., page 58.’”  

In a letter written in November, 1895, Mr H. F. Thomas, chancellor to Cardinal Gibbons, replying to an inquiry as to whether the Catholic Church claims to have changed the Sabbath, said, ‘Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act….and the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things’. 

The true Sabbath being a sign of loyalty to the true God, it is but natural that the false sabbath should be regarded as a sign of allegiance to apostasy.  And such we find to be the case”.  End quote.

“And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God” (Rev 15:2).

The Catholic Church says of the observance of Sunday by Protestants: “The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the Catholic Church” (Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today by Monsignor Segur, p. 213).

The statement made here is true, and a full realisation of the fact will lead those who honestly, but ignorantly, have heretofore been observing Sunday as the Sabbath, to refuse longer to pay homage to apostasy, and return to the observance of that which is the sign of loyalty to heaven – the only weekly day of rest which God, in His Word, has commanded men to keep holy, the seventh day.

But the dragon’s attitude toward the remnant who keep the commandments of God will be furious: “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev 12:17).

This false worship and enforcement of the mark will be strongly urged: “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Rev 13:15-17).

But the remnant people of God will finally gain the victory: “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God” (Rev 15:2).

This article is taken from “Bible Readings for the Home Circle”.  It is a rework of a largely catechism-format to prose, of the above-named chapter by which this article is titled, p. 446-450.

Bible Readings for the Home Circle, New Edition, Revised and Enlarged, 1921, Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington DC.