Which is more important to us, The seal of God, or the mark of the beast?

Have you noticed that the Bbile calls the Ten Commandments the Covenant? Hebrew scholars tell us that the language of the Commandments are the language of a covenant and not a prohiition.

In the middle of this covenant you have the expression "Remeber" That is part of the covenant. Within this covenant with our Creator we serve no other gods, we worship on no other day, we do not steal or speak an untruth. So in this covenant you keep the seventh-day Sabbath and no other day, neither the first nor the sixth day of the week.

Legalism will deministh the importance of the this covenant by making it merely a set of "Thou shalt nots" in order to gain salvation.

When our friends, Lea and Gudmundur Olafsson, dropped by a coupe of days ago this was the gist of our conversation. Before they left Lea reminded us that it was when Gudmundur was my student back in 1954-5 and I wrote some words in Greek and Hebrew on the blackboard, that he hearc a voice from behind telliing him that this was to be his special study, so he went far ahead and became a teacher of Old Testament at Newbold College and at Pacific Union College. We had gone through this before and it is a blessing each time we renew this covenant idea.

Amen! A Covenant of do's and don'ts. "The law of God existed before the creation of man or else Adam could not have sinned. After the transgression of Adam the principles of the law were not changed, but were definitely arranged and expressed to meet man in his fallen condition. Christ, in counsel with His Father, instituted the system of sacrificial offerings; that death, instead of being immediately visited upon the transgressor, should be transferred to a victim which should prefigure the great and perfect offering of the Son of God. {1SM 230.1}

It is evident from your opening question that you are viewing the issue from Revelation's perspective: the seal of God vs the mark of the beast. Then you needlessly digressed to turn the seal of God into the fourth commandment of the Decalogue. Revelation tells you what the seal of God is: THE NAME OF GOD (Rev. 14:1 cf Rev. 7:3-4). And the mark of the beast is THE NAME OF THE BEAST: "they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." (Rev. 14:11) It is the converse of and competing sign to that of God. To turn these two emblems into what they are not, is to prophecy falsely.

And they are NOT literal letters on foreheads, but are symbolic of two groups of people who are called by one name or the other. Those that belong to Jesus Christ are called Christians and manifest the character of God versus those who do not and manifest instead the character of Satan, the Dragon (just as the beast looks, speaks and behaves like his sponsor and enabler, Rev. 13:1 cf Rev. 12:3). This is not a warfare of Catholics against SDA, but the spirit of death against the spirit of life, pride against humility, discipline against mercy, character against character: those against Christ seeking to cast out those who love and follow Him.

On which side of the fence are you? What are you like as a person? Mat. 25:31-46

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Exodus 31:13 Speak you also to the children of Israel, saying, Truly my sabbaths you shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am the LORD that does 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.

Ezekiel 20:20 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.

John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

James, do you think the USA will legislate and enforce Sunday Laws the way described in the SOP?

What does Jesus Christ (in the book of His Revelation) say is:

• The seal of God, and
• The mark of the beast?

I would like to think that he must be the final authority on the matter. And he did not leave it up to you to guess or go searching aimlessly between the lines and letters of books. He PLAINLY says what those two things are:

• In Rev. 7:3-4, John saw an angel "saying, '... till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads' ... 144,000". And then in Rev. 14:1 he says he saw "a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 having His Father’s name written on their foreheads." So the SEAL of God equals the NAME of God.
• ...
• In Rev. 13:17, John said he saw many tempted to "receive the mark or name of the beast" which the third angel of Rev. 14 corroborated with a dire warning against receiving "the mark of his name". (v.11). It is self-evident therefore that the MARK of the beast is the NAME of the beast.

A NAME is not a day on which to assemble for worship, but a reflection of character. See Mat. 25:31-46. So then, given the word of Jesus Christ, how could I possibly turn away and believe what has been falsely predicted: VATICAN + WASHINGTON -- vs -- SDA, hmmmm? How could YOU??

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Name in the Bible = character.
The Law is a transcript of God's character.

James, thank you for answering my question.

The "real covenant," as Pastor Johann worded it, includes the Everlasting Covenant.


The New Covenant is also applicable:


"I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people."

"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".

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you . . . And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them."

You got that from EGW, didn't you? It is not correct. God Himself spoke against Pharaoh saying, "For if by now I had put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth. But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain: in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth."

God Himself proclaimed His NAME as it is written, "Then the LORD passed by in front of [Moses] and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth ..." (Exod. 34:6) As it is also written in Acts 2:21, "And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the NAME of the Lord shall be saved.".

The NAME of God is synonymous with love, tender mercies, forgiveness, truth, justice, righteousness, in short, this: "but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Gal. 5:22) The people of God take up their cross and follow Christ. They wash their robe in His blood. As they were forgiven, so they forgive. "For by the deeds of the Law, no flesh shall be justified." Don't you know that?

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YES! "Against such" there is no law. Yes! The Law is indeed a transcript of the character of God. And Name = Character.

The "seal" of God may be a poor translation. It is quite similar to "mark". I believe a better translation of both may be "stamp." If we have the stamp of God, we have His character. If we have the stamp of the beast, our character is that of the beast. The decisive factor is a matter of character.

We sometimes use expressions in English like "chip off the old block" to refer to one's likeness to his father. The "seal of God" is also a reference to such a likeness. We must be like the Father if it is to be said of us that we have His "seal" (stamp).

Mrs. White compared the stamp of God versus the stamp of the enemy in the following:



In that statement, she speaks of the "stamp" as evidenced in the work that one does. In the following statement, she applies the stamp to the individual.



Those of whom it can be said that they have the stamp of God are pure and holy. They are God's sons. In First John we find that those who are called sons of God have Godly characters. They are obedient to His laws. Those who are disobedient to God are children of the devil. Jesus also rebuked some, calling them children of the devil on account of their sinfulness and disobedience.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

Then there is no hope for you.

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Jesus said, "A NEW COMMANDMENT I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. BY THIS ALL WILL KNOW that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35)

Do you see those two phrases: "A NEW COMMANDMENT" and "BY THIS ALL WILL KNOW"? What do you think they mean when it comes to differentiating between characters; between the good and the evil, between those who have the seal of God and those who have the mark of the Beast? See Mat. 25:31-46.

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What was Christ mission? To reveal the character of God! It had been misunderstood and misrepresented. To love is not new, Leviticus 19:18 You shall not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

What was new in that a new demonstration had been given of love, which the disciples were now bidden to emulate. By His revelation of His Father’s character Jesus had opened to men a new concept of the love of God. Where the old commandment enjoined men to love their neighbors as themselves, the new urged them to love as Jesus had loved.

Jesus also said, John 14:15 If you love me, keep my commandments. And, 1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

"The Saviour is revealed in the Old Testament as clearly as in the New." {DA 799.2} The love of God is as clearly revealed in the OT as it is in the NT. Everything in the OT screams - Our God is loving. The problem is not the OT. The problem is the reader. When read properly, the OT reveals the love of God as clearly as the NT.

Good discussion. The motivation for obedience that God finds acceptable is love. "If you love me keep my commandment." There is transforming power in the word of God. God's biddings are his enablings. Deeds make the man, not man the deeds.

Yes, your comment pulls it all together!

Obedience without love for our Creator and Lord, is just a clanging cymbal

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
13:2 And though I have [the gift of] prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

On the other hand --if we say we have this godly love called "charity" in the verses above, but don't have obedience we are liars!

1 John 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
2:4 He that says, I know him, and keeps not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
2:5 But who ever keeps his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

The seal of God is indeed
"... the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name." Rev. 3:12

Basically it is the stamp of citizenship--
Citizens of the kingdom of God, citizens Christ's kingdom, our home the New Jerusalem.

God also tells us that there is a sign which declares who our God is --

Ez. 20:20 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.

That sign is very much part of the equation:
Isaiah 56:4 For thus says the LORD unto them that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;
56:5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.

Of course, if we "keep" the Sabbath without Christ, we've missed the whole point, we've turned it into our own covenant, rather than the covenant of our Creator.

Rev. 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

The everlasting gospel has as it's very message the call to worship the Creator God, bring glory to Him by a life transformed by His grace, worship Him that made heaven and earth and the sea.

The honor and recognition we bring to our Creator is to
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
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. 20:9,11

The Sabbath is a mighty bulwark defying evolution as the "creator" and honoring the Great Creator God!

And the Ten Commandments are a transcript of God's character! Nothing you wrote contradicted that!

Read Deut. 4:13 and 9:9-11. God's Ten Commandments written on stone by God's own finger is the covenant!

Sabbath and the “New Covenant”
The Sabbath is a sign of the ongoing dependence of human beings upon their Creator and His work. This was true during the old testament” period, and becomes even more meaningful with the “new covenant.”

The Sabbath wasn’t just a commandment.to stop regular labor and rest. According to Exodus 31:13, 17, the Sabbath was a sign of the covenant relationship with the Creator God, by which He sanctified those Who worshipped Him.
On the seventh day of Creation, God sanctified the Sabbath (Gen. 2:2, 3), He set aside the seventh-day for a holy purpose. Why would God set apart a definite recurring period of time?

Time is available to all, and all who observe this special time with their thoughts turned toward their Creator and Savior would be drawn to the love and goodness of their Creator and acknowledge their ongoing connection with Him. Because they would belong to God, who is intrinsically holy, they would gain holiness from Him.

Just as God set apart the seventh day and blessed it and made it holy, He desires to set us apart to bless us and make us a holy people. Thus, those who rest on the Sabbath in the true spirit of “resting in Christ” are acknowledging that it is the Lord who sanctifies.

Many seem to think that the difference between the “old testament” covenant and the “new covenant” is that back then God expected them to keep the “law”, but now we have “grace” and we don’t need to worry about the law anymore.
But that’s not the difference at all. God’s law was, is and will always be that which defines sin, and points us to righteousness in Christ. Rather, the problem has always been the failure to internalize God’s law, which results in disobedience, while the “new covenant” seeks to successfully internalization God’s law into the hearts and minds of God’s people. Sanctification is God working in us to make us holy.


Gen. 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Ez. 20:20 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.

Ex.31:13 Speak 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 you may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.

Heb.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;

The other day as I was driving home, I was listening to a Christian radio program. The speaker was talking about the Sabbath. I pricked my ears to listen.
He began in Genesis and explained Genesis 2:1-3 in beautiful terms. God at the close of his creation, rested on the Sabbath as we are to rest in Him. God put special blessings upon this day, blessing and making it holy.

He then moved on to Exodus, how God gave Israel the Sabbath as a special sign of their relationship.

I was thinking "Wow! This is great, hearing this protestant preacher talking about God's holy day!"

But then he moved to the New Testament -- and completely changed his thoughts, and even his voice!
The Sabbath has brought great controversy into the Christian church, he said, and no Christians have ever kept the seventh day, only the Jews kept it. You won't read of anyone except Jews keeping the Sabbath in scripture, he continued, -- the apostles went to the synagogues only because that's where the Jews were and they were to tell the Jews about Christ....

What a bunch of lies. How sad that ministers who claim to preach the gospel should so renounce the day that God blessed and made holy.


Well, the first part was true -- the Sabbath has caused great controversy in the Christian Church.
That controversy goes back hundreds of years, as the apostasy crept in shortly after the apostles all died. It was generated by some desiring to differentiate themselves from the Jews, especially after the Jews fell into great disfavor with the Roman government, then when Rome began to champion Christianity, Sunday was formulized by Constantine and the pope of that era. As the years rolled on Sunday was further enforced by laws and persecutions and forged letters sent from heaven. Yet there were small groups of Christians who continued to observe the Sabbath in spite of the opposition.

During the Reformation, the Sabbath was discovered, but rejected by the main reformers. There's a book written in 1657 by Thomas Tillam called "The Seventh-Day Sabbath Sought Out and Celebrated" in which he even identifies Sunday as the "mark of the beast"! There were groups keeping the Sabbath back then!

Finally as the three angels' messages began to sound, the Sabbath truth became well known -- but again rejected, this time the Christian world building huge walls to insulate themselves from the Sabbath truth -- even to nailing God's commandments to cross as no longer binding.

But what about the speakers other allegations.

Does the bible show Christians keeping the Sabbath?
Yes, it does.
Does it show them keeping Sunday?
No it does not.

There is one meeting in the evening of the 1st day -- which according to Bible reckoning was Saturday evening. And it was night as they had their lamps burning, and a young fellow sitting in a window fell asleep and crashed to pavement below.

The other verses they claim show Sunday verses concern the disciples hiding in the upper room on the days following the crucifixion. That was hardly what one would consider a "church service". They were frightened men, huddled together for "fear of the Jews".

Finally Paul's plan for offerings -- telling people to put money aside in their homes on the first day -- so it would be ready when he came. Again no "church service" here.


But we do have numerous church services on Saturday!
Yes, several were in Jewish synagogues, but at least two were elsewhere.


Acts 13:42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.

Gentiles wanting Paul to come preach to them the next Sabbath!
Yet, Paul doesn't say -- wait tomorrow is Sunday the Gentiles Sabbath, I'll come tomorrow. No, that's not what happened.

Acts 13:44 And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
13:45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy,

So on Sabbath almost all the Gentiles in that city came to worship!

In Philippi, there were no synagogues. There weren't even any Jewish leaders. Only some Gentile women that were meeting by a river.

Acts 16:13 And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where people often met for prayer; and we sat down, and spoke unto the women which had gathered there.

There is absolutely NO indication that Paul tried to change their day of worship. When people gathered for Sabbath worship, it was on Sabbath.

Sabbath is the day Jesus claimed.
He is Lord of the Sabbath Day, and He is the Lord we come to worship.



There's a different "lord" of Sunday.
Mithraism was rivaling Christianity in the centuries after Christ. Their special day was Sunday.

Dr. Gilbert Murray, M.A., D.Litt., LLD, FBA, Professor of Greek at Oxford University. He wrote:

Even in the New Testament, Hebrews 9:4, the Bible uses the term "tables of the covenant".