THE MARK OF THE BEAST AND THE SEAL OF GOD

THE MARK OF THE BEAST AND THE SEAL OF GOD

                And Melchizedek king of Salem (Later Jerusalem) brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most high, and he blessed him and said, ’Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High who delivered your enemies into your hand.’ And he gave him a tenth of all.”

                When we pay attention to the fact that Jesus became our high priest after the order of Melchizedek king of Salem (Hebrews chapter 7) we begin to get a new three dimensional picture of the last supper.

                Jesus was offering His disciples the traditional unleavened bread and wine of Passover in fulfillment of the Law, but at the very same time, He was offering them a New Covenant as a Melchizedek Priest. And just as Melchizedek was king of Salem, so Jesus was announcing that He was king of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is indeed the city of the Great King. Ps. 48:1

                So the New Covenant as we know it today is not really a new covenant, but the original covenant that Melchizedek offered to Abraham with bread and wine, long before the Law of Moses had been given.

                We need to pay particular attention to this because it applies to us, the Messianic Jew and Gentile church.  In Gal. 3:29 Paul informs us that if we belong to Christ, then we are Abraham’s offspring heirs according to promise.”

                What Paul did not say is that in Christ we become Moses’ seed and heirs according to Law. And Paul goes on to say that the Law’s function is to lead us to Christ just as we read in Galatians 3:23-26:

                “But before faith came we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” We are sons of God through faith in Yeshua.

                What this tells us is that the Law cannot be the seal of God mentioned in Revelation 7. There is an important distinction being made in this chapter. This seal of God is given to 144,000 Israelites, 12,000 from each tribe. These will minister during the time of Jacob’s Trouble having been anointed with the Holy Spirit for just this time.

                Replacement theology would have us believe that the 1440,000 are a remnant people from the Gentile church, but if we read it literally, these are literally 144.000 Israelites. They are not 144,000 Jews as people often mistakenly say. This group is made up of all of the tribes of Israel. The Jews are only one tribe of the twelve.

                So the seal of God is placed upon these Israelites at a time when, (as the rest of chapter shows us,) a huge crowd which no one can number is standing around the throne in heaven singing praises to God.

                Now, given the fact that one of the elders (perhaps the 24 elders) tells John that these have come out of great tribulation gives us pause. This huge crowd which no man can number has come out of great tribulation and they are listed here in juxtaposition to the 144,000 Israelites, since it says in verse 9 that these are from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues.

                This group that is in heaven has already been sealed with the Holy Spirit, for it is true of us as both Jewish and Gentile Christians, that we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ our Melchizedek Priest. Pay close attention to 2 Cor. 1:21, 22:

                “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also SEALED US and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.” So the seal of God is the Holy Spirit which we receive by faith in Jesus Christ.”

                Gal. 1:13, 14 repeats this message saying: “In Him you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation- having also believed, you were SEALED in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

                Picture putting something in layaway at the store. They give you a ticket, so that once the item is paid for; you may use your ticket to redeem the item you have paid for. Just so, Jesus paid the ransom for our sins and He gave us a ticket, His Holy Spirit as a seal, so that when He returns He can redeem us as His own. So the wicked people who do not belong to Christ will have received the Mark of the Beast, but we who have placed our faith in Christ Jesus will have the Seal of God, the Holy Spirit and it is that same Spirit, that will catch us up to meet the Lord in the air, or even raise us from the dead, whatever the case may be.. Check out Romans 8:11:

                “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” In other words, this very same Spirit that we have received through faith in Jesus Christ will be the very spirit that raises us from the dead in the resurrection, or catches us up if we are still alive.

                We have Jesus Christ’s ID tag on us and in us, so that when He calls us, we will hear His voice and come forth from the grave. Or if we are still alive, we will be caught up in the air. And how will Jesus know whom to raise and whom to rapture? He will raise and or rapture all who have the seal of the living God, whether dead or alive, for God is the God of both the dead and the living.

                Those who take the Mark of the Beast, regardless of the issues involved, will have permanently rejected Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. They will have placed their faith in an imposter. For convenience sake or for sake of survival, they will place their faith in a man rather than in God. And we could argue all day over what issues will be involved, but at the end of the day, our receiving of the Mark of the Beast represents a final rejection of the Holy Spirit.

                Now, we can look at these issues as some distant test between the antichrist and the true Son of God who has saved us, and that is true. We see this event forming on the near horizon. But in all reality, we are either receiving the Mark of the Beast or the Seal of God on a daily basis.

                We make choices daily between flesh and Spirit, between the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of our Lord. We choose daily who will sit on the throne of our hearts, whether Jesus, or self or the world system.

                But this much I know: The church was conceived by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, even as Mary conceived and gave birth to the Son of God, so we receive that same Spirit so that by the power of Christ, HE can and will bring many sons to glory.

                “For it was fitting for Him for whom are all things and through whom are all things in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through suffering. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” Hebrews 2:10, 11.

                For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this but also we ourselves having the first fruits of the Spirit even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” Rom. 8:19-23.

                Listen my friends. So many Christians worry about how they can be saved. They look at themselves and they see a huge gap between what they should be and what they are and they begin to worry. So we groan along with creation. We long for our full adoption when our bodies are finally set free from sin’s corruption. But we have been conceived by the Holy Spirit and we are a part of God’s family. We share His DNA and as such, He is causing us to become like Him. It is His Holy Spirit in us making us into His image from glory to glory, and we are His children all along the way.

                  Just as a baby is your child even before he can walk, even when he messes his diaper, he is still your child and while you look forward to his maturity, he is never- the- less your child. We have been bought with a price. We have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. The seal of His Holy Spirit is upon us. His DNA is making us into sons and daughters in His image.

                Some say we will be here to be tested by the Mark of the Beast, while some believe that we will be gone by then. Either way, we are choosing whether to live by the Mark of the beast or to live by the Holy Spirit who has sealed us for the day of redemption. WE make these choices every day.

                 If the coming Mark of the Beast was the only test of our salvation then what about those who have already died? Listen, they either died with the Mark of the Beast upon them or the Seal of the Living God. They made their choices from day to day. And so I will leave you with this final thought:

                “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” Eph. 1:30-32. It is all about the fruit of the Spirit.

                If the Law could have made anything perfect, there would have been no need for a New Covenant. In this New Covenant Jesus places His very DNA in us by His Holy Spirit. “ This is the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you the hope of glory. And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom that we may present every man complete in Christ. And for this purpose also I labor striving according to His power which mightily works within me. “Col. 1:26-29

                It is this mighty power within us that is transforming us into His image. Flesh cannot do it… Law cannot do it… only the DNA of Christ living in us can make us into sons and daughters… joint heirs with Christ. Put your trust in Him. It is His Holy Spirit, the seal of God that will be our redemption ticket on that day.