The Seal of God & The 144,000!

"The one hundred and forty-four thousand are redeemed from the earth-from among men. 9 They are alive upon the earth when the Saviour comes, and will be translated, together with the innumerable host who will come from their dusty beds, clad in glorious immortality, when Christ comes in the clouds of heaven. 10 {1914 SNH, CIS 359.3}
The one hundred and forty-four thousand are distinguished from all others by their having the seal of the living God in their foreheads. All who have this seal are included in this company. 11 This distinguishing mark is called the "Father's name." 12 Ezekiel was evidently shown the same work, and speaks of it as a "mark" upon the forehead. 13 {1914 SNH, CIS 359.4}
We are familiar with the term "seal" in connection with legal documents. A seal contains the name of the person issuing the document, his office or authority, and the extent of his jurisdiction. The seal placed upon the foreheads of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, is the seal of the living God. Seals are attached to laws and legal documents; therefore we should look for God's seal to be attached to His law. The prophet Isaiah,
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looking down through the ages, saw a people who were expecting Christ to come from the heavenly sanctuary to the earth, and the message of God to them was, "Seal the law among My disciples." 14 {1914 SNH, CIS 359.5}
The Bible was given through prophets,-holy men whom God used as mouthpieces, to make His will known to His people; 15 but the law of God-the ten commandments-was not given through any human agent. God the Father, Christ the Son, and myriads of heavenly beings came down upon Mount Sinai, 16 when the ten commandments were proclaimed to the vast multitude of Israel-over a million people. 18 Then, lest there might be some mistake in writing out the law which He had given, God called Moses up into the mountain, and gave him two tables of stone, upon which He had engraved with His own finger the same ten commandments that He had spoken in the hearing of the multitude. This law will be the standard by which every son and daughter of Adam will be judged. Has God attached His seal to this law, whereby all may know its binding
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claims? Remembering that the seal must contain, first, the name of the one issuing the law; second, the office or authority vested in the lawgiver; and third, the territory over which he rules, let us look for the seal in the law of God. {1914 SNH, CIS 360.1}
The first three commandments, and also the fifth, mention the name of God, 20 but do not distinguish Him from other gods. 21 The last five commandments show our duty to our fellow men, but do not contain the name of God. 22 {1914 SNH, CIS 361.1}
The fourth commandment contains, first, the name, "the Lord thy God;" second, the statement that the Lord thy God is the Creator of all things, and therefore has power to issue this law; third, a record of His territory, which consists of "heaven and earth," which He created. 23 {1914 SNH, CIS 361.2}
The fourth commandment requires all who dwell in the territory of the Lord God the Creator, to keep holy the seventh day of the week, which He has sanctified and blessed, 24 as a memorial of His creative work. {1914 SNH, CIS 361.3}
The Sabbath commandment contains the seal of the law. The word sign is sometimes used as a synonym for "seal." 25 Of the Sabbath God says: "It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever." 26 "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." 27 {1914 SNH, CIS 361.4}
God blessed and sanctified the Sabbath; 28 and to the one who will keep it holy, it is a sign, or seal, of God's power to sanctify him. 29 There is a knowledge of God in the proper observance of the Sabbath. "Hallow My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God." 30 {1914 SNH, CIS 361.5}
During the Dark Ages, when the word of God was hidden from the people, the seal was taken from God's law. Sunday, the
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first day of the week, a day upon which God worked, 31 was substituted for the seventh-day Sabbath, upon which He rested. 32 The Lord revealed through Daniel the prophet that a power would arise which should "think to change" the law of God, 34 and that the law would be given into his hands during twelve hundred and sixty years, a period of time mentioned by both Daniel and John. After that period had passed and the Bible was again in the hands of the people, the true Sabbath of the fourth commandment was to be restored and observed. The breach in the law would be repaired, and the law sealed among the disciples of the Lord, who would be eagerly looking for His return. {1914 SNH, CIS 361.6}
In Rev. 7:2, this sealing message is represented as coming from the east, or sun-rising. We should understand from this that it would begin like the sun-rising, first a faint light, steadily increasing until it lightens the whole earth. {1914 SNH, CIS 362.1}
Four angels were commissioned to hold the four winds until the work was accomplished. Winds are a symbol of war. 38 In
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fulfilment of this we should expect to find that during some period of the world's history the winds of war were miraculously held, while the work of restoring the seal to the law of God was going forward in the earth. {1914 SNH, CIS 362.2}
There have always been upon the earth some adherents of the seventh-day Sabbath; but the work of restoring the breach which had been made in the law was begun about 1845, by those who were then watching for the second coming of the Lord. After the time set for Him to come had passed, in the autumn of 1844, the attention of those who had expected Christ to return to the earth at that time was directed to the heavenly sanctuary, where by faith they saw Christ officiating as their High Priest. As they followed the Saviour in His work, "the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament." 39 Their attention was attracted to the law contained in that ark, 40 and some of them recognized the binding claim of the Sabbath of the Lord, and accepted it as the seal of the law. About 1847-48 the Sabbath began to be preached as the seal of the law of the living God. {1914 SNH, CIS 363.1}
In 1848 occurred one of the greatest upheavals in the national affairs of Europe that had been for many centuries. Decided changes were made in some of the leading nations. In a brief period of time, many of the crowned heads of Europe submitted themselves to the people. It looked as if universal war was inevitable. In the midst of the turmoil and strife, came a sudden calm. No man could assign any reason for it, but the student of prophecy knew that the angels were holding the winds until the servants of God could be sealed in their foreheads. {1914 SNH, CIS 363.2}
The forehead is the seat of the intellect; and when the honest in heart see and acknowledge the binding claims of God's law, they will keep holy the Sabbath. The seal placed in the forehead
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by the angel can not be read by man, for God alone can read the heart. Simply resting upon the seventh day from all physical work will not place the seal upon the forehead of any one. The resting is necessary, but with the rest must be also the holy and sanctified life that is in harmony with the holy and sanctified day. 41 {1914 SNH, CIS 363.3}
Ezekiel saw an angel placing a "mark" upon the foreheads of those who were distressed because of the abominations practised by the professed people of God. 42 Those who are at ease in Zion drifting with the current, their hearts' affections centered on the world, will never receive the seal of the living God." {1914 SNH, CIS 364.1}