The Seal of God and the Great Multitude Before the Throne of God

The Pause on the Brink of Eternity, part 6

Moving backwards from the seven trumpets, we come again to the seven seals, and the interlude between the sixth and seventh seals.  In chapter seven of Revelation, the issue at stake is not called the mystery of God being finished, but is referred to as sealing the servants of God with the seal of God in their foreheads.  Very little is told us in that passage about what the seal of God is, but by looking at other passages of Scripture, we know that the sealing of God’s people will be manifested in their keeping of the commandments of God.  All the commandments, including those neglected by most other Christians, and by the way, including those neglected by many Seventh-day Adventists.  This obedience will not be a merely outward obedience, but will include the keeping of the commandments from the heart, since the tenth commandment, forbidding covetousness, is also part of the moral law of God.  We would have to have the living Jesus living in us to be able to ever truly keep the commandments of God.  “I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.”  Galatians 2:20.  

Interestingly enough, the seal of God is only a small part of the interlude of Revelation 7.  After listing the names of the twelve tribes of Israel that represent the group known as the 144,000, the first thing John writes is, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, and from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothes in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”  Revelation 7:9, 10.  See that?  The preparation of the people of God and the gathering in of souls from “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,” go hand-in-hand.  When God’s people are prepared, the message goes out.  The personal preparation and mission work go together.  We should be careful to remember that active zeal in missionary activity in and of itself is not effective for spreading the gospel, because if it is done in our own power, it is doing more damage than good.

“It is the privilege of every Christian not only to look for but to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, (2 Peter 3:12, margin).  Were all who profess His name bearing fruit to His glory, how quickly the whole world would be sown with the seed of the gospel.  Quickly the last great harvest would be ripened, and Christ would come to gather the precious grain.”  Christ’s Object Lessons, page 69

“You may manifest great zeal in missionary effort, and yet because it is corrupted with selfishness, and tastes strongly of self, it is nought in the sight of God; for it is a tainted, corrupted offering.  Unless the door of the heart is open to Jesus, unless He occupies the soul temple, unless the heart is imbued with His divine attributes, human actions when weighed in the heavenly balances, will be pronounced ‘Wanting.’  The love of Christ would make you rich; but many do not realize the value of His love.  Many do not realize that the spirit which they cherish is destitute of the meekness and lowliness of Christ, destitute of the love that would constitute them channels of light.”  Ellen G. White, Manuscript 33, 1894

Personal religion and effective soul-winning are inseparable.  If we are not living Christians, with the living Jesus dwelling in our hearts through faith via the Holy Spirit, we will not be hastening the coming of the day of God, even if we are the most active missionaries in the world.  The seal of God and the multitude around the throne are both part of what must take place before Jesus returns to get His children.  His servants must be sealed in their foreheads, and the gospel must go out with such intensity, power, and reach that representatives from “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” can become part of that great multitude that will sing “Salvation” in heaven.

Adventists have always been focused on reaching the unreached to a greater or less degree.  We have seldom been leaders in entering new territory with the gospel, but we are currently represented in nearly every country on the globe.  Geographically speaking, we have covered the planet with the SDA church.  It seems, however, that we have largely failed to realize that political countries alone are not the only divisions of people on this earth.  In the Revelation, John seems to have tried to make this abundantly clear by repeatedly referring to the world in terms of “peoples and nations and languages and kings;” “the peoples and tribes and languages and nations;” “peoples and multitudes and nations and languages;” “every nation, ... tribes and peoples and languages;” and “those who dwell on the earth, ... every nation and tribe and language and people.”  Revelation 10:11; 11:9; 17:15; 7:9; 14:6.

In connection with the opening of the seven seals, Jesus, the Lamb who was slain, is told: “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”  Revelation 5:9.