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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 4
strongest terms the action of this beast and the worship which it
enforces; it also calls to keeping the commandments of God and the
faith of Jesus, and one of these commandments enforces the Sabbath
of the Lord,—the seventh day. Therefore the contrast in the facts
and in the message which refers to the facts, is between the Sabbath
of the Lord and an opposing Sabbath, namely, the Sunday.
This is a very brief statement of the facts which justify the ex-
pressions of the author on pages 396,397.
Note 9. Page 431.—The word ‘seal’ is used in the Scriptures
in various senses, even as in common life. The definition given by
Webster, the most comprehensive, is as follows: “That which con-
firms, ratifies, or makes stable; assurance; that which authenticates;
that which secures, makes reliable, or stable.” The terms “mark” and
“sign,” also given by him, are used in the Scriptures as synonymous
with seal, as in
Romans 4:11
.
In the covenant with Noah it is used in the sense of assurance,
or evidence of stability. The bow in the cloud was given as a sign
or token that God would not again destroy the earth by a flood.
Genesis 9:13
. In the covenant with Abraham, circumcision was the
token or sign. This ratified, or made sure; for they who had not this
token were cut off.
Genesis 17:11, 14
. This sign or token was an
institution, a rite. Gesenius gives “a memorial” as one definition of
the word found in the original of these texts. But a memorial, in the
sense of a reminder, or a remembrancer, is a token or sign.
In
Exodus 31:17
and
Ezekiel 20:12, 20
, the Sabbath of the Lord
is called a sign. It is a memorial of the Creator’s work, and so a sign
of his power and Godhead.
Romans 1:20
. This is also
an institution
as was circumcision; but there was this distinction: circumcision
was a sign
in the flesh
, while the Sabbath was a sign
in the mind
.
“Hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you,
[505]
that ye may know
that I am the Lord your God”
Ezekiel 20:20
.
In
Ezekiel 9:4
the word used in the original is translated mark.
Gesenius says, “
a mark, sign
.” The
Septuagint
gives the same word
in this text that is given in the Greek of
Romans 4:11
, rendered
“sign.” Thus the words token, sign, mark, and seal are applied to the
same things, or used as of like signification, in the Scriptures.
In
Ezekiel 9:4
and
Revelation 7:2, 3
, the mark or sign is said to be
placed
in the foreheads
of the servants of God. Both these scriptures