Appendix
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control of the civil power, whether with or without the aid of Rome,
that will be but to erect an image of the papacy.
Note 12. Page 578—There are still observers of the Bible Sabbath
in Abyssinia. Joseph Wolff, in his journal for 1838, giving an account
of his visit to that country, says that “the Sabbath of the Jews, i.e.,
Saturday, is kept strictly among the Abyssinians in the province of
Hamazien.”
Note 13. Pages 605, 613—The word “seal” is used in the scrip-
tures 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 is this distinction: circumcision was a
sign in the flesh, while the Sabbath is a sign in the mind. “Hallow my
Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may
know that I am the Lord your God.”
Ezekiel 20:20
.
[691]
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 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
refer to a time when utter destruction is coming on the ungodly. The