The 144,000

They are Sealed

Key One

A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse;
a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
Song of Solomon 4:12

    We live in an absolutely amazing world where technology, education, and commerce are constantly changing. One prominent characteristic of our time is the complexity of our business dealings. In times past, business transactions were simple, and businesses more permanent. Today, however, we live in a world of mergers and acquisitions where corporations become mega-corporations. Many modern businesses actually have divisions dedicated solely to evaluating the feasibility of buying other enterprises.
    Another characteristic of mergers and acquisitions in our current business world is that a multi-million dollar business transaction may now take place to secure a single, talented individual. In professional sports, for instance, a franchise can invest tens of millions of dollars in a single athlete.
    Such an investment is only entered into after a great deal of analysis. Speed, strength, and a variety of physical and emotional skills are evaluated in an attempt to determine both an athlete’s potential and impact on the team.
    Regardless of the type of acquisition, the entire process begins with an intensive review of all the factors involved. In an interview for the book, X-Factor, Henry Kravis, the individual responsible for engineering the twenty-five billion dollar purchase of R.J.R. Nabisco, outlined the very process that he utilizes when considering such an acquisition. This successful business man explained:

Let’s say I’m thinking of buying R.J.R. Nabisco. I think of what will be done with this company, where we would make it more productive, how we could make it grow and make our return on investment more profitable. We have analysts and consultants come in. In my mind would be the financing, the right capital structure, how much equity and how much debt should be in place so that the company has flexibility to grow, to move into different areas. Then I think about what happens if the market turns down. I ask myself where the downside is in this investment; how low can the earnings or the cash flow go, given the capital structure. Will the company be on safe ground?

    Mr. Kravis focuses great attention on every contingency. Much thought and preparation goes into every detail of the decision-making process, prior to the purchase of any multi-million dollar corporation. Such acquisitions are never the product of whim, but rather are the result of in-depth analysis and planning.
    Similarly, when the Almighty God decides to draw an individual to Christ and ultimately a specific role in His future Kingdom, He does so only after the most careful planning and analysis. God is assembling the greatest leadership team in the history of the universe. As He forms this body, the Father and Jesus Christ undertake a much deeper, and more thorough, analysis than any corporation created and governed by men.
    In the corporate world, once the negotiations are completed, a contract is signed. At this point, the parties will refer to the negotiations as being “sealed.” The individuals involved might be heard to say, “We sealed the deal,” or it is “signed, sealed, and delivered.”
    This business analogy continues to reflect a spiritual principle. When God chooses to add a member to His personal management team, He certifies their calling by sealing them.

The 144,000 are Sealed
    Before the Almighty God executes His wrath on mankind, He seals His servants. The Apostle John writes:

And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand (Revelation 7:4).

    The Eternal forges His plans with a greater scope and more detail than any man. Every decision He makes is with great purpose, and each reflects His perfect design. God is infinitely powerful, but He is also inestimably thoughtful. In every judgement, He displays immeasurable wisdom. Therefore, it is unimaginable to think that God has not perfectly thought through and planned out and sealing of the 144,000.
    The Almighty carefully watches over each and every one that He has called out of the world. He knows that they are sinners, and therefore running in the spiritual “red.” However, He looks beyond the surface. He confirms each person’s inner conviction and determination to live His way of life before He acquires them.
    The Eternal then pays the highest possible price to obtain each person He calls. He purchases each individual with the supreme price—the ransom sacrifice—the life of His only begotten Son.
    At this point, the repentant individual is baptized and the hands of the ministry are laid on them. After this, or as in the case of Cornelius, the apostles on the day of Pentecost, and perhaps some of those chosen at the very end, the Holy Spirit is given to the person. They are sealed, and this vital phase of the conversion process moves the believer one step closer to being one of the 144,000.

The Meaning of “Sealed”
    When describing the events at the end of the age, and the protection given the servants of God, the angel explained d to John that they must first be “sealed.” This unique term “sealed” is translated from the Greek word “sphragizo.” It has three fundamental meanings, and all of these can apply to the 144,000.
    First, sphragizo carries the sense of being sealed as a “sign of personal ownership.” Second, this unique word also denotes the setting of a seal on something in order to mark it as “authentic or genuine.” Finally, sphragizo signifies sealing an object with a “signet.” This would be a case such as would occur when sealing a letter, scroll, or book in order to make it inaccessible and secure.

Sphragizo and Its Applications
(Strong’s Concordance 4972)

A Mark of Ownership
    The first meaning of the word “sphragizo” is to “stamp with a mark which indicates private ownership.” Those who are sealed, are identified as belonging to Almighty God. Once sealed, they become His personal and private property.
    When writing to the Church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul explained that this process of being sealed takes place by and through the supernatural power of God’s Holy Spirit. Speaking of Jesus Christ, Paul writes:

In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13).

    Writing to the Corinthian Church, Paul reiterates that Christians are sealed with God’s Spirit. He states that Christ:

Hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts (II Corinthians 1:22).

    The term “heart” in this verse does not mean that a Christian receives God’s Spirit in his or her physical heart. The term “heart” is an idiomatic expression used in the Bible to refer to the place considered to be the seat of human emotions. Therefore, the “heart” actually means the “mind.”
    In other words, a Christian is sealed in his or her mind where our deepest spiritual feelings and convictions reside. The forehead is the location of this reasoning function of the human brain. It is the place of God’s seal, and where Christians carry His unique sign!

Those Who are Sealed Receive His Name
    The Bible reveals that the sealing of God’s children in their foreheads identifies God’s people as His. The mark indelibly inscribed there is literally His name! The Apostle John writes:

And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father’s name written in their foreheads (Revelation 14:1).

    It seems that when a child of God is sealed with the Spirit of God, the Father’s name is placed upon the individual. Because God the Father is the head of His spiritual family, it is only logical that the family should bear His name. For this reason, the Apostle Paul writes:

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named (Ephesians 3:14-15).

    When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God changed his name to “Abraham,” meaning “father of many nations.” Abraham’s new name reflected his new identity. After persevering with Christ, Jacob was renamed Israel, reflecting his new status with God (Hosea 12:4). Once sealed with the Holy Spirit, the Christian’s name is also modified. Just as we all carry the name of our physical father, the newly begotten Christian now carries the name of our spiritual Father.
    When an individual receives the Holy Spirit, he or she takes on a new name and identity as a son or daughter of Almighty God. Each Christian must, therefore, strive to act with the dignity befitting God’s holy name, the basis for the third commandment—not to take the His name in vain.

Marked as Genuine
    A second meaning of the word “sphragizo” is to set a seal, a stamp, or mark, to identify something as being authentic or genuine. Therefore, being sealed could be considered as receiving God’s “stamp of approval.” In the world today, there are many who profess to follow Christ. Merely professing Christ is not sufficient to make one a genuine believer, however.
    To be genuine, obedience is required. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the same apostle who recorded the book of Revelation writes:

He that saith I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him (I John 2:4-5).

    This statement by the Apostle John makes it clear that in order to be sealed, and therefore identified as genuine, a Christian must not only express commitment, but must also live according to that commitment.
    In our complex society it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between those who are genuine Christians and those who are not. God knows who are His because He is able to look on the inside and see what is in a person’s mind. In order that other men might know who are His, God created an outward sign, or identifying mark for all to see. That sign is the keeping of God’s Holy Sabbaths.
    Before God revealed the Ten Commandments to Israel, He tested them to see whether they would obey. The test was the weekly Sabbath. God gave the people manna, and commanded them to gather twice as much on the sixth day so that they would have provision for the seventh day. On that day, they were commanded to gather none. If they would keep this command, God believed that they would keep the others (Exodus 16:4-26).
    So important was this commandment that God made it a separate covenant, calling it a “sign” between Him and His people. The word “sign” is “owth” in the Hebrew language, and it also can be translated as “mark.”
    In this context, consider God’s instructions concerning the Sabbath. Notice that God’s servant Moses records that God’s weekly Sabbath is His sign or mark:

Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done, but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed (Exodus 31:13-17).

    God claimed that the Sabbath was a sign between He and His people. By this He marked Israel as His children. For this reason, He commanded that the Sabbath be kept as a perpetual covenant. However, Israel rebelled against God in the wilderness, profaning His Holy Day. As a result, God declared that He would pour out His fury upon them. He states:

The house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness: they walked not in My statutes, and they despised My judgements, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and My Sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them to consume them (Ezekiel 20:13).

    This pronouncement takes on much greater meaning when one considers that God places a seal on the 144,000 that marks them. This seal protects them from His end time fury which comes on all those who disobey Him by not keeping His commandments.

God’s Mark
God has a sign or mark, of which the beast’s mark is only a counterfeit. Like the that of the beast, God’s mark is also worn in the forehead and hand, reflecting what God’s people think about in their mind, and labor to perform with their strength. As the Passover instructions state:

It shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt (Exodus13:9).

    God instructs His people to put a high priority on keeping His annual Sabbaths, and Holy Days. As stated in the verse above, the Passover was an example. This observance was to be a memorial “between the eyes.” By this, God meant that this celebration was to be kept in the forehead—in the mind—a memorial that was to be remembered, to be thought about, and to be and practiced annually.
    God also makes another point absolutely clear. His whole way of life, as expressed in the Ten Commandments, is the mark of God, and it is also worn in the forehead and hand. This is dramatically illustrated by one of the most beautiful passages contained in the Scriptures. God speaks to the children of Israel, saying:

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes (Deuteronomy 6:5-8).

    The individuals who comprise the 144,000 are those who will have been sealed in their mind by the Spirit of God. Upon receiving His Spirit, the children of the Almighty begin to take on the attributes of His mind as they strive to meditate on and live by His law in every situation in life. Their faithful obedience then becomes their sign—they marked as being genuine Christians.

Sealed for Protection
    Finally, the word “sphragizo” can also mean “to seal with a signet.” This term is applied in such a way as to mean a “closing up, such as one would do to a letter, scroll, or book in order to make it inaccessible and secure.” This sealing would be much like God putting a “no trespassing” sign on His people.
    It is interesting to note that the events in Revelation six, which lead up to the end of the age, were also “sealed.” Each event was closed in order to prevent access by anyone but Christ. Only He can open the seals. In like manner, prior to God’s wrath being unleashed on the world, His people are sealed, thus making them secure, and protected from God’s last plagues. The Apostle John writes:

I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads (Revelation 7:2-3).

An Example from the Past
    The 144,000 are sealed by a method God has used to protect His people in the past. The prophet Ezekiel left us an example in which God marked His faithful in their foreheads for the purpose of protecting them from His wrath. The prophet Ezekiel writes:

The Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary (Ezekiel 9:4-6).

    This historic example of sealing the true people of God in their forehead was a symbolic type, picturing a future time when God will again seal those who are His at the end of the age. Those Christians who have sighed and cried for the terrible abuses to humanity will be protected just before God’s wrath. This was pictured centuries earlier by the marking of God’s faithful during the time of Ezekiel.

God’s Seal—An Invisible Mark
    When speaking to Nicodemus, Christ described being born again as being born of the spirit. He indicated that this birth is not visible to the human eye. Jesus explained that one born of the spirit would be like the wind—invisible but powerful. This parallel makes it clear. While humans can see the effects of the wind, they cannot see the air itself. In a similar fashion, we can see the effects of God’s Spirit working miracles, but cannot actually see the Spirit (John 14:17).
    Spirit beings are not limited this way. They are spirit and can look beyond the physical surfaces we see. They clearly see everything taking place in the spirit dimension. Therefore, it may be that there is literally a spiritual mark, or even a name, written on the converted person’s forehead. It would be a sign angels could see, but humans could not.
    In Ezekiel’s time, an angel was commanded to mark God’s people, and to slay all those who did not have that mark in their forehead (Ezekiel 9:4-6). The sealing that takes place in the 144,000 is much like that process described by Ezekiel. The angels, who are poised to destroy the earth with the trumpet plagues, will somehow recognize the mark or name of God on each Christian. Because these people truly obey God, they are protected in this way. No matter how devastating God’s punishment on mankind might be, absolutely no harm will come upon them.

Sealed as Servants of God
    The first thing God reveals about the 144,000 is that they are sealed. This sealing is with the God’s Holy Spirit, thus identifying them as His. They are further set apart by keeping God’s law and His Sabbaths, and this marks them as genuine believers, having God’s approval.
    Finally, those accounted to be part of the 144,000 are also sealed with God’s miraculous, supernatural protection at the end of the age.
    Because the 144,000 possess God’s Holy Spirit, it is certain that they are the same group mentioned in Revelation, chapter fourteen—the entirety of the first resurrection! Many readers have misunderstood this truth, however, not realizing that the Scriptures do not show the 144,000 all together in one location until they have been resurrected (Revelation 14:1-5) Shocking as it may sound at first, John does not actually see the 144,000 in one place because they are NOT all sealed at the same time! Understanding the timing in Revelation, chapter seven, helps make this clear.

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