The Seal

 1/14/25

A few days ago I wrote about being careful about labeling natural disasters like the California wildfires as the judgment of God. It may be so, but then the question remains, “Why only California?” Such devastating events have a way of prodding people to think in apocalyptic terms, which bring me to the book of Revelation. Its wild imagery of death and destruction has inspired songs and books for generations, and lead many to read into current situations much of what is recorded there. Some of it may be justified, but problems arise when we read imagery literally. Take for example, where it speaks of “the mark of the beast.”

“[The Beast] required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.” —Revelation 13:16-17 

Some read this and think of a bar or QR code branded into the forehead of those who worship the Beast, or perhaps a computer chip injected into the skin of the hand. But if this were true, consistency in interpretation would require us to apply the same thinking to 7:3 and 22:4 where a seal is placed on the forehead of God’s saints:

“Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.” (7:3)

“And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads.”( 22:4) 

I’ve never heard of anyone believing Christians will have a literal brand on their foreheads or a computer chip injected into their hand. Consistency in interpretation requires that the same imagery be interpreted the same way. So what is going on?

In Biblical times, a seal on a document (or even a tomb—Matthew 27:66) marked ownership and authority. The mark on the forehead is symbolic and refers more to our thinking being controlled by the values of this world or of God, and the mark on the hand referring to our actions being controlled either by a mind governed by this world or by God’s values. If my thinking is correct, these verses in Revelation aren’t fodder for some science fiction imagination of what the future will be like. They are telling us how important it is for you and me, here and now, to allow God’s Holy Spirit to govern our thinking and behaving. It’s not enough to say I’ve received Jesus as my Savior if I haven’t allowed my thinking to be under the authority of God’s thoughts.

As Paul says in Romans 12:2, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Or in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 where we bring every thought captive to Jesus Christ. Or Colossians 3:2 where we are to have the mind of Christ. Get God’s Word branded into your brain so your hand will respond to Christ’s call to love and serve others. It’s the only alternative to your thoughts and deeds being governed by the deceptive, perverted, and destructive ways of this world.