The Seal and the Mark Versus the Sheep and the Goats

In my travels for the church of late, I’ve encountered a fresh dilemma on the Adventist debate circuit: Will the end-time test for humanity be whether we keep the seventh-day Sabbath holy? Or will that test be how we treat the poor and needy? Or to put it another way, will we have to choose between the seal of God and the mark of the beast (as described in Revelation), or between being a sheep and being a goat (as described in Matthew 25:31-46)?

If you’re not losing sleep over this, you’re not alone. Most Adventists, in my experience, instinctively answer that the Seal of God versus the mark of the beast is indisputably the test that will dominate the apocalypse. Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats, the majority contention goes, while also applicable to the last days, is readily displaced by the dense gravity of the Sabbath question.

But tradition notwithstanding, an increasing number of church members today are downplaying the classic seal-versus-mark scenario—and at times dismissing it entirely. Jesus is far more concerned, they contend, with how we treat the poor and marginalized than He is about which day of the week we go to church on. Particularly considering current race and cultural justice concerns, they assert that the sheep-and-goats test easily outstrips triflings over Sabbath versus Sunday. How, they assert, can the weight of cold Sabbatarian ideology compare to the all-too-real suffering of our disadvantaged brothers and sisters?

Most surprising about this burgeoning debate is its purported binary nature: We may choose, combatants claim, only one scenario as the real end-time test. Synthesis is impossible, for the worldviews respectively supporting them are incompatible. Traditionalists advocating for the seal versus the mark, for instance, condemn the focus on social action as syrupy sentimentalism, while social activists mock the seal/mark option as a thinly disguised dodge of our duty to love our neighbors as ourselves.

A Biblical Solution

As it turns out, the Bible offers three distinct points that render such partisan quarrels unnecessary.

First, the Seal of God in Revelation is given to those who serve God (see Rev. 7:1-4), in part to protect them (see Rev. 9:4). What is this Seal? One way to find out is to note how the term “seal” is used elsewhere in Scripture. In 2 Corinthians 1:21, 22, for instance, we read: “Now He [God] who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” Notice that being “sealed” by God is here associated with being “anointed.” But anointed with what? Bible history has numerous instances of God anointing with His Holy Spirit.[1] And indeed, verse 22 above speaks specifically of the Holy Spirit being given to us by God in connection with being “anointed” and “sealed.”

Ephesians 1:13 further hones this idea when it says: “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” Note carefully that grammatically speaking (and practically speaking, for that matter),[2] the Holy Spirit here is both the Seal of God and the One performing the sealing. The Seal of God, therefore, is the Holy Spirit,[3] and the Holy Spirit is also the one who performs a sealing process in the believer’s life.

We do not need to—and indeed, we must not—choose one end-time scenario over the other.

But this raises a key question: What is this sealing process that the Spirit performs in our lives, particularly in the context of the end of time? Our second biblical point tells us the answer: The “sealing” that the Holy Spirit does at the end of time is no different than the activity that the Holy Spirit has been all along, i.e., to “guide [us] into all truth” (John 16:13). In other words, the Holy Spirit’s purpose is to lead us to Jesus, who alone is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). This is why Jesus clearly stated that the Holy Spirit will “take of what is Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14). And this furthermnore fits readily into the biblical end-time scenario in which all humanity is called to choose Jesus. The Father wants all who are willing to enter His kingdom, and the only way into His kingdom is through knowing Jesus (see John 14:6; 17:3). So the sealing process the Holy Spirit performs in our lives is continuously helping us to know and love Jesus better and better, and in so doing to become more and more like Him.

Which brings us to an extraordinarily important third point: biblically speaking, there are essentially only two signs that we know and love Jesus.[4] The first is that we obey God’s commands. Jesus stated in John 14:15: “If you love me, keep my commands” (NIV). And again in the same chapter, verse 23, He states that “anyone who loves me will obey my teaching” (NIV). Keeping God’s commands and teachings is thus an indispensable sign that we truly do know and love Jesus. To be clear, keeping God’s commands does not save us; only Jesus can do that.[5] Commandment keeping is instead simply the evidence that we have been saved, that we indeed do know and love Jesus.

The second sign that we know and love Jesus is that we love other people. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,” Jesus proclaimed, “if you love one another” (John 13:35, NIV). Again, loving others does not save us, but is simply a sign that we have been saved, that we know and love our Savior, Jesus. This is undoubtedly why Jesus declared that “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39) is the second greatest commandment ever given.

A Heavenly Synthesis

Biblically speaking, then, these three points lead to three key conclusions. First, as the Seal and Sealer of God, the Holy Spirit constantly guides the believer to know and love Jesus more and more. This growing relationship with Jesus is subsequently manifested as obedience to God’s commands and love for other people.

Second, the Sabbath commandment is of particular importance at the very end of time (note, for instance, how Revelation 14:7 echoes Exodus 20:8-11). Those who are being sealed by the Holy Spirit will therefore certainly be led to obey this command with all their hearts. Furthermore, note that one of the major functions of an ancient seal was to demonstrate both ownership and the authenticity of the sealed item. The Bible specifically points to the Sabbath as fulfilling these functions in the life of the believer.[6] In light of this, both the Holy Spirit and the Sabbath act as complementary seals of God’s people at the end of time, the former fueling the keeping of the latter.[7]

Third, particularly at the end of time, the Holy Spirit will lead us to love others as Christ loves them. People will grow more needy as the world grows darker! And we are called to love and serve them (as indeed, they are called to love and serve one another), including the most needy as described in Matthew 25. Anything less shows that we do not know Jesus.

We thus do not need to—and indeed, we must not—choose one end-time scenario over the other. The Seal of God/mark of the beast scenario is not in any way in conflict with the sheep and the goats! Instead, those whom the Holy Spirit seals will see the absolute necessity and privilege of obeying God’s Sabbath command, and of obeying the command to help “the least of these” (Matt. 25:40). Godly obedience and godly love are thus inseparable twins. May each of us be faithful in both.

[1] For instance, Isaiah 61:1; Acts 10:38; 1 John 2:20, 27 (compare with John 14:17).

[2] In other words, the Holy Spirit is not an inanimate piece of wax (such as was used to create a seal on a scroll in the ancient world), but rather an intelligent being. He is therefore not passive, but rather an active and integral part of the Godhead working for the salvation of the one being sealed.

[3] We will discuss the Sabbath’s role in the seal of God shortly.

[4] Some may contend there are more than the two I suggest here. I would gently respond that while Scripture does add nuance here and there on this question, all alternative lines of evidence nonetheless effectively fall under these two broader categories.

[5] See Eph. 2:8, 9.

[6] See Ex. 31:13; Eze. 20:12, 20.

[7] It’s worth noting that ancient seals also contained three essential pieces of information: the seal owner’s name, title, and territory. The Sabbath commandment reveals these very elements: (1) God’s name, “the Lord”; (2) His title, Creator; and (3) His territory, heaven and earth (see Ex. 20:8-11). This again shows the Sabbath as a true seal of God.