BY CALVIN GREEN
THERE is no subject which should be of more interest to people at the present time than the sealing message brought to view in the seventh chapter of the book of Revelation. This message is announced by a messenger from heaven, with a loud voice, crying to the four angels holding the four winds of the earth, not to loose their hold until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads.
As winds in the Scriptures denote strife among nations (Dan. 7:2), and a great whirlwind is predicted to take place, when the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth to the other, and none shall be lamented or buried (Jer. 25:32, 33), may we not conclude that this great whirlwind is the result of the letting go of the four winds mentioned in Rev. 7:1 ?
Regarding the seal of God, in His holy law— the ten commandments—we find that the fourth command brings to view the authority that requires a careful observance of all these precepts.
The Sabbath of this precept is given to man, and is declared to have been made for Him. Mark 2:27. Man accepts it, and acknowledges the authority brought to view in this precept of the decalogue, as from Him who has the sole right to command obedience. Thus the seal is affixed, and that person who intelligently and willingly accepts it as an obligation and a duty to God, becomes His servant, favored and protected from the evils that fall upon all who reject these just and wise requirements of a merciful Creator.
Let us now consider the importance of this seal, and the time when it is presented. It comes just prior to the loosing of the most destructive elements in nature and society, the combined effects of which will cause the most fearful destruction the earth has ever witnessed. As there is a cup to be presented for all nations to drink (Jer. 25:15), a cup which contains no mixture of mercy (Rev. 14:10), the time preceding this event must be all-important to those living at this period. The angel who has the seal of God, and who cries to the four angels holding the winds not to let them go until a given work is done, will move the hearts of many here to unite in the work of presenting to their fellow-men the claim God has on, them, and the necessity of obedience in order to secure the seal of His protection.
Nor is this all. So important is the message, and so necessary is the seal to salvation, and so near is the pending crisis which is to engulf a world in total destruction, that the angel cries with a loud voice to the four holding the Winds, to still hold them, that the work that is being done may be completed.
It seems that the elements are ready to break forth in all their fury, and that nothing short of the power of four mighty angels can restrain them; and even then an earnest cry is made to them to still hold them in check. Will not this state of things be witnessed upon the earth when the sealing work is an progress ? Will not nations be seen preparing, yea, so completely equipped with the implements of destruction, so anxious for the strife and so jealous of each other, as to be hardly able to restrain themselves or to be withheld from the conflict? Will not society become so permeated with false doctrines and false theories of right, and so given to recklessness and worldliness, as to cause the conscientious to shudder lest God visit the earth with his blighting curse?
When this work is being done, will there not be a people awakened to a sense of its importance, and who will discern the signs of the times (Dan. 12:10) ? and discerning these signs, the restlessness of the nations and the delusive and deceptive doctrines taught and practiced, will they not feel the importance of setting forth the only true and saving truth found in the word of God for these times, that they may save themselves and help others ? And, also, as the crisis seems hastening faster than the work God has given them to do, will they not be stirred to more earnestness, and to plead with God to stay the elements of strife until by His grace they may finish the work given them, and the sealing be done ?
If these things are so, how solemn the time in which we live ! How much of weal and woe marks these last closing moments of probation ! “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God.” 2Pet. 3:11, 12
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald Jan. 18, 1887