By Elizabeth Prata
Yesterday I wrote about the forehead. This is a prominent part of the head and usually the most visible thing people see upon meeting. The Lord uses it in verses to indicate a set determination, shame, stubbornness, rebellion. etc. It is a representation of where our thoughts and desires reside in our mind.
Even people unfamiliar with the Bible as a whole know about the “mark of the Beast” on the forehead (or hand), a mark of allegiance and without which they may not buy or sell. Revelation 13:16, 17; 14:9; 17:5; 20:4.
Many others know of the mark on the foreheads of the 144,000 witnesses designating them as Christ’s. (Revelation 7:3).
Catholics smudge the forehead with ashes on Ash Wednesday, the traditional start of Lent. Some denominations such as Lutheran or Episcopal make a mark of the cross on the forehead of the person being baptized.
Did you know the seal on the forehead was also in Ezekiel?
And the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and make a mark on the foreheads of the people who groan and sigh over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” 5But to the others He said in my presence, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. 6Utterly kill old men, young men, female virgins, little children, and women, but do not touch any person on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary.” So they started with the elders who were before the temple.
God’s wrath for sin is real. He values those who mourn over their and others’ sins.
Jamieson, Fausset, & Brown Commentary says, upon the foreheads—the most conspicuous part of the person, to imply how their safety would be manifested to all (compare Je 15:11; 39:11–18). It was customary thus to mark worshippers (Rev 13:16) and servants. So the Church of England marks the forehead with the sign of the cross in baptizing. At the exodus the mark was on the houses, for then it was families; here, it is on the foreheads, for it is individuals whose safety is guaranteed.
2 Timothy 2:19 also confirms the seal- “Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His;” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to keep away from wickedness.”
In these New Testament days, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of the deposit. We do not have a mark on us, visible or invisible.
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, 14 who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14).
The Lord knows who is His. Without fail and with a certainty we can only imagine. You will know if you are sealed with the Spirit if your affections have turned from your former fleshly indulgences to holy behavior and desires. If your sanctification is progressing, you are sealed. You are on the rock!
