A seal on our foreheads
by Tatiana Overduin
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Then I heard the number of those who were sealed … (Revelation 7:4).
Read Revelation 7:1–8
Which tribe are you? It’s interesting to have met people in my life who have used this expression that they have ‘found their tribe’. This expression is meant to indicate that a person has found other people with whom they are comfortable and with whom they share common interests. The way we spend our time and the people we generally spend our time with also reflects the sort of people we ourselves are and where our interests lie.
Jesus teaches the people in the Sermon on the Mount of those who are blessed and thirst for righteousness, and in 1 Corinthians 6:9, we read that we ought not be deceived, for the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
If we now reflect on today’s reference regarding the ‘seal on our foreheads’, we may question, ‘What is this “seal” that Revelation speaks of here?’ Just like a seal on an envelope that closes the paper firmly together or ‘sealing a deal’, a binding agreement is made. Through baptism, God grants us his Holy Spirit as a promise that we are his forever and shall be saved on the last day. Daily repentance, living in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22,23) and trusting in God’s teaching through his word – these lifestyles witness to a living, faithful relationship with a heart for God, sealed for the day of our redemption. He has bought us with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20).
There are many different scholarly interpretations about the actual number mentioned in today’s reading of 144,000, but ultimately, this number largely remains a mystery. The number may be literal, or it may represent the Christian church, a complete and very great number of those who are saved. The seal on our forehead identifies us as belonging to God the Father. We read in Genesis 22:17 that the descendants of Abraham will indeed be more ‘numerous than the stars in the sky, and the grains on the beaches’, so our full understanding and preoccupation with this number of 144,000 is largely irrelevant. What is important is that we continue to honour, praise and worship our God in our lives, trusting in his promises for us.
Holy Creator God, we worship you in spirit and in truth. Reassure us in your promises, trusting that we belong to you. Help us to live lives that reflect our belonging to ‘your tribe: your family’. Keep us from fearing those things we do not fully understand, the mysteries that only you alone know. We ask for your mercy, upon our lives and those of our loved ones, and that one day, we may be joined together with you in our eternal home. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Tatiana is married to Jim, and they live in Largs North, a seaside location in Adelaide. They have two adult children and six grandchildren, who are a wonderful blessing to them both. Tatiana teaches full-time as an English, History and Religion teacher; she gained a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from Australian Lutheran College in 1996, and in her spare time, she enjoys knitting, gardening, singing for church, writing and swimming. Her home congregation is Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide.
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