3 -- IDENTIFYING THE UNKNOWN

Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, fallen man could no longer come directly before God and commune face to face with Him. Mans transgression of the divine law had placed an impassable barrier between the holy God and the transgressor. But a plan was devised that the sentence of death should rest upon a Substitute. In the plan of redemption there must be the shedding of blood, for death must come in consequence of man's sin. The beasts for sacrificial offerings were to prefigure Christ. In the slain victim representing the sacrifice of Christ, man was to see by faith the fulfillment of God's word, "Ye shall surely die."

In every offering to God we are to acknowledge the one great Gift-Jesus. That alone can make our service acceptable to him. When Abel offered the firstling of the flock he acknowledged God, not only as the giver of his temporal blessings but also as the giver of the Savior. Abel's gift was the very choicest he could bring, for it was the Lord's specified claim. But Cain brought only of the fruit of the ground and his offering was not accepted by the Lord. It did not express faith in Christ. All our offerings must be sprinkled with the blood of the atonement. As the purchased possession of the Son of God we are to give the Lord our own individual lives. We are to live for him. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." Ecc. 12:13.

The Lord saw the wrath of Cain, He saw the falling of his countenance. Thus is revealed how closely the Lord marks every action, all the intents and purposes, yes, even the expression of the countenance. This, though man may say nothing, expresses his refusal and displeasure in doing the will of God.

Satan is the parent of unbelief, murmuring and rebellion. He filled Cain with doubt and madness against his innocent brother and against God, because his sacrifice was refused and Abels accepted, and he slew his brother in madness.

God has given to every man his work, and if any one turns from the work that God has given him, to do the work of Satan, to defile his own body or lead another into sin, that man's work is cursed and the brand of Cain is placed upon him. The ruin of his victim will cry unto God as did the blood of Abel.

Any man, be he minister or layman, who seeks to compel or control the reason of any other man becomes an agent of Satan, to do his work. In the sight of the heavenly universe such a man bears the mark of Cain. Other common terms that are synonymous with the "mark of Cain" include: "He's the spitting image of his father;" "He's branded;" "He's marked for life;" "He bears the curse of his father."

The meaning of the word "mark" in Genesis 4:15, according to Strongs Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, comes from the Hebrew word owth, "(in the sense of appearing); a signal (literal or figurative), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc." It does not mean that a visible mark was stamped upon Cain. In fact it was used in a figurative sense, just as the word "seal" or "sign" is used in the scripture.

"Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed." Exodus 31:16, 17.

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes." Deuteronomy 6:5-8. The Mark of The Beast is also in the hand and in the forehead.

"Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them... And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God." Ezekiel 20:12, 20.

"Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." Revelation 7:3.

"And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads." Rev. 14:1.; Also see Rev. 22:3,4. With this in mind it should be very easy to understand that if God has a sign, seal, or mark, then Satan, the Antichrist, has his counterfeit. Let's read about Satan's counterfeit. Does Satan have a sign, seal, or mark for those that follow him? Those whose works are the traditions and commandments of men, those who are under the Old Covenant.

"And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Rev. 13:15-17.

"And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation..." Rev. 14:8-10. Also see verse 11.

"And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God." Rev. 15:2.

The scriptures very plainly teach that we can either receive the sign, seal, or mark of God in our forehead and hand, or the sign, seal, or mark of Satan in our forehead and hand. It should be understood that according to Revelation 13:15, the Mark of the Beast will not occur until the Image of the Beast is set up, and that being after the deadly wound of the beast of Revelation 13:3 is healed. We need to make sure we get the victory over the mark of the beast. To get this victory we must accept the Word of God above the traditions of men. It is plain that the sign, seal, or mark of God, is obedience to Him and His law. To be obedient to God shows that we worship Him. To follow tradition shows we that we worship a different god. In these verses, one specific commandment is being referred to. That being the only law that God said, "REMEMBER." "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." Ex. 20:8. Also see Deu. 6:5-8. This is the only commandment the Protestant world has forgotten and rejected. From this we can also see that the sign, seal, or mark of Satan, the Mark of the Beast, would be the opposite of the sign, seal, or mark of God, which would be the spurious sabbath that Satan has deceived the Christian world into accepting. Satan's counterfeit sabbath, the mark of allegiance to him, and to his church is a sign of who our leader is.

COMMENTS FROM THE CATHOLIC CHURCH REGARDING THE MARK OF HER AUTHORITY

"Question: Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?

"Answer: Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is not Scriptural authority." --A Doctrinal Catechism, Rev. Stephen Keenan, p. 174.

"Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act...and the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things." Letter written to Cardinal Gibbons, November, 1895, by Mr. H. F. Thomas, chancellor, replying to an inquiry as to whether the Catholic Church claims to have changed the Sabbath.

FROM A BAPTIST:

"There was and is a command to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week, with all its duties, privileges, and sanctions. Earnestly desiring information on this subject, which I have studied for many years, I ask, Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament, absolutely not. There is no Scriptural evidence of the change of the Sabbath institution from the seventh to the first day of the week...

"Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history as a religious day, as we learn from the Christian Fathers and other sources. But what a pity that it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, when adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!" - Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, author of The Baptist Manual, in a paper read before a New York Ministers' Conference held Nov. 13, 1893.

The first Sunday law ever made was that issued by the Emperor Constantine, March 7, A.D. 321, which reads as follows:

"Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades rest on the venerable day of the sun; but let those who are situated in the country, freely and at full liberty, attend to the business of agriculture; because it often happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and planting vines; lest the critical moment being let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by heaven." -- Corpus Juris Civilis Cod.: lib. 3, tit. 12, 3.