Sign in the Forehead -Part Two

Next we will turn our selves to the mark in the forehead.

In Ezekiel Chapter 9 we see where G_d is about to dish out the judgement he told about in Chapter 8. The judgement, now set forth, was to be thorough, but it was going to be selective as well. As in all his works G_d carries out His judgements in order and with precision.

Ezekiel 9:1-2
He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.

The Crier in verse 1 and 4 is the L_rd himself. The charges are issued with a loud voice to show just how great is His displeasure. Those that had charge over the city were those whom G_d set to watch over the welfare of the city. These are heavenly agents, not earthly. Angels are frequently called men because of their outward appearance. Lets look at Dan. chapter 4, verses 13, 17 and 23

Dan 4:13
I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;

Dan 4:17
This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

Dan 4:23
And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;

These angelic executioners came fully equipped with weapons of destruction at the ready. The six men and the one man fit into the prominence of the sacred number of seven. However we are not going into that, only to point it out. The angelic executioners came by way of the upper gate which was built by Jotham,
II Ki 15:35-36

Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the LORD. Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

It was also called the upper Benjamin gate (Jer 20:2) or the new gate (Jer 26:10, 36:10).

Jer 20:2
Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.

Jer 26:10
When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house.

Jer 36:10
Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house, in the ears of all the people.

The gate was toward the north of the city, the direction from which the Babylonian invaders came, as well as the area where the idolatries had taken place. The six men came with slaughter weapons, in Strongs Concordance it indicates something that batters or shatters, but the seventh man was attired differently. He was in the midst of them clothed in linen and with a writer's inkhorn. This man's position is significant; he is clearly superior to the others.

Linen indicates high rank and special service. Look in the book of Daniel

Dan 10:5
Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:

Dan 12:6
And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?

Some say this is Gabriel, but from the clothing and the nature of the work He is seen to accomplish later, it is to be inferred that the Chief of the company was none other than the Messiah. Ezekiel saw the emissaries of the L_rd go in and stand beside the brazen alter, which was the symbol of the G_d's righteous requirement on earth. It had been totally and completely desecrated and polluted by the nation abominations. The servants of the L_rd were in waiting for the command to start the destruction.

But before the agents performed any deed of judgement, an ominous act took place. This was the leaving of the Shechinah, we have already covered that, where it moved from the Cherubim, to the threshold, to the Mount of Olives.

Ezekiel traces the movement of the Shechinah very carefully, to show just how significant the leaving was. Israel was now without a protector. From His position the L_rd issued His charge to the Man in linen with the inkhorn. He orders were very specific, the Man with the inkhorn was to pass through the midst of Jerusalem in order to mark on the foreheads all those who lamented over the abominations committed in the capital city.

We have to remember that apostasy in Israel was never absolute, G_d always had a remnant who did not bow to 'Baal'. The lamentations of the marked ones were proof that they did not participate in the abominations of the populace. For those who truly love the L_rd there is always grief in the evil days. The ones that received the mark were penitent and faithful at a time when there was a wide spread departure from the will of G_d.

Just like in Revelation 7:1-3, the mark was for protection from wrath.

Let's look at some more marks of safety

Exod 12:7
And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

Exod 12:13
And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

Mal 3:16
Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

2 Cor 1:22
Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Eph 4:30
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

2 Tim 2:19
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Rev 7:2-3
And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

Rev 14:1
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.

There is another mention of his name in their foreheads and that is

Rev 22:4
And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

There are a couple more marks that I think we should look into and maybe at later date we can go in and do a study on them; they are:

Deut 6:8
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

Deut 11:18
Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

Exod 13:16
And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.

All these marks or signs can be found in the Hebrew Aleph Beit. In Egypt the mark was made by the blood of the lamb, the letter "Hey - for life" over the doorpost and lintel. The tillifilin is the Shin for El Shaddai and the one in Ezekiel is the Tav, which in the earlier script the Tav was written as a cross; Frank Seekins in his book "Hebrew Word Pictures" says that this pictograph symbolizes to join two things together, to make a covenant, to seal or make a sign. In Ezekiel the L_rd was doing all that, he joined Himself to the remnant. He made a covenant with them to protect them, and put his seal upon them. And He uses it as a sign to us who are believers in the Messiah, that in the end times he will once again seal all who believe in him.

So now we know that's why we should never lose sight of the cross, it is G_d's sign or seal of protection for those who believe. And it is very Jewish!!!!!

The sealing in Ezekiel was doubtless for the purpose of insuring safety, and there is a remarkable similarity between what is stated here and in Revelation 7:1-3.

A couple things are a little different here 1) in Ezekiel there are seven agents or angels; in Revelation there are but four. 2) We know what the seal or mark is in Ezekiel but there is no mention in Rev 7:3 as to what the seal is.

So lets cover these points or at least point 1 here as point 2 is the main reason I got into this to start with. Why seven and four? If you look at numbers in Hebrew you know they have value, seven is the number of spiritual things and four is always pertaining to the Earth. So in Ezekiel G_d is dealing with only the spiritual things; the Temple and Israel in their idol worship, therefore we have seven angels.

But in Revelation G_d is dealing with the whole Earth!!! Therefore the number of angels are four. In Ezekiel he only destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem, the center of idolatry; in Revelation the destruction will be with all mankind as by now the whole Earth is corrupt.

Now lets return to Ezekiel and the mark. Jewish writers have explained the use of the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet as a signature in three ways 1) since it is the last letter it denotes completeness; what did Yeshua say on the cross!! 2) it is the first letter of Torah; 3) it is the first letter of the Hebrew word for "thou shalt live". Incidentally it is the first letter of the Hebrew word for "thou shalt
die".

Since the Tav was written as a cross, Christian interpreters have seen a somewhat prophetic allusion to the sign of the cross. One writer said "it is a remarkable coincident", Personally I don't think it's a coincident!!!

What is remarkable is the first command issued from the L_rd was a word of grace and mercy to the godly remnant in the Nation through the Man with the inkhorn. Then came the command for destruction of the remainder; the destruction was so great that Ezekiel cried out I am the only one left!!!!

We now know the mark in Ezekiel was the Tav or cross, but what is the mark in Revelation 7:3? Well I was out at the old place in Black Canyon City where we had been studying; when I took a break and was mulling this over in my mind. All of a sudden the L_rd put on my mind, Yeshua said "I am the Aleph and the Tav".

Now the excitement began to rise, as he started giving me different things, one was the "Name of the Father" in their foreheads. That is not in Rev 7:3 L_rd, no He said, but it is in Revelation 14:1

Rev.14:1
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.

Then came Genesis 1 in Hebrew, the Aleph and the Tav, that never gets translated, we have discussed this before right here at Beth El. At that time we were excited that we were able to glean from that, that we understood it meant Yeshua was right in the first verse of the bible. He (Yeshua) had affirmed it when He said "I am the Aleph and the Tav".

It never gets translated because I guess most translators don't know how to use it. The first verse of Genesis is made up of seven words in the shape of a Sabbath Menorah, with the, Aleph-Tav, right in the middle:

In this way G_d is saying that I am right here in the beginning. Later on Yeshua said "I am the Aleph and the Tav". I know the New Testament says Alpha and Omega, but it's hard for me to see a Jewish Hebrew speaking Rabbi using Greek!

So what is so important about the Sabbath Menorah, well we know that the center candle is called the 'servant candle - shamash' and that the other candles get their light from this candle. Yeshua came as the 'Servant' and we who are his get our light from HIM!

Now the excitement is rising to a fever pitch, L_rd what are trying to show me!!

Is the Aleph the name of G_d, yes, it is came to my mind; I called out to Frances, the L_rd has given me something that I have got to check out where is that book by Frank Seekins.

I got the book "Hebrew Word Pictures" and looked up the Aleph and here is what Frank has to say about it. The pictograph of an ox or bull symbolizes strength under control, this is the common usage. However, he also states in his examples of usage that "It is used in the word for Father" which means "The strength of the house" "It is used in the word for G_d" which means "The strong controller".

Halleluya, maybe the mark in Revelation is the "Aleph" or maybe "Aleph/Tav"

Folks, the rest of this is so wild, so bazaar that I was a little afraid to even say it.

Maybe when the L_rd put the Aleph and the Tav in the first verse he was telling us right from the beginning, and no wonder translators didn't try to give meaning to it. And when Yeshua was telling us he was the Aleph and the Tav,
that the meaning for the Aleph/Tav is "I am G_d on the Cross".

These three pictures are of the ancient Tav
The one on the far left with the white background is blown up -
Its from a chart showing script from the 600 Century B.C.E.
The one to the right is an artist rending if it.
The one on blue in the middle is from about the 900 B.C. E.
The Hebrew Tav was made up of two Hebrew Letters, Vav's
The Vav is a ancient picture of a "tent peg" - a nail or pins in the KJV- yaw-thade Strongs #3489
The Tav means: Seal, Covenant, Sign

With that little bombshell, I will close with this thought from Psalm 111:2

"The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein."

Shalom

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