The Sabbath as the Mark of God

Is there a Mark of God?

“And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

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.”
Revelation 7:1-3

In this way, we can observe that God has a mark or seal that distinguishes Him from the rest of the world. These symbols—“earth, sea, trees”—used in the chapter represent humanity or people (Rev. 17:15). The winds represent wars (Jer. 49:36).

Therefore, what this chapter is representing is a time of grace, in which God has sent His angel to warn the four angels of the four corners of the earth not to release war and catastrophe upon the world until the sealing of God’s people is completed.

Is the Sabbath the Mark of God?

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”
Genesis 2:1-3

“Saturday: The seventh and last day of the week; the day of Jewish Sabbath“
-A dictionary of the english language by Joseph Emerson page 1276-

When it came to the seventh day, God did three main things on that day: He rested, He sanctified it (set it apart from the world), and He blessed it. All of this happened in the first week of the creation of the world, leaving an eternal memorial to remember the creation account. We can also see this in the fourth commandment in the book of Exodus:

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” — Exodus 20:8–11

As the living God tells us: REMEMBER the Sabbath day; you shall do no work… because God created in six days and rested on the seventh. Is this not a memorial of creation? Why does He say REMEMBER? If we remember the creation, we remember the Author, who is the Creator. Therefore, the Lord is telling us: REMEMBER who your God is!

Beyond this, there is much more explicit evidence in the Bible that shows the Sabbath as the MARK or SEAL of God:

Exodus 31:13, 17
“Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a SIGN between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. 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.”

Ezekiel 20:12–13
“Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a SIGN between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”

Sunday is a counterfeit Sabbath

Because the Sabbath is tied to the identity of God and to His relationship with His people, we can assume with great certainty that without the Sabbath there is no specific entity being worshiped. The apostle John makes this much clearer in his letter when he wrote: “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:3–4). Or when the Savior said: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

Does Satan not want to attack God and His law? What attack could be more perfect than to directly corrupt the very commandment that points us to His identity as our Creator?

We do not need to get into debates about whether the Sabbath is truly the seventh day. I encourage the reader to look at the calendar on their computer or phone and see which day is the seventh. The Catholic Church itself admits that Sunday is nothing more than its own invention:

“It was the holy Catholic Church that changed the day of rest from Saturday to Sunday, the first day of the week. And it not only compelled everyone to keep Sunday, but at the Council of Laodicea, in the year A.D. 364, it anathematized those who kept the Sabbath and urged all people to work on the seventh day under penalty of anathema.”
—Catholic priest T. Enright, CSSR, Kansas City, MO—

“Sunday… is purely a creation of the Catholic Church.”
—American Catholic Quarterly Review (January 1883)—

“Sunday… is an exclusive law of the Catholic Church…”
—Catholic American Sentinel (June 1893)—

If this is not enough evidence to show that the Sabbath truly is the seventh day, the Bible itself confirms that Jesus rose on the day following the Sabbath:

“In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.… But the angel answered and said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen.’” – Matthew 28

The day globally observed as the day of the resurrection is Sunday. Here the Bible explicitly tells us that the day of Christ’s resurrection was the first day of the week; therefore, Christ rose on a Sunday. Let us see what the Catholic Church says about whether the fourth commandment was truly changed to Sunday in the Bible:

“The Bible STILL teaches that the Sabbath or Saturday must be kept holy. There is no authority in the New Testament to substitute Sunday for Saturday. It is undoubtedly an important matter. It stands in the Bible as one of the Ten Commandments of God. There is no authority in the Bible to abolish this commandment or to transfer its observance to another day of the week.”
—Catholic Record, September 1, 1923, London—

“I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can bring any biblical proof that Sunday is the day we are commanded to keep… The Bible says, ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,’ but the Catholic Church says, ‘No, keep the first day of the week,’ and the entire world bows in obedience.”
—Catholic priest T. Enright, CSSR, lecture at Hartford, KS, February 18, 1884—

"In the forehead or the hand"

“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“
Revelation 13:16

Interestingly, the seal of God, in contrast to the mark of the beast, is placed on the forehead AND the hand (Exodus 13:9). The mark of the beast, on the other side, is placed on the forehead OR the hand. Both features—the forehead and the hand—carry symbolic meaning: in our forehead we have the frontal lobe, which is responsible for decision-making. This indicates that if a mark is placed there, it represents a conscious, cognitive decision—choosing whether the mark of the beast or the seal of God is the truth. The hand represents our behavior and actions.

Are there believers who genuinely think, as an intellectual decision, that Sunday is God’s day? The answer is absolutely yes. In the same way, there are atheists, agnostics, or non-believers who will not be convinced by the beast’s miracles and will not make an intellectual decision to become believers. This latter group will be the ones who receive the mark of the beast in their hand, because they will not believe, but will take the mark out of convenience and economic pressure.

Let us remember that those who do not take the mark will not be able to buy or sell. Let us ask ourselves: do we not buy and sell on a daily basis? What would our lives be like without the ability to buy or sell? We would not be able to purchase food, drinks, hygiene products, tools, household supplies, services, gasoline, transportation, etc.

The mark of God, being placed both on the forehead and on the hand, signifies that there is both belief and action involved—this is what distinguishes it from the mark of the beast. The beast only desires obedience, whether through deception or by force. Those who stand with God must be completely grounded in truth, both in action and in faith. The servants of God who are sealed will be so firmly established in the truth of the gospel—and especially of the Sabbath—that no matter the persecution or tribulation, they will remain faithful to God and keep His holy Sabbath, the mark of authority of the living God.

Have the Ten Commandments been abolished?

Perhaps one of Satan’s greatest lies was making the Christian world believe that the Ten Commandments have been abolished. This idea is completely ruled out, since our own Savior told us:

“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled..” — Matthew 5:18

How is Sunday worship linked to 666?

“Here is wisdom. Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. And his number is six hundred sixty-six.” – Revelation 13:18

History shows that Babylonian priests used amulets to represent the cosmos. One of the most prominent amulets was connected to the sun god. On the front of the amulet, we could see the image of the sun above the Babylonian lion.

On the back there was something known in numerology as the “magic square of the Sun,” which had six boxes horizontally and vertically, each box containing a number. When adding the results of the six boxes, we end up with the number 666.

It is interesting that the Roman Catholic Church venerates the day of the sun (Sunday) and claims that this is its mark of authority. In addition, many popes have used the title “Pontifex Maximus”, which in Latin means “supreme pagan priest,” a title given to the highest-ranking priests in Babylon. In conclusion, the number 666 is rooted in sun worship, and the Church has a history of pagan origin.

The Great Controversy.

“When Sunday observance shall be enforced by law, and the world shall be enlightened concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath, then whoever shall transgress the command of God, to obey a precept which has no higher authority than that of Rome, will thereby honor popery above God. He is worshiping the beast and his image.”
— The Great Controversy

From the archaeological and historical evidence that demonstrates the Bible is a reliable and true document, to the most relevant end-time prophecies, the “Total Onslaught” series teaches us the methods of deception and assault used by Satan against Christ, and how the final events of this world will unfold.