Lesson 11: God’s Seal or the Beast’s Mark? – Discussion starters
- Our choice–God’s seal or the beast’s mark. After just one glance at illustrations used for the seal of God or the mark of the beast, what is your choice? Explain what it is about the mark of the beast that makes it so fearsome. Since it is still future, why does the mark of the beast bear so much importance to fellow Christians today as we approach the time of the end?
- God’s signs to identify His people. What two physical signs marked Old
Testament males who gave their full allegiance to God? What did the ritual of circumcision have to do with the believer’s heart? What modern ritual replaced circumcision in the New Testament? Why did that happen? Was the Sabbath given to take the place of circumcision? If not, what was the origin of the Sabbath? - The beast and false worship. As a child, do you remember ever being afraid of the beast as portrayed in gruesome pictures or enactments at church meetings? Should we be afraid of this power? Is it possible to hold to the teachings of Scripture about end-time events and still be able to put aside all fear of the beast? Why not ignore or at least downplay what the Bible says about the beast?
- The seal of God. What was the importance in Bible times of the seal attached to key documents? Moving forward to the time of the end, can you see (or imagine seeing) 144,000 Christians who are ready to be known as special people and have been sealed in Christ? Discuss what you think the significance of the number 144,000, is in this vision. Could it be a realistic number representing 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel? Or do you think it is more of a symbol than an actual count?
- The mark of the beast. Now we’re at the very end of the struggle for the allegiance of people living on the earth just before the Second Coming. Is it finally true that the Sabbath becomes the key to loyalty to God the Creator? And that the Sabbath becomes totally offensive to the evil one? Why does Satan put all of his energy behind promoting an alternative day? What, then, is the mark of the beast? Has this mark been applied yet? If not, why not?
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Is it a fair question to ask if only Seventh-day Adventist who does keep the Sabbath is going to heaven? if the question is no why do we not just leave Sunday worshippers alone?
It is a fair question to ask Ronald, and the short answer is that Sabbath-keeping is not a requirement for going to heaven. In answer to your second question: If you are trying to convince Sunday-keepers to keep Sabbath, then you are on the wrong track. We should be living our relationship with Jesus in such a way that people will want some of that relationship too.