571. Marks of Consecration

Ezekiel 9:4; Genesis 4:15; Revelation 7:3; Revelation 9:4  •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 8
Listen from:
Ezekiel 9:4. Set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
This mark was to be put on these faithful ones for their protection when the faithless were to be destroyed. It showed that they belonged to God. The allusion is to a very ancient custom. In Egypt a runaway slave was freed from his master if he went to the temple and gave himself up to the god, receiving certain marks upon his person to denote his consecration to the deity there worshiped. Cain had a mark put on him for his protection, as an evidence of God’s promise to spare his life notwithstanding his wickedness (Gen. 4:15). To this day all Hindus have some sort of mark upon their forehead signifying their consecration to their gods. Several passages in the book of Revelation represent the saints as having a mark on their foreheads. See Revelation 7:3; 9:4; 14:1; 22:4. The followers of the “beast” are also said to be marked in the forehead or in the hands. See Revelation 13:16-17; 14:9; 20:4. The Romans marked their soldiers in the hand and their slaves in the forehead. The woman in scarlet, whom John saw, had a name written on her forehead (Rev. 17:5).
See also note on Galatians 6:17 (#873).