Receiving the Mark

8/13/00

NUM 6:23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,

NUM 6:24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

NUM 6:25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

NUM 6:26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

NUM 6:27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.

In the times of the book of Numbers, Aaron and his sons were the priests. The priests were those that gave assistance to the people concerning the things of God. The Lord said, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying . . . A blessing can be spoken over the people of God. The Lord said here is how I want you to bless the people. I want you to speak over them.

After the blessing was spoken, the Lord said that they (the priests) shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them. We want to see today how the name can be placed upon the children. The book of Numbers was written around 1490 B.C. Has anyone ever seen anyone that had the name of the Lord in their foreheads? I have. I see them all the time. I am looking at people that have the name of the Lord sealed in their foreheads.

We hear a lot about the mark of the beast. We hear about the 666 all the time, but seldom do we hear about the mark of the Lord. Yet the passage in Numbers 6:23-27 says the name of the Lord can be put upon the children. Do we know that we can be marked, even sealed in our foreheads? Allow me to point out a few scriptures that speak of this mark for the believers, or this sealing of his name in the foreheads, for God's people.

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

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

There are only two marks. Those are the mark of the beast (Rev 13:16) and the mark of the Lord. It is important that we make certain that we and those we influence receive the mark of the Lord.

The mark of the beast is far more than a tatoo or a computer chip placed in our head or hand. So it is with the mark of the Lord. The mark of the beast is when heads (minds) think evil and hands do evil. That mark will lead us to hell which was prepared for the devil and his angels (Mat 25:41). The mark of the Lord leads us in a different direction. It will take us to a place where we shall see his face. And they shall see his face: and his name shall be in their foreheads.

Allow me to show us the definition of the word foreheads found in Revelation 7:3 and 22:4. I hope in this lesson to make this applicable for today. We are told it is for a day to come, but it is for today as well.

foreheads 3359 metopon {met'-o-pon }

the space between the eyes

Often, I observe children taken to church, but not sealed in their foreheads. I have seen a lot of positive confessions, but not a lot of children with his name in their foreheads. These children mature into adolescents not sealed with the name of the Lord causing parents all sort of grief. They also become adults not sealed continuing to cause themselves, relatives, and often society grief.

If the mark of the beast is a tatoo or a computer chip, then so must be the mark of the Lord. However, I don't see anyone marked in their forehead or anyone that has had a computer chip inserted. So, the mark must mean something different that an external mark or a computer chip, etc. We can put all the tattoos or computer chips we want on and in people, but if the space between the eyes is not captured, then all we have done is tatoo and inserted a computer chip. Let's talk about three points necessary to receiving the mark and being certain the mark is upon our children.

1. Presenting

It begins with the parents presenting the child to the Lord. We need to know that something spiritual does happen when we correctly present our children to the Lord.

LUK 2:22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;

Even the Lord Jesus was brought as an infant to the house of the Lord and presented. Isn't that interesting? Something spiritual transpires when we bring our infants and present them to our Lord.

2. Training

EPH 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

(NIV) EPH 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Children become exasperated when they observe the parents expecting the child to live and behave one way, but the parents conducting their lives another way. We train and instruct by example. Our words of instruction are only secondary to our actions.

PRO 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Our children must see us living for the Lord. They need to see that the Lord is good and not only hear that the Lord is good. They need to see that living a life for the Lord is blessed and abundant.

3. Instruction and Discussion

DEU 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

DEU 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

DEU 6:7 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.

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

We talk about what we love. It is out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Children know this. Talk about the Lord. Discuss the scriptures with your children. It is also interesting to listen to what they are talking about. What is in their heart? Do they ever talk about the Lord? We should talk about the Lord when we sit in our homes, and when we spend time together. In so doing, we are putting a sign upon their hand. We are placing something between their eyes.

The point is we are marking our children and grand children at this very moment. The beast nature is marking them, or the Spirit of the Lord within us is marking them.