"SET ME AS A SEAL UPON THY HEART AND ARM"
When I read this passage from Song of Solomon 8:6, I was astounded at the impact of those words in light of what was being voiced to me concerning them. Here God is literally instructing us to use Him as a S(h)EAL(d) for questions concerning one's thoughts and actions. What is a seal? A seal is a printed or embossed symbol of authority. In this case God, the King of kings Himself is a seal. This is an easy thing to grasp in light of the fact that God "dwells in us and walks in us", 2 Corinthians 6:16. For man's own peace of mind in a world where men have little understanding, God is telling men to use Him as an answer for those who fault them and criticize them. Take the analogy of a "sealed letter". A seal on a letter covers, encloses, and hides the contents from the eyes of the curious and all who might chance to see it. Man's mind has been described as an "epistle" or letter of Christ if he follows Jesus, 2 Corinthians 3:3. But our discussion is the "epistle of God", a man, which is "sealed". Job 33:14-17 states that "God speaks once in a night dream and seals man's instructions from him". In other words God writes verbally on a man's mind, so that even that person who is now a walking sealed letter, is unaware of the contents!
Now let us look at the meaning of a "sealed arm". An arm is the means by which man is able to do things. They have hands on them, and hence, "the works of a man's hands" is a phrase describing man's activities. A "sealed arm" is indicative of hidden works God has sealed from a man. "Without God a man can do nothing", John 15:5. "So it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth", Romans 9:16. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do his good pleasure", Philippians 2:13. Paul wrote the full implication of "God as a seal upon the arm". It is of God also to use us for evil!! And this one point is the subject preachers to the man do not preach about, for God "sealed" this knowledge from most of them. Yet the scriptural proof is in the record! Two types of vessels are made by our Potter...."vessels of pleasure" for good works and "vessels unclean" for bad works. Observe Romans 9:15-26 and learn the other side of the truth. Pharaoh and Moses are two examples of both kinds of vessels molded by Potter-God. It is the Potter who determines the use of each type of vessel. Vessels do not become what they want to be ... contrary to what preachers teach. No man can make out of his life what he will or what the preachers will. Back to our point, Pharaoh was to be a scoundrel in this life, a role exclusively tailored for him by the Playwright-God. And God used him so He could show his power and glory and be recognized by men in later generations. Moses on the other hand was to be a vessel of pleasure by which the laws of good behavior would be delivered to men. No man can change his God-given role as God's authority shows, Isaiah 43:19. God illustrated this to Jeremiah using a potter and his work. So each human being is "sealed" in his earthly role whether it is good or evil. That statement may be hard for some "baby" preachers to swallow who have been taught to accuse, judge, and blame men making them responsible for choosing their own way. However these lawyers and their objections are overruled by Judge-Potter. He declares, "I, even I, am He, and there is no god with me: I kill I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand", Deuteronomy 32:29. In Isaiah 45:6,7 He says, "I am the Lord and none else. I form light and create darkness: I make peace and create evil: I THE LORD DO ALL THESE THINGS". "Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done [it]? 7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets,Amos 3:6-7. CLEARLY THE JUDGE-POTTER IS THE "SEAL" ON A MAN'S ARM AND HEART (or mind). And man's way is "hidden" (sealed) from himself. "Man's goings are of the Lord; how then can a man understand his own way"? Proverbs 20:24. It is true that some vessels are "marred" in the hand of the Potter as the preachers continue to point out, Jeremiah 18:1-6. But..."Is anything too hard for God to do"? Numbers 11:23. "God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that He should repent: hath He said and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good"? Numbers 23:19. No clay vessel can sprout arms and remold itself or another vessel into a new type. That is the Potter's job! And He has a set time to do just that! Obviously He allows most human vessels to remain "marred" for a whole lifetime on earth (Romans 8:18-22) ... only to smash them to shivers with Jesus' "iron rod" on their last day. God has promised to make all things new. And those "buried vessels" which were broken are remolded in the Highest Place, Hebrews 12:22-24. Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. And ALL SHALL BE MADE RIGHTEOUS IN MIND AND DEED, Romans 5:18.
We need to give the Potter credit and BELIEVE HIM,... not the "doubting-Thomas" preacher-lawyers!! We need to keep in mind that God is a "seal" OVER each man's heart and the activities of man's arms and hands. Then we will be able to take every event in this life as "coming from the Lord", our Judge-Potter and "Sealer". We could then learn not to condemn each other for the evil works God has allowed "Pharaoh" to accomplish in us in our God-given negative roles! "In all our ways we should acknowledge Him" as the doer of our works in us (whether it is good or evil) and as the "seal" on our hearts and arms. Here is a scourge of three small cords for all you preacher-lawyers who have cluttered up his temples with your own gospels of death and condemnation of men which was done away by Jesus, Ecclesiastes 4:12; John 2:15; 2 Corinthians 3:5-12. Here are the cords: (a) Amos 3:6-7, (b) Deuteronomy 32:39 (c) Isaiah 45:6-7. That is an awfully hard pill for preachers who teach condemnation to swallow. But it is rochelle oil, a purgative for the tongues of those with the guts to BELIEVE GOD and to tell the WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH! Now if you are a "doubting-Thomas", go on and say this is "unbelievable". In due time a rod shall crack your head, and then your head will be open to see the light. Every nut must be cracked! Part of man's inhumanity to man is because some leading "preacher-lawyers" do not tell the WHOLE TRUTH. "Woe to you lawyers .... for the publicans and harlots (prodigal children) enter the kingdom before you do! Matthew 21:31. To all you so-called "sinners" out there: "Hear the Word of the Lord, ye that tremble at His Word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed", Isaiah 66:5. Why don't you preacher-lawyers consider your portrait in Luke 15:25-32?!!