<p>7:3 <em>Saying: Do not hurt the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees</em>- Significantly, the Koran stipulated that trees are not to be damaged during campaigns against infidels. The same word for &quot;hurt&quot; was used in 6:6, where the oliveyards and vineyards were not to be then hurt. This may mean that now the judgments upon the land are poured out upon it.</p><p><em>Until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads</em>- This sealing of the 144,000 is presented at the beginning of Revelation 14 as the counterpart to the sealing of the other inhabitants of the land with the mark of the beast in <em>their</em> foreheads which we find at the end of Revelation 13. The faithful who come through the traumas of the six seal judgments of chapter 6, refusing to take the easy way out by receiving the mark of the beast in their forehead, are sealed with the Father&rsquo;s Name in their foreheads. They are known by Him, and they know Him. The presence or absence of &lsquo;marks in the forehead&rsquo; decides whether the beast system will persecute people or not; and in response to this, the Divine judgments will likewise be upon those who lack the Father&rsquo;s Name but instead have the beast&rsquo;s name (Rev. 9:4; 13:16; 14:1,9; 20:4). And it is those who have the Father&rsquo;s Name in their foreheads who will again be given it yet more permanently at the day of judgment (Rev. 22:4). This means that their response to the beast&rsquo;s persecution is in effect their day of judgment ahead of time; because they refuse to accept his mark in their foreheads, therefore the Father will give them His mark in their foreheads- which is the reward of the faithful at the last day. This is a feature I commented upon extensively in <em>The Last Days</em>- that our response to the tribulation is effectively our judgment day. And this has an appropriacy to it- for if the generation alive at the Lord&rsquo;s coming will be the only one to never die, they need to be prepared in a unique way for the passage into eternity which they will experience. And this will be achieved through their experience of the tribulation.</p><p>The mark of the beast in the forehead is clearly intended to be understood as the inverse of the &ldquo;seal of God&rdquo; which is in the forehead of the believers (Rev. 9:4). The word <em>sphragis</em> used there definitely means a seal, and it is matched by the &ldquo;mark&rdquo; of the beast. That mark can be understood, therefore, also as a seal- and what more likely than the seal of Mohammed? It may be that signet rings are used to stamp documents, or it forms part of an insignia without which no business can be done in the land. The Koran itself speaks of how true Moslems will have the mark of Mohammad on their foreheads as a sign that they worship: &ldquo;Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves. Thou O Muhammad seest them bowing and falling prostrate in worship, seeking bounty from Allah and His acceptance. The mark of them is on their foreheads from the traces of prostration&rdquo; (Surah 48.29). In Revelation 14:9,11, having the mark of the beast is connected with worshipping him. The Islamic jihadist movement set to take over Israel is a highly religious movement, seeking to strictly obey the Koran. They are highly conscious of these verses. They perceive those who don&rsquo;t have <em>their</em> mark in the forehead as having the mark in the forehead of condemnation (Surah 9.35); the idea of a seal being placed upon non-Moslems who refuse to convert to Islam is found also in Sura 7.101: &quot;Thus doth Allah print upon the hearts minds / foreheads of disbelievers&quot;. All this is in fact the picture presented in Revelation of sealing with forehead marks. We have either the mark of the beast Islam, or of the Father. And so the Koran also says in This is exactly the idea of Sura 7.46,48: &quot;And on the Heights are men who know them all by their marks... the dwellers on the Heights call unto men whom they know by their marks&quot;. Islam believes that the unbelievers are sealed by God in their unbelief- whilst the Moslems are sealed as believers. &quot;Allah has set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing, and on their eyes there is a covering. Theirs will be a great torment&quot; (Sura 2:7). Note too that the Koran and Hadith repeatedly speak of faithful Moslems as the servants of Allah, with Mohammad as the supreme servant. The description of the 144,000 as &ldquo;servants of our God&rdquo; is purposeful in this context; in the time of Moslem domination of the land, they will be the <em>true</em> servants of God, in opposition to the Moslems who falsely claim to be His servants. In this context it&rsquo;s worth noting the claim that &ldquo;The value of the word &quot;Muhammad&quot; equals the value of the word &quot;Jesus.&quot; (Jesus = 444,&nbsp;Muhammad = 444). Therefore, &quot;Muhammad seal&quot; and &quot;Jesus seal&quot; both equal 666&rdquo;.</p><p>The seal is the Name of the Father, Yahweh (14:1). The only personage in the Old Testament who had the Yahweh Name in their forehead was the High Priest, who on his mitre had written &lsquo;Holiness / Dedicated to Yahweh&rsquo;.&nbsp; The idea was that all of the 144,000 are as the High Priest- in that they are &ldquo;in Christ&rdquo; and all that is true of Him is true of them.</p>