Notes and Commentary
by Ken Puls
on John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress
Part Two
38. Fair as the Moon
When they were returned out of the garden from the bath, the Interpreter took them, and looked upon them, and said unto them, “Fair as the moon.” Then He called for the seal wherewith they used to be sealed that were washed in His bath. So the seal was brought, and He set his mark upon them, that they might be known in the places whither they were yet to go. Now the seal was the contents and sum of the Passover which the children of Israel did eat when they came out from the land of Egypt, and the mark was set between their eyes. This seal greatly added to their beauty, for it was an ornament to their faces; it also added to their gravity, and made their countenances more like those of angels.
Notes and Commentary
When the pilgrims return from the bath, the Interpreter describes them as “fair as the moon.” The moon has no light of its own, but it brilliantly reflects the glory of sun. We have no light in ourselves, but God has made us in His image to reflect His glory. We are saved “through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” that we might shine forth the glory of Christ.
For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:3–7).
Marked with a Seal
Now that the pilgrims are washed, the Interpreter has them marked with His seal. This seal represents the sealing by the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).
It is the guarantee of our salvation in Christ.
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 1:21–22).
The seal is the work of Christ applied by Spirit. It was foreshadowed in the Old Testament in the deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt and celebrated at Passover.
And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, “This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came up from Egypt.” It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. (Exodus 13:8–10).
And it is realized in the New Testament—fulfilled in the Gospel through the accomplished work of Christ—the promise that He will complete the work He has begun.
In Him [Christ] you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13–14).
Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).
The seal marks the pilgrims that they “might be known” as belonging to Christ, as members of the New Covenant. In the Old Testament, when God made a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17:11), the sign and seal of the covenant was circumcision.
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised. (Romans 4:11–12).
This seal served to mark Israel as God’s chosen nation as He faithfully preserved the “Seed of the woman” to fulfill His promise in Genesis 3:15 of the coming Messiah who would crush the head of the serpent. But the outward seal of the Old Covenant was no guarantee of a changed life.
But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed (Romans 9:6–8).
A changed life required not circumcision of the flesh, but circumcision of the heart.
Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. (Deuteronomy 10:16).
And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live (Deuteronomy 30:6).
Now in the New Testament, the seal is no longer outward but inward—the circumcision of the heart. This seal guarantees a new heart and all within the covenant are made new and know the Lord.
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:31–34).
It is this inward seal, promised in the Old Testament and realized in fullness in the New, that identifies the true people of God.
For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. (Romans 2:28–29).
For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3).
In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross (Colossians 2:11–14).
The Beauty of Holiness
Bunyan notes that the seal “greatly added to their beauty.” It changed the pilgrims’ demeanor. It shown on their faces, caused them to be sober-minded, and lifted up their countenance. This beauty is not mere outward appearance, but the beauty of holiness.
Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
(Psalm 96:9)
The Interpreter applies this truth specifically to women who “called at his house as they were going on pilgrimage.” True beauty is found not in outward adornment; rather it comes from inward holiness.
Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God (1 Peter 3:3–4).
Beauty begins on the inside with a heart cleansed and enlivened by God’s Spirit. Christ loved the church and died for her
that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27).
Holiness is the seal that identifies and adorns the people of God as we are sanctified and conformed to the image of Christ.
Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Timothy 2:19).
Continue reading 39. Clothed in White
Return to 37. Washed and Cleansed
The text for The Pilgrim's Progress
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Notes and Commentary for Part II ©2014, 2021–2024 Ken Puls
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from
the New King James Version (NKJV) ©1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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