“Place me like a seal (Chotam) over your heart, like a seal (Chotam) on your arm; for love is as strong as death…” (Song of Songs 8:6)
In the ancient world, a seal (Chotam) represented a person’s name, honor, and non-transferable proof of existence. The woman in the Song of Songs desperately asks her beloved to engrave her like a seal on his heart and arm. This is more than a plea for remembrance; it is a longing for absolute union wanting her presence to be read wherever he goes and her name to vibrate whenever his heart beats. God has responded to this yearning by making us His Chotam.
Through the prophet Haggai, God declares to His people, “I will make you like my signet ring (Chotam).” A king’s signet ring is the most precious tool, representing royal authority. Just as a king never removes this ring from his person, God has determined to keep us at the closest proximity to His being. To be God’s seal means that His honor is now revealed through our lives. Our value lies not in how great we are, but in the authority of the Master who wears us on His finger.
A seal transfers its own image onto the object it is pressed against. That God has made us His seal means His image is deeply pressed into our souls. Though the world may shake us and time may try to wear us down, the mark of Chotam the sign of God’s ownership can never be erased. The confession that love is as strong as death is a declaration that not even death can wipe away our names engraved on God’s heart.
We sometimes view ourselves as meaningless faces lost in a crowd. Yet, you are the one and only Chotam engraved on God’s heart in this universe. God carries you as a seal on His heart, feeling your pain, and wears you as a seal on His hand, living your daily life with you. Remember that your very existence is the seal that proves God is alive. You are the most noble trace, shining with the Master’s honor from His closest side.