The seal of God

I'm quite certain that by the seal of God in a person's forehead nothing more is meant than that said person's belief is approved by God. And in Revelation 9:4 that's all there is to it: the Viet Cong were unbelievers (who'd have been better off, if they'd have had an actual seal in the form of a gas mask on their faces).

But in Revelation 7 the meaning is more refined, the question is just: How?

If my interpretations of chapters 6 & 8 are correct, the sealing must have taken place between 1539 and 1581.

There are three Iberian candidates for the sealing in this period:

1. The founding of the Society of Jesus in 1539.
2. The Inquisition during that time.
3. The intellectual and physical relocation of the Marranos.

The third possibility is of course closely connected with the second, but the meaning of the sealing is entirely different:

1. The Jesuits make up the 144000. The seal is that of discipline.
2. Common Catholics make up the 144000. The seal is that of papal approval.
3. Outcast Jews make up the 144000. The seal is that of beating the odds (of ignorance).

Of course, in light of John's naming of the Jewish tribes, we should make certain that the Jesuits and the common Catholics in question are of Jewish descent. It is an interesting question: Who of these will prove their worth? And the fact that so much sealing was going on in that period is remarkable too. Wouldn't we almost have to assume that it was not by chance, but because the half an hour of the day was known to the sealers? Perhaps they tried different approaches. Perhaps they wanted to make sure that the Revelation spoke of their respective seal. Well, if my timetable is correct, we'll soon know more.