The Apocalypse

Key To Reading Revelation

The Revelation of St. John is a tricky book to read. But you can use the creation story in Genesis chapters 1, 2 and 3 as a key to understanding chapter 4 of Revelation onward. In this post I will show you how to use this key, and then show which current and future events the revelation probably refers to.

7 Seals

We will start with the prophesy of the 7 seals. In chapters 5, 6 and 7 John sees a book sealed with seven seals. When each seal is broken an additional section of the book is revealed. Each section of the book reveals several important events and themes of a period of time in the creation of the kingdom of God. In later chapters the revelation goes into more detail on some of the time periods of the apocalypse.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Victor Vasnetsof

Woman Wearing the Sun

In chapter 12 there is a story about a pregnant woman who wears the sun, stands on the moon, and has a crown of twelve stars. This is a reference to the fourth day of creation when God made the sun, moon and stars, and it tells us that these events start in the fourth period of the apocalypse. The woman represents the church of God, and her child represents the Kingdom of God, which is implied by similarities to a prophesy in Isaiah as well as details in the chapter.(Isaiah 66:7-9)

In the same chapter a dragon, which represents the kingdom of the devil, wants to eat the child, and starts a war in heaven in order to get to the child and the woman. However the dragon does not win the war, and instead is cast out of heaven taking one third of the stars in the sky with him to the earth. On earth he starts persecuting the woman, and she is given two eagle wings to get away from the dragon. The eagle wings fly her to safety in a wilderness.

The eagle wings are a reference to the fifth day of creation when God created the birds in the sky. The wilderness is a reference to the sixth day of creation, when God created the garden of Eden for Adam and Eve to dwell. After arriving in the wilderness the dragon lets out a flood from its mouth to drown the woman. This is also a reference to the end of the sixth day of creation when the serpent spewed lies to Adam and Eve to get them to partake of the forbidden fruit.

Note: Some events in this chapter are slightly out of order, and are corrected in the Joseph Smith translation.

The Beasts

In chapter 13 John sees a seven headed beast coming out from the sea. The beast from the sea is a reference to the fifth day of creation, when God creates the fish in the sea, informing us that this section of the chapter is going into more detail about the events of the fifth period of the building of Zion. The beast has attributes from all of the beasts mentioned in the book of Daniel which tells us that this beast is referring to a nation, or perhaps all nations, that are opposed to the kingdom of God. Later in the chapter a beast in the form of a lamb appears. The lamb is a reference to the start of the sixth day of the creation of the world, when God made the beasts of the fields, so we know that this part of the chapter is referring to events in the sixth period of the creation of Zion. The lamb is later described as a false prophet to let us know what to expect from it.

Babylon

In chapter 17 we are shown Babylon: the mother of all abominations. This is a reference to the end of the sixth day of creation when God created the first woman, and tells us that in the end of the sixth period of the creation of Zion Satan will create this woman as his ultimate weapon against God. The mother of abominations is described as the city Babylon, which also helps merchants to sell their merchandise.

Zion

In chapter 21 we see what God has been building all this time. John sees a city that he describes as Jesus's bride, Zion the new Jerusalem. This is also a reference to the creation of Eve, so this city is being built at the same time as the mother of abominations near the end of the sixth period of the creation of Zion.

Angels

Several events in the book are caused or announced by angels. Many of these events are plagues, and most of them have fire motifs associated with them. The angels and the fire in these events are a reference to the seventh day of creation when a cherubim and a flaming sword are placed by the tree of eternal life to guard the way there. This tells us that all of these plagues that we will go through are to help the world be righteous, so that we can make it to that figurative tree of eternal life and live forever in peace and happiness. The tree of eternal life in this case is the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

In the latter half of chapter 14 there is a revelation where Jesus is sitting in a cloud and two angels tell him to reap the Earth with a sickle. The first harvest is kept and the second harvest is cast into the winepress of the wrath of God. This could be a reference to when God visits the garden of Eden to check on Adam and Eve. Then after finding out that they had sinned he calls the serpent who decieved them and curses him in his wrath. This event happens in the seventh day of creation, and the event in the book of Revelation also happens in the seventh phase of the apocalypse.

American Economics

Now that we can read the book of Revelation properly we can figure out which real life events John is referring to. I've found that he is likely fortelling American events in approximately 60 year intervals starting in about the year 1800. These intervals are the stages of building the political and economic system of Zion the new Jerusalem, so understanding the following timeline will require an understanding of economics according to the theory of neurological intelligence. I explained this in the post Socialism and Capitalism, but we will review it quickly here.

According to the theory the first three periods of the sequence should meet the needs of the economy, first supply, second consistent competition, and third stable demand. Then the next four days will go through increasing levels of the economy, the fourth will encourage people to work, the fifth will give people more power over the use of their property, the sixth will develope marketing and democracy, and the seventh will make economic and political leaders more accountable. After the sequence is over there will be a focus on repentance and mercy.

1800 - 1860 Devine Providence (1)

Some of the people in the United States had been wanting to expand their territory ever since the country’s creation.  They believed in the idea of divine providence; the idea that God gave North America to the European settlers, and they were entitled to take it from the natives and expand their territory. They weren't able to do this for some time because the rest of North America was owned by the French and the Spanish.

This changed after the Louisiana purchase in 1803 when the government purchased all of the French owned land on the continent. They then encouraged people to settle in the land they purchased from the French.  During the time from 1800-1860 the United States went from being a strip of land on the east coast of North America to stretching from the Pacific to the Atlantic. On top of the land they received from the French they also took land from the Natives, and conquered it from the Spanish. Thousands of people emigrated to the new territories believing that God had given it to them, and that it was their duty to take care of it.

As new land was acquired it was divided into states.  There were two types of states at this time, the free states, where slavery was outlawed, and the slave states where slavery was legal.  The free states were mostly in the north, and the slave states were mostly in the south, the states supported different economic systems, so they almost always supported different political parties.  In order to avoid a political conflict states were added with one free state for every one slave state.  This system worked for a while, but with every state added there became more tension over the slave issue, and civil war was imminent.

This time period in the United States is the time foretold by John as the opening of the first seal.  The horseman of victory and conquering.  Victory signifying the victory of the United States over its neighbours, and conquering a lot of land. Expanding accross the country provided a lot of natural resources and farmland which supplies the first need of the economy: To have a supply of things to trade.

1860 - 1920: Civil War (2)

The United states were no longer very united thanks to the slave issue, and a civil war broke out between the southern slave states and the northern free states.  The American Civil war was the first modern war, because it invented modern warfare techniques, and used modern weapons such as the machine gun.

This time period is what John saw after removing the second seal.  The horseman of war represents the American civil war.

When the war ended slavery was abolished in America, and the economy of the south was decimated. This brought a new issue of how to reconstruct the economy of the southern states so that African Americans could own property, and so that the south could get back on its feet.

To solve this issue there was a period of reconstruction, where the northern states attempted to build the southern states in a way that would enforce equality among the races, and would not lead to another war. Freed people were not given any of the land that their former owners had, and were given two living options; they could either continue to do agriculture under a new system called sharecropping, where they would use a portion of land owned by a former slave owner in return for a share of the crops they produced; or they could move to cities and try to find work there. Most freed people who found work in the cities were given the lowest paying and hardest jobs, or became artisans.

Other efforts to reform America at the time were the creation of public schools to educate the children of freed people, unfortunately these schools were segregated by race. Freed people were granted civil rights, including all adult men being given the right to vote.

There was an attempt to raise the south out of poverty through railroad construction, however this attempt was grievously mismanaged and further indebted the south.

Granting civil rights to freed people and helping them have a place in the economy provided the second need of the economy, to have competition. It also made the economy consistent from north to south.

Even though this was very good for America there were many white people who did not want to compete with black people. They fought for white supremacy through democratic means, and through violence. In the 1870s they had their way, and successfully ended reconstruction giving way to the Jim Crow era of the United States. During this time civil rights were taken away from black people, anti-black violence increased, and the government withheld funding from black institutions such as black schools. Black people remained free from slavery, but would not get their civil rights back until the 1960s.

From 1896 to 1920 the United states entered the progressive era, a time when aggressive social and political reform took place. The reform was focussed mainly on breaking up monopolies, and making the government more democratic, but it also sought scientific solutions to improve education, medicine, finance, churches, industry, and basically everything else. The movement greatly increased the economy's ability to have fair competition, and it improved the quality of life for Americans. The movement died down due to American involvement in the first world war.

1920-1980: Great Depression (3)

In the aftermath of world war 1 the United States became very prosperous economically due in part to the allied nations owing them a great deal of debt. This decade is known as the roaring twenties because of the music and fashion that dominated western culture. It is associated with a break from tradition through modern technology such as the automobile, moving pictures and the radio. There was tremendous economic growth and greater consumer demand. This was accellerated by the new industry of mass marketing. The increased consumer demand meets the third need of the economy: to have steady demand for goods and services.

This era of goodwill was short lived, because the mismanagement of money in America made the stock market crash.  This was accompanied by a famine called the dust bowl, which lasted for a decade, together these events are called the great depression. In order to deal with the famine the United States implemented social programs called the New Deal.

The United States had no social safety net when the great depression hit which left 25% of Americans without a job, and many more reduced to working part time. One issue preventing the economy from recovering is that the working class did not have the money to buy things, this led to further unemployment because less workers were needed to keep up with the decreasing demand for goods.

The new deal helped Americans to deal with financial hardships by granting employment insurance, a minimum wage, and standardizing the 40 hour work week. This ensured that the working class would always be able to afford goods and services, and demand for them would never decrease the way it did in the famine. The new deal also initiated make work programs, and attempted to fix the issues in the banking system.

In Europe the famine led people to adopt ultranationalist beliefs.  Many European countries felt that they needed to choose between facist and communist governments.  The fascists were the more ruthless of the two and the facist parties in Italy, Germany, and Japan started a second world war.  When the United States entered the war it greatly increased their demand for goods and labor since much of their male workforce was fighting a foriegn war.

Women were encouraged to get jobs at this time to supply the war's heavy demands. After the war was won this caused a bit of contention because some soldiers thought that women should quit their jobs and give them their old lives back. This was not nessisary however, because the United States had become dependent on foriegn wars to increase the demands on its economy. They subsequently started a war on communism and socialism known as the cold war, which has kept them in a constant state of warfare to this day. The USA currently boasts the world's strongest military by far.

This period is seen by John after opening the third seal.  The great depression is the famine portrayed by the third horseman.

In 1972 President Nixon used underhanded and illegal tactics to help him win his second term in office. His actions became known as the Watergate scandal.

1980-2040: Neoliberal Capitalism (4)

Following the Watergate scandal Americans began to lose faith in their government. This allowed President Regan to campaign on a program of minimal government interference in the economy known as neoliberalism. Neoliberalism is determined to remove the social safety net which the New Deal put in place, and also reduce or eliminate taxes on the rich. It also teaches people to be highly focussed on individual responcibility and effort, while it ignores structural factors that keep people impoverished. This is the first level of of capitalism, because when people believe that they have an individual responcibility in the economy it forces them to rely on their own work for their success.

Neoliberalism has been defended using false ethical and economic claims, such as: helping the rich will eventually help the poor because rich people know how to use their money wizely; and the only way to have a free economy is to remove government influence.  These claims are false. When business owners have more money they have more power to negotiate and reduce the wages of their employees, which makes the working class even poorer. Also government intervention is often nessisary in the economy to ensure fair competition. Despite this the leaders of America's government have supported these claims ever since. Neoliberal capitalism was used to help America to get through the early 1980s recession which helped sway people to believe in it.

The new economic system allowed for business giants to take over the world.  In the name of increasing capital they created poorer working conditions and increased poverty for the majority of people across the world.  Neoliberalism also justified governments in refusing to give aid to their citizens.  

The unbridalled economy has hurt the world in several ways.  Businesses have become powerful enough to greatly influence governments around the world, which undermines democracy. 

They have increased the greenhouse gas emissions worldwide which is dramatically changing the weather and increasing the likelihood and severity of natural disasters.  They show general disregard for the health of communities and the environment by continuously polluting it, and destroying natural habitats. 

The enforcement of intellectual property rights of vaccinations and the desire to make a profit off of them has also caused pandemics to last longer in countries that cannot afford to buy vaccines for their citizens, and has caused diseases that we have cures for to remain a constant threat in these nations.  The desire to keep economies running has meant that several countries prematurely disregard public health guidelines, for instance the United States during the coronavirus pandemic, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties.

Some business also make wars worse because they profit off of the sale of weapons, or because they rely on the instability of other nations to exploit them easily.

The negative effects of neoliberal capitalism are forseen by John as the fourth horseman. For the reasons listed above the horseman is named death, which was given power to kill the inhabitants of the earth with the sword, hunger, pestilence and wild beasts.

As a part of neoliberalism non government organizations were forced to take up the mantle of helping the poor and needy where the government now refused to. These charities are usually non-profit organizations run by volunteers. Volunteer work in these causes is the first level of a socialist economy.

The revelation of John chapter 12 shows that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is an important part of this time period, as it is the Church represented by the Woman wearing the Sun. The church is run by volunteers, and it tries to help people in need, so it is part of the socialist economy. It has for a long time helped people, especially members of the church, through ministering and through food donations from the Bishop's Storehouses, although it was not until the late 1970s that the church attempted to make their welfare project available across the whole church. The church has also had an increasingly important role in disaster relief and humanitarian aid projects throughout the world.

In Revelation 12 there are two astronomical signs mentioned. The first sign is when the planet Jupiter makes a nine month long loop in the belly of the constellation Virgo. The positions of other planets, the sun, and the moon are also nessisary for this astronomical sign to be complete. This sign happened in 2017 signifying that the government of God is starting to form inside the church, this government is represented by the man child in the chapter. There have been many changes to the church since then, whose purpose is to make the church family centred and church supported. They are also made to help the church stay centered on Christ. Many members of the church found proof of the prophetic wisdom in the changes, when in 2020 the Covid 19 pandemic shut down church services across the world, and the changes made in 2018 and 2019 made it much easier for members to stay connected to God despite being distant from each other.

While the church is preparing to build the government of heaven, Satan is making a war in heaven. This is not a real war, but a war over people's souls. This war might refer to the missionary work performed by the church and efforts to lead people away from the truth by others; It might also refer to the culture wars in America. In America the culture wars are an ongoing and strong clash in opinion between conservatives and liberals which often stirs up hatred and resentment for the opposing group.

The culture wars officially started in the 1990s, but the topics of debate were a strong focus of American culture since the 1960s. Most of the hot button issues in the culture war have strong ties to Christianity. This is because Christianity is the largest religion in America, and both of the popular political parties in America want to leverage Christian beliefs to help them gain political power, for example the Evangelical Christian voting block consistently wins many electoral seats for their conservative party.

2040 - 2100: The Law of Consecration (5)

The start of the fifth period of the apocalypse is going to start in not too many years, so we can predict the initial changes that will take place from current political and economic trends. The capitalist trend that is gaining support in the United States is fascism.

Fascists are capitalists, but instead of advocating for less government control of the economy as has previously been the case in America they want lots of government planning in the economy so that an authoritarian ruler can accomplish whatever they want. The government intervention in a fascist economy is not to help workers, but instead to help business owners to be more productive. Fascism meets the second level of capitalism because it allows an authoritarian leader, and business owners, to accomplish whatever they want with the things they own.

The socialist policy that has been gaining support in the United States is called a universal basic income (UBI). A UBI is an income given to everyone in the country regardless of their income or circumstances. A UBI is not enough money for people to live comfortably on, but it is enough to get them by in difficult circumstances. It is designed this way so that no one is tempted to quit work permanently, but so that they are comfortable with trying new things. This has been implemented on small scales in several places, but never nation wide. Almost all trials of the UBI have had great success in helping people to get out of poverty. The UBI meets the second level of socialism because it distributes the benefit of the public property that the nation owns evenly to all its citizens in the form of an income.

If my guess is correct and these two economic trends do propel the United States into the second level of economics, then they will both be implemented in about the year 2040. However these are just guesses and something else could happen that is not as popular or publicized as those two trends.

The beast which rises out of the sea in Revelation 13 likely represents fascism. The similarities between fascism and the beast are striking. The beast is worshipped because it has great power and because it likes to fight wars; Fascists believe that their country should be highly militarized and they praise and worship their authoritarian rulers for their ability to subdue other nations and cultures. The beast speaks blasphemies; Fascists believe in the blasphemy of racism and often link this to their religious beliefs. The fascists currently in America are white supremacists, antisemitic, and many believe the blasphemy of Christian nationalism. The beast makes war with the saints; Although fascists have never made war with the saints yet, in the past they have shown that they are willing to persecute and kill anyone they don't agree with. In Nazi Germany the fascists made war against many different groups within their own country including Jews, communists, homosexuals, and minor religious or ethnic groups they disagreed with such as the Jehovah's Witnesses. They also made war against the entire world.

One reason the saints will be targeted by the beast is because much later in this period the church will set up a communist economic system based on a teaching of Joseph Smith's called the Law of Consecration. Communism fulfills the second level of socialism because it allows the resources in communities to be distributed equitably according to the needs and wants of the people.

Historically when the saints lived the law of consecration all of the property in a church town was owned collectively by the people through the church, and the bishop made sure that everyone in the colony had what they needed and were living comfortably. People were distributed land and property according to their wants and needs, and they were considered stewards over this property, and they were accountable to the lord for how they used it. If a family had any excess goods that they didn't use or want it was kept in the Bishop's storehouse to provide for the poor and needy.

The law of consecration was tested in Kirtland Ohio and Zion Missouri in the early days of the church, it was also tested in around 150 small colonies in Utah with varying degrees of success. In these colonies the use and distribution of property was determined by a council instead of by a bishop.(D&C 42:30-39, also see 'Church History Topics: United Orders' in the Gospel Library app)

The Latter-day Saints no longer live in colonies which are segregated from the rest of society, so their approach to living the law of Consecration has changed. Right now the saints are instructed to be financially self reliant, to donate tithes and fast offerings, and to be engaged in good causes. This still fulfills the law of consecration because the saints are devoting their lives to the improvement of the Lord’s church, and to helping others who are in need, but they are also taught that there could be a day when living the law of consecration means going back to having communal ownership of property which is overseen by the church.

The next time the saints own their property communally will be sometime during the fifth period of the apocalypse. This will be on a much larger scale than previous tries at it, so there will likely be several administrative changes made to accommodate larger groups of people. I am also not certain how communal ownership of property would even work since the saints are dispersed accross the world. My guess is that the Saints will be compelled to live together in Latter-day Saint colonies again, but it is also possible that with modern technology we are capable of living this law in a way that wasn't possible previously.

The baby boy in Revelation chapter 12 reffers to the kingdom of God. Very early on this kingdom will adopt the Law of Consecration as its economic foundation. The two eagle wings given to the woman in Revelation 12 will be two centers of the church's economic system. This is similar to how the church had two headquarters, one in Kirtland and one in Zion, back in the early 1800s.

In chapter 6 of the revelation of Saint John he sees that many of the saints will be martyred during this time period because of their testimonies of Jesus Christ, but that many more Saints will die between this time and the second coming of the Savior, therefore they will not be avenged yet.

2100 - 2160: Zion (6)

At the start of this time period there will be a terrible earthquake which will greatly affect North America. This earthquake which John foresaw in Revelation 6 will probably be a Cascadia megaquake. The Juan de Fuca tectonic plate off the west coast of the United States and Canada builds up stored energy over time, and releases it in the form of a giant earthquake in the Cascadia subduction zone.  This happens in sporadic intervals of anywhere from 200 to 900 years apart.  The last megaquake happened in the year 1700, meaning that the next could occur at any time in the next 600 years. The reason I believe that this earthquake is the one John saw is that there are no other earthquakes we know of that are capable of causing the same amount of destruction to America. The next time this subduction zone has an earthquake it is expected to be the most devastating and costly natural disaster experienced in modern times, and will likely destroy most of the infrastructure on the west coast of the United States and Canada.

According to the revelation of John this earthquake is supposed to be accompanied by a solar eclipse, a blood moon (a partial lunar eclipse which makes the moon turn red), a particularly intense leonid meteor storm, and a storm or a flood. The leonid meteor storm occurs once every 33 years, but occasionally, about once every 133 years, the meteor storm is so strong that it appears as though all of the stars in the sky are falling. This meteor storm is mentioned in both chapters 6 and 12 of the book of Revelation, and astronomers predict it will occur in November 2099. In 2099 in the USA there is also predicted to be a total solar eclipse in September, and a partial lunar eclipse in April, altogether these account for the astronomical signs seen by John, so presumably the earthquake he saw will occur in 2099 or 2100 as well.

According to Revelation chapter 12 these signs show that heaven has won a victory over Satan so that he stops winning souls to his side of the war in heaven, unfortunately this makes him and his followers very violent, and they persecute the church because they know that they do not have much time left before they are destroyed. Life will be very dangerous for people everywhere after this point. According to Revelation 6 the earthquake and astronomical signs will make everyone fear and wish that mountains were crushing them because they know that the wrath of God is upon them.

I am guessing that the way we organize the earthquake relief efforts will inspire the way that the kingdom of God is organized. This kingdom will be more or less complete by the middle of this period, or around 2130. The government that is created is the wilderness that the woman in Revelation chapter 12 flies to for refuge.

The two special intelligences created during this time, comparable to the creation of Adam and Eve, are Jerusalem, a city in Israel, and Zion the new Jerusalem, a city in Missouri USA. These will play an important role in the kingdom of God, possibly as capital cities, and they will gain this status around three quarters of the way through this time period, or around the year 2145. The government of Zion will be democratic and it is how the church will fulfill the sixth level of a socialist economy: to have representatives for the people.

The beast shaped like a lamb in Revelation 13 represents the third phase of capitalism. It is described as a false prophet that gives power to the first beast. This propaganda machine fulfills the third phase of a capitalist economy because propaganda is a form of marketing, and it will be responsible for making life so dangerous for people.

It seems that the city Babylon is an actual city to be built in the future, but I don't know much about it. You could read about it in Revelation chapters 17 and 18.

2160 - 2220: Peace (7)

The final phase of the apocalypse will start likely due to a crises in the government, possibly a coup d'etat. This will be made possible due to a flood of lies being spread about the government and the church. Because of this crisis in the government, people will not be sure who to trust, and a lot of effort will need to be put into making the government more transparent and accountable. It is at this time of confusion that the two prophets spoken of in Revelation chapter 11 will preach in Jerusalem.

During and after the preaching of the two prophets there is supposed to be a series of plagues that destroy the wicked, and make an end to all nations. (These plagues are mentioned in Revelation 8,9,11,15,16.) After all the nations on earth have dissolved, their people will join the kingdom of God, and all the people on Earth will be part of a single nation. The rest of this period will be spent rebuilding the cities that are destroyed, and rebuilding trust in each other.(Revelation 22:1,2) The efforts we spend making the government more transparent and the leaders more accountable is how we will fulfill the seventh level of a socialist economy, to have accountable leaders.

Slowly but surely the kingdom of God will bring peace to the earth. People will stop fighting wars because they are united as one nation; And they will be less inclined to sin because they will help each other under the law of consecration and there will be no poor among them. Revelation 20 states that this peace and happiness will last for 1000 years.

When Jesus comes again he will take his place as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He will spread his light and peace to all the world. His coming will be in three events. The first event will happen in the sixth phase of the building of Zion as alluded to by Revelation 7. In this event Jesus will only appear to the righteous.

In the second event Jesus will appear to the Jews after the death of the two prophets who will preach in Jerusalem(Revelation 11:12). Acording to other revelations, such as in D&C 45:48-55, when Jesus visits the Jews he will step on the mount of olives and it will cleave in two and save them from their enemies. This miracle along with the teachings of the prophets will inspire the Jews to believe in Jesus.

In the final event Jesus will come to show himself to the whole world after the wicked have been destroyed. The righteous people who have died will be resurrected at this time. (Revelation 20)

2220 Onwards: Mercy

After Jesus comes again there is supposed to be a final judgement of the people who survived the calamities of the last days, and of the people who will be ressurected(Revelation 22:12). This might fulfill the sixth identity ethic of the economy, which is to repent of behaviors that were causing economic hardship.

I hope you enjoyed reading about this economic interpretation of the book of Revelation, and I hope that learning about the Lord’splans for his people brings some light to your life this Christmas. Sometimes when reading the prophesies in the Bible they can seem like magical fantasies, but it is through analyzing history like this that I see that God's plans are tangeble and we can see and experience them playing out. I find it fascinating that so many of the prophesies about the second coming of the Savior can be explained simply through economics, and that much of the peace that the Savior will bring to the world is due to having an appropriate economic and political system to guide us. Although I don't believe it will happen in my lifetime I look forward to the day that the Savior returns and brings peace to the world.

Appendix:

This appendix is just a few observations and thoughts I had about the book that didn't fit with the flow of the story.

• Clearly there are a lot more events which happen in the book than what I added to this timeline. I didn't add very many details to future events because they would just be speculation.

• The book of Revelation can actually be applied to any economic sequence such as the one I just showed, however not all of the details will carry over. I found that the sequence I shared in this post matched the details of the book far better than the others that I found, including the one which Joseph Smith speaks of in the Doctrine and Covenants where every one of the seven seals represents 1000 years of history. I plan to share what I found about that sequence and two other economic sequences I found in future posts, but I won't be linking them to the book of Revelation, if you want to you could do that yourself.

• Some people believe that the book of Revelation speaks only of events which happened during the first century in the Roman Empire. Several of the details in the book seem to reference the Roman Empire. For instance the seven heads of the dragon represent seven hills in Rome, and the number 666 is a reference to Nero Cesar, a Roman ruler who persecuted Christians.

• I imagine that during the time and in the place the book was writren there was an economic sequence which played out, and that is what John got his inspiration from when receiving his famous revelation from the Lord. He then used abstract symbols which linked his Revelation to other biblical revelations to show the people in both his time and ours that God has a plan for us throughout our suffering.

• Several of the time periods in the book, such as the focus on three and a half years, probably relate to the events that happened back when John wrote the book, so events in the sequence that I shared might last different amounts of time than what the revelation states they should.