The Six Days of God and Man
Revelations Chapter 6
In Revelations chapter five John is shown a book that is opened only by Christ. This book contains seven seals and one by one they are opened. While pondering the seven seals, I came to understand that they represent man’s historical dominion over his stewardship, earth. Each seal contains a summary event of each corresponding thousand years of history. When I compared history and seals side by side with the days of creation, I made an amazing discovery. The days of creation are symbolic summary events of God’s ordained dominion in each corresponding thousand years of history.
By combining the seals of Revelation and the days of creation, we have a more complete understanding of mankind’s historical stewardship over the earth. The creation account describes man’s dominion, as ordained by God and implemented by his servants, while the Revelations account shows man’s dominion, as influenced by Satan, often one distorting God’s original grant of power. We clearly see that the dichotomy of good and evil is prevalent throughout each of the seven thousand years of history. The evil is the work of man and the good is the work of God in each of the millennia. When the earth is finally cleansed through the tribulations of the seventh seal in Revelations, seven angels will come forth to proclaim the ‘secret acts of men...and the mighty works of God’ in each of the seven thousand years of earth’s history (D&C 108-110). The seven seals and the seven days of creation are respectively a symbolic summary of the secret acts of men and the mighty works of God.
God has made covenant promises with his children from the beginning of time, particularly with covenant Israel. Unfortunately, even among his chosen people, his promises are forgotten. They become a mystery. The seven days of creation have likewise become a mystery. This mystery will end in the seventh millennium as God unveils all his mighty works for all to see.
The apostle Peter explains in 2 Peter chapter 3 that latter-day scoffers will deny the Second Coming by saying “Where is the day of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” (v. 4) Peter cautions them by saying, “Be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise… But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night”. (v. 8-10) The day of the Lord is the seventh thousand years, His “day” of rest. The Lord’s promise for this earth is contained in the seven days of Genesis. As we examine the opening of the seven seals in Revelations, we will discover that we are clearly living in the seventh millennium. The peculiar prophecies of John the Revelator are at our doorstep.
First seal - Enoch’s triumph
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
White is symbolic of purity. The crown given to the one riding the white horse is symbolic of his conquering victory. Genesis gives us a hint of who this conqueror might be. And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (Gen. 5:24) It is in the book of Moses that we have the details of his conquest.
“And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him.” (Moses 7:13)
Enoch overcame the enemies of God with the power of God. His righteousness was unparalleled in human history. The first seal makes clear that he was the highlighted event of man’s dominion in the first millennium.
In Genesis, we learn that on the first day God made light: not the sun, just light. The great light of truth is symbolized in the command “Let there be light.” Because of the acceptance of this enlightenment, Enoch and Zion were taken, separated from truth’s enemy. “And God divided the light from the darkness.” Enoch was taken in the year 987, just before the close of the first millennium.
Second seal – Noah escapes
3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
Evil prevailed in the second millennium. “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” (Gen. 6:11) The color red is symbolic of violent death, death by bloodshed. The violent dominion of man is the message of the second seal.
The second day of creation emphasizes the salvation of the righteous and the cleansing of the earth. Noah, his family, and selected animals boarded the ark for safety as the waters from heaven and the great deep gathered together in the great flood. “And God said, Let the waters under heaven be gathered together unto one place, and [then] let the dry land appear; and it was so.” Gen. 1:9 God’s ordained dominion prevailed in this millennium as it closed with the flood waters 2021 years after Eden.
Third seal – The consequences of Babel
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
The black horse also represents death. But this time, it is more symbolic of death by plague or famine. It was during this millennium that the peoples of the earth built the tower of Babel in order to mock God. In his anger, God confounded the languages and scattered the people over all the earth. Drought and famine were the tools that he used to drive man throughout the planet in search of relief. Even the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sought refuge from the ravages of famine by constant relocation. The black death of famine, symbolized by grains on the balance, was brought on as a result of man’s dominion at Babel.
God ordained plant life to have dominion in this third day when he ordered “the earth to bring forth grass, the herb,…and the fruit tree…; and it was so.” Gen. 1:11 The highlight of Revelations’ third seal and God’s Genesis dominion coincide. Famines continued through the time of Israel’s escape from Egypt and through the rule of the Judges of the various tribes. These Judges ended with the anointing of king Saul 1095 years before Christ, bringing with it the close of the third millennium.
Fourth seal – Israel in the crucible
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
Under this seal, the pale horse that carried Death had power over a large portion of the earth. In the 1000 years before Christ, some of the world’s greatest empires subdued the area surrounding Israel. The Assyrians, Persians, Romans, Egyptians, and others all conquered with the sword, hunger, death, and beasts of the earth. Man’s dominion was devastating.
Genesis paints a different story, an overview of his own people. Once again as in the first day, God’s dominion is one of enlightenment.
“And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.” Gen 1:16-18
Israel was not completely united under the rule of the judges after Joshua’s death. Israel’s unity was manifest during the reign of three great kings, Saul, David, and Solomon. The greater light symbolizes the glory of a united Israel (the enlightenment of Israel’s “day”). Israel retained identity as a broken kingdom until the capture of Jerusalem during the reign of Zedekiah, soon after Lehi’s departure. This period of its history is symbolized with the lesser light (enlightenment) of Israel’s “night.” From Zedekiah’s demise forward, the ten tribes were scattered throughout the northern kingdoms and lost their identity. The tribes of Judah and Levi, with Benjamin essentially assimilated into Judah, retained their identity until the coming of Christ. This dark period is symbolized by the enlightenment of the stars and closed the fourth millennium.
Fifth seal – Christ and his church
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
With the opening of the fifth seal, Christ comes to bring salvation to Israel. It was prophesied that he would be a mighty conqueror that would relieve Israel from the ravages of the occupations of the previous millennium. He came and brought salvation, but his sword was the gospel of truth. His stallion was his church. His enemy was spiritual and physical death, which he gloriously conquered in Gethsemane, on the cross, and in the lonely tomb. Only a few noticed, and these were subjected to the deadly dominion of man.
Genesis describes the dominion of God with the symbolism of living waters and fowls of the air. “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.” Gen. 1:20 This creative event is symbolic of the mission of Christ. He brought the living waters of the gospel of eternal life and the spirit of truth that would confirm it in the hearts of men. Early Christians retained the symbols of the fish and the dove to reflect God’s ordained dominion for the fifth millennium.
Sixth seal – Man makes himself a god
The previous five seals have been symbolic of man’s dealings with each other. As we have seen, bloodshed and misery were the highlights of his dominion. The exception is the first, when Enoch triumphantly established a Zion people. Prophets have held this event as an example to emulate throughout earth’s history. Isaiah even prophesied that Zion would be reestablished in the last days.
In this sixth seal, the description of man’s dominion is much more detailed than the others. It is symbolic of the 1000 years prior to 2,000 AD, a period of time in which we have abundant historical records. Most who read these verses are still waiting for these cataclysmic events to occur. They are looking for a literal fulfillment of these verses because they should have occurred right under our careful gaze. As we have learned, John the Revelator related earth’s first five thousand years of history with concise, graphic representations. His words have hidden meaning. We can now understand their meaning because they are history to us. Our generation is living in the seventh millennium! For seven thousand years, saints and prophets have only wondered and dreamed what our time would be like. We are living it, yet, like most of humanity, we have no interest in scriptures that contain our history and our future. Let us cast off our literalism and focus on how John symbolically describes our dominion in the sixth and seventh millennia.
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
In the sixth millennium there was a gradual reversal in the roles of man and nature. Man was able to overcome nature. In the year 1000 A.D. the Viking explorer Leif Eriksson discovered America. Many great explorers soon followed. In the year 1452, Guttenberg invented the printing press and produced 300 Bibles. This invention alone sparked a revolution in scientific and philosophical thought that forever changed the world. All knowledge comes by inspiration from God and, until near the end of the 19th century, great thinkers recognized the source of their ideas.
Johannes Kepler made detailed observations of the heavens, confirming the heliocentric view of the solar system. His work culminated in the formulation of mathematical laws describing planetary motion. “I wanted to become a theologian,” he wrote. “Now, however, behold how through my effort God is being celebrated in astronomy.”
Arguably the greatest scientist of all time, Isaac Newton wrote many commentaries on the Bible, being particularly drawn to the book of Daniel. His work established the laws of motion and gravity, and was the foundation of modern physics.
James Clerk Maxwell developed a comprehensive theoretical and mathematical framework of electromagnetic field theory. Albert Einstein characterized Maxwell’s achievements as “the most profound and most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton.” A devout Christian, he maintained a humble recognition of the source of intelligence throughout his life.
Other scientists -- James Joule, Robert Boyle, John Dalton, Louis Pasteur, and many, many more -- recognized and gave glory to the author of Creation. These men laid the foundations of modern science, their theories are still taught in our universities to this day.
In many other areas of human achievement prior to the 19th century, renowned men such as George Washington, other founding fathers, Bach, Handel, Martin Luther, etc., were devout God fearing men who laid their work at the altar of God and gave him the glory. These great men laid the groundwork for all the discoveries and institutions that were to follow, thus fulfilling the mandate given by God to have dominion over the earth. But in the 19th century a growing number of leaders in all fields of human endeavor espoused ideas that ignored the Christian principles upon which their discipline was built, and which guided the founders of their studies, sometimes treating them with embarrassment, usually pointing to them as human mistakes and weaknesses in otherwise brilliant minds.
This sudden shift in man’s relationship with God is the earthquake described by John. This same event was repeated by Christ to the restored church in D&C 88:87, only now we have a chronological context with which to identify it. “For not many days hence and the earth shall tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man…” Like the modern thinkers who deny God as the creator and source of all good, the drunken man thinks himself more capable and more aware. But in fact he is making a fool of himself, and headed for disaster.
Man effectively has come to dominate the heavens, the sky, the earth, the oceans, and even the forces life itself. As stated in Genesis, on the sixth day God gave man this dominion. “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Gen 1:28). God gave man dominion over the entirety of the earth, and through the Holy Ghost, he enlightened man, enabling him to achieve that dominion. But like a greedy child, man snatched what he had been given, then turned and reached for what he had not been offered. He stretched his mind to the heavens and cast down God, imputing all God’s glory to himself.
Man has effectively destroyed the True God: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The blackened sun symbolizes the fact that the reality of Father was virtually removed from theology. Orthodox Christianity teaches that the Father and Son are the same. The name of Christ was used to establish the power of church-state empires that willfully conquered nations, continents, and the islands of the sea. Millions have been murdered while priests and clergy pronounced their pious “Christian” blessings. Thus we are given the symbol of the moon becoming as blood. The inspiration of the Holy Ghost has been rejected as nonsense by 20th century man. The “stars,” the great inspired men of our past, have been cast from us. The demise of the sun, moon, and stars is symbolic of man’s new relationship with the Godhead.
In General Conference, October 2001, President Hinckley said, “The vision of Joel has been fulfilled wherein he declared:
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
"And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
"And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.
"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call" (Joel 2:28–32).
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
This event is symbolic of God’s reaction to the new attitude of man. The inspiration of God retracts itself as a “scroll when it is rolled together”, a scroll symbolizing his inspiring influence. The mountains and islands represent the places of worship and individuals who worship. Stated in other words, the Lord’s inspiring influence retracted as a rolled scroll; the churches and worshipers changed locations. In the Doctrine and Covenants section 88 we have a similar opposing event, namely, the scroll is opened up.
“And there shall be silence in heaven for the space of half and hour; and immediately after shall the curtain of heaven be unfolded, as a scroll is unfolded after it is rolled up, and the face of the Lord shall be unveiled;” And the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened and be caught up to meet him.” (v. 95-96)
This event occurs after the great destruction and containment of Babylon (see v. 94). In Revelations, John makes an abbreviated comment of this same occurrence by saying, “And every island fled away and the mountains were not found.” (Rev 16:20) We see that the mountains and islands are synonymous with the saints or worshipers, the mountains are their places of worship. In D&C and Revelations, they are taken away to meet the Lord after the removal of Babylon. In the sixth seal, verse 14, the saints are relocated after the Lord hides his influence.
Prior to the 1800’s, there were many giants who laid the foundations of science, arts, government, and religion. They graciously recognized the hand of God in all their accomplishments. The Lord prospered them (1 Ne. 13:14-15). Starting in the eighteen hundreds, this gratitude began a major shift. Great freedom and opportunity had been granted to mankind in the form of American freedom, scientific awakening, and religious revival. These were the fruits of god-fearing men. With time, the posterity of greatness would forget the source of their fruits.
This verse of the sixth seal may be generally symbolic of the events of the restoration and the protestant movement as mainline churches splintered. In 1820, the work of the restoration began with a personal visit from the Lord and with a sealed book, the Book of Mormon. The heavens dispensed its inspiration in an altered format. The format changed to that of fulfillment of his promises to the scattered remnants (1Ne. 13:32-39). The places of worship and the saints of God who received spiritual dispensation from the scroll were moved to the church of the restoration. Likewise, members of the state sanctioned churches of the old world fled to the new world to escape their dogmatic stranglehold.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
John includes seven classes of men to symbolize completeness. In short, all types of men, from great and small, the world over, seek refuge from the wrath of God. There was a time in our recent history when mankind still remembered God as they experienced a terrible all-encompassing wrath. They truly humbled themselves and wondered if the end of the world was to be their fate, for the world was literally in the jaws of Satan, the father of war. These events are history to us now. It is the time marked by the world wars. The winds of destruction began to rage upon the earth as a natural consequence of the heavens withdrawing their influence of peace. In 1832, Joseph Smith prophesied that these modern, deadly wars would begin with what would come to be called the Civil War. “And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn…[they] shall be made to feel the wrath, and indignation and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations”. (D&C 87:6)
The full fury of warfare was felt when the whole world was engulfed in the conflicts of World War II. New weapons of war unleashed an apocalyptic destructive force that took the lives of millions in the matter of a few short years. Satanic communism brutally murdered countless millions. The entire world considered the possibility that God’s wrath was upon them and that the day of his coming was hastened.
This chastening event is symbolic of a similar one that occurred six millennia ago in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve, after disobedience and becoming aware, also willfully hid behind fig leaves to conceal their shame. Unfortunately, twentieth century man’s shame did not linger.
The opening of the sixth seal reveals that, yes; the Creator did dispense the powers of dominion to man over all things of the earth. On the sixth day of creation God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion….” (Gen 1:26) Because of the extraordinary potential, this creative act was viewed as being “very good.” Regretfully, man squandered the opportunity, and in the end of this sixth day, sought to make (or think) himself a god, rather than humbly respect his place in Creation’s plan.
On the bright side, we know that “mountains and islands” have not been taken and are in place throughout the world. The Lord initiated a new work with his “mountains and islands.” This work will prove to be the leaven, the salt, and the groundwork of the fulfillment of his promised mystery in the last days.