Timeline of the First Six Seals

The object of this article is to give the reader a broad idea of the history of God's dealings with his children throughout the dispensations of history. We know of Adam and Eve, Noah and the flood, Moses leading his people, David and Solomon, the four Gospels of the New Testament and so on. In order to fully understand the Signs and Prophecies mentioned on this website it is important to know the history of Heavenly Father's covenant people and the world events that affected them. The subject of prophecy has taken place throughout all generations of time and much of what has been prophesied has already taken place, but a remaining handful foretold by prophets such as Jeremiah, Daniel, Lehi, John the Revelator, Mormon, Moroni, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Orson and Parley Pratt have yet to be fulfilled. Therefore, "watch, and be ready."

Note: this article is a work-in-progress and will be constantly revised to ensure accuracy. More dates and events will be added over time including links to scripture. Thus...

"And now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore,

condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the

judgment-seat of Christ." ~Title Page of the Book of Mormon

The Seven Seals

The Seven Seals is about a vision and prophecy mentioned by John the Revelator in the book Revelation (specifically in chapters 5 through 7). Each seal represents a thousand years of Earth's history in relation to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I will cover the first six seals and the approximate dates which important and significant events unfolded.

The First Seal (4000 BC to 3000 BC): Ministry of Enoch and Zion being taken to heaven.

The Second Seal (3000 BC to 2000 BC): Wars and bloodshed leading up to Noah and the flood.

The Third Seal (2000 BC to 1000 BC): Famine and disease during the time of Joseph, who was sold into Egypt.

The Forth Seal (1000 BC to 1 AD): Calamity, death, and destruction leading up to the birth of Jesus Christ.

The Fifth Seal (1 AD to 1000 AD): Christ's birth, ministry, calling of the Twelve Apostles, His death, resurrection, the Apostasy and loss of truth and revelation that followed.

The Sixth Seal (1000 AD to 2000 AD): The Reformation, founding of the United States of America and religious freedom, and the Restoration of the Gospel and the Priesthood on the earth followed by war being poured out among all nations .

The Seventh Seal (2000 AD - current): fire and desolation to take place before the Second Coming.

​The following below is a timeline of the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the dispensations of time from the fall of Adam through the present day. These events are mentioned and prophesied in the scriptures: the Holy Bible (both Old and New Testament), the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Other significant historical and religious events will also be mentioned.

* = dates are approximate since historians and scholars cannot agree on exact timelines of events in the Bible. Dates colored in blue mention events in the Book of Mormon. Dates colored in purple are events of the Restoration of Christ's Church and His Gospel.

*Around 4000 B.C. to 1096 A.D. - From the time Adam and Eve are cast out of the Garden of Eden to the settling of the Twelve Tribes of Israel in Canaan (modern day Israel).

• The Gospel of Jesus Christ is introduced to and preached by Adam and Eve.

• Enoch pleads the faithful in battle; sees a vision of Jesus Christ in the Meridian of Time and the gathering of the Covenant people in the New Jerusalem in the latter days; he builds the city of Zion and is taken up by the Lord. End of the First Seal. This period is represented as the 1st Horseman (conquest) mentioned in Revelation.

• Violence covers the Earth; Noah is commanded to build an ark preserve all animal life.

• The Lord floods the Earth and all life is destroyed; the waters recede and Noah’s sons: Shem (Semitic peoples including the Twelve Tribes of Israel), Ham (Egyptians, Canaanites & Africans) and Japeth (Gentile nations) multiply and replenish the earth. End of the Second Seal. This period is represented as the 2nd Horsemen (war) mentioned in Revelation.

• Construction of the Tower of Babel ceases as mankind’s languages are confounded. (changed); the Brother of Jared, his family and followers are commanded to depart to the Promised Land in the Americas; they arrive in the Americas and establish numerous kingdoms; wickedness prevails among the Jaredites and the people are destroyed after a thousand years; the prophet Ether records their history and would later be abridged into the Book of Mormon by the prophet Mormon.

• The Lord makes a covenant with Abram; Haggar (his maid servant) bears Abram a son, Ishmael (origin of the Arab tribes); Abram becomes Abraham and flees Sodom and Gomorrah; Sarai becomes Sarah and bears Abraham a son, Isaac (the forbearer of the Twelve Tribes of Israel and the Jews).

• Isaac marries Rebekah and begets Jacob who is given twelve sons, descendants of whom will become the Twelve Tribes of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah (origin of the Jews) through Leah; Dan and Naphtali through Bilhah; Gad and Asher through Zilpah; Issachar and Zebulun through Leah again; Joseph and Benjamin through Rachel before dying. Jacob’s name is changed to Israel.

• Joseph is sold by his 11 brothers into Egypt, but gains favor and becomes a ruler of Potiphar’s house (governor of Egypt); interprets Pharaoh's dream and warns of the coming famine and proposes a food storage system.

• Joseph marries Asenath who bears him two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (the latter of whom will become descendants of the Lamanites in the Book of Mormon).

• Joseph prophecies of Egyptian bondage, deliverance by Moses to the promised land, the establishment of a great nation of Israel and of his seed in the latter days including the coming of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon (record or stick of Joseph). End of the Third Seal. This period is represented as the 3rd Horseman (famine & disease) mentioned in Revelation.

• Egypt brings the Israelites into bondage; birth of Moses under Levi parents, but is raised in Pharaoh's court; flees to the land of Midian and is called to deliver the Lord's people from bondage; Pharaoh refuses and plagues from the Lord scourge Egypt (rivers turns to blood, frogs, lice, flies, death of livestock, boils, fiery hailstorms, locusts, and darkness which lasts 3 days); death of every firstborn is prophesied.

• The feast of Passover and unleavened bread is introduced; the Lord's people are commanded to paint the doorway of their homes with the blood of lambs to so that the destroying angel passes over; every firstborn in Egypt is slain.

• Pharaoh releases the Israelites from bondage, but pursues them with his armies; they are drowned by the depths of the Red Sea.

• The Lord reveals the Ten Commandments; the Tabernacle is built; the Law of Moses is introduced; each seventh year is to be kept as a sabbath year and each fiftieth year is to be one of jubilee, in which liberty is proclaimed throughout the land.

• Aaron and the tribe of Levi are given the Aaronic Priesthood and are to administer within the Tabernacle; Israel must travel in the wilderness for 40 years because of their unfaithfulness; Moses is taken up to Heaven.

• Joshua leads the Israelites to victory and conquers the land of Canaan; some of its original inhabitants remain; the land is divided among the Twelve Tribes.

• Joshua dies and the Twelve Tribes are governed loosely by judges appointed by the Lord; the people revert to worshiping false gods of the Canaanites and other enemies; they become subjected to them as consequence.

• Samuel is born and is called to be a prophet; the Israelites desire a king; he prophecies that Saul will become a righteous ruler; he is anointed to lead Israel's armies to victory against the Canaanites and becomes king of Israel.

1095 B.C. - Commencement of Saul’s reign in Israel.

• Saul makes David as a armor bearer and slays the giant, Goliath in battle; Israel defeats the Philistines.

1047 B.C. - David is consecrated King of Israel in Jerusalem and expands the borders of the Kingdom.

• David commits adultery with Bathsheba and loses favor with the Lord; she bears him a son, Solomon.

1015 B.C. - Solomon is consecrated King of Israel.

1012 B.C. - Building of the Temple in Jerusalem begins.

991 B.C. - The Temple is completed.

975 B.C. - Solomon dies and Ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel secede from the kingdom.

• Solomon's kingdom is divided into Judah and Israel; Israel, under Jeroboam, resorts to idolatry; Egypt plunders Jerusalem.

925 B.C. - Israel and Judah wage war against one another.

720 B.C. - The Assyrian Empire destroys the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

• Ten of the Twelve Tribes are taken captive north and will be known as the Lost Tribes of Israel; end of the Kingdom of Israel.

606 B.C. - The Babylonian Empire conquers Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire is conquered.

• Egypt, Israel and Judah become part of the Babylonian Empire.

Around 600 B.C. - 592 B.C. - Beginning of Lehi's record and commencement of the Book of Mormon.

597 B.C. - Zedekiah becomes tributary monarch to Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon.

• Lehi's family flee Jerusalem and depart into the wilderness after being warned by the Lord.

• They obtain the record of the Jews and enlists Ishmael and his family.

Around 591 B.C. - 589 B.C. - Lehi's family build a ship near the Red Sea and sail to the Americas.

Around 588 B.C. - 570 B.C. - Lehi dies and his sons separate into the Nephites and Lamanites.

587 B.C. - Zedekiah rebels against Nebuchadnezzar and Jerusalem is destroyed.

• People of Judah (the Jews) are taken captive into Babylon; end of the Kingdom of Judah.

539 B.C. - Cyrus the Great of Persia conquers the Babylonian Empire.

537 B.C. - Cyrus issues a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild.

516 B.C. - The Second Temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt.

330 B.C. - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III at the battle of Gaugamela and the Greeks conquer the Persian Empire.

• Greek (Hellenistic) culture begins to spread to Jewish life in Jerusalem, stirring resentment from the priestly class.

323 B.C. - Alexander the Great dies and his empire is divided among his generals.

• Wars between Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid Empire (the successor kingdoms of Alexander) commence.

301 B.C. - Jerusalem is under the control of Ptolemaic Egypt.

Around 200 B.C. - 187 B.C. - Zeniff and his followers separate from the Nephites and establish a kingdom in the land of Nephi-Lehi.

198 B.C. - Egypt loses control of Jerusalem to the Seleucid Empire.

167 B.C. - Mattathias the Hasmonean revolts against greek-Seleucid rule.

• Beginning of the Hasmonean dynasty that would rule Judea until Herod.

• Commencement of the books of the Maccabees found between the Old and New Testament (the Apocrypha).

• Origin of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

140 B.C. - Judea gains semi-independence from the Greeks.

• Founding of the Pharisees and Sadducees sometime during this period.

110 B.C. - The Jews become free from foreign rule for the first time in centuries.

• Civil war among the ruling Hasmondeans begin to take place.

63 B.C. - The Roman Republic makes Judea an client state as the Seleucid Empire crumbles.

• Pompey takes Jerusalem.

37 B.C. - King Herod becomes ruler of Jerusalem after allying with Rome against the Parthian Empire.

• He becomes a tributary monarch to Rome and orders the renovation of the Second Temple; End of the Forth Seal. This period is represented as the forth Horseman (death and hell) mentioned in Revelation.

1 A.D. - Jesus Christ, the Savior, is born.

• A star is born, signifying the birth of the Messiah.

• Pontius Pilate becomes governor of Judea while the Roman Empire is taxed.

• Herod orders the slaying of all newborns; dies.

• Jesus preaches at the Temple as a boy.

30 A.D. - Christ begins His ministry.

• John the Baptist preaches, baptizes Jesus.

• Christ calls and sets apart the Twelve Apostles (with Peter as the head); forms His Church and directs his disciples to preach the Gospel; he tells of other sheep which are not of the fold (The Lost Tribes of Israel, the Nephites and the Lamanites).

• Foretells the destruction of the Second Temple due to the wickedness of the scribes and Jewish priests.

33 A.D. - Christ is condemned, crucified and is resurrected.

• The cites of the Book of Mormon are destroyed and darkness covers the land for three days.

• Christ visits the Lost Tribes of Israel and the Nephites and Lamanites in the Book of Mormon (the sheep not of the fold).

• He ascends to his Father in Heaven promising He would come again in the fullness of time (after the breaking of the seventh seal mentioned in Revelation).

35 A.D. - Saul is visited by Christ on the way to Damascus.

• Becomes Paul and is ordained an Apostle; authors the majority of epistles and letters in the New Testament.

• Christians become persecuted in the Roman Empire.

65 A.D. - Peter and Paul are martyred.

• Origin of Catholicism - that the bishop of Rome (or Pope) succeeded Peter as head of Christ's Church after his death.

70 A.D. - Destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans.

• Fulfillment of Christ's prophecy concerning its destruction.

• The Jews are scattered throughout the Empire (especially in Western Europe and the Spanish Peninsula), but some remain in the Holy Land.

94 A.D. - John, the last surviving Apostle, is banished to the Isle of Patmos.

• The Book of Revelation is believed to be written around this time.

• The Priesthood is taken from the Earth;beginning of the Apostasy (or falling away from truth).

• Various Christian sects (i.e Arianism, Donastism, Novatianism, etc) as well as adoption of pagan practices/beliefs will begin to appear as a result of the Apostasy.

313 A.D. - Christianity becomes permitted in the Roman Empire under Constantine the Great.

325 A.D. - First Council of Nicaea takes place.

• Origin of the Nicene Creed (or belief) that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are one being.

380 A.D. - Christianity becomes the state religion of the Roman Empire.

• Christianity would spread to most of Europe, Britain, Ireland, North Africa, Greece, modern day Turkey, the Levant (modern day Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel/Palestine) and Egypt in the centuries to follow.

• Sharp theological, political and cultural divisions would follow between the Christian churches in Western Europe and Greece.

385 A.D. - The Lamanites are victorious against the Nephites at the battle of Cumorah in the Americas.

• End of the Nephite nation; the last remnants are destroyed in the years to follow.

391 A.D. - The Vulgate (Latin translation of the Bible) is introduced.

• The Council of Rome officially accepts the books of the current Old and New Testament Bible.

395 A.D. - The Roman Empire permanently splits into two.

• The Western half would control Europe, Britain, and North Africa with Ravenna as its capital.

• The Eastern half would control Greece, the Balkans, Turkey, Palestine and Egypt with Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey) as its capital; would later be known as the Byzantine Empire.

421 A.D. - The prophet/historian Moroni buries the gold plates at the hill Cumorah.

• The plates contain the record of the history of the Jaredites, the Jews up to Zedekiah, and the Nephites; end of the Book of Mormon.

475 A.D. - the last Western Roman Emperor is forced to abdicate after German barbarians invade Italy.

• End of the Western Roman Empire while the Greek-speaking Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine) continues to flourish; beginning of Kingdom of Italy.

622 A.D. - Birth of the Islamic religion in Arabia.

• Founded by Muhammad, who was born in Mecca (modern-day Saudi Arabia).

638 A.D. - Jerusalem is captured by Arab Muslims.

692 A.D. - The Dome of the Rock mosque is completed on top of the site of the ruins of the second Jewish Temple mount.

• Islamic tradition states that the prophet Muhammad, ascended to heaven on the site of the temple mount.

711 A.D. - Muslims invade modern-day Spain and Portugal.

788 A.D. - Beginning of the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula by the Christians from the Muslims.

961 A.D. - King Otto of East Francia invades the Kingdom of Italy and is crowned King of the Romans by Pope John XII.

• Beginning of the Holy Roman Empire (or First Reich); precursor to modern-day Germany.

1000 A.D. the Kingdom of England is founded around this time period.

• End of the Fifth Seal mentioned in Revelation in which it marks Christ's ministry, the beginning of His Church on earth, the Apostasy and loss of the Priesthood from the earth.

1054 A.D. - The Great Schism.

• Christianity is divided between the Latin Speaking Catholic Church based in Rome and the Greek-speaking Orthodox churches based in Constantinople.

1095 A.D. - Pope Urban II issues a decree (or Crusade) to conquer the Holy Lands from the Muslims.

• The Byzantine Emperor had pleaded to the Catholic Church for help against the Muslims who were invading his Empire in modern day Turkey; military solders and knights in Christian lands slaughter Jewish communities while traveling to the Holy Land during the Crusade.

1099 A.D. - European Christians take Jerusalem during the First Crusade.

• Many Jews were killed during the siege.

• 1st Kingdom of Jerusalem is established; Christian shrines, including the Holy Sepulchre (the site where it is believed Christ was buried and resurrected) were renovated.

• Jerusalem would violently change hands between Muslims and Christians in the centuries to follow.

1250 A.D. - Egyptian Muslims (Mamluks) regain control of Jerusalem.

1258 A.D. - The Mongols from Asia invade the Middle-East.

• Baghdad is destroyed and the invading armies assault the lands in Palestine, but don't reach Jerusalem.

1299 A.D. - Beginning of the Ottoman Empire.

• Originated in modern-day Turkey which would eventually conquer the Holy Land and Egypt.

1347 A.D. - The Black Death (bubonic plague) decimates one-third of the European population.

• The surviving population would eventually develop an immunity to the disease that later generations would bring over to the Americas in the decades to follow.

1382 A.D. - John Wycliffe completes the first English translation of the Bible.

1440 A.D. - The Gutenberg (or printing press) is invented in Europe.

• Johannes Gutenberg perfected a form of block-printing that paved the way to increased literacy, free education, fostered independent thinking and free press.

• Made a tremendous impact on the publishing of the Bible and Book of Mormon.

1453 A.D. - Constantinople is captured by the Ottoman Empire.

• End of the Byzantine Empire.

1492 A.D. - Christopher Columbus begins the first of four voyages to the Americas.

• Last of the Muslims are driven out of Spain, ending the Reconquista earlier in that year.

• Beginning of European discovery and colonization of the Americas; natives of the land (successor to the Lamanites of the Book of Mormon) would soon suffer death, disease and enslavement thereafter as prophesied by Nephi in the Book of Mormon.

1517 A.D. - Martin Luther writes the Ninenty-five Thesis, criticizing practices of the Catholic Church.

• Proposed that Christianity return to Biblical truth; beginning of Protestantism; origin of the Reformation and the emergence of Protestant sects of Christianity; beginning of the Lutheran sect of the Protestantism.

1519 A.D. - Beginnings of the Calvinism sect of Protestantism.

• Teachings based on John Calvin.

1534 A.D. - The Church of England separates from the Catholic Church and the beginning of the English Reformation.

1582 A.D. - Introduction of the current Gregorian calendar.

1607 A.D. - The first English colonies of Virginia are established in North America.

1609 A.D. - Founding of the Baptist sect of Protestantism.

1611 A.D. - The King James Bible is published.

1620 A.D. - The first of the Puritans from England sail on the Plymouth to what would later be known as Massachusetts.

• The Puritans fled England due to religious persecution; felt the Church of England had become corrupt.

1735 A.D. - Origins of the Methodist sect of Protestantism.

1706 A.D. - England, Wales and Scotland unite to form the Union of Great Britain, or the United Kingdom.

1730 A.D. - the First Great Awakening begins.

• Revival of religious preaching among the Protestant faiths; followed by a Second Great Awakening in the late 18th and early 19th century.

1765 A.D. - 13 colonies in America rebel against Great Britain and the American Revolution begins.

1776 A.D. - The Declaration of Independence is signed by the 13 colonies and the United States of America is born.

• "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

1783 A.D. - America gains indep