777 The Book of Seals Understanding the Apocalyptic Book of Revelations

I have learned that gifts can be found in the most unlikely places. They can come in forms that you least likely expect. They can be given by people you barely know or have hardly had a chance to make an acquaintance with. They might be wrapped in the strangest package. Gifts can be found anywhere, but one need only open their eyes to see. Today I am going to give you a valuable gift that was given to me, in an unlikely place, at an unlikely time. I can only hope that you might unwrap it and savor the contents that are inside. I did and it has made all the difference.

I am a lover of truth. I love to study and learn truth from all possible sources of truth, so when I was approached and asked to review the rough draft of a book that was getting ready for publication I was both delighted and honored. It was a book commentating The Book of Revelations in the New Testament. Little did I know how wonderful this opportunity would prove to be.

The title of the book is "777 The Book of Seals" and the author of this wonderful book is Mike Jones. The work itself is a culmination of seven years of research and hard work. It is a labor of love, totally saleable; Mike made a monumental decision to offer the book to anyone interested, free of charge via the internet. His view on the matter is simply, "knowledge is free" and should be shared.

Mike is not a professional scholar or published author, he is simply a follower of Christ who wishes to share what he has learned with others, but what he has learned is amazing to behold. He refers to this book as a "journey" and wishes all to come along and explore and learn together.

In my humble opinion, The Book of Revelations, written by the apostle John, is one of the most complicated and least understood books in the New Testament. Its apocalyptic writings use both symbolism and poetry to convey the message it contains. Understanding these methods of teaching can be challenging at best. Once John's writings are understood, the entire Bible begins to open up and can be better understood. John holds the key to reveal many hidden messages contained in the holy works.

The book, 777 The Book of Seals, explores the message of the seven seals, representing seven time periods, discussed in Revelations.

Each time period, or seal, has several things in common. Each has a main event, a key, a promise, a type, a tree, and a point of interest. These are all explored in great detail in this book. All of the research that Mike has done is documented and explained in a fashion that is concise and understandable, with summaries following each chapter recapping the main points contained therein.

Following each chapter written in the book, a brief summary of the chapter is given. The following are some examples of chapter summaries:

The Main Event: Enoch and the city of Zion taken into God's abode.

The Key: Family is the essence of the Kingdom of God.

The Promise: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." (Rev. 2: 7)

The Type: The love and guidance Enoch gave to his people, those who are the inhabitants of the city Zion, teaching them how to become worthy to be received back into God's abode, is a type, a foreshadow, of how we should guide those who have been given into our stewardship, back into the presence of Him who gave them. The parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30) may well be applied here.

The Tree: Adam's Tree.

Point of Interest: The gathering of Adam's posterity in his last days (D&C 107:53-56) has been predicted to happen again (Dan. 7:9-14); therefore, as we journey through the seals of earth's temporal existence, we shall be watching for this event to take place.

The main event: Noah and the flood.

The Key: Baptism is essential to our salvation.

The Promise: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." (Rev. 2: 11)

The Type: Our Mother Earth being baptized is a type an example that has been set for us to follow.

The Tree: Noah's Tree

The Point of Interest: Baptism must be done by immersion, by those who have the authority, and there is but one baptism only (Eph. 4:5) that opens the door to our salvation.

The Main Event: The story of Joseph and his brothers

The Key: The coming together of the sticks of Joseph and Judah.

The Promise: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." (Rev. 2: 17)

The Type: The scattering and gathering of Jacob's family is a type of things to come to pass for the House of Israel. Which again, is a type for us. If we set at defiance the laws of the Kingdom of God, our families shall be scattered. Should we repent of our evil before God, and seek after His Kingdom, our families shall be gathered together again. There is both a temporal and a spiritual application to this scattering and gathering. Furthermore, the coming together of Judah and Joseph is a type of the coming together of the sticks of Judah and Joseph.

The Tree: The 'Olive Tree', a symbolic representation of the House of Israel, where the House of Israel is liken unto an olive tree.

The Point of Interest: Moses' life is a type of the three degrees

The Main Event: The beast, the rider of the pale horse.

The Key: The Woman (which is the Gospel) coming to America where she is nourished for "a time, and a times, and half a time".

The Promise: : "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron (1 Nephi 8: 19); as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star." (Rev. 2: 26-28)

The Type: Not only was the beast a history of seven kings which placed the Judaean Jewry into bondage, it was a carefully planned plot to destroy the kingdom of God, which design took place before the foundation of this earth was ever laid. Lucifer's plan, which was presented to the council in heaven, was to place us all into bondage, taking away our agency, forcing us to be obedient to God's laws. His plan to place us in bondage on earth was designed long before he ever was cast out of heaven. Once on earth, Lucifer gave his plan to the beast: "and the dragon [Lucifer] gave him [the beast] his power, and his seat, and great authority." (Rev. 13:2, Parenthesis added) In other words, Lucifer had empowered his plan by putting into the hearts of evil kings that they should place the Jews into bondage. These things are a type, a voice of warning, telling us if we yield to Satan's temptations, we will be brought into bondage due to our own sins, such as yielding to drugs, immorality, gluttony, or pride, (the list is quite long), such sins place us into bondage. But that is not all there is to this story! Due to their disobedience, the Jews lost their inheritances. The reproach of Israel, when the ten (10) northern tribes were carried away in bondage; and the curse of Jacob, when they finally lost the lands of their inheritance, is also a type; a warning voice telling you and me that is exactly what shall happen to our salvation, should we yield to Satan and become subjects to bondage, and remaining in bondage to the sin unto your death. We shall lose those inherited blessings offered to us through the atonement our Savior made for each of us.

The Tree: The breaking off of the branches of the Olive Tree.

Point of Interest: We existed as spiritual families long before our mortal stays. We are the literal offspring of God. We are the sons and daughters of our heavenly parents. We are spirits, embodied into tabernacles of clay, enduring our probationary stay. We had a pre-existence!

The Main Event: The Apostasy.

The Key: The Gospel being taught in the spirit world.

The Promise: "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." (Rev. 3: 5)

The Type: The martyrdom of God's servants, which took place in this seal, is a type of the continuation of Satan's war "with the remnant of her seed", (Rev. 12:17) when the time of refreshing shall come, when the restoration of all things shall take place.

The Tree: The Tree of Life, even Jesus the Christ. "When thou [you] shalt make his soul [the atonement] an offering for sin, he shall see his seed". (Isa. 53:10, Parenthesis added)

The Point of Interest: It was Peter, James, and John, who received the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven on the Mount of Transfiguration just before the apostasy took place. Therefore, it must be they who shall have to deliver the keys to earth once again during the restoration of all things.

The Main Event: The restoration of the fullness of the Kingdom of God.

The Key: The rod coming forth out of the stem of Jesse.

The Promise: "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name." (Rev. 3: 12)

The Type: The spirit of Elijah is a type of the work that shall be continued into the millennium, until our Lord has subdued all things.

The Tree: The grafting in of the branches of the Olive Tree.

Point of Interest: The "Woman" (Rev. 12:14) coming forth in America, like one that shall "speak out of the ground" (Isa. 29:4), and "become the vision of all" (Isa. 29:11) when you shall read the "words of [the] book that is sealed" (Isa. 29:11), referred to as the "stick of Joseph" by Ezekiel (Ezek. 37:19), known today as the Book of Mormon, which is another testament of Jesus Christ, thus fullfilling the law that "in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established"

The main event: You witnessing the second coming of Christ.

The key: You being gathered into the celestial family.

The Promise: You receiving this blessing: "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." (Rev. 3: 21)

The type: Your Book of Life being adopted into Heavenly Fathers Book of Life.

The Tree: Your Tree.

Point of Interest: Your name called by the seven thunders.

This is only a sample of the messages contained in this fabulous book, written by Mike Jones. If you want to know more about it go and visit Mike's Corner, his website and blog, at the link provided earlier in the HUB. It is a gift that I am so grateful to have received.

Thank you Mike, for your willingness to share so freely of the wisdom and knowledge that you have worked so hard to gain. I will be eternally grateful.