ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To Hermon W. Wooten and his wife a dearly beloved Brother and Sister in the Lord for their valuable assistance in typing the manuscript of this book.

To Joe D. Jones and his wife a dearly beloved Brother and Sister in the Lord for their much needed and much appreciated financial assistance in the matter of financing the printing of this book.

To any and all others who have encouraged me and have helped me in different ways that this my feeble effort in the matter of teaching the wonderful Book of Revelation might go forth to those who may desire it.

DEDICATION

First of all to Him who gave us the wonderful Book of Revelation, and to whom I have had to continually go to for help in the interpretation of these precious Scriptures.

Then to my wife who has spent countless lonely hours through the years while I have studied and written in the hope that her dear Lord and mine might be glorified, and that some of His precious saints might be helped at least to some extent along this pilgrim pathway.

FOREWORD

Through the years, I have said, “The Bible was written by Baptists, about Baptists, for Baptists, and to make Baptists.”

It is with this thought in mind that Brother Cook has written this commentary on the Book of Revelation, and all true Baptists, on reading this book, will readily admit that he has done a good job in this respect.

It is such a good job he has done, that I predict his book will not be a “best seller.” However, when all religious irregularities, Biblical heresies, and doctrinal untruths are swept into oblivion at the judgment bar of Christ, this book with its teachings, will stand. In fact, it will stand the test of Biblical criticism today, and, at the judgment bar of God, will stand the test to which it shall be subjected then.

May God bless Brother Cook for his untiring efforts in the production of this book and may God bless the many sound Baptists who buy and read it, that it may make them even sounder.

John R. Gilpin, Editor
THE BAPTIST EXAMINER
Ashland, Kentucky
February 25, 1970

LET’S STUDY REVELATION

Introduction

“And He said unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand(Revelation 22:10).

“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written there in: for the time is at hand.”(Revelation 1:3).

How these two verses do refute the idea that is so prevalent among the churches in the world today. People are being told that the book of Revelation is a sealed book; that it is full of weird, mysterious sayings and symbols that no one can understand. It is amazing to see the great number of church members, some of them for half a century, who have never heard a sermon preached on the great and profound truths found in this wonderful book. And it is even more amazing to hear so many church members, even Baptists, admit they have never read a chapter in this book. It causes heart-ache when a mortal man writes something that he hopes will be a blessing to some of our Lord’s saints, and then finds that very few of them even read it. That being true, how do you suppose our Lord feels when so many of His own people refuse to read the only book in His Bible which He has given us a written guarantee that it will be a blessing to us, and to which He has actually affixed His own name, Revelation 22:16?

John is not the author of this book by any stretch of the imagination. He is what the theologian calls an amanuensis, but you and I would probably understand it better if we say he was our Lords secretary. The secretary is not the author of the letter she types and mails. She merely types and mails what the boss dictates. That was the case in the writing of the book of Revelation. The boss, our precious Lord, dictated it to John; he in turn wrote it down for us. Since that is true, do you not wonder why so many of our Lord’s people shy away from this book as if it were a rattle snake with the small pox?

The best of us will have to admit that the old devil, not as such, but, as an angel of light, influences our lives in so many ways. It is not that we want it so, but he has a way of putting his arm about us so tenderly that, unless we are very careful, we will think we are leaning on the everlasting arm. Satan hates the Word of God wherever he finds it, but that which he finds in Genesis and Revelation he hates with a passion. Several reasons may be suggested for this. In Genesis we have the story of the creation and the fall of man.

If he can get us to believe that we have evolved up from the lower creatures which, in turn, have evolved up from some unknown source, that will leave God out of the picture completely. And, if he can get us to believe that we have been getting better and better all the time that will do away with the doctrine of the fall of man. If he can get us to believe those two things, the curse placed upon him in Genesis 3:14-15 will be nullified in our thinking. If there was no fall, there was no occasion for the curse. So he goes to great lengths to get us to believe that Genesis is just a book of myths and fables. Then, when it comes to Revelation, he especially hates it because it has our Lord’s name affixed to it. He also hates this book with a great hatred because it not only sets forth his own ruin and degradation, but it also tells of the utter destruction of his precious religious system (mystery Babylon, alias, the Catholic Church) by which he has deceived millions, yea even billions of people. So he goes all out to get us to believe we cannot understand this book, so why read it?

In our study of this book let us think of the Bible, God’s precious Word, as a great pyramid of truth with the five books of Moses as a great and sure foundation. Upon this sure foundation we see the great historical books. And resting upon them, we gaze with delight at the lovely poetical books. Then upon these we see finishing out the Old Testament structure, the wonderful prophetic books. And upon this marvelous and massive structure, we see the New Testament books built up in perfect harmony and symmetry. First, there come the four Gospels, and upon them rests the book of Acts. Resting upon the book of Acts we see the precious Epistles. Then, the crowning glory of the entire pyramid of truth, the wonderful book of Revelation, the consummation of all prophecy shedding forth its glorious light upon the rest of the pyramid. The book of Daniel was a sealed book until the time of the end (Daniel 12:9). But when Revelation was written and began to shed forth its light, we find the book of Daniel opening up like the spring flowers in response to the warm sunshine.

Let us pray earnestly that our dear Lord may open up the precious Scriptures to us and then give us seeing eyes, hearing ears, and understanding hearts as we study the precious book of Revelation together.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

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