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
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. 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 |