“Though St. John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as one of his own commentators.”[i] This quote by GK Chesterton is in bold letters on the back of Douglas Wilson’s When the Man Comes Around: A Commentary on the Book of Revelation. In one sentence, Chesterton encapsulates the entire landscape of eschatology. Yes, Revelation is strange. Yes, some commentators have crazy interpretations. There are also many different interpretations, though there are four main ones. The whole situation is messy. Fortunately, Douglas Wilson provides a simple, easy-to-read commentary for the everyman.
What You Need to Know
When the Man Comes Around is written from a postmillennialist or preterist perspective, which is one of the main four views. At risk of getting too academic, an easy way of understanding these views are two-fold: its view of the church and Israel, and a literal or figurative millennium. Postmillennialism considers the church and Israel as one institution. What makes it unique among others is that it considers the book of Revelation mostly happening in AD 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Empire. Even though I do not consider myself postmillennial, people often scoff at the view off of the cuff, but I think it is definitely a view that deserves strong consideration.
What I Want You to Know
One of the main points of postmillennialism is that the future is bright or in other words, the world is getting better due to the reign of Christ. Ever since Jesus ascended to the right hand of God, He has been ruling and we are getting better to the end where He will dwell on Earth with us, albeit a new Earth. This is often greeted with immediate dismissal of postmillennialism entirely. They say that it is impossible that things are improving. Thus, end of discussion.
Ironically enough, Wilson spends about zero time discussing that part of the discussion. Wilson goes through chapter by chapter through the entire book of Revelation commenting on what he considers the text to be referring to. This process is, of course, what led him to his postmil convictions. Some would argue that Wilson wouldn’t want to bring up the improvement of the world, because it isn’t happening. Wilson needs to ignore it for his argument to make sense. I disagree. One reason I enjoyed this book so much is that after giving it a chance, I can see the many positives that come along with the postmil viewpoint. While I wouldn’t say that I hold to postmillennial eschatology, I do feel like I have a good grasp of the positives and why it is definitely a strong position.
How I Scored It
When the Man Comes Around gets a 3.7/5.
How About a Taste
In reference to “the mystery” in Rev. 10:7: “The mystery, given to the prophets down through the ages, but now unpacked and made manifest through the gospel, is that Gentiles are going to be made fellow heirs together with Jews. This is all very well, but what does all that have to do with the seventh angel blowing his trumpet? The answer is that as long as the Temple in Jerusalem stood, there would be standing pressure for the Gentiles to become Jews as part of becoming Christian. This was the great controversy of the first generation in the church, and that controversy would continue as long as the Temple continued. The dominant identity of the church was going to be Jewish as long as the Temple remained. When the seventh angel sounded, Jerusalem was done.”[ii]
In reference to the hailstones in Rev. 16: “When it comes to the great hailstones, an interesting and suggestive detail is found in Josephus’ Wars (5.6.3). These hailstones are described as weighing about a talent, which translates into our units of measurement at about a hundred pounds. The Tenth Legion had catapults that could throw these massive stones, which were white. They could throw these things two furlongs or more, which is about a quarter of a mile. Josephus says, ‘Now, the stones that were cast were the weight of a talent…of a white color.’ Hailstones indeed.”[iii]
“Even if you, the reader, do not come to share my interpretive grid as we work through this vision together, my hope is that we would be able, despite the disagreement, to love the Lord’s appearing together. May it not be said of us that the millennium is a thousand years of peace that Christians love to fight about.”[iv]
[i] Douglas Wilson. When the Man Comes Around: A Commentary on the Book of Revelation (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2019), ix.
[ii] Ibid., 121.
[iii] Ibid., 194.
[iv] Ibid., 2.