Bible Study - When the Man Comes Around

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I used to be a pretty normal man. I am a US Veteran. I have a honorable discharge. I have a four year degree that took me five years to complete. I am a certified Social Studies teacher. I used to be a pretty normal man looking to have a career, and find a wife, and be successful. God called me around the age of 30. For over a decade, I have been living in the presence of God.

One of the major steps I took towards growing “More in Faith,” and finding God in a big way, was the realization that God is Reason. God worked in very reasonable ways.

It was Summer 2013, and the song “When The Man Comes Around” by Johnny Cash came on. Suddenly, I thought “You know, I don’t really understand the meaning of the lyrics.” Sitting at my computer, alone, I started looking up the lyrics. What “is the Potter’s Ground?” What is the context? I would internet search these things. I would come to an understanding.

Doing this Bible Study, in the context given, it shifted my thinking and my soul. I started picking up lyrics and sounds in music I hadn’t thought about. Over time, over several weeks to a few months, I started having ears to hear and eyes to see. (Ezekiel 12:2)(Proverbs 20:12)(Matthew 13:15-17) It didn’t come to me all at once. There was a learning curve, but I was growing in faith with God. Faith is a journey.

“When the Man Comes Around.”

And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder:
One of the four beasts saying: “Come and see.”
And I saw.
And behold, a white horse.

There’s a man goin’ ‘round takin’ names.
An’ he decides who to free and who to blame.
Everybody won’t be treated all the same.
There’ll be a golden ladder reaching down.

When the man comes around.
The hairs on your arm will stand up.
At the terror in each sip and in each sup.
Will you partake of that last offered cup,
Or disappear into the potter’s ground.
When the man comes around.

Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers.
One hundred million angels singin’.
Multitudes are marching to the big kettle drum.
Voices callin’, voices cryin’.
Some are born an’ some are dyin’.
It’s Alpha and Omega’s Kingdom come.
And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree.
The virgins are all trimming their wicks.

The whirlwind is in the thorn tree.
It’s hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Till Armageddon, no Shalam, no Shalom.
Then the father hen will call his chickens home.
The wise men will bow down before the throne.
And at his feet they’ll cast their golden crowns.
When the man comes around.

Whoever is unjust, let him be unjust still.
Whoever is righteous, let him be righteous still.
Whoever is filthy, let him be filthy still.
Listen to the words long written down,
When the man comes around.

Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers.
One hundred million angels singin’.
Multitudes are marchin’ to the big kettle drum.
Voices callin’, voices cryin’.
Some are born an’ some are dyin’.
It’s Alpha’s and Omega’s Kingdom come.

And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree.
The virgins are all trimming their wicks.
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree.
It’s hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
In measured hundredweight and penny pound.
When the man comes around.

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts,
And I looked and behold: a pale horse.
And his name, that sat on him, was Death.
And Hell followed with him.

Given someone would like to discuss the lyrics of the song, and the meaning, we can.

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Great song! -one of my favorites.

Johnny Cash was a terrific ‘evangelist’ through his thoughts/words/lyrics— songs.

I agree that music (and in particular- the words contained within) are a key way in which the spirit communicates. It’s amazing when one is open to it and paying attention.

It’s easy to link YouTube vids here, if you are interested in doing so. When I search for a song, I always try to find a version that includes the lyrics.

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Understanding words and words usage, with the Bible, it gets into a concept of “The Power of the Tongue.”

Someone should be careful with their speech, and work to clean their language to be more exact, and not use exaggerations and so on.

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I hope you don’t mind if I follow this track a bit.

In addition to Johnny’s ‘When the man comes around’ -which points to the Christ’s return… have you ever looked at the theology that leaks through some of his other songs?

Here are a couple of good ones!

“Sin and Redemption-- and thank God for redemption.”

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And then there is this epic…

Johnny’s adventure in spirit.

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I am well versed in Johnny Cash. I have a Pandora Radio station that I have been listening to pretty reguarly for about twelve years or so called “God is Gonna Cut You Down Radio.” I added in some Dixie Hummingbirds and some other things. There is an interesting mix of songs that I have discovered through that channel.

Lets stick to the OP, and what the lyrics mean. What is “The Man” for example? Is that like Aloe Blacc “The Man?” Is like like “The Man” by The Killers?

Jesus Christ is The Man. (1 Timothy 2:5) Jesus Christ is in heaven. Could The Man be a servant of God? A man’s body is a temple. Jesus Christ lives in a man through his Holy Spirit. I am not Jesus. I wasn’t born of a virgin. I didn’t do the things Jesus did.

A White Horse, is that like Plato’s Allegory of the Chariot? Thumos. Thumos is a word in the Bible. Was a man more a White Horse of Male Thumos or a “Dark Horse” Katy Perry?

There is a lot going on in the song “When the Man Comes Around.” Lets stick to that one for the moment.

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My favorite Johnny Cash songs that are not directly about God may be a “Boy Named Sue” and “Long Legged Guitar Picking Man.” When I write “Not Directly About God,” God is creator, and God created all things. There may be aspects of Intelligent Design and creation in “A Boy Named Sue.” Life lessons to be learned.

I lived around Nashville for a few months. I went to the Johnny Cash Museum down there one day. I ended up really drunk, and was arrested for sleeping in my truck. It was a pretty legit Johnny Cash experience I suppose.

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Okay…

Thanks for the clarification… I didn’t wonder.

“The man” one might think, is obviously Jesus-- the son of man. But is Jesus coming back? Or is it ‘the Christ?’ -the anointed one? Someone who upon whom the word rests? One anointed with the Holy Spirit of God? And is it actually one? Or could it be two?