Exploration of "When the Man Comes Around" by Johnny Cash Pt. 1

This is a beautiful song.  It's full of Revelation, Ezekiel, and other prophets, both in direct quotes and indirect scripture references.  Literally every word is influenced by Scripture in some way.  It's just an amazing song, and I never realized it until now.  If you haven't listened to it, I'd give it a click here on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/jiMXK9eDrMY

I'd recommend giving it a listen so you can refresh you memory.  You can even listen to it while you're reading this!

I'd like to get right into it, so here we go!

"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."

This is a direct quote from Revelation 6:1-2.  This is the beginning of the description of "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," as it is commonly called.  The rider of the white horse can be considered different things - some say he is Jesus, others say it is an antiChrist pretending to be Jesus.  The rider is given a crown, and since Jesus is the King and the antiChrist will be a ruler, there is dispute over who the white horse's rider represents.  In Revelation 19, there is another description of a rider on a white horse, and we know it is Jesus, because He is called "Faithful and True," and He leads the armies of heaven, who also ride white horses.

Let's investigate the next few lyrics:

There's a man goin' 'round takin' names

And he decides who to free and who to blame

Everybody won't be treated all the same

"A man going round taking names, and he decides who to free and who to blame" is a reference to Ezekiel 9, in which the Lord calls a man to go around and mark each person who detests the worship of demons that is being committed in the city.  The rest, the "executioners" will kill:

"Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. And behold, the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist, brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded me.”

Ezekiel 9:3‭-‬5‭, ‬11 ESV

Ezekiel also has many end-times prophecies, and there is a similar scene in Revelation in which stinging locusts from hell are released into the Earth and told not to harm anyone with the "seal" or "mark" of God on their foreheads (anyone who believes in Jesus Christ has the seal of God on their foreheads): 

They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

Revelation 9:4 ESV

So "the man" can reference the angel in Ezekiel, or God Himself in Revelation.

Next up: 

"There'll be a golden ladder reachin' down

When the man comes around"

The "Golden Ladder reaching down" is in reference to Jacob's Ladder in Genesis 28:12.  Jacob saw angels ascending and descending on a ladder in a dream, and just as they were then, so it will be when the angels come to "reap the harvest" of souls when Jesus returns.

Next up!

"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

Partaking would be a really bad choice. The "sips" and "sups" that produce terror are a person drinking from God's cup of wrath after Jesus comes back (those who have not accepted Jesus will drink God's wrath).  The "cup of God's wrath" is mentioned in Isaiah:

Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering.

Isaiah 51:17 ESV

The cup of wrath is also mentioned in Revelation, and this is perhaps the most direct reference: 

And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

Revelation 14:9‭-‬10 ESV

So that's choice one.  

Next up:

"Or disappear into the potter's ground?

When the Man comes Around?"

Choice two is to "disappear into the potter's ground," which is another term for "potter's field."  The term potter's field commonly refers to the field that the Sadducees bought with Judas' blood money that he returned after betraying Jesus.  It was used as a burial place for the poor and destitute.  So disappearing into the "potter's ground" is choice number two.  These two verses combined must only be referencing those who do not obey Jesus, because we who have Christ in our hearts will neither drink the cup of God's wrath nor disappear into a grave - but we will rise again just as Jesus did and "rule and reign" with Him.

Next up!

"Hear the trumpets hear the pipers

One hundred million angels singin'

Multitudes are marchin' to the big kettle drum"

The trumpets and pipers are a reference to the seven angels with seven trumpets in Revelation:

Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

Revelation 8:6 ESV

Every time an angel blew a trumpet, a huge event happened on earth, such as a plague or thunderstorm.

The "multitudes marching and 100 million angels singing" refers to Revelation, in which this number of angels is referenced as saying or "singing" to Jesus.  It says there are "thousands of thousands" which translates to millions, possibly 100 million or more:

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

Revelation 5:11‭-‬12 ESV

Next up!

"Voices callin', voices cryin'

Some are born and some are dyin'

It's alpha and omega's kingdom come"

The voices calling and crying is a reference to Revelation, in which those who are not saved will cry out:

Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Revelation 6:15‭-‬17 ESV

However, Cash writes "some are born and some are dyin'," and this references that fact that it is only a bad day for those who do not know Jesus.  They will be dying, but the ones who know Him will be "born" anew in the New Heaven and the New Earth (Revelation 21).

Lastly, "Alpha and Omega's kingdom come" references Jesus speaking of Himself as the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the Last (Revelation 1:8).  His Kingdom "comes" to full fruition in the Earth when He returns and all this takes place.

Last part of the refrain is up now:

"And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree"

Hosea speaks of the whirlwind as the doom of Samaria for idol worship:

For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour; if it were to yield, strangers would devour it.

Hosea 8:5‭-‬7 ESV

Hosea is one of many whirlwind references, and Proverbs gives us another reference, speaking of those who turn away from the Lord and do evil to others:

I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

Proverbs 1:26‭-‬31 ESV

In other words, we reap what we sow.  But what about thorn trees?  Why is it important that the whirlwind is in a thorn tree?  Well, in the Bible, thorns usually describe evil people:

But worthless men are all like thorns that are thrown away, for they cannot be taken with the hand;

2 Samuel 23:6 ESV

Therefore, God's punishment is descending upon the evil: the whirlwind is in the thorn tree.

Next up:

The virgins are all trimming their wicks

The whirlwind is in the thorn tree

While the second line here is simply a repetition of the previous line, "virgins trimming their wicks" refers to en end-times passage in Matthew 25, "The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins." Long story short, the church is like a group of holy virgins prepared for God, and when the bridegroom (Jesus) arrives they will all get up from their slumber and trim the wicks of the lanterns that they will light.  Their lanterns represent their inner light, whether they have a relationship with God or not - the ones who have oil for their lamps (intimacy with God) will be able to light them, while the ones who don't will try to run off and get oil, but will not get back in time and will be shut out of the wedding feast, or the Heavenly Kingdom.  All that to say, "Virgins trimming their wicks" is a great reference to an end-times passage.

Next up!

It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks"

This is a direct quote from Acts 26:14, and the word "pricks" only occurs in the KJV version.  Here it is:

And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Acts 26:14 KJV

The pricks or "goads," as other versions say, were tools that you used to drive on a pack animal in the direction you wanted it to go.  If the pack animal didn't want to go that way, it "kicked against the pricks."  Jesus was trying to drive Paul in the direction of submission to God's love, but Paul persecuted the church and kicked against the pricks.  After his conversion, Paul stopped kicking against the pricks.

This is perhaps a call to repentance on the part of Cash.  All these things that are negative will happen to those who "kick against the pricks," but oh how hard it is to avoid God sometimes.  He will call you to Himself no matter what!  You just have to accept the call.  And it's HARD to resist God's call on your life!  It's HARD to kick against the pricks!  Why not just accept God's love?

That's all for Part 1!  Tune in next week to read Part 2!  God Love you, God Bless you, and God Save you!