Excellent and sober reading

This is essentially a Preterist reading and so actually strives to make sense of what Revelation would have meant for the people it was primarily addressed to, which is of course it's first century audience. On this account it does a superb job, points of difference only emerging for me, as I imagine they would for others where Wilson's interpretation as the temerity to differ from mine :-).
Principally this doesn't occur until the final sequence, Wilson is Post-Millennial and so like the A-millennialist understands the final events of the book to be awaiting conclusion. This position undermines his entire reading in reality as he continually stresses the 'coming soon' mantra of the book, and then in deference to his particular bias, and no doubt some sanctified creed, rejects the reality that such events are concluded. Clearly a student of Van Till in all his dogmatic irrationalism.
Far better in my opinion to follow the Bible's paradigm as offered in Joshua where the insistence is that all is fulfilled and yet the Israelites still have territory to conquer, so similarly all is fulfilled and now as Thessalonians depicts it, let the faithful living converge with the dead in Christ as the spiritual army of the Lord which would eventually conquer Rome avenging the blood of the saints and preserve the scripture that it might judge among the nations and as good news be either the savour of life unto life or death unto death for as Jesus insists I have come to send a sword but also why will ye die o house of Israel.
This doesn't in anyway detract from the worth of the book as the majority of its readers will be waiting for their personal Jesus to come and cuddle them for all the hurtful remarks endured for faith, which are so much worse than sticks and stones our professional the-rapists assure us.
Where it has great benefit is its demonstration of just how carefully it was crafted towards a specific end and John's employment of Jewish prophecies to subvert Jewish resistance and demonstrate their applicability to Christians as legitimate 'co-heirs' with Israel as that Remnant which would survive judgement to be the people of God. As a Presbyterian Wilson no doubt approves that such usage shows by 'necessary inference' how much the study of scripture must have been prevalent. Indeed emergent religious groupings only survive if like the Marxist they have an elite ruthlessly sacrificing a 'proletariat' in the interests of its proffered Utopia, with an attendant dogma and discipline; and as all futurists know, Heaven in our age of delights and distractions, as being enraptured with the vison of God doesn't seem such a great draw, hence the need to manufacture urgency and imminent apocalypse.
As to the performance, without wishing to be unduly critical one received the impression that this material has been gone over many times in his professional capacity as a Minister and the speed and slight dullness of the reading reflected this to my mind.
If it in anyway gets a hearing from the Dispensational community and helps persuade such that Armageddon isn't a date with Jesus at the Heavenly Rainbow Caff then hallelujah.

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