Polysyndeton

 

 

What a strange word

But what does it mean?

I will show you in this poem

What I have gleaned.

 

Verse 3 and verse 5

Of Genesis chapter 22:

Here is a little assignment

I want you to do.

 

Focus on those verses

And you’ll get an idea

Of an interesting polysyndeton

Standing in the way.

 

Find the word repeated

More than any other,

Checking just these two verses

Shouldn’t be a bother.

 

You can pause here

Before you continue

And concentrate on the task

I have given you.

 

 

You must be saying,

What a really weird name

And before I had understood,

I thought the same.

 

I was studying this text

In a way unlike before

When an Internet presentation

Shone light in my door.

 

It was a study showing

How we have strayed

Regarding Bible based worship

In a significant way.

 

Mentioned in the Bible

First at Genesis 22 verse 5

Where God a timely sacrifice

Did provide.

 

In the place of Isaac

A ram temporarily sufficed:

A foreshadowing in actual fact

Of God’s sacrifice.

 

The sacrifice of Jesus

His promised Son

On whom He did established

His heavenly kingdom.

 

You’ve had much time

To find that word:

The first known conjunction

Most have heard.

 

 

Genesis 22:3

 

 And Abraham rose up early in the morning,

And saddled his ass,

And took two of his young men with him,

And Isaac his son,

And clave the wood for the burnt offering,

And rose up,

And went unto the place

Of which God had told him.

 

Genesis 22:5

 

And Abraham said unto his young men,

Abide ye here with the ass;

And I

And the lad will go yonder

And worship,

And come again to you.

 

Seven “ands” in verse 3

And five “ands” in verse 5

And at the purpose of this poem

We have now arrived.

 

 

Polysyndeton is the name

For this use of a conjunction,

No doubt English teachers today

Would have an objection.

 

But it’s a description

Rather detailed, I believe,

That Abraham specifically followed

As from God he received.

 

Worship is our response

To God for Jesus Christ,

The Lamb from God, the Father,

His enduring sacrifice.

 

Typified in these verses

By a rather strange word

Showing the length God went to

To redeem His world.

 

Matthew 2:21

 

And she

Shall bring forth a child

And shall call his name Jesus

And he shall save his people

From their sin.

 

Stewart Russell © October 22, 2024

 

Three Levels of God’s Love

 

 

I came across the following

Just about four days ago

And even though I knew the concept

These terms I did not know.

 

Benevolence easily fitted in

And beneficence too

But the term complacence

Did not fit in with my view.

 

But that was only at first

As moments later, I understood,

And if you are now like I was then

I am sure you also would.

 

No doubt, like me, you have read

In the pages of Holy Writ

Of the divine salvation decree:

That enunciated divine edict.

 

For even before time had begun

In effect the Lamb was slain

That what the first Adam had lost

Jesus would eternally regain.

 

It was God’s plan to save us

From before all time

And the best way to explain it is:

We were always on God’s mind.

 

This first level of God’s love:

His love of benevolence

Conceptualized before all time

Manifested in His beneficence.

 

Unlike the many plans of man

God’s plan became a reality

So that a born-again individual

Can be saved for all eternity.

 

 

It’s His love of beneficence

The actual unfolding of His plan

First seen in the book of Genesis

In the original fall of man.

 

By faith in the Old Testament

Righteousness was imputed to man

And the first biblical reference

Was the patriarch, Abraham.

 

Father of Isaac, then Jacob

Who was given the name Israel,

Abraham the patriarch was called

To be father of God’s people.

 

Through this Abrahamic lineage

Came the Lord, Jesus Christ

Who manifested God’s benevolence

In his life-giving sacrifice.

 

The working out of the plan

Of God’s wonderful redemption

Whereby through His Son the Christ

We are recipients of salvation.

 

 

What love!  What supreme love!

Benevolent and beneficent

That even up to this day

There are millions of recipients!

 

But God commends His love

That he sent His Son, the Lord Jesus

In that while we were yet sinners

Jesus Christ died for us.

 

Christ came to call sinners

Not the righteous ones!

For they that are alive and well

Would not need to be born.

 

Poor old Nicodemus

Had truly missed the mark!

Poor old Nicodemus

Was certainly in the dark!

 

Complacence in man is folly

But in the Creator God, it is His glory

And it is all together evident

That herein is salvation's story.

  

For scarce for a righteous man

Would one die:

Yet peradventure for a good man

Would some even dare to die.

 

 

But God commendeth his love:

The mark of God’s complacence,

Unconditional and unmeasurable

And by man, uninfluenced.

 

Sounds like reckless love

Only that God cannot be reckless,

His is a love of complacence

That no other love can best.

 

For God’s glory and our good

Jesus left heaven above

To die for His premiere creation:

O what grace and love!

 

Stewart Russell © May 13, 2021

 

The End of All Prophecy

 

 

Nothing remains to be fulfilled

Until the coming of the Lord,

Jesus is the end of all prophecy

As it says in the Word.

 

The OT pointed forward to him

To him, the epistles point back,

Jesus is the Bible’s summation

And that is an historic fact.

 

Fulfilment means the end

And that end is the Lord Jesus,

Jesus fulfils all prophecy

And in him we must trust.

 

The Gospels are about him:

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,

Israel is not the prophetic key

So, my friend be warned! 

 

 

Take your eyes off Israel

Meaning the Jewish nation,

Instead you must look upon Jesus;

He is our eternal salvation.

 

When you read the Holy Word

Read it with Jesus in mind,

It is his story, you must understand,

Each and every time.

 

Remember that God is spirit

And none has ever seen His face,

It is His eternal Son, Jesus

That for us takes His place.

 

Hence, he that has seen the Son

Has also seen the Father,

The Son being the expressed image

Of the unseen Father.

 

The Father chose to reveal himself

In none other than His Son

Hence, the fulfilment of prophecy

And His everlasting kingdom.

 

 

The sun and moon and stars

They all bowed down to him:

A foreshadowing of what was to come

When Jacob’s eyes would dim.

 

Not about Joseph, the dreamer,

But of the coming Messiah,

About the revelation of Jesus Christ:

The great and mighty deliverer.

 

And when David slew Goliath

And all the Philistines fled,

That also pointed to Jesus

That will judge the quick and dead.

 

The fact that all prophecy

Has already been fulfilled

Shows the power of Almighty God

And that gives me a thrill.

 

He who declares the end

Even before an event begins

Is none other than Jesus the Christ,

The King of all kings.

 

 

He is the chief cornerstone

Of the entire Bible

And the kinsman Redeemer

Of every nation and people.

 

Now see where this takes us

If with me you will go,

It’s to a world that is out of focus

As both you and I know.

 

The lamb is now the Lion

The Servant has become the King,

Now he rules in heaven

Let us shout and sing.

 

All will bow before him,

And they will do so in due time:

Some willingly, others otherwise,

From every land and clime.

 

 

For Christ must reign

Until all enemies are under his feet,

The last enemy being death

That has also suffered defeat.

 

Therefore, what should we do?

I will tell you what;

To carry out the great commission

Is the believer’s lot.

 

The consummation of all things

Is not our concern

But of the Gospel of salvation

We should preach and learn.

 

Whether he comes tomorrow,

Next month or next year,

We must occupy till Jesus returns

And of his business take care.

 

 

If you have been saved

Go and spread the word

Of Jesus, the wonderful Saviour

To whom you defer.

 

The one who raises the dead

And the one who gives life,

The one who once died

To become our living sacrifice.

 

Pray, tell me, my friend,

What prophecy is yet to be fulfilled?

None except the end of all things:

That is to be fulfilled still.

 

Stewart Russell © August 28, 2021

 

Revelation and Reason

 

 

Revelation and reason

Which of the two came first?

Here I believe it is right

And not in the reverse.

 

Men change it around

So that reason comes first

But based on the Scriptures

Reason first is in reverse.

 

Humans reason about God

Without His Word,

Straight up as you can see

This is absurd.

 

Reason comes into play

Only because God has revealed

Some things about Himself

He chose not to conceal.

 

That which He has revealed

Is for our own understanding

And this is by no means

A result of our demanding.

 

Some believers will argue

They can command God

And they demand and declare

As though they were God.

 

 

 

However, it’s time we know

God cannot be wagged,

Neither does a tail wag a dog

As some will brag.

 

Revelation and reason-

Revelation came first,

God revealed himself to humans

Then came the curse.

 

Eve reasoned with the serpent

And she was deceived,

Satan was smarter than she

And got her to disbelieve.

 

It is not ours first to reason

But to believe what God reveals,

Anything less or anything more

And we will be deceived.

 

 

God’s revelation is truth

And His truth is Jesus Christ,

Satan’s truth is truly not truth at all

And is sugar coated to entice.

 

Jesus is the Living Word

And of him was the Word written,

Thus, all who believe in Jesus

Have their sins forgiven.

 

It is not ours first to reason

But ours first to believe,

Revelation precedes reasoning-

Reasoning does not reveal.

 

It matters not how brilliant

We cannot reason out God,

That Eve would become like God

Was created by King Fraud.

 

Her reasoning led to the Fall

And disinherited all mankind

But God in His mercy restored all-

A lamb was the first sign.

 

 

A ram was caught in a thicket

And the young Isaac was spared,

To the Lamb on that rugged cross

Of whom the Gospel is shared.

 

 

The Gospel of eternal salvation

Revealed to every man,

To the world and the whosoever

Sums up redemption’s plan.

 

For God so loved the world!

What a revelation!

That He gave His Son, Jesus!

What wonderful salvation!

 

Stewart Russell © August 16, 2023

Father of the Faithful

Father Abraham

Called to leave his kin,

To journey to a land

God would show to him.

He marched right on in faith

 With God as his Guide,

His confidence also boosted

With Sarah by his side.

Diverting once to follow

The counsel from his wife,

Up came a predicament,

His two sons meant strife.

Ishmael was forced to go

 So reluctantly he went,

Isaac was the promise;

The seed that God had sent.

One day out of heaven

The sternest of tests came,

“Abraham, take Isaac

And offer him in My Name.”

Abraham heard and knew

It was God that spoke,

Without doubt he knew

 That this test was not a joke.

Early from home he set out

And headed for the place,

Determined to be obedient

But trusting God for grace.

Intent on following through

On God's precise command,

Raised the knife to strike

As the angel stopped his hand.

Abraham had passed the test

 And God gave him the nod,

“Now I know,” the angel said,

 “The fear you have for God.”

From this we can preview

The Lamb that was to come,

The Lamb slain before the world,

God’s own begotten Son.

Abraham was truly pleased

That God had spared Isaac,

There in a nearby thicket

A lamb was securely trapped.

Provided by God the Father

And placed in open view,

A shadow of the Lamb to come

Provided for me and you.

Jacob followed Isaac,

And Joseph his favourite son

Was the scourge of his siblings

The object of their fun.

He was sold into Egypt,

Rose to second in command

Then fed his entire family

When a famine struck the land.

God was always with him

And granted him His favour,

So to his entire family

He became a type of Saviour.

He repaid their evil dealings

With kindness and with love,

At last they came to realize

His help was from above.

But Joseph died in Egypt

And there in his coffin lay,

Requesting that he be moved

On the appointed day.

He told them of God’s visit

And of a coming change,

They’d leave the land of Egypt

Just as God arranged.

Joseph’s bones would not be left

 In Egypt on that day,

When God delivers them

And sets them on their way.

So down in the land of Egypt

Joseph would remain
Until the land of Canaan

Was theirs to make their claim.

Stewart Russell © November 2017

Extracted from:

The Bible in Poetry

Stewart Russell © 2013