My Eschatological Puzzle

 

 

 

Whether Idealist, Historicist,

Preterist or Futurist,

I am definitely positive

There is something they all miss.

 

With each of these four

There is an emphasis

And with their intended unique focus

Some information is dissed.

 

A focus on the past

As in the Preterist’s case

May very well overlook the future

In their eager haste.

 

Similarly, the Futurist,

Intent on their peculiar task

Could have inadvertently missed

The prophetic past.

 

Idealist and Historicist

Could be culpable too

Premising their summations

On a partial view.

 

 

Therein is my puzzle

Concerning any eschatology,

And thus, I refuse to be labelled

By any category.

 

I do believe, however,

Most prophecies are past

And I note that this is a position

Most have not grasped.

 

Prophecy fulfilled

Is a vindication of the Word

That God in his infinite knowledge

Has never deferred.

 

Not one has failed,

They all have come true

And the annals of history show

This to me and you.

 

 

Some have been distant

And some near at hand

But that some indication is given

Has always been God’s plan.

 

In Daniel he was told,

Shut up the words, seal the book,

Go now to Daniel 12 verse 4

And have a look.

 

The urgency was not then

But for a while after

And thus, the sealing of the vision

Until the time of the matter.

 

 

But not so in Revelation

In the vision given to John,

This was sent to seven churches,

Yes, to everyone.

 

It was a matter of urgency

Applicable to them

And that’s why with the Futurist

I have a problem.

 

I have a huge problem

With the Preterist as well,

Concerning the current believers,

What hope do they tell?

 

Hyper Preterist teach

Every prophecy is fulfilled,

There remains not a single one

Regarding God’s will.

 

No coming yet to come

And no physical resurrection,

What then, I am forced to ask,

Is my redemption?

 

Regarding life after death,

When does this life truly begin?

And, will there never ever be

Complete riddance of sin? 

 

I am still puzzled

But not unduly disturbed

For there is still much that I glean

From God’s Holy Word.

 

In the 1^st chapter of John

And in the third also,

A wonderful truth has been given

And this truth I know.

 

I am a child of God

Having received Him by faith,

Naught of any good I have done,

Only by God’s grace.

 

But as many as receive Him

Not one of them will perish,

For all will have everlasting life

And this I truly relish.

 

 

 

So though puzzled I may be

Concerning its working out,

That God will bring it all to pass

I have absolutely no doubt.

 

Stewart Russell © March 6, 2025

 

No True Gauge

 

 

 

Four quarters in a year

And three are pretty much gone,

The past has been fairly daunting

And many are afraid to go on.

 

Gauging the future by the past

Is something most of us do

Especially if trended towards the bad

We expect the future to be too.

 

Hence, September remember:

Remember that 1955 storm!

And so, whenever September comes,

The sign goes up, “Be Warned!”

 

Thus October, it’s all over!

Gauging the future by the Past

But the past reminded us again

Such projections do not last.

 

So now our hurricane season

Lasts from June to November,

It’s not all over in October

And this we must remember.

 

And now wisely reflecting

On the months that have flown

We still can’t know the future

For the future is unknown.

 

Our experts can project

Based on calculated probability

But never mind how astute the math,

The past is never destiny.

 

 

“There will be” is no guarantee:

Of the future none is sure,

There is definitely no tomorrow

And the past is no more.

 

No true gauge of the future

The past can ever be,

The most that we can be sure of

Is the present we now see.

 

And even this is limited

For our sight is severely flawed,

All the more reason, my friend,

Why we need to trust in God.

 

Stewart Russell © September 30, 2022

 

Trust no future, howe’er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act, act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o’erhead!

 

From A Psalm of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

Except the Days be Shortened

 

 

What does this really mean?

I am not even sure I know,

I know what I have been taught

But that was long ago.

 

A time to come in the future

That is the belief of some:

That this refers to a time to come

Before the return of God’s Son.

 

Others believe it has passed

Way back in New Testament times

And I dare say many today

Are with this view inclined.

 

Whether the former or latter

I am not here concerned

But rather, the fleeting of time

My attention to this is turned.

 

Is 24 hours still a day?

Or has one or two been removed?

The days are flying so fast

It’s difficult to stay in groove.

 

Like a train being derailed

And skidding off the track

And carrying with it its many cars

For yards and yards going back.

 

We just celebrated Christmas

No, not this one, the one before,

And before we could settle down

We have celebrated one more.

 

Christmas comes but once a year

Use to be a popular rhyme

But maybe, it is has become twice

Given the passage of time.

 

 

Another year is almost ended

With just five hours to go,

And no doubt last year this time

Many were saying so.

 

Whether the days are shortened

I cannot really tell

But what I know for a certain fact

Things are happening pell-mell.

 

With undue hurry and confusion

I can scarcely keep apace

But this one thing I intend to do

Is to focus on the Saviour’s face.

 

To trust him in spite of outcomes

Or however precarious the times

And to know with full assurance

I am his and he is mine.

 

 

Join me as we traverse 2022

Keeping our trust in God

While standing firm and resolute

Regardless of who may fall.

 

A Blessed New Year to all!

 

Stewart Russell © December 31, 2021

 

We Know in Part

 

 

 

Oft we are set in our dogmas,

Oft not from the Word

But we hold to them the more

Even when we are stirred.

 

We admit we don’t know all

But we behave contrariwise

And to some we come over

As being the all wise.

 

Ours is basic knowledge,

Hopefully, fundamentally so

But when it comes to the future

We oft pretend to know.

 

Even yesterday’s news

Is a puzzlement to us,

So many different versions

Creating quite a fuss.

 

But we know about the future

As though it were yesterday

And become angry with others

That don’t see it our way.

 

 

Seeing through a glass darkly

Is the position of us all

And the future we argue over

Is not ours to call.

 

That’s in the hands of the Almighty

And so too are those

That trust Him implicitly

And walk in the way He shows.

 

That we know in part is enough

And a good place to be

To affirm our faith in Jesus

Until Him our eyes shall see.

 

Let’s encourage one another

And help where there is lack

And be lights for this dark world

Until Jesus comes back.

 

For now, we know in part

But then, face to face,

And of the doubts we have now

Then there won’t be a trace.

 

Stewart Russell © July 2020

 

Now

 

It is now ten minutes after three

And here I am before my computer

I guess you knew that though

That should produce some laughter.

I guess you also know what I am doing

Right now I am typing; you are smart,

Typing what you need not ask,

This poem you are now reading: that’s a start.

Now we know what each of us is doing

Let me deal with the matter at hand,

It is now three-seventeen in the morning

I am awake; that was not the original plan.

But you see ever since retirement

I have no set sleeping time,

I just have this feeling whenever the opportunity

To express what ever is on my mind.

It is not that I cannot sleep

Actually I have slept for a bit before

But right now I am awake

Since I do not feel like sleeping anymore.

I know you are reading this poem now

Because now is when you are reading it,

Whenever we get around to doing something

Now becomes the general habit.

It might not be the same now

As was the original plan

But now is now whenever that is

And that goes for both woman and man.

That brings me to the point;

Someone promises to do something now

But does it five days later,

How could that be? Tell me how.

That may be your query

But it is certainly not mine

Because whenever that something is done

Now would be that time.

  

You see the past no longer exists

It is just a memory,

The future never ever comes

Now is the reality.

We spend much time discussing the past

While the now is ever before us,

Short term, mid-term, long term projections;

It is the future about which we fuss.

Hence we are unable to sort out the now

Since the past is always on our mind,

The future beckons and we are not prepared

Little worry about the present time.

Yes, what we currently are going through

Produces some anxiety

But that is nothing compare to the outlook

As though living tomorrow now is a possibility.

I trust by now you have gotten my point

About the importance of the now,

The past is gone; it is gone forever

And the future is not ours however much we vow.

That’s why promises are just what they are,

They are simply utterances that we vow

And if ever we make good on their delivery

That can only be done when that time is now

Nothing in the past changes anything now,

The past does not have that power,

Neither does the future, whatever we may think,

The ultimate reality is the present hour.

The Bible makes this point particularly clear

The address is 2Corinthians 6 and verse 2,

Before continuing go to that location now

And see what it says to me and to you.

The emphasis is now; it is mentioned twice,

It is a matter worth contemplation,

“Now is the accepted time,” it says

“Now is the day of salvation.”

Do not take the now in this matter lightly

For it has to do with one’s destiny,

It is not a concern about the future tomorrow

But about one’s future eternally.

The truth about this matter ultimately is

That now is the present reality,

It is in the now that one must act

To procure a favourable destiny.

God is not slack concerning His promise

But in the now is long suffering to all of us,

He is not willing that any of us should perish

But that in the now accept His Son, Jesus.

Right now if you hear his voice

Harden not your heart,

Come to him right this very moment

Right now would be the best time to start.

Stewart Russell © November 2017