And They also which Pierced Him

 

 

Let the Bible speak!

The explicit before the implicit,

Inductive before deductive

The facts before we interpret.

 

The dominant thing in the church

Is that of the denomination,

That’s where most believers began:

Within their congregation.

 

For the most part, top-down

Rather than bottom-up,

And for the rest of their converted life

They sip the denomination cup.

 

Nothing's wrong with denomination

Unless it becomes a bar:

A bar that sets one’s limitation

And becomes that believer’s star.

 

Our North star is the Bible:

The infallible Word of God

And all else that obfuscate God’s Word

Is a companion to the king fraud.

 

Our adversary, the deceiver,

Is more fraudulent than any

And by his alluring and deceptive ways

He imprisons many.

 

Let us therefore contextualized

The title of this poetic piece,

Bearing in mind as we examine it

Denomination must decrease.

 

Revelation 1:7

 

Behold, he cometh with clouds;

and every eye shall see him,

and they also which pierced him:

and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.

Even so, Amen.

 

  

“John to the seven churches”

It says this in verse 4,

And in verse 7, “he cometh with clouds”

But stay with me, there is more.

 

This is not the first reference

Re a coming involving clouds,

There is another in the Old Testament

Let’s go there and browse.

 

Daniel 7:13-14

 

I saw in the night visions,

and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven,

and came to the Ancient of days,

and they brought him near before him.

 

And there was given him dominion,

and glory, and a kingdom,

that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him:

his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

which shall not pass away,

and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

 

This is not the old Jewish covenant

But the fulfilment of the same

For it was in that same 1^st Century

God sent the Spirit in Jesus’ name.

 

Jesus, in Matthew chapter 24,

Prophesied to his coming in the clouds

And the indicators that he meant that generation

Were particularly loud.

The word generation as used in Matthew

Bears this out supremely,

Yes, in reference to the Pharisees and Sadducees

And all that followed them blindly.

 

All that abused the old covenant law

And appealed to their own agenda,

And them that crucified the Lord Christ

Referring to him as a blasphemer.

 

All in their pseudo love for Caesar

Since any was better than the Christ,

Ignorant that they were fulfilling prophecy

For he was God’s determinate sacrifice.

 

 

And hence, the reason for this title:

And they also which pierced him:

A reference to that present generation

And not to one to which it is dim.

 

A factual and historic fulfilment

Of a prophecy that came to pass

During the lifetime of some of those enquirers

That stood in Jesus’ prophetic class.

 

Some argue it was the Romans

That pierced the Lord Jesus Christ

But the Jews had demanded his crucifixion;

Any executioner would suffice.

 

It was the harlot astride the beast

As identified in the Revelation:

Jerusalem riding on Rome’s authority

To effect their Messiah’s crucifixion.

 

 

And no doubt, in AD 70,

As God’s judgment rained on Jerusalem,

Much of what was prophesied

Would have been clear to them.

 

And they also which pierced him,

Not who will witness his second advent

But of that generation that were still alive

That experienced God’s judgement.

 

“Crucify him!  Crucify him!”

“We have no king but Caesar!”

“His blood be upon us and our children!”

The Jews were Christ’s executioners.

 

“And they also which pierced him”

Not the Romans, but the Jews,

They, along with the 1^st Century Christians,

Had that experiential view.

  

Thus, showing that this prophecy

Came to pass exactly as prophesied,

And that Bible prophecy forms history

And the future must comply.

 

Stewart Russell © June 21, 2022

 

 

The Word Is Quick

  

 

I wonder sometimes

Whether we realize

That the life within the Word of God

Is not disguised.

 

I sometimes ask me

What does this mean

And I go to Hebrews 4:12 to observe

What can be seen.

 

The written Word

Is about the Living Word

And that this is the Lord Christ,

You have heard.

 

John in the Gospel

Starts out with this:

“In the beginning, was the Word.”

Sharp and crisp!

 

 

 

Explicit from the get-go

No need to interpret,

Take it just as it has been stated,

From eternity set.

 

A statement of fact

About the First Cause:

And that this necessary first cause

Had to be uncaused.

 

John echoed Moses,

It’s not a contradiction!

They both are citing the first cause

For all creation.

 

One singular causation

Definitely not two!

Go directly to John 1 and verse 1

And take in the view.

 

“The Word was God.”

Don’t you see it there?

Upon this fact hangs all that exists

Here and everywhere.

 

“In him was life”

There’s life in the Word!

Let that sink into your very being

Now you have heard.

 

 

 

In the beginning God

And so too, the Word,

Yet so many say this cannot be;

That it’s absurd.

 

The Word is quick:

Meaning that it is alive

And does not need one’s rhetoric

In order to survive.

 

Be careful not to add

Or even to subtract,

The Word needs no amendments:

It is eternal fact.

 

Be sure not to multiply

And definitely not divide

Unless we are using 2 Timothy 2:15

As our guide.

 

Study to shew thyself

Approved unto God,

A workman that needeth not to be ashamed,

Rightly dividing

The Word of Truth. 

 

The only dividing required

Is rightly dividing

And this one and only operation

Is the Spirit’s guiding.

 

 

 

Yes, the Word is quick

So, let us all stick to it

And let us also do like in Hollywood:

“Stick to the script”.

 

Stewart Russell © March 22, 2026

And God Said…

 

 

And God said:

Eight times followed by ‘let’,

Go to Genesis chapter 1 and see

If you’ve not done so yet.

 

From “Let there be light”

To “Let us make man”

Seven commands you will find

In His creation plan.

 

The seventh, however,

Was not a command,

Rather, God made the decision

To create man.

 

“Let us make man”

He was the crowning piece

Whereupon on the sixth day,

God’s creating ceased.

 

Seven times He spoke

Creation into being

However, on the eighth occasion

God did the forming.

 

 

 

Formed from the dust

And quickened by breath,

God offered to him eternal life

But man chose death.

 

And God said,

Ought to be the key

But Satan entered another

Rather craftily.

 

“Hath God said?”

Satan had countered

Which discombobulated Eve

And she floundered.

 

Floundered and fell

Ignoring what God said

And the moment they disobeyed

They both were dead.

 

“Hath God said?”

Only once in the Word,

Adam and Eve were diverted;

How absurd!

 

From “And God said,”

To Satan’s “Hath God said?”

To Eve’s erroneous “God hath said,”

The lie was fed.

 

God’s word was altered

By both Satan and Eve

To the extent she disobeyed God

Having been deceived.

 

Thus, many today

Are emulating Eve

And not heeding what God said,

Are being deceived.

 

Neglecting His Word

They are led astray

Or in the words of a famous song,

They do it their way.

 

 

 

What God has said

Is where we ought to be

And so, I reiterate as I conclude,

God’s word is key.

 

Let the Word of God

Dwell in each of us;

The Word that was personified

In His Son, Jesus.

 

Stewart Russell © October 24, 2025

 

Healing of the Nations

 

 

Healing of the nations

What really is it?

Let’s grab the Word of God

And pay a visit.

 

Forget all you have heard

Let the Word speak,

The knowledge you will glean

Will be quite a treat.

 

Revelation 22:2

 

In the midst of the street of it,

And on either side of the river,

Was there the tree of life,

Which bare twelve manner of fruits,

And yielded her fruit every month:

And the leaves of the tree

Were for the healing

Of the nations.

 

The healing of the nations

Via the tree of life

Obviously pertains to a time

When there is some strife.

 

You would recall

Adam and Eve’s plight

When they ate of the forbidden tree

And forfeited their right.

 

Their right to Eden

And all that pertained,

Placing the entire human race

Under sin's stain.

 

 

Cast out of Eden

And from the tree of life

But given the promise of salvation

And atoning sacrifice.

 

A ruggedly hewn cross

Became the tree of life

And the healing of the nations

No matter the strife.

 

Crucified thereon

Was the source of life,

Dying for all of earth’s peoples

Was Jesus the Christ.

 

It was divinely decreed

One must give up his life,

‘Twas for the sins of all peoples

Jesus paid the price.

 

Thus, healing the nations

As they turn to him

Recognizing he's the only remedy

For all earth’s sin.

 

Preaching of the cross

Is foolishness to some

But to every born-again believer

Salvation is come.

 

 

The cross is become

An instrument of life

Because on that cross of Calvary

Was Jesus sacrificed.

 

For the son of man

Had to be lifted up

And, as he said to his disciples,

Drink that bitter cup.

 

"Are ye able to drink?"

He once did ask

But not one of his disciples

Was up to this task.

 

There was no other

To pay the price of our sin,

Only Jesus could unlock the gate

And let us in.

 

The door of the sheep

And tree of life is he,

Only the middle man on the cross

Gives life eternally.

 

Matthew 28:19-20

 

Go ye therefore,

And teach all nations,

Baptizing them in the name of the Father,

And of the Son,

And of the Holy Ghost:

Teaching them to observe all things

Whatsoever I have commanded you:

And, lo, I am with you alway,

Even unto the end of the world.

So let it be. 

Stewart Russell © February 27, 2025