Sovereignty and Free Will

 

 

Concerning Sovereignty

There is only One,

History has its Emperors and kings

But they are long gone.

 

Pseudo sovereignty

Meaning a mere pretense

But never having ultimate control

Whatever their intent.

 

The Emperors of Rome

And the great kings of Israel:

They all suffered irreversible defeat

In their final battle.

 

The Presidents of today

And Prime Ministers as well

Are destined to lose their life battle

After their spell.

 

Death is appointed

For both great and small

And when death dials our number,

None can stall.

 

Pseudo sovereignty

Is all that we have got

And whether Emperor or pauper,

Death is our lot.

 

God is the only Sovereign

And there’s not another,

Don’t you dare consider the devil:

That deceptive usurper.

 

 

 

Now man has free will

Given to him by God

Meaning he has limited choice,

That is all.

 

He is not sovereign

And this is so very clear

For he lives for a period of time

And then disappears.

 

Man may choose

Whether to live or die

And this must be seen in two ways:

One being suicide.

 

Or he can remain dead

In his trespasses and sins

And refuse the gift of salvation

God offers to him.

 

Man can choose to work

Or idle away all day,

He can choose to become muted

Or have a say.

 

He can choose a job

And build a nice career

Or be a recluse and from people

Stay clear.

 

He can have a family,

I mean of his own

Or having been born into a family,

He can go off alone.

 

 

 

A Myriad choices

Are available to all

But understand choice is unlimited

Only to God.

 

God sets the limit

On the choices of man

And we can accept or reject Him

If we so plan.

 

BUT

 

There are consequences

To the choices we make

And these can be very heart wrenching

Like here of late.

 

 

 

Choices by our leaders

And important others

That put harsh measures in place

And cause great bother.

 

Nations against Nations

In skirmishes and war

Choosing weapons of destruction

To show their power.

 

Taking another’s resources

By sheer brute force:

The animals’ survival of the fittest

Now man’s recourse.

 

Changing their gender

As though this is possible

And then actually agitating for it,

Though reprehensible. 

 

Man is not a robot

But then, neither is God

And because He is the I AM that I AM

He is sovereign of all.

 

 

 

Creating Adam and Eve

God gave them a rule:

It was His way or the other way;

They could choose.

 

Think of a world

Without restrictive choice:

Wherein are no rules or regulations:

No regulating voice.

 

No reason, no empathy,

Just all is civil anarchy!

Surely God did not create the world

For this to be.

 

Hence a Sovereign voice

With ultimate control

That can limit the despicably wicked

And put evil on hold.

 

Thus, the reason for death

And the limit imposed,

I AM that I AM is the only Sovereignty

And none other comes close.

 

We can do as we like

But not for as long as we like

For Almighty God is in ultimate control

And will set things right.

 

Free will is limited

And this is without doubt

So, to rulers of countries and nations,

So is your clout.

 

Stewart Russell © November 10, 2025

 

Go and Tell that Fox

 

Who said these words,

To whom they were spoken

And whom they actually targeted

Is the focus of this poem.

 

“Go ye and tell that fox”

The words of Jesus Christ

In his response to the Pharisees

Who were not nice.

 

That fox was King Herod

The then King of the Jews,

A vassal king put in place by Rome

And hence, bad news.

 

“Get thee out and depart

For Herod will kill thee,”

The advice that was given to Jesus

By certain Pharisees.

 

Depart hence, they warned,

Meaning away from Jerusalem,

Thus, one King Herod after another

Trying to be a problem.

 

You’d recall the first Herod

When Jesus Christ was born,

The second was no better than he

As these Pharisees warned.

 

 

The Herod at Jesus’ birth

Was King Herod the Great,

He sought the young child’s life

But he became the late.

 

His son, Herod Antipas,

Would certainly have his goal

Though not by his own scheme

The Bible shows…

 

 

 

Not by Herod’s designation

But at God’s appointed time,

Just like all the other prophets

Jesus stood in line.

 

The blood of the prophets

All the way back to Abel,

And Jesus would die at Jerusalem

As the prophets did tell.

 

But it won’t be a feather

In Herod Antipas’ cap,

That honour was the Pharisees’-

Compliment Judas’ pact.

 

You’d recall they paid Judas

To point out Jesus his friend

And that money bought a grave plot

For Judas at his end.

 

 

Go and tell that fox

That he will have to wait,

The Passover Lamb will be on time

Jesus was never late.

 

Go and tell that fox

That he is not in control,

Neither Caesar, nor Pilate nor Herod

Has any such claim or hold.

 

Jesus was in control

And there were yet three days,

Enough time to finish his work

In his predetermined way.

 

 

You’d recall Caiaphas’ words

That one must die for the people,

Jesus in the fulness of time

Completed that puzzle.

 

Jesus, not Barabbas,

“Give us Barabbas!” they cried,

He who came to die for them

They vehemently denied.

 

That Herod was cunning

Could never be in doubt

And Jesus’ referencing him as a fox

Surely bears this out.

 

Go and tell that fox

He is exactly like his dad

Who wanted to worship baby Jesus

But his was just a façade.

 

Like his son after him,

He too wanted to slay Jesus

But such was not in their control

However much they fussed.

 

Go tell that old fox

That Jesus is forever alive

And since Herod Antipas is no more,

He and his dad have died.

 

Satan is like a roaring lion

And as cunning as a fox,

Go tell Satan, that scheming old fox

That good will be our lot.

 

Yes, go tell that old fox,

We have no need to fear,

Death bands have been torn asunder

And Jesus Christ is here.

 

Go and tell that old fox

It is no longer night,

We have seen the risen Saviour,

We have seen the light.

 

Stewart Russell © April 9, 2024

 

I Am Pontius Pilate

 

 

I am Pontius Pilate

The Roman Governor of Judea,

I serve under Emperor Tiberius

The ruler of all Roman people.

 

The high point of my life

Was when they brought Jesus to me,

I was the adjudicator

I had to say what was to be.

 

Theirs were religious grievances

That did not concern Rome

So they brought three charges

All of them of a political tone.

 

He was a revolutionary

That was the first they said,

He posed a threat to the empire

It seems they wanted him dead.

 

In the second charge he urged

People not to pay their tax,

This threatened the empire’s prosperity

On this I could not relax.

 

 

The third was aimed at Caesar

The emperor of all of Rome,

This was a threat to his position

And I dare say not his alone.

 

I examined these three matters

In light of the evidence presented

And when I declared him not guilty

It was a verdict they all resented.

 

I had a conversation with Jesus

And I was particularly impressed

And regarding the death penalty

I found the charges baseless.

 

I asked him if he was a king

And his response was its own proof,

In it he seemed to suggest

That he actually represented the truth.

 

“To this end was I born,” he said,

This was why he came into the world,

To bear witness unto the truth

This was the essence of his words.

 

 

 

I asked Jesus what is truth

But I did not wait for his reply,

I simply went back out to the people

But on my verdict they did not rely.

 

I was unsettled in my spirit

So I tried a different approach

And though this was a Roman court

On their religion I encroached.

 

“You have a custom,” I said to them

“That at your Passover one is released.”

I suggested to them their king

But with that they were not pleased.

 

Instead they opted for Barabbas

An insurrectionist, a robber and thief,

They wanted me to crucify Jesus

But a criminal they wanted released.

 

I could not believe my ears

What an envious group they were!

I had already sent him to Herod

So now I could no longer defer.

 

I tried one final idea

For his release was my bent,

I had hoped he would say a bit more

But silence was his intent.

 

I told him of my power

To release him or have him crucified

But even that he rejected

And this is how he replied.

 

Except it came from above

I could have no power against him

So he that delivered him to me

Has the greater sin.

 

Still I sought to release him

But the Jews just would not bend,

They shouted if I release him

I would not be Caesar’s friend.

 

Crucify him they cried

This man Jesus deserves to die,

He said he is the Son of God

And again I heard, “Crucify!”

 

I was forced to make a judgment

I had to make a choice

And in my fear of these people

I listened to their voice.

 

They had no king but Caesar

And the truth was neither did I

So with the wishes of this people

I was forced to comply.

 

 

 

My wife had had a dream

As a result she was in torment,

She had sent a warning to me

But I had refused to repent.

 

I was feeling a load of guilt

Which I tried to wash away

But the basin and water I used

Only mocked me on that day.

 

When I saw I could not prevail

To Jesus a scourging I applied

And then delivered him to the people

For him to be crucified.

 

Stewart Russell © March 2019

 

Once Upon A Time

 

Once upon a time we would ask

Who, where, what and when

When confronted by a narrative

In which we saw a problem.

 

The simple facts about a matter

To gain some comprehension,

Yes, these four narrative keys especially

Would form our basic questions.

 

Only after these four were settled

Would we decide to move on

But nowadays when it comes to the Bible

This approach seems long gone.

 

The why and how would follow

Before the “what do you think”

But we jump to conclusions these days

Before the eye could blink.

 

We regarded the topic sentence

When we read another’s essay

But when it comes to the Bible story

Denomination points the way.

 

Primary schools are the exception

That still practise these basic tenets:

The who, where, what and when

Is still their ongoing habit.

 

Who said what and to whom?

Where was it said and when?

Why it was said and how it was said-

That’s what we asked our children.

 

The explicit became clear

As it was right there on the page

And once we had established this

We could go on to the next stage.

 

However, in studying the Bible

We attempt it in the reverse,

We interpret and then draw conclusions

Based on what we heard at first.

 

 

“The cart before the horse”

I’m sure you have heard this before,

Yes, we are still doing it today

And with the Bible, much more.

 

Revelation 13:1

 

The apostle John saw a beast

That rose up out of the sea

With seven heads, ten horns and ten crowns

And upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

 

Revelation 13:7

 

And it was given unto the beast

To make war with the saints

And power was given him over all kindreds

And tongues and nations.

 

From these two verses alone

The beast is both Empire and Emperor,

The beast is both symbolic of Rome

And its present emperor, Nero.

 

Revelation 17:11

 

The beast not only has seven heads

But is also one head as in Nero,

He is the six hundred three score and six

As in Hebrew “Neron Kaiser” shows.

 

 

The Hebrew number system

Derived its values from its alphabet,

When tallied with Neron Keiser

The following is what we get.

 

The vowels were deleted

Since there were no vowels in Hebrew,

Hence the letters NRWN QSR

Stand for Neron Kaiser too. 

 

 

Nero was the first imperial persecutor

Of the Christian church

And his name matches the number 666

As shown in this research.

 

 

You may wonder about the 616

Again, his name provides the catch,

This one is the Latin enumeration

And Nero Caesar is the match.

 

Revelation 17:10

 

There, you have it either way-

The ball lands on the sixth wonder,

Five kings are fallen, one is and one to come

That sixth king is Nero Caesar.

 

 

The seventh is not yet come-

His reign being for a short space,

Seven months was earmarked for him-

Galba fits right into this place.

 

 

Julius Caesar was the first

Followed by his great-nephew, Augustus,

Third, fourth and fifth in order:

Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius

 

“And there were seven kings

Five are fallen and one is;”

Nero was that Roman Emperor

That perfectly fits this list.

 

It was a riddle for the Romans

But surely not for John,

In just a shorth while he would have figured

 The temple and Jerusalem would be gone.

 

 

Nero Caesar was a horrible man

And was worshipped as divine

And the great tribulation of this period

Was part and parcel of his time.

 

His would not have been

A literal sitting in the Jewish temple

But the god-like stance he had taken

And how he was regarded by the people.

 

Acts 12:22-23

 

You would recall King Herod,

To the people he spoke like a god,

But Herod, in his most glorious moment,

Died like a depraved fraud.

 

And so too had Nero Caesar

Who it is alleged committed suicide,

And who, like so many are forced to realize,

God is God and there’s none besides.

 

And what about the mark

Without which no Jew may buy or sell?

Well Nero’s image was on the coins inscribed

As the history of the time did tell.

 

 

During the reign of Nero Caesar

The coinage system was under reform

Hence, at the time of John’s writing,

Nero’s image was on the coins.

 

You would recall the question

That the disciples had posed to Jesus,

Should they pay the Roman tax

As required by Caesar Augustus?

 

Rend to Caesar what is Caesar’s

Was what Jesus had replied

After Caesar’s image was on the coin

That the disciple had supplied.

 

Revelation 13:18

 

Here is wisdom:

Let him that have understanding

Count the number of the beast

For it is the number of a man

And his number is

Six hundred three score and six.

 

Once upon a time,

Though not your usual story line,

Happened as the book Revelation records

And the Tribulation was at that time.

 

 

The millennium kingdom came to earth

With the advent of Pentecost

Where the Holy Spirit, another like Christ

Came to save the lost.

 

The millennium will be complete

When Satan is temporarily released

And then bound again forever

And when time will forever cease.

 

The beast of Revelation is not future

Neither the number of a man 666,

Hopefully I have shown in this poetic discourse

A futuristic position just does not fit.

 

Stewart Russell © March 6, 2021

 

Father Forgive Them

 

 

“Father, forgive them

For they know not what they do.”

These words were spoken by Jesus

And the ‘them’ were the Jews.

 

He had come to his own

And his own had not received him,

Blinded by their self-righteousness

To them Jesus was the sin.

 

In co with Beelzebub

Was how they saw his works

And throughout his earthly ministry

They treated him like dirt.

 

Herod attempted to kill him

Two years after his birth

And the Jews wanted to stone him,

The Lord of all the earth.

 

They plotted against him

Morning, noon and night

And would not rest, they had decided,

Until he was out of their sight.

 

And when they ran out of ideas

They turned to one of his own,

Judas Iscariot, you would recall

Was right in their zone.

 

A fence-straddler, I’d call him,

Committed only to himself

And scheming so that one day soon

He’d come into wealth.

 

 

You’d recall he carried the bag

And with it he was obsessed

And once, when Jesus was anointed,

He was not impressed.

 

 

He suddenly felt for the poor

And pretended that he cared

But Jesus rebuked him indicating

The poor is always here.

 

Well, for thirty pieces of silver

Jesus Christ was betrayed

But as far as the proceedings went

It did not go all Judas’ way.

 

Jesus was captured

But he did not try to escape

So that Judas’ plan went horribly wrong

After he had taken the bait.

 

We know how that concluded

Regarding the infamous Judas

Who ended up in the potter’s field

On account of his lust.

 

A miscarriage of justice followed

Encouraged by the Jews,

Their leaders wanted Christ crucified,

To them he was bad news.

 

They eventually got their wish

Much against Pilate’s reasoned mind,

Both Pilate and his wife felt

Jesus was not that kind.

 

She said he was innocent

And he said in him was no fault

But in those exacting circumstances

The crucifixion he could not halt.

 

 

He made one final offer:

A criminal named Barabbas

But the people called for the criminal

And crucified Jesus.

 

Crucify him, crucify him, they said,

His blood be on us and our children,

We have no king but Caesar,

To them Jesus was the problem.

 

Like the harlot, Jerusalem was,

She rode on the beast called Rome

Ignorant of the fact that very soon

Jerusalem would not be home.

 

Jesus was aware of her demise

Which he prophesied in Matthew 24,

John in the Revelation confirmed it!

It was even at the door.

 

 

Hence, “Father forgive them,

For they know not what they do.”

For while it was on a Roman cross,

The real culprits were the Jews.

 

Their house was left desolate,

Their blood flowed in the streets,

The temple and Jerusalem were laid waste

And for them the times were bleak.

 

The tribulation was Jacob’s trials

Rachel had wept for her children,

As Jesus had meticulously prophesied

It all happened in Jerusalem.

 

First the Jews were ignorant

Because they knew not redemption’s plan,

Secondly, they were ignorant

Because they knew not the God-man.

 

Thirdly they were ignorant

Because they knew not the future,

The future that was about to unfold

Presenting a horrid picture.

 

 

“Father forgive them

For they know what they do.”

Thus, Jesus ever intercedes in heaven

For his children: me and you.

 

Stewart Russell © April 6, 2023