The Date

 

 

We talked about Jesus’ return

Though we didn’t know when

But we did know somethings would happen

Just before then.

 

John was clear in his letters

Concerning the things that would happen,

And Jesus as he spoke to his disciples

They felt quite threatened.

 

They were going to lose their temple

And their beloved Jerusalem,

These were two of the major things

That would happen to them.

 

As we gazed at the temple

We just could not believe

That this would happen to our place of worship,

We were quite grieved.

 

As a matter of fact, we quizzed the Master

Concerning the date

And we got the distinct impression

It would be sooner rather than late.

 

 

What really got through to us

Was when he gave us the time frame

That some of us would be alive…

And I thought, “Who could be so insane?”

 

This temple was our life

And it was our connection with God

And, the fact that the Master was leaving

Had already left us in awe.

 

Not long after that unsettling discourse

The Master was crucified

But he rose from triumphantly from the dead

As we ourselves testified.

 

Thereafter we watched him as he ascended

And we thought what he had said,

About the horrid events that were coming

When not all of us would be dead.

 

So that when we heard from John

About his experience on Patmos isle,

We were even more convinced that all these things

Would happen in a relatively short while.

 

We were under intense persecution

From many of our fellow Jews

And they became more and more incensed

As we preached the Good News.

 

The Master warned that they would hate us

Since they had hated him

And just as he had said, their view of him

Became more and more dim.

 

Revelation 17:3

 

The apostle John pointed to seven heads-

The first would have to be Julius Caesar,

Five of had fallen and one was,

Which led to Nero, the present Emperor.

 

Galba Caesar would follow Nero

But would remain only for a short while

And one only need to check Jewish history

In which this matter is filed.

The temple was destroyed in AD 70

And Jerusalem was laid waste,

This happened after Nero Caesar had died

And this can be easily traced.

 

Emperor Nero died in AD 68,

The sixth Caesar on the apostle John’s list

So, the temple would have to be standing;

That we ought not to have missed.

 

It would have to be the second temple

That John had written about,

The one that Herod had refurbished-

Of this there should be little doubt.

 

Revelation 11:1-2

 

He was told to measure the temple

Hence, there must have been one,

Tell me, what would have been the sense

To measure a temple that was gone?

 

The temple must have been standing

When John wrote the book,

Hence, this would have to be before AD 70

Just take another look.

 

Luke 21:24 and Revelation 11:2

 

Then they are the parallel passages

Found in Revelation 11 and Luke 21

In which both Jesus and the Apostle John

Pointed to when the temple would be gone.

 

Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles

Until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

The echoing of this in Revelation 11:2

Suggests the temple was standing still.

 

The temple would cease to stand in AD 70

The culmination of a forty-two months attack,

Read Revelation chapter 11 and verse 2

To ascertain this fact.

 

John must have been referring to Jesus

As it pertains to this event,

The accuracy of apostle John’s reference

Could not be mere coincidence.

 

History shows from 67 AD to August AD 70

War was raged on the Holy City,

Therein would be our three and half years

As stated in John’s prophecy.

 

There in is fulfilment of the Gentile’s time

As spoken by both Jesus and John,

Now the spreading of the Gospel could take place

Since the Jewish temple is gone.

  

Matthew 24:13

 

And this gospel of the kingdom

shall be preached in all the world

for a witness unto all nations;

and then shall the end come.

 

The date must have been before AD 70

When the book of Revelation was written,

It must have been when we consider

The period when all these things happened.

 

All these things must happen, said Jesus,

Before the end is come,

The coming judgment on the Jews

And the setting up of the kingdom.

 

Matthew 24:32-33

 

So likewise ye,

when ye shall see all these things,

know that it is near, 

even at the doors.

 

Verily I say unto you,

This generation shall not pass,

till all these things be fulfilled.

 

Revelation 3:9

 

Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan,

which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie;

behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet,

and to know that I have loved thee.

 

Romans 2:28-29

 

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly;

neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly;

and circumcision is that of the heart,

in the Spirit, and not in the letter;

whose praise is not of men, but of God.

  

John 8:39

 

They answered and said unto him,

Abraham is our father.

Jesus saith unto them, 

If ye were Abraham's children,

ye would do the works of Abraham.

 

Galatians 3:29

 

And if ye be Christ's,

then are ye Abraham's seed,

and heirs according to the promise.

 

Two dates are in contention

For the writing of the book of Revelation,

The more popular date has been AD 95

But AD 65 is gaining in consideration.

 

This earlier date is based on information

As shown in this conversation;

Most of which comes from the book itself-

That book being the book of Revelation.

 

John wrote to seven churches

That were experiencing great persecution

And he addressed the said churches

As “brother and companion in tribulation”. 

 

Matthew 16:28

 

Verily I say unto you,

There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death,

till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

 

That he was sharing in their tribulation

There is therefore no doubt

And the fact that he was still alive

Should bear this all out.

 

John is said to have died in AD 100

At the ripe old age of 93 or 94,

Hence, he was one of them still standing

As Jesus had spoken of before.

 

Stewart Russell © March 10, 2021

In but Not Of

 

 

“My kingdom is not of this world”

That’s what Jesus said,

But what did he really mean?

Was it something else instead?

 

He said his servants would fight

If this world were his kingdom,

He could not have meant the cosmos

But the Roman world system.

 

Remember that Pilate had asked

If he was a king

And he made it very clear

Not of this world, no such thing.

 

Pilate finally declared him

To be king of the Jews

But the chief priests rejected this

Implying this was Jesus’ view.

 

Write that’s what he said,

They wanted written on the cross

But Pilate refused their request-

Showing he was still the boss.

 

John 18:36

 

“My kingdom is not of this world”

Keep that in your mind

As we quote Jesus again…

What did he say this time?

 

 

John 17:16

 

“They are not of the world

Even as I am not of the world,”

Jesus is showing his consistency

As both statements concur.

 

Neither he nor his subjects

Are of this world,

If they were when he was not

Then that would be absurd.

 

A king and his domain

Go hand in hand,

It was of a heavenly realm he spoke

In accordance with the divine plan.

 

Not only Pilate had missed this

But also did the Jews,

“We have no king but Caesar,”

Was their expressed view.

 

As long as he is in the world

Jesus is the world’s light

But his kingdom is not of the world

Else his servants would fight.

 

The heavenly parishioner

Is called to be both salt and light

His thinking is not the worldly type

He has heavenly insight.

 

His view is a heavenly city

Not made by human hands,

Just like the holy temple he is,

Not in the Jewish land.

 

 

At present, in the world

But not of the same,

Respecting the civil authorities

But not under their reign.

 

He is a chosen ambassador

With a mission on the earth

But he belongs to another country

Ever since his rebirth.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2020

 

The God that Saves

 

 

Who is this God that saves

None other than YAWEH

Whom the Jews acknowledged

And to whom they prayed.

 

But they had a difficulty

When Jesus forgave sins

And decided among themselves

To disregard him.

 

They knew him well:

His father and his mother

And his words and his works

Were to them a bother.

 

He could not have been

The Messiah they expected

And despite his miraculous works

Him they rejected.

 

They believed not

He was come in the flesh

So consequently, there was no chance

Of entering his rest.

 

They worshipped YAWEH

But ignored His Son

And thus, from the God that Saves

Away they had run. 

 

 

The God that Saves

Is the meaning of a name

Which speaks of two when interpreted

That are one and the same.

 

Yeshua is that name

And it means YAWEH Saves

So that the interpretation really is

Jesus is the God that saves.

 

The stone rejected

Is the chief cornerstone

And to all that believe on his name

Become YAWEH’s own.

 

The Father and I are one

Declared Jesus, God’s Son

But when the Pharisees heard it

They were stunned.

 

Is this not Jesus?

Is not he Joseph’s son?

And is not his mother Mary?

Yes, to all bar none!

 

But there is more!

He is Jesus the God that saves

And unlike the Pharisees and others

There’s no position he craves.

 

 

Co-essential with God

And co-existent too,

He is from eternity to eternity

Unlike me and you.

 

Salvation is in no other

As stated in God’s Word

And God the Father and Holy Spirit

With this concur.

 

Who is this God that saves?

Yeshua is his name!

King of kings and Lord of lords

And who eternally reigns.

 

Philippians 2:10-11

 

That at the name of Jesus

Every knee should bow,

Of things in heaven, and things in the earth,

And things under the earth;

 

 

And that every tongue

Should confess

That Jesus Christ is Lord

To the glory of God, the Father.

 

Stewart Russell © June 12, 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