Two Eschatological Views

 

 

The historicist and Idealist

The preterist and futurist,

Four eschatological positions

Comprise our last days list.

 

Feverish arguments

Concerning which one is right,

Each of the proponents

Claiming to have the light.

 

Like Armenians and Calvinists

Splitting Christendom in half

And people knowing no better

Sometimes having a laugh.

 

Mud-ites and non-Mud-ites

Arguing incessantly:

Concerning the healing of the blind

They disagree vehemently.

 

Four eschatological positions

Agreeing to disagree

And not necessarily agreeably

Or citing commonalities.

 

They have more in common

Than all that divide

But their focus on differences

Causes them to collide.

 

Two are particularly prominent

And two relatively mute,

I will focus attention on the two

At the centre of the dispute.

 

 

 

Preterist and Futurist:

These are the dominant two

The former adopts a past position

The latter: a future view.

 

Preterist indicates the past

Futurist is self-defining,

In terms of last days prophecies

Which, if either, is binding?

 

“Opinions” is not the truth

Though at times they converge

So, when arriving at a conclusion,

Hold to the Bible, I urge.

 

Neither position is salvific

Nor is a barrier to salvation

But both cannot be equally right

Is my humble submission.

 

Concerning last day prophecies

Most are already fulfilled,

The Futurist believe otherwise

They remain to be fulfilled still.

 

Concerning the Revelation

This book is about our future,

Preterist look at the 1^st century

And advance a different picture.

 

 

Preterist focus on stated time clues

And the audience relevance

While Futurist make light of these

And argue for a far distance.

 

Futurist prophetic stance

Is based on a modern-day Israel

Who from Old Testament times

Was God’s chosen people.

 

God broke off with the Jews

That Gentiles could be ushered in

And some spectacular event will occur

To bring most of the Jews to Him.

 

First: the rapture of the Church

Then a time of great trouble

For all those that are left-behind:

In particular the nation of Israel.

 

In this seven-year tribulation

The Jewish nation will turn to God

And in a single day

All Israel will answer God’s call.

  

Next will be the millennium

During which Christ will reign:

This will be an exact thousand years

Is what the Futurist claim.

 

The final judgment will follow

And the consummation of all things

And Jesus will hand over to God:

The Father and eternal King.

 

 

Conversely Preterist believe

In an inexact thousand years:

Of a period beginning at Pentecost

Till the second advent appears.

 

The time of the final judgment

When Satan is cast in the lake of fire

With all that rejected Jesus Christ

And were in Satan’s hire.

 

Futurist interpret prophecy

Via current events

The matter of signs and wonders

Is their intent.

 

Thus, they’ve erred many times

As to when the world will end,

Regarding world event after event

They often see a trend.

 

They use modern day tabloids

To make sense of the Word

As it especially relates to Israel

As we have already heard.

 

Conversely, for the Preterist

Revelation is an almost done deal

A record of 1^st century events

As they back then unreeled.

 

John’s generation back then

Not a 21^st century generation

Thus, the proof of Biblical prophecy

And the book of Revelation.

 

Some Preterist believe

No prophecy is left to be fulfilled

But their eschatological explanation 

Leaves me baffled still.

 

 

For Futurist Israel is the key

And it always has been,

God made a promise to Abraham

That all Israel will be redeemed.

 

The question, however arises:

Which Israel does the Bible mean?

“Since not all Israel is Israel”

This from Romans we glean.

 

Preterist believe Jesus is the key

As shown in Matthew 24

And all he said to his audience then

In Revelation he develops more.

 

It was urgent for them:

They would see Revelation unfold,

They were not left in the dark

By John they were told.

 

Let Scripture interpret Scripture

As you finally decide

But understand that on neither view

Does our salvation ride.

 

Salvation solely rests

On our acceptance of Christ

And the only offering that suffices

Is Christ’s expiatory sacrifice.

 

That’s soteriology not eschatology

Accept Christ today!

What think ye of Christ?

He is the only.

 

Stewart Russell © June 5, 2021

 

For What Do We Vote?

 

 

 

For what do we vote

And do we get it

And if we do,

To what extent do we profit?

 

Do we vote party

Or do we vote individual

And how does either

Benefit the people?

 

What really do we get

When we cast our vote?

From my recent recollection,

Very little of note.

 

Let me define recent

And say for argument’s sake,

The last two decades,

Relatively here of late.

 

This is across four PMs

And you know who they are,

Of course, the present PM

Is an international star.

 

Elections are usually lost

Not generally won

And fairy tales saturate the air

From the boom of the gun.

 

Those in are pulled down

Regarding perceived failures

As the “wannabees” paint

A most enticing picture.

 

So, we vote for a promise

They won’t do like the other

But we end up invariably

With the same bother.

 

Too many Ministers!

But they are increased, not cut,

And the Government that’s in

Digs a deeper rut.

 

Them that were vilified

In order to capture the vote

Get even more big contracts

To keep the state afloat.

 

A vote for freedom!

What an alluring slogan!

And after the initial illusion…

Still at rock-bottom.

 

All that changed

Remains almost the same,

A little more exacerbated

But little we’ve gained.

 

 

For what do we vote

And do we ever get it

And if we do,

To what extent do we profit.

 

Reform/transformation

Bombards our ears every day

But the change anticipated

Is forever delayed.

 

Monies unaccounted for

At least, that’s how it appears

And if not to you

Surely, to me this is clear.

 

$0.40 dollars per litre

At every single petrol pump

Must be a significant amount

At least, by my account.

 

This tax on petrol

Raised over the last five years!

Surely, we should see it reflected

Here, there or somewhere.

 

It was earmarked for roads

But the roads still deteriorate

As more money is borrowed

To improve their state.

 

And the money borrowed

At home and abroad,

Are we borrowing from Peter

To pay back Paul?

 

And as the grass grows

The horse starves for food

With presentation and oration

Being comfort to fools.

 

Two parties as I see it

In opposition to the people,

The people being the Government

Seen as unnatural.

 

A democratic divide

Which favours our rich leaders

At the expense, I dare say,

Of the most vulnerable.

 

Trickle down policies

That scarcely trickle down

And the occasional handout

When things are brown.

 

A powerless people

But possessing pseudo power

Waiting every five years or so

For one glorious hour.

 

 

For what do we vote

And will we ever attain it?

I am not sure we ever will

But I know who profits.

 

They have it good

At the taxpayers’ expense

Having even robbed the poor

Of their commonsense.

 

The plantocracy reigns

And we are still enslaved

As we suck up to our oppressors

Deluded and dazed.

 

With a brand of politics

Drunkenly partisan,

We vote for who and not what

To our own destruction.

 

Stewart Russell © February 28, 2024

 

Is It All Right?

 

 

Is it all right

For God’s so-called chosen

To threaten another of His creation

With genocidal extinction?

Is it all right?

 

Is it all right

For God’s so-called chosen

To commit heinous war crimes

Causing another’s starvation?

Is it all right?

 

Is it all right

For God’s so-called chosen

To kill women and children in war?

Don’t you see a problem?

Is it all right?

 

Is it all right

To deprive the enemy of food

And obstruct those Samaritans

That are doing good?

Is it all right?

 

Does being chosen

Give the chosen the right

To do whatever the chosen like

Albeit in a battle or fight?

Is it all right?

 

 

Is it all right

For supporters of God’s chosen

To turn a blind-eye to atrocities

Levelled against other humans?

Is it all right?

 

Is it all right

For Christians to be complicit

And support God's so-called chosen

In what is clearly illegitimate?

 

All is well in love and war

States a popular maxim

So is it all right to pulverize another

And argue it cannot be sin.

Is it all right? 

 

Whose are the Japanese

And whose are the Chinese?

For if only Israel are God’s chosen

Then whose are these?

 

Is it all right

To live in the old covenant

Disregarding Jesus’ shed blood

In his act of atonement?

Is it all right?

 

Who gives God’s chosen

The unlimited authority

To behave in a despicable manner

Lacking in civility?

 

What has become of

Do good to everyone

And if your enemy hungers

Feed him?

 

 

Is it all right

For God’s so-called chosen

To completely disregard God’s Son

And still be forgiven?

Is it all right?

 

Me thinks absolutely not

According to God’s Holy Word!

And any that supports such evil

Is contemptuously absurd.

 

Stewart Russell © March 4, 2024

 

Why Can’t Everyone Be Like Us?

 

 

Sometimes I sit and wonder

Why people can’t be like you and me,

Why they must be so different

I am sometimes at pains to see.

 

Like for example a friend of ours

We just don’t see eye to eye,

We scarcely look at one another

And prefer to pass each other by.

 

But take you on the other hand

I like how you and I get along,

It seems we seldom disagree

And so neither of us is wrong.

 

If only the world were like us

 Imagine the harmony there would be,

Everyone would see eye to eye

Just like you and me.

 

 

I looked at a puzzle the other day

And no two pieces were alike,

Yet they fit so smugly together

And everything appeared quite right.

 

The whole picture caught my eye

Togetherness was the theme,

Though each piece was different

They created a lovely scene.

 

That picture causes me to think

About how I started this poem:

That because people are so different

This would be the problem.

 

Well that puzzle proves me wrong

It is the other way around

For if variety is the spice of life

Then diversity must be found.

 

 

If everybody were like you and me

Then we would all be stuck in a rut,

Pigs appear to be quite the same

No wonder they are always in muck.

 

So, if at times we rub each other

It might be we’re coming together

Just like the pieces of that puzzle

That snugly fit to one another.

 

Stewart Russell (c) March 2019

 

The Book of Revelation

 

 

 If Revelation is a revelation

Why is it so difficult to understand?

And why is it so puzzling?

I am sure that was not the plan.

 

Surely it’s full of symbolism

And very strange looking creatures,

Their mixture of human and animal

Makes for a weird picture.

 

It speaks of all kinds of events

The timing of which we are uncertain,

Still many associate these events

With the final curtain.

 

But do all of these events

Relate to the end of time?

I am inclined to think not so

And it’s more that what I opined.

 

 

If we could get the timing right

Perhaps, we would have a clue

Concerning when the events unfolded

To give us a better view.

 

In addition to the fore-mentioned

The context would be critical,

And thirdly, but not finally,

Distinguishing the symbolic from the literal.

 

Some things we have seen as literal

Surely cannot be so,

So the meaning of the symbology

Would be something we ought to know.

  

The Bible must be taken as a whole

And is best at explaining itself,

Take the Word away from the Word

And there is absolutely nothing left.

 

So what Jesus said is critical

As it relates to the book of Revelation,

If we can uncover that important link

There would be less misapprehension.

 

We focus on the judgments

Without quite understanding them

And miss the benefits we already have

And therein lies one problem.

 

Revelation is about a journey

It is not simply about the last day,

In fact it is more about Jesus Christ

And the new covenantal way.

 

 

It is the person and work of Jesus

And the Church, his chased bride,

The spiritual and physical resurrections

Of those for whom he died.

 

When viewed in New Testament light

The imagery becomes quite clear,

And much of the current speculation

Simply disappears.

 

The prophetic utterances of the day

Conflict with those in the Word,

And the time setting for Jesus’ return

Is becoming more and more absurd.

 

Let us take our eyes off Israel

And focus on the Gospel of salvation,

Bearing in mind the great commission

Of reaching every nation.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019

 

Position Is Not All

 

 

 

They both held positions

Of great authority

But having betrayed that trust

Now share the same destiny.

 

No name shall I name

And I dare add, no blame

For it is not really in my power

To make such a claim.

 

Suffice it to be said, though,

Notoriety is not fame

And while both are well known

Infamy is their gain.

 

Assigned by the greatest

Yet, each in his own case

Was by his own selfish desire

Brought to the lowest place.

 

 

Position is not all

It’s responsibility that counts,

If you run afoul like these two

Then nothing amounts.

 

The first in the heavenlies

The second, right here on earth

But neither would be satisfied

Given his greedy thirst.

 

One desperately sought

To dethrone the Almighty God

But failed in that mission

And was exposed as a fraud.

 

The other was an accountant

Overcome with avarice

Whereupon to satisfy his greed

He took an unthinkable risk.

 

Both committed suicide

Though in different ways:

One challenged the “Most High”

The other ended his days.

 

 

Both await final sentence

One of them long in the grave,

The other pedals evil

As an unsuspecting knave.

 

One was to the Father

What the other was to the Son,

The latter’s time has ended

The other is still on the run.

 

The former moved the latter

To do the evil he did

And daily in the worldly market

For our souls he still bids.

 

His objective is to destroy

God’s elect if he can

But he will certainly fail again

According to God’s plan.

 

 

Position is not all

As these scoundrels found out

And concerning accountability

None should be in doubt.

 

Stewart Russell © September 7, 2021

 

Come and Gone

 

 

February came

And February is gone

And like this month of love

We too must move on.

 

Expressions of love

In February for so,

Now it is entirely up to March

To catch the overflow.

 

February is gone

But we should not quit

Even though much of the love

Was cosmetic.

 

This year just begun

Is now two months clear,

For those who are lagging

You must up a gear.

 

I’ll remember February

Very specially

On account of a special gift

To Lyn and me.

 

Our first grandchild,

Semaj is his name,

We praise our Almighty Father

From whom he came.

 

Like my own father

And also like me,

The charming little Semaj

Was born in February.

 

February 27^th

Was the precise day

That this wonderful package

Was sent our way.

 

Mike is over the moon

And Leah too,

More praise to the Father-

She has come through.

 

What a package of love

In this month of love

Given to Michael and Leah

From God above.

 

February is gone

But Samaj is still here

And the fact that love is too

To me is clear.

 

 

February came

And February is gone

But in March, April, May, June…

Love marches on.

 

Stewart Russell © March 1, 2024