"That Which Was From the Beginning," poetry

By: Lukiv, Dan

First Edition: LukivPress (Royal Bay, BC), 2026.

Introduction

First John

Peter warned Christians (c. circa] 64 CE) about false teachers who would promote "destructive sects" in congregations: "There...came to be false prophets among the people, as there will...be false teachers among you. These will quietly bring in destructive sects, and they will even disown the owner who bought them, bringing speedy destruction upon themselves. Furthermore, many will follow their brazen conduct, and because of them the way of the truth will be spoken of abusively. Also, they will greedily exploit you with counterfeit words. But their judgment, decided long ago, is not moving slowly, and their destruction is not sleeping." (2 Peter 2:1-3)

Paul had already warned Ephesian overseers (reported by Luke c. 61 CE]) of "oppressive wolves who] will enter in among you and will not treat the flock with tenderness, and from among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves." (Acts 20:29, 30) And even earlier, Paul had prophesied about the great apostasy (c. 51 CE), referring to its "man of lawlessness" "The lawless one's presence is by the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and wonders and every unrighteous deception." (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 9-10) Later, circa 98 CE, John said, summarily: "Young children, it is the last hour, and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared, from which fact we know that it is the last hour." (1 John 2:18) This timely letter reinforced faithful Christians as a spiritual force against apostasy.

An excerpt

Balaam, juggler of unlucky
Omens and darkness that
Fills an orange sunrise, would you
Trip Jehovah, extinguish his
Flame, disperse his cloud?
If only you could reach across
Time, would you also proclaim,
"Impale him Impale him "-
For a price? Would you, like
That high priest viper, also
Pronounce a curse:

The death of one man may
Bless us all-
Would you, for a price?

How, Balaam, does a curse
Taste sweet like syrup?

The author

Dan Lukiv, published in 19 countries, is a poet, novelist, columnist, short story and article writer, and independent education researcher (hermeneutic phenomenology). As a creative writer, he apprenticed with Canada's Professor Robert Harlow (recipient of the George Woodcock Achievement award for an outstanding literary career), the USA's Paul Bagdon (Spur Award finalist for Best Original Paperback), and England's D. M. Thomas (recipient of the Cheltenham Prize for Literature, Orwell Prize biography], Los Angeles Fiction Prize, and Cholmondeley award for poetry). He attended The University of British Columbia (creative writing department), the acclaimed Humber School for Writers (poetry writing program), and Writer's Digest University (novel writing program).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GSJWGJ81
• ISBN13: 9798251981636
• Release Date: March 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 28 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 8.5" x 11.0"