Meaning of Mathew 24 v 28, Luke 17 v 37

[ja38son]

Mathew 24 v 28 says "For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. "

Luke 17 v 37 says "And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body [is], thither will the eagles be gathered together."

Are these verses to be taken literal or not? This verse can be seen as a rapture or judgement in the eyes of some believers. What say you? Thanks.

 

[St_Worm2]

Mathew 24 v 28 says "For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. "

Luke 17 v 37 says "And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body [is], thither will the eagles be gathered together."

Are these verses to be taken literal or not? This verse can be seen as a rapture or judgement in the eyes of some believers. What say you? Thanks.

In one way it seems to continue the thoughts of v27, the eagles or vultures circling above a dead corpse being something one would suddenly take notice of and see clearly from a great distance (as the glorious return of Christ, see .. v29-31). But I also think the image of a vulture/eagle hovering over a dead body, especially here, speaks to the coming judgment as well (see the passage below).

I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven,
“Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders
and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, 
both free men and slaves, and small and great.”
Revelation 19:17-18​

 

[DamianWarS]

Mathew 24 v 28 says "For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. "

Luke 17 v 37 says "And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body [is], thither will the eagles be gathered together."

Are these verses to be taken literal or not? This verse can be seen as a rapture or judgement in the eyes of some believers. What say you? Thanks.

Matthew 24:26-28
“So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

When I read this I draw a connection of a rotting carcass and vultures being lured to as with the crowed being lured to a false prophet. It seems verse 26 is talking about this deception of the messiah, then verse 27 contrasts this with the image of lightning coming from the east but visible in the west with how the actual coming of Christ will be like. With those two images it concludes with this verse that seems a closer fit to the former image of deception than it does with the latter image of lighting.

Luke 17:37
“Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

This passage reads a little differently than Matthew and it seems clear that the dead body and vulture image is a direct answer to the question "Where?" that the disciples ask. Although at first you might think the question is from the latter verses starting at verse 30 with perhaps the where Christ will come back? or maybe even where do the people go when they are taken? But going back to verse 22 there is a parallel with the passage in Matthew saying "People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’" referring to false prophets. The actual question of "Where" is not altogether clear of what their intent is so I think it is appropriate to use the text in Matthew to compare the two and to get an overall understanding and together it would seem more appropriate to me that it is referring to an image of a false prophet.

Matthew uses the Greek ptōma and Luke sōma for the carcass or dead body. In Matthew the word means something that has fallen which can be in death and in Luke the word is more exact into an actual meaning of a dead body. A dead body was unclean for Jews and the idea of flocking to a dead body would not be a glorious image.Numbers 19:11
Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days.

Both texts use the greek word aetos for the bird of prey which is an eagle. Eagles don't eat rotting flesh and perhaps in this passage a vulture was the bird in reference. The eagle would seem to be a very majestic bird and one we proudly relate to and maybe through this we see this image of Christ coming down and like eagle we fly up and greet him. But in reality during that time eagles and vultures were like birds lumped together as unclean just as dead bodies are.Leviticus 11:13
These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not eat because they are unclean: the eagle, the vulture...

This image Jesus tells us is an unclean animal being lured into to an unclean dead body. It just doesn't speak to me about the second coming of Christ and I would lean upon this idea that this passage is referring to the deception and lure the false prophets have

 

[PROPHECYKID]

Link to Revelation 19 where God invites the birds of the air to the great supper to eat the flesh of the lost. Thicken the plot a bit.

 

[ja38son]

I see, so this verse seems to be refering to a type of judgement? Or just killing?

 

[PROPHECYKID]

I see, so this verse seems to be refering to a type of judgement? Or just killing?

Judgement. You could say the handing out of rewards. Those chapters you quoted gives examples of Noah and lot. In both cases the world was in a mess and God did something about it. Then it says like it was then so shall it be now. When one is taken and one is left, it refers to one escaping the punishment and one having to face it. In Noah's day those who went into the ark escaped. In lot's day those who left the city escape. In our days those that are left after the actual rapture (not secret rapture) of I Thess 4: 16 will face punishment.

 

[Cross Shield]

Matthew 24:26-28
Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

The carcase is the healed antichrist in the land of the eagles. Where is this land of the eagles today? So shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

 

[Bobinator]

It is clear to me that Jesus was giving a direct answer to the disciple's question. The missing people have died. All the Christians who believe in a pre-tribulation rapture ignore this and assume it must mean something else because they use the prior verses to support their belief.

Isaiah 13:[9] Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.[10] For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.[11] And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.[12] I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.