- Mar 5, 2024
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When The Eagles Gather In Midair: A Teaching On The Rapture, Part 1
Where did Paul get his revelation regarding the rapture when he told the Thessalonians, "we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord"? (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Jesus had promised that when He returned His angels would gather His elect from the four winds, or in other words from the four corners of the earth. But He made no mention of them specifically meeting Him in the air. Or did He? In sharing about the second coming, Jesus always included a very unique phrase: "For where the body is, there shall the eagles be gathered."
What exactly did He mean by this? As we shall see, it was imagery for the rapture, when the saints of God gather together in the heavens to meet the Lord in the air, just as eagles gather in midair to compete for food. By choosing this analogy He was foreshadowing His death, in that His body and blood would be shed for them, and whoever did not eat of His body and blood would not have eternal life. But as will also be shown in Part 3, there was a Greek word for vulture commonly used in the Old Testament but Jesus did not use that word here. He used the word for eagle, and unlike vultures who will eat just about anything they can find, eagles prefer to eat fresh food. They are acrobatic fliers, and they're so good in fact that when they see another eagle catch a fish and begin to take off with it, they will gather around it to compete for the steal. Sometimes no one ends up with the fish because midair fights can be dangerous, and they become so focused on each other that the prize ends up falling back into the water.
At other times, someone still comes away with it (1:34 - end)
For those familiar with the symbolism, believers were compared to eagles several times in scripture, and especially in contexts where the subject matter had to do with the people of God being caught away physically and transported to another place by supernatural means. One such instance is in the Book of Revelations, where the Jews are prophesied to be given "the wings of a great eagle" during the tribulation so that they might fly from the Antichrist and his armies into the wilderness, where they will be supernaturally fed and protected for three and half years, including from floods that will otherwise destroy them.
13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:13-17)
So, too, is the supernatural appear in view in Isaiah 40, where the prophet declared that those who wait upon the Lord will "mount up with wings as eagles, and run and not be weary." The latter was a reference to the prophet Elijah, whom scripture says the hand of the LORD came upon and enabled him to supernaturally outrun the chariots of Ahab for 19 miles, and beat him to the entrance of Jezreel.
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. 31 But those who wait on the Lord, He shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)
Seeing the supernatural was in view here regarding Elijah outrunning horse-drawn chariots for nineteen miles, the reference to "mounting up with wings as eagles" may likely be a reference to him as well, for Elijah was taken up into heaven in the sight of Elisha while still in his physical body. Scripturally, this is a prefiguring of the rapture of the church, for 2nd Kings states, "As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in the whirlwind... and Elisha saw him no more." Elijah was taken up while still alive, and by the angels of God, who scripture says will supervise the gathering of the saints during the rapture as well (Matthew 24:31).
In Part 2, I will discuss passages where the words "for where the body is, there shall the eagles be gathered" appear in scripture, and show conclusively that the context consistently surrounded meeting the Lord Jesus Christ in the air. Part 3 will expose weaknesses in the counter argument that He was talking about vultures not eagles, and the last section will cover quotes from related visions which suggest the interpretation presented above is the correct one.
Blessings in Christ,
Hidden In Him
Where did Paul get his revelation regarding the rapture when he told the Thessalonians, "we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord"? (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Jesus had promised that when He returned His angels would gather His elect from the four winds, or in other words from the four corners of the earth. But He made no mention of them specifically meeting Him in the air. Or did He? In sharing about the second coming, Jesus always included a very unique phrase: "For where the body is, there shall the eagles be gathered."
What exactly did He mean by this? As we shall see, it was imagery for the rapture, when the saints of God gather together in the heavens to meet the Lord in the air, just as eagles gather in midair to compete for food. By choosing this analogy He was foreshadowing His death, in that His body and blood would be shed for them, and whoever did not eat of His body and blood would not have eternal life. But as will also be shown in Part 3, there was a Greek word for vulture commonly used in the Old Testament but Jesus did not use that word here. He used the word for eagle, and unlike vultures who will eat just about anything they can find, eagles prefer to eat fresh food. They are acrobatic fliers, and they're so good in fact that when they see another eagle catch a fish and begin to take off with it, they will gather around it to compete for the steal. Sometimes no one ends up with the fish because midair fights can be dangerous, and they become so focused on each other that the prize ends up falling back into the water.
At other times, someone still comes away with it (1:34 - end)
For those familiar with the symbolism, believers were compared to eagles several times in scripture, and especially in contexts where the subject matter had to do with the people of God being caught away physically and transported to another place by supernatural means. One such instance is in the Book of Revelations, where the Jews are prophesied to be given "the wings of a great eagle" during the tribulation so that they might fly from the Antichrist and his armies into the wilderness, where they will be supernaturally fed and protected for three and half years, including from floods that will otherwise destroy them.
13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:13-17)
So, too, is the supernatural appear in view in Isaiah 40, where the prophet declared that those who wait upon the Lord will "mount up with wings as eagles, and run and not be weary." The latter was a reference to the prophet Elijah, whom scripture says the hand of the LORD came upon and enabled him to supernaturally outrun the chariots of Ahab for 19 miles, and beat him to the entrance of Jezreel.
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. 31 But those who wait on the Lord, He shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)
Seeing the supernatural was in view here regarding Elijah outrunning horse-drawn chariots for nineteen miles, the reference to "mounting up with wings as eagles" may likely be a reference to him as well, for Elijah was taken up into heaven in the sight of Elisha while still in his physical body. Scripturally, this is a prefiguring of the rapture of the church, for 2nd Kings states, "As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in the whirlwind... and Elisha saw him no more." Elijah was taken up while still alive, and by the angels of God, who scripture says will supervise the gathering of the saints during the rapture as well (Matthew 24:31).
In Part 2, I will discuss passages where the words "for where the body is, there shall the eagles be gathered" appear in scripture, and show conclusively that the context consistently surrounded meeting the Lord Jesus Christ in the air. Part 3 will expose weaknesses in the counter argument that He was talking about vultures not eagles, and the last section will cover quotes from related visions which suggest the interpretation presented above is the correct one.
Blessings in Christ,
Hidden In Him
