- Mar 5, 2024
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When The Eagles Gather In Midair: A Teaching On The Rapture, Part 2
So what was Jesus saying when He said to the disciples, "For where the body is, there shall the eagles be gathered"? The basic meaning in context was simply this: "I will not be found on earth as the imposters will be. You will know it is Me because you will see Me coming on the clouds of heaven. Unlike mere men, you will see Me descending in the air, and My Glory will light up the sky like lightning."
23 Then if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Christ!" or "There!" do not believe it. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive if possible even the very elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 Therefore if they should say to you, "Behold, He is in the desert!" do not go out, or "Behold, He is in the inner rooms!" do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning shines from the East and flashes to the West, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 For wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered. 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:23-31)
A parallel passage to this is found in Luke 17, where the same basic point was made, only in this retelling of the teaching Jesus focused on two different types of people: Those who will escape the coming Day of God's wrath and those who will not.
And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. 24 For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they answered and said to Him, “Where, Lord?” So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.” (Luke 17:23-37)
Noah and his family escaped the flood whereas the rest did not. Lot and his family escaped the destruction of the five cities whereas the rest did not. And at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, those who are His will escape God's wrath but the rest will have to endure it. The just will escape it, however, because they will be taken out from under God's judgment, just as Noah and Lot were. However, the interesting thing is that in this account the disciples specifically asked Him where they will be taken, and Jesus answered them with the phrase, "Where the body is, there will the eagles will be gathered." The meaning in context then was, "They will be taken up into the air where I am, when they see Me coming on the clouds of heaven with great glory and power."
Amazingly, some teach that the rapture is not even a Biblical teaching, and was not taught until the mid 1800s. This is patently false, however. Writing in the mid 2nd century, Irenaeus had this to say about the coming rapture of the church:
For Enoch, when he pleased God, was translated in the same body in which he did please Him, thus pointing out by anticipation the translation of the just.” He then went on to state later in this same text, “Therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, 'There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be.‟ For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which when they overcome they will be crowned with incorruption.” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.5.1, 5.29.1).
What comparison did he make here? Irenaeus compared the end-time saints who will be alive on earth and caught up into the air to meet Jesus with Enoch, who like Elijah was taken up alive by God while still in his physical body. Thus the rapture is again being discussed in the context of the supernatural power of God translating a righteous man into Heaven while still in his body, something I also mentioned in Part 1 also relates to Revelation 17, where the Jews who are fleeing the Antichrist will be "given the wings of a great eagle," that they might "fly into the wilderness... to be nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent."
In Part 3, I will point out some glaring flaws in the argument that Jesus was talking about those taken actually being vultures here, and that they were wicked people who will be escorted TO their judgement rather than into the air to be delivered from it.
So what was Jesus saying when He said to the disciples, "For where the body is, there shall the eagles be gathered"? The basic meaning in context was simply this: "I will not be found on earth as the imposters will be. You will know it is Me because you will see Me coming on the clouds of heaven. Unlike mere men, you will see Me descending in the air, and My Glory will light up the sky like lightning."
23 Then if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Christ!" or "There!" do not believe it. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive if possible even the very elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 Therefore if they should say to you, "Behold, He is in the desert!" do not go out, or "Behold, He is in the inner rooms!" do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning shines from the East and flashes to the West, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 For wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered. 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:23-31)
A parallel passage to this is found in Luke 17, where the same basic point was made, only in this retelling of the teaching Jesus focused on two different types of people: Those who will escape the coming Day of God's wrath and those who will not.
And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. 24 For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they answered and said to Him, “Where, Lord?” So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.” (Luke 17:23-37)
Noah and his family escaped the flood whereas the rest did not. Lot and his family escaped the destruction of the five cities whereas the rest did not. And at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, those who are His will escape God's wrath but the rest will have to endure it. The just will escape it, however, because they will be taken out from under God's judgment, just as Noah and Lot were. However, the interesting thing is that in this account the disciples specifically asked Him where they will be taken, and Jesus answered them with the phrase, "Where the body is, there will the eagles will be gathered." The meaning in context then was, "They will be taken up into the air where I am, when they see Me coming on the clouds of heaven with great glory and power."
Amazingly, some teach that the rapture is not even a Biblical teaching, and was not taught until the mid 1800s. This is patently false, however. Writing in the mid 2nd century, Irenaeus had this to say about the coming rapture of the church:
For Enoch, when he pleased God, was translated in the same body in which he did please Him, thus pointing out by anticipation the translation of the just.” He then went on to state later in this same text, “Therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, 'There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be.‟ For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which when they overcome they will be crowned with incorruption.” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.5.1, 5.29.1).
What comparison did he make here? Irenaeus compared the end-time saints who will be alive on earth and caught up into the air to meet Jesus with Enoch, who like Elijah was taken up alive by God while still in his physical body. Thus the rapture is again being discussed in the context of the supernatural power of God translating a righteous man into Heaven while still in his body, something I also mentioned in Part 1 also relates to Revelation 17, where the Jews who are fleeing the Antichrist will be "given the wings of a great eagle," that they might "fly into the wilderness... to be nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent."
In Part 3, I will point out some glaring flaws in the argument that Jesus was talking about those taken actually being vultures here, and that they were wicked people who will be escorted TO their judgement rather than into the air to be delivered from it.
