A Question of Eagles

A Question of Eagles

Years ago (over 30) I heard the voice of the Lord say “look to me”. I know this was his voice for within a few moments of hearing this word from him a message in tongues with the interpretation came forth from another brother in the service; the first words to the message were “look to me”. I desired to hear the voice of God again.
Following that desire I decided to pray one evening and wait upon the voice of the Lord. After some considerable time in prayer the word of the Lord did not come as I expected, however I felt impressed to read the scriptures. I read from the book of Luke the 17th chapter and was amazed at something that I read. “I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed: the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” What came next is what caught my spirit. “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.” The question of the disciples is what made me look at this passage in a new light… they asked the Lord “Where?”
This passage is taught universally to be a description of what is commonly referred to as the “Rapture”. Much discussion has been, and still is, given as to when this event takes place, but as I read I was surprised to see the disciples ask “where”. I would like to consider the question of the disciples and use the best scriptural interpretation to come to a biblical conclusion because as I considered this in my prayer I understood the meaning. Not only did I understand the meaning , but I also understood the implication of the meaning.
While this may seem like the beginning of the story, it actually started some 8 or 9 years earlier when I was first starting to study prophecy on my own. I was reading Matthew chapter 24 and a curious statement of Jesus caught my attention. I wanted to find out what he meant when he said, “For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together”. I believe the hand of the Lord was in this “drawing attention to” these passages of scripture. We will look at what they mean later, but first let the relationship of the two be established.
The similarity of the two is obvious to see. In fact with the exception of using the word “thither” in Luke and “there” in Matthew, there is only one word that is different. Luke uses the word body while Matthew uses the word carcass. While the word body can certainly mean a living body it can also mean a dead body. In fact according the way the word is used the adjective “dead” doesn’t have to be used at all for the hearer to understand that it is dead, i.e. “A body was found in the field.” We understand that the body in question is of a dead person. The other word, “carcass”, does not give the option of whether the reference is of a dead or living creature… carcass means dead body.
In as much as the sentence structure is exactly the same in both of the verses and that both verses were spoken by the same person and that the one word that is different is still able to be used as the definition of a “dead creature”, it is almost unthinkable that they would not have the same meaning. So similar are the statements that it would seem that they might be a quotation from a previous source. And so they are.
In Chapter 39 of the book of Job God states, in reference to the eagle, “where the slain are, there is she.” It is obvious that the sentence structure is exactly the same as the statements of Jesus in both Matthew and Luke. Again the difference essentially boils down to one word. In the writing of Job the word “slain” is used where as in Matthew it is “carcass” and in Luke it is “body”. Can these three words be used interchangeably? Not in all cases, for there is a progression in the meaning of the three from most general (body) to most specific (slain). The specific cannot replace the general (in other words we could not simply interchange the word body for the word slain because body could mean a living body, but the word slain requires the subject to be a dead body, as does the word carcass.) The meaning of the phrase in all three cases then must be limited to the most specific of the three words, i.e. “slain”. Using scripture to interpret scripture we must conclude that the eagles will gather where the slain are. Jesus uses this statement in an obviously prophetic setting (the coming of the Lord). In what setting is the statement used in the book of Job?
While the book of Job is considered a book of poetry there are elements of prophecy in it (this is true with the book of Psalms as well.) At the end of the 39th chapter (Job) is read the poetic language bringing a clear prophetic picture to view. Within this writing we find: the fearless horse, the trumpets, the rider of the horse, the scoffer, the slain, and the eagles. All of these are elements in the great day of the Lord. It is a poetic image of the battle of Armageddon. Jesus lifts his answer to the question “Where, Lord?” from the pages of Job to declare where we are going when he comes. The answer is, ARMAGEDDON. Not heaven… Armageddon.
“And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. (Revelation 19:17-21)
Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue ARMAGGEDON. (Revelation 16: 15&16)