Hi,
I would like your thoughts on Luke 17 and those taken - is this the rapture?
Luk 17:26-37 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." [118] (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."
The word “taken”, which is a variation of the same word in both accounts. In Matthew’s account, the word is paralambanetai [present indicative] and in Luke, it is paralēmphthēsetai [future indicative]. The meaning of the word is from para and lambano; to receive near, i.e. associate with oneself. This is a perfect definition of Christ receiving the body of the Saints to Himself!!! Some will argue though, that since Christ referred to Noah’s and Lot’s destruction of the wicked, that it is the wicked who “are taken” or killed. However, Christ doesn’t “receive near” the wicked, but the righteous. The same root word is used when Joseph “took” Mary to be his wife in Matthew 1:24.
Then the disciples ask the Lord where they are taken and Jesus replies with, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.” [verse 37] In Luke 17, the word “body” is the Greek word “sōma” which means “body, flesh: the body of the church” [Strong’s definition]. In Matthew 24, the Greek word is “ptōma”, which means carcass, dead body. The same word for “eagles” in both accounts is “aetoi” [aeto is singular eagle]. Some Bible versions render this word as vultures, but the definition is the Greek word for eagle and it is used in other places in the New Testament, for example, the woman who is rescued on the wings of a great eagle in Revelation 12 and one of the faces of the four living creatures surrounding the throne of God in Revelation chapter 4. My feeling is that Christ in Luke is referring to the gathering of the body of Christ upon wings of eagles. In Matthew 24:28, it is the eagles feasting on the dead bodies of the wicked, and it is NOT an answer to where the “taken” went as it was in Luke 17, but in response to chasing after false Christs. In Revelation 19, there are two invitations - one to the wedding supper of the Lamb, where you are invited to dinner and the other to the supper of our great God, where you are the dinner that the birds of prey eat.Thanks
Your study was interesting and has given me food for thought. While I've always seen 'as it ways in the days of Noah...' as the rapture and not the 2nd coming (as Jesus' main point in saying this is that it will be business as usual for the world leading up to His return and I've never seen how that can apply to Armageddon!) I've also always taken Luke 17:34-37 as the second coming. The main reason for this is that I thought it was speaking of a 'dead body' and 'vultures' as it says in the NIV "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather." So it was interesting to read some of your points and have a deeper look at the words myself. Especially around the fact that there is a different word for 'body' used - and it is not one specifically used for a corpse or dead body like in Matthew 24! I had previously seen the different words used for 'taken' and noted that some scholars like Dr Arnold Fructenbaum take Matt 24:40-41 as the rapture and being 'taken' to Him.
While most that I read take Luke 17:37 as 2nd coming, I did find the following comments on this verse by Pastor Chuck Smith (founder of Calvary Chapel) interesting and useful:
"Now this last portion is difficult of interpretation. And there are two basic interpretations. There are those who interpret this as the person who is taken is the one in, who is in trouble, because he is taken to the judgment. One is taken, where Lord? Wherever the body is there will the eagles be gathered together. And so they say they are taken to be put into the great battle of Armageddon where the birds are going to come and feast upon the body of the people. One interpretation. The other interpretation is that this actually is a reference to the rapture of the church. Taken up to escape the Great Tribulation period. So you can see that the two interpretations are exactly opposite. For in the second interpretation the one who is taken is blessed, because he won't have to be in the Great Tribulation. The problem with the first interpretation is eagles are not a bird of prey, that is, upon the human bodies. They do prey upon livestock, live animals. But they are not as the vultures who eat human flesh. They do not eat the carcasses of people. So to interpret the aetos, which is eagles, as vultures is wrong, but yet, those who make the first interpretation are always translating aetos, as vultures. But that is not a true translation of the Greek aetos, which is eagles. There is another word for the vultures that feed upon the flesh of men at the great battle of Armageddon. What is being referred to wherever the body is there will the eagles be gathered together. There are those who see that as the body of Jesus Christ, wherever the body of Christ is there will the eagles, His victorious saints, be gathered together. And so you have two interpretations. You have a choice between the two. They are diametrically opposed. Both can't be right, and when you get into a place like that I just find that it's probably best to file it away and say, "Well, I'll just wait for further information."
Certainly this second interpretation would put a different slant (and an ultimately prophetic one) to the following well known verse:
Isa 40:31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles...
I will keep pondering that and certainly appreciate your thoughts. It may be that there is a dual reference here like some prophetic passages.
So thanks again and keep up the study!
Blessings,
Iain.