Vultures?

[seeking the lost]

On 10/13/2019 at 8:01 AM, Melinda12 said:

Hi

Luke chapter 17. Last Verse 37. 

Advice as to meaning please? 

Who would the vultures be? 

This verse is like Matthew 24 :28 .  26 “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. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

The false christs are the dead things that draw the vultures.  Those who go out to see the Christ are gathering as vultures around the false christs.   People who chase false hope and lies are called vultures.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, seeking the lost said:

This verse is like Matthew 24 :28 .  26 “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. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

The false christs are the dead things that draw the vultures.  Those who go out to see the Christ are gathering as vultures around the false christs.   People who chase false hope and lies are called vultures.

Thanks. Now that makes sense to me. 

[missmuffet]

Is this reference to all the dead bodies that will be laying on the ground that the birds will feed on at the end of the 7 year tribulation?

[Omegaman 3.0]

I just today, responded to a post where a person was speaking of the idea that one taken and one left (Matt 24, Mark 13, Luke 17) was talking about the rapture of the church, which they believe is before the great tribulation. Posting here a quote to save time, but pay attention to the part about the vultures. You can find that by looking between the asterisks I added. I included my whole response, just to add some context, but feel free to ignore the rest, so as not to divert the topic of this thread:

Quote

I think that those taken, are not taken in the rapture (at least not in the passage quoted), they are taken to their destruction. Why would I assume that? Let's look at the context:

30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. 31 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. 32 Remember Lot's wife. 33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. 34 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. 35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 37 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.

Verse 30, tells you the when of this event,  "when the Son of man is revealed".   When is the Son of Man revealed? That would seem to be at His revelation at the 2nd coming, His visible coming, as the light flashes from the east to the west, "immediately after the tribulation of those days".

26 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. 27 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. 28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

I think that the first passage I quoted, (from Luke 17) is describing the same events as the second passage I quotes (from Matt 24). Note the similar phrasing, things like "Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together." versus "For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
" The revelation/appearance is also noted in both passages.

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With all respect to the KJV quoted above, I submit that "eagles" here would be better translated as vultures in modern English. Either way, it is apparent that these birds are gathered to feast on carrion - dead bodies, the carcasses. This is minutia, but I bring it up to tie it to another point that Luke offers:

36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 37 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 disciples ask "Where Lord?" Looking to the verse immediately proceeding that (v.36) we see that Jesus said that one is taken, one is left. So, it seems reasonable to me that the inference is that they are asking "where are they taken to Lord". His reply is that they are taken to where the eagles are gathered, to the place of the carcasses, dead bodies, they are taken to their destruction, their deaths.
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Also of note is this from Luke 17:

26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

Now there we are told that these events will be as in the days of Noah, and what does it say about those days? It describes that life appeared to be as normal, eating, drinking, marrying and the like, UNTIL the day that Noah entered the ark. Then what happened? Again as a mentioned before, typical of eschatological passages, there are two groups in the passage. One group is Noah and family, the other is the other people alive at the time just before the flood came.

Now, those who ended up in that ark, were Noah and his wife, and Noah's three sons and their wives. Since all of them were married, they cannot be described as being in the group that was marrying wives or being given in marriage. The test says "until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. " Noah and his family, is not of the group destroyed, to the destroyed them all refers to the majority of people, everyone except Noah and his family. Those outside the ark, where taken by surprise, while those inside the ark were prepared and expecting the flood to come.

My point is here, that Jesus said that it will be as it was in the days of Noah, some taken, some left. Those taken are identified with those outside the ark, while those left are those protected from God's judgement. Therefore, the Noah reference is not about a rapture (not that anyone said it was). This was brought to my attention by John Walvoord, arguably the most qualified scholar defending the pre-tribulation rapture position.

Of course, I am not denying the Rapture, I think the event is abundantly clear and documented in scripture. I think the Matt 24 and Luke 17 (and we could toss in Mark 13) passages speak to a gathering of people to be with Jesus, I believe that is the rapture. I just happen to believe that this rapture, is after the great tribulation, I think that is the most natural understanding of a plain reading of scripture. Obviously opinions vary, that is just mine.

I hope that adds something of help!

[Markie51]

In my Bible eagles are mentioned instead of vultures.  Regardless, Jesus used metaphorical and symbolical meanings.  Read few passages before should help you get the sense that Jesus was giving a few conditions/examples that would take place before his presents and of the Kingdom.  The “eagles,” which are known to be farsighted, represent Christians, with farsightedness, will be present at the “body”-which represents Christ.