20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 Remember Lot's wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” Luke 17: 20-37
Luke 17: 22-37
I did verses 20-21 in the last post, so I am going to start with 22 here.
5Now, however, I am going to Him who sent Me; yet none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6Instead, your hearts are filled with sorrow because I have told you these things. 7But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.… John 16: 5-7
V. 22 The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man - The disciples have Christ with them now, and He not only makes it known that the Son of Man must be turned over to the religious rulers, be crucified, but that He will also rise again. This is all in accordance with their Scriptures, to fulfill what was written about Him by the prophets, testifying to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They like none of these ideas and would prefer to believe in a kingdom that is only moments away. Now add to His kangaroo trial, his crucifixion, all of which would make any follower stagger, He is also going to leave them shortly after. He is going to ascend back into heaven, and the world that hated His message of repentance is going to switch it's focus to His followers. If I can't kill God, then let me destroy something made in His image, especially those that say what He said, and do what He does. They are going to miss His physical presence, being able to walk with Him, seeing Him face to face. The longing for His presence is only going to grow, the realization of what and Who they had spent the last 3 years with is going to be a cause for many a pause. Imagine as they grow in the faith, looking back at the many dumb things they said to God the Son, the arguments over who would be the greatest in kingdom, humility will replace all that. The realization of their unworthiness will set in, and it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that it comes and that we deny ourselves and that we rise up as new creatures in Christ. They are all going to want to know when He is returning, and mark this, because anyone who gives you a date is a false teacher. The Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and all other groups who entertain extrabiblical revelations are apostate. It is in their literature, it is in their pulpits, it is garbage, and so don't be deceived, come out from them. Look forward to Jesus coming because He promised it, but don't mark your calendar. Live every day in the light of His return, but don't argue to the contrary of the Master's own words.
32No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Be on your guard and stay alert! For you do not know when the appointed time will come. 34It is like a man going on a journey who left his house, put each servant in charge of his own task, and instructed the doorkeeper to keep watch.… Mark 13: 32-34
Comment: Take heed and be on the alert are both commands in the present imperative, calling for this to be our lifestyle, our daily practice. And so this calls for saints to be looking continually. Jesus knows that if we are continually LOOKING for His Return, we are much more likely (enabled by His Spirit) to be LIVING for His glory (cf 1 Jn 3:3-note, 2 Pe 3:11-note). While we not know when, we do know that no prophecy needs to be fulfilled before the Rapture of the Church, the next event on God's prophetic timetable. And so the Rapture is Imminent, and could happen at any time. It could happen at any time so that every generation of Christians can live in the light of that anticipation. And when the Church is raptured, this event will almost certainly initiate the events of the Tribulation or Daniel's Seventieth Week. - Precept Austin
V. 23 - Look there or Look here, do not go out or follow them - The gospels, Paul's letters, the letter of Jude, Peter, and John's works all warn of false prophets, teachers, and faux Christs, antichrists. A false teacher can be subtle too, use the words, Jesus, Bible, yet they don't want you to follow the true Jesus; they want you to follow them. I learned the hard way in life that some of the warmest and most "loving" people don't love me enough to tell me the truth. They were sweet, they were kind, did stuff for me, but some of them had heard the truth, and when I asked them they would play it down rather than risk our friendship. I long for a different type of relationship now, people who will be honest with me, hold me accountable to God's word, put a higher premium on what God meant when He said something then on what they or I would like for it to mean. When they say they found Jesus somewhere other than the Scriptures, don't follow them, but love them enough to tell them the truth.
Matthew 24:23-26 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. 24 “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25 “Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 “So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them.
V. 24 For as the lightning flashes - You won't need a weatherman to tell you there is a storm. When Christ returns it will be plainly visible to all.
Like the lightning - As lightning illumines the entire sky, the whole world will see the coming kingdom. As lightning strikes suddenly so too will be the return of the King! When the King returns, His arrival will not be subtle but obvious, not slow but quick, not local but global (how He does that I am not sure) for Jesus Himself taught "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory." (Mt 24:30-note) John adds "BEHOLD (idou), HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen." (Rev 1:7-note) There will be no need to turn on your television to check CNN or Fox News and no need to look at your Iphone or send a text alert to a friend, for all you will need to do in this day of His glorious return is lift up your eyes to the heavens from whence He comes! - Precept Austin
V. 25 - But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation - The prophet Isaiah spoke in the clearest and plainest language, about 700 years before Christ came, and the Jews had these manuscripts, but Jesus has to reiterate it over and over again. This is the ignorance of our kind, we want a Messiah that ends world hunger, that makes our lives easier, that stops wars, but we are so self righteous as to think we don't need a savior to die for our sins. Anyone who truly comes to believe is convicted of this very thing. It is in Christ alone that we have access to Holy communion, otherwise we are forever separated from His mercy, and the subjects of His just nature.
…3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted. 5But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.… Isaiah 53: 3-5
V. 27 They were eating and drinking - Noah was a prophet that preached for 120 years while building the ark God told him to build for the saving of his family. God hates sin, God is eternal, so He hates sin that much and for that long. How is it that we come to down play sin so much, to brush off God's mercy as if it were a trifle thing. The Ark is a real story, but it is a picture of Christ as well, only in Him do we survive the judgment set against all ungodliness. Noah preached and the people laughed, pointing out that there wasn't enough water to float this contraption that God had given him the directions to build. They ate, drank, married, basically went about their every day lives with no regard for eternity, no fear of the coming judgment. In the day you eat of the fruit you will surely die, and they were dead, the walking dead, hearing but not understanding, unable to rightly discern, spiritually still born. Nothing has changed.
…6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. 7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.… Hebrews 11: 6-8
…19in whom He also went and preached to the spirits in prison 20who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water. 21And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,… 1 Peter 3: 19-21
…4For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; 5if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight; 6if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;…
7and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.… 2 Peter 2: 4-9
V. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot - Lot was Abraham's nephew that lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. He was frustrated with the actions of the people there, but apparently not enough to move out. He left with his wife and daughters, but her heart was still with that city, with it's comforts, and they were told not to look back but she did, and was turned into a pillar of salt. God has called many things sin that cultures and governments think they have the right and jurisdiction to overturn. God revealed once again that He is just, and that He does not change. He has the right over His creation, to expect from it what He decrees, and men will either glorify God in their obedience or He will be glorified in His justice against their disobedience.
…8And the Daughter of Zion is abandoned like a shelter in a vineyard, like a shack in a cucumber field, like a city besieged. 9Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah. Isaiah 1: 8-9
V. 30 So will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed - The Jews asked for a sign in the heavens, well guess what, when He returns it will be like lightning that can be seen from East to West, and like the judgment that came from the heavens against Sodom and Gomorrah. He came first as the Lamb to be slaughtered, but those who refuse the Lamb will one day meet the Lion of Judah. He will return in judgment.
…21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes. 22Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, 23so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.… John 5: 21-23
…6who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen. 7Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him— even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen. 8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.… Revelation 1: 6-8
Wiersbe - Luke 17:30–36 describes what will occur when Jesus Christ returns in judgment to defeat His enemies and establish His kingdom on earth (Rev. 19:11–20:6). Believers in every age of the church can take warning from these verses, but they apply in a special way to Israel at the end of the age (see Matt. 24:29–44). When Jesus comes for His church and takes it to heaven, it will happen “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52). Nobody taking part in the rapture of the church need worry about being on a housetop or in a field and wanting to get something out of the house! However, when the Lord returns to the earth, His coming will first be preceded by a “sign” in heaven (Matt. 24:30–31), and some people might try to hurry home to rescue something. “Remember Lot’s wife!” (Borrow Be courageous Luke 14-24) - Precept Austin
V. 34 One will be taken and the other left - There are sheep and there are goats, there are wheat and there are tares, and they often graze or grow in the same field. Sometimes they share the same bed, as close as husband and wife, but one will be taken and the other left. Regardless, if they are taken to judgment or left for judgment, Christ is coming to separate the two, and this has already started even now. If you choose Christ then you are at enmity with the world.
MacArthur comments of two in one bed, presumably picturing a husband and wife - "It is the most divisive thing because you live in two completely different worlds with two completely different loves and two completely different motivations. That’s true now. Some of you experience that every day of your life because you’re alienated from your own children, you’re alienated from your own spouse, you’re alienated from your own parents, you’re alienated from the friends and the people you associate with and you’re terminally alienated, and eternally alienated because you are in Christ and they are not. You possess eternal life and they do not. And the price you’ve had to pay for your commitment to Christ is the loss of that intimacy to a very significant and serious degree."
One will be taken and the other will be left - In short the return of Jesus will be divisive. We have already seen in the comparison to the days of Noah and Lot that the day of divine judgment brings division and eternal separation. So too, the day of divine judgment associated with the return of Jesus will bring a division and the logical conclusion is that the division will be between believers and non-believers. The question of course is who is taken and who is left. There is considerable disagreement among commentators as to who constitutes each group, and I will give my measured opinion. However, the most important point is not so much the identity of the taken and the left but the fact that Jesus' return will bring about a moment of division in relationships which will last for eternity. The point is that there will be an unbridgeable separation, between spouses, parents and children, friends, casual acquaintances, etc. All mankind will be radically impacted by the fact that some are taken and some are left. Regardless of their specific identities, it is crystal clear that their will be a point of separation, which for some will yield eternal good and for others will yield eternal bad. That's the main point of Jesus' words. And frankly, when one meditates on that truth as a believer, our hearts should be deeply stirred to desire to be passionate and persistent (in the Spirit) to share the Gospel clearly with EVERYONE God gives us even a small opportunity "to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence." (1 Peter 3:15). Life is short. Eternity is long. This moment of division is permanently fixed. - Precept Austin
16At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD and honored His name. 17“They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. 18So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”… Malachi 3: 16-18
V. 37 Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather - Sodom could be seen at a distance from it's smoldering, and wherever these come out to fight against Christ there will be corpses from East to West, for they will all come to drink of His wrath. Together they will have reached the brim. Almost anyone even today recognizes the sign of circling vultures.
17Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18so that you may eat the flesh of kings and commanders and mighty men, of horses and riders, of everyone slave and free, small and great.” 19Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies assembled to wage war against the One seated on the horse, and against His army.… Revelation 19: 17-19
And He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered - One knows where there is dead flesh by observing vultures circling overhead. They are visible from a distance. , so the return of the Son of Man will be clear to the whole world.
MacArthur explains the vultures - Vultures are scavengers, and will feed on the corpses of those killed in the judgments associated with the second coming. Wherever in the world the bodies of the unregenerate lie and the vultures gather will be where Christ has been in judgment. Those who fail to heed the warnings of imminent judgment and reject the Son of Man will be caught in that judgment and will not enter the millennial or the eternal kingdom.
Morris - These vultures, will be gathering together "unto the supper of the great God" (Revelation 19:17) to eat "the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great" (Revelation 19:18). This will be the final event of the great tribulation when the rebels of the earth are all slain by Christ at Armageddon and "all the fowls were filled with their flesh" (Revelation 19:21). (Borrow The Defender's Study Bible)
Criswell - Vultures gather wherever the corpse is, and God's judgment will strike wherever the situation deserves it. - Precept Austin
…15You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age. 16In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” 17When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses.… Genesis 15: 15-17
…15who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men, 16hindering us from telling the Gentiles how they may be saved. As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity; the utmost wrath has come upon them. 17Brothers, although we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in heart), our desire to see you face to face was even more intense.… 1 Thessalonians 2: 15-17
…23You must not lie carnally with any animal, thus defiling yourself with it; a woman must not stand before an animal to mate with it; that is a perversion. 24Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves. 25Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.… Leviticus 18: 23-25
