Dead bodies and eagles
This is a phrase that is not much written about in the bible, but Jesus saw it fit to bring it up to His disciples within the discourse on the end times and in answer to their question in Mat 24:3.
This appears in Mat 24:28; and Luk 17:37
Mat 24:28 For wheresoever the carcass (dead body) is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
Luk 17:37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse (dead body) is, there the vultures will gather.”
The bible uses the word "eagle" and "vulture" interchangeably.
To look into the Context of what Jesus meant, we find that in Luke 17, we have a conversation of Jesus with 2 different groups of people, the Pharisees in v20-21, and His disciples after v21 onward.
In v20, when the Pharisees ask Jesus "when will the kingdom of God come?", Jesus answered them in v21, that the kingdom of Go is not "here" or "there" but the kingdom is "within you".
Then in v22, Jesus began to talked to His disciples and going a little deeper into the matter of the coming of the kingdom of God. He said that the kingdom of God is not going to be here or there. Don't go after them He said in Luke 17:23-24 (parallel account in Mat 24:26-27).
In Luk 17:26, Jesus said just like the days of Noah, He is going to come.
Luk 17:26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.
Luk 17:27 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.
In Luke 17:28, Jesus said just like the days of Lot, He is going to come.
Luk 17:28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,
Luk 17:29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—
Luk 17:30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Q: What were the people doing during the days of Noah and Lot before the judgement of God came down on them?
A: They were doing what they normally do. They were living their daily lives and suddenly the events that God prophesied came to pass suddenly.
Similarly, the Son of God will be revealed in the same manner, when they were going about their daily affairs, and like the days of Noah and Lot, the Son of God will come suddenly.
Luk 31-36 says that the Coming will take many of them by surprised. Some will be taken, some will be left behind.
In Luk 17:37, the disciples asked a question that only appears in Luke 17 but not in Matthew 24 or Mark 13, and that is "Where, Lord?". Where is this going to take place? Tell us the location of "where" these signs of your coming are going to happen.
You see, in Matthew 24:3, we read of the disciples asking Jesus "when" will the sign of His coming and the end of the age take place. But in Luke 17:37, we read of them asking Jesus "where".
And in answering the disciples' question of "where", Jesus talks about "dead bodies and eagles", which is the title of our topic today.
Luk 17:37 And they answered and said to Him, Where, Lord? And He said to them, Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together. (MKJV)
Jesus said that all the signs of the coming of Jesus is like the eagles on the dead bodies.
It is interesting to take note that the Roman armies carry a standard (emblem) when they march or go to war, and that standard is the emblem of the "eagle". This was the same standard that was planted inside the Holy Place of the Temple by general Titus when he destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in AD70.
So what is Jesus answering His disciples as to "where". Jesus is prophesying to them that where the dead bodies are (in Jerusalem), the eagles (Roman armies) will be there.
See some definitions of the Roman eagle:
The Jewish audience can comprehend what Jesus was saying to them because their culture is full of such imageries, and especially when it comes to warfare images. Imageries are mental images, figures, or likenesses of things so that the audience could understand.
For example in Habakkuk, when God told them about the judgement that is going to come on Israel:
Hab 1:6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own.
Hab 1:7 They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
Hab 1:8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
Q: Who are the Chaldeans?
A: They are the Babylonian empire that surrounds Israel and are their enemies.
Q: Who is raising the Chaldeans against the people of God, the nation of Israel?
A: GOD is. Not Satan! God raised His peoples enemies to punish Israel, His chosen people.
Q: How will the Chaldeans attack God's people?
A: Like an eagle flying in swiftly to devour them (see the imagery).
Another example in Jeremiah 7, where God is going to send judgement on His people of Judah for their idolatry and evil (Jer 7:30).
Jer 7:33 And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away.
Jer 7:34 And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste.
The context of v33-34 is the judgement of God on Judah because of the evil in the nation. Here God is using imageries to describe the judgement. Their bodies will be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.
Again in Jer 19, God is using same imageries to describe the coming judgement on His people:
Jer 19:7 And in this place I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, and will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth.
Such imageries are familiar with the Jews when Jesus used them in Luk 17:37. An attack in Israel or God's people will be like the birds of the air or beasts of the earth attacking their dead bodies.
A reputable and early church bible scholar and leader, John LIghtfoot (AD1602 - AD1675) wrote in his commentary on Matthew 24:37:
[ "For wheresoever the carcass is, there the eagles will be". I wonder any can understand the words of pious men flying to Christ, when the discourse here is of quite a different thing. They are this connected to the foregoing. Christ shall be revealed with the sudden vengeance. For when God shall cast off the city and the people groomed right for destruction like a carcass thrown out, the Roman soldiers like eagles shall straight fly to it with their eagles or their ensigns to tear and devour it. And to this also agrees the answer of Christ in Luke 17:37 when after the same words that are spoken here in this chapter, it was enquired, "Where. Lord". He answered, "wheresoever the body is," silently hinting thus much that Jerusalem and that wicked nation which he described through the whole chapter would be the carcass to which the greedy and devouring eagles would fly to prey upon it. ]
Q: Was Jesus drawing cross references from the Old Testament about similar judgments on God's people? (Jesus had always referred back to the Scriptures. To the Jews, Scriptures stands for the 5 books of the Torah, Psalms and writings from the prophets).
A: I will highlight some cross references as evidences.
In Hosea, God sent for eagles against His nation:
Hos 8:1 Set the trumpet to thy mouth. "He shall come" as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
The words “he shall come” are inserted for clearness. Hosea beholds the enemy speeding with the swiftness of an eagle, as it darts down upon its prey. “The house of the Lord” is, most strictly, the temple, as being “the place which God had chosen to place His name there.” It is also used, of the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem, among whom the temple was. (Albert Barnes)
Another example in Jeremiah 25:9, God raising up the enemies of Israel against His nation:
Jer 25:9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof.
Did you noticed who did God named as His servant? God named Nebuchadnezzar as His servant. Remember Hab 1:6, where God raised up the Chaldeans against His people to execute judgement against Israel. (Babylon was the capital of the country Chaldea).
Another prophecy about the judgement of God by Zechariah:
Zec 14:2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
God will gather the nations surrounding Jerusalem to battle with His nation Israel.
Another prophecy about the judgement of God by Isaiah:
Isa 10:5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury!
God calls the enemy Assyrians the "rod of His anger" and the "staff of His fury".
From the above, we can see clearly that God uses Nebuchadnezzar, Chaldeans and Assyrians as His instruments to punish and discipline His people Israel.
See a write up on Nebuchadnezzar:
The Jews can relate to the phrase "eagles attacking dead bodies", as the coming destruction of Jerusalem by the coming Roman armies led by Titus in AD70. This is consistent interpretation from the whole chapters of Matthew 24, Luke 17 and Mark 13.
Q: Why was Jesus giving so many evidences and prophecies on the coming destruction of Jerusalem within their lifetime? Why was Jesus speaking so much about God's wrath on His people? Why was there a need for AD70, when the nation of Israel was brought under Roman captivity with the city and the Temple leveled?
A: To answer this, we need to look at Isaiah 54:8-9 (there are many other passages also), to understand about God's wrath.
Isaiah 54 follows after Isaiah 53, where we have the famous chapter on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as prophesied by Isaiah.
In Isaiah 54:8,9 we read of God putting His wrath on His people Israel for a short while, and He will show His compassion on it again. Bible scholars call Isaiah 54 as God setting up the "eternal covenant" or the "new covenant" with His people.
So the wrath of God was only for a brief period of time. The day of vengeance was just a short burst of God's anger. God had to destroy the effectiveness of the system of religion (Judaism) that is by performance. He is saying no more priests, no more sacrifices, no more temples, no more man made access to the presence of God. All of it was gone in AD70 when the Temple was destroyed.
Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that the time will come that Jerusalem will no longer exist as a place of worship of God. Neither will it be any one place but everyone can worship Him in spirit and in truth anywhere. No more mountain. No more Jerusalem.
Joh 4:21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. "
Jesus was preparing the Samaritan woman the coming of the New Covenant. God in us, the hope of glory.
Coming back to Isaiah 54, we read that the judgement of God on His people is firstly only for a short period of time, and secondly it will be the last judgement forever and ever. It will never happen again in the future of mankind.
Isa 54:8 In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD, your Redeemer.
Isa 54:9 “This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will NOT be angry with you, and will NOT rebuke you.
Isa 54:10 For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall NOT depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall NOT be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
God drew a parallel between the waters of Noah to His prophesied coming judgement on Jerusalem. He said that just as the flood waters of Noah will never cover the earth, God will no longer send His wrath on us again forever. Hallelujah!
The AD70 event was like the event of the flood of Noah's time. It is over. It is done. It is finished and it will never be done by God again.
The rainbow that surrounds the throne of God in Revelations 4:4 reminds God not to flood the earth again. God will not to display His wrath again. There is no more wrath, no more day of vengeance. No more tribulations. We can rest in the fact that there is a great future with God without the wrath of God upon His people.
