Post by Lee on Sept 25, 2014 1:35:18 GMT
THE EAGLES AND THE CARCASE
S. C., for a friend, asks for a word or two of explanation on Matt. 24:28: “For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”
ANSWER.—The “carcase” is the Jewish nation, and the “eagles” are the Romans; and the whole matter was the work of God by the Son of Man. Moses had said: “The Lord shall bring a nation against thee. . . . Swift as the eagle flieth . . . and thy carcase shall be meat unto all the fowls of the air” (Deut. 28:49, 26). Many “eagles” devoured Israel’s “carcase” at different times, such as Assyria and Babylon (compare Ezek. 17., &c.); but those of which Christ here spoke were the Romans. The destruction of the Jewish State by the Romans was the coming of the Son of Man to judgment upon that generation at the end of that world. The invading hosts were “his armies, and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city” (Matt. 24:7). Amid the terrors of the times a remnant of his friends escaped the fate of “the carcase.” They were warned by his prophecy and escaped from Jerusalem in time. This made all sorts of sharp divisions among families and friends, as he said it would. One was taken and another left (Luke 17:34–37). Husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, lovers and friends were parted by the name of Christ. One escaped and fled to the mountains, and another, like Lot’s relatives of old, mocked at the warning voice, and perished miserably with “the carcase,” “those murderers” who, some forty years before, had nailed Jesus up on a cross to die outside the city. All this in turn illustrates the approaching end of the Gentile age (Luke 21:24). The Gentile “carcase” is likewise to be given to the “eagles” (the saints and the Jews—Rev. 19:17, 18; Ezek. 39:17–22; Rev. 4:7, 8, 9: 8:13 R. V.). Those who are Christ’s will escape the fate of the carcase, but the wicked will be “left” to share the awful judgments of the times.
. Vol. 42: The Christadelphian: Volume 42. 2001 (electronic ed.) (410–411). Birmingham: Christadelphian Magazine & Publishing Association.
S. C., for a friend, asks for a word or two of explanation on Matt. 24:28: “For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”
ANSWER.—The “carcase” is the Jewish nation, and the “eagles” are the Romans; and the whole matter was the work of God by the Son of Man. Moses had said: “The Lord shall bring a nation against thee. . . . Swift as the eagle flieth . . . and thy carcase shall be meat unto all the fowls of the air” (Deut. 28:49, 26). Many “eagles” devoured Israel’s “carcase” at different times, such as Assyria and Babylon (compare Ezek. 17., &c.); but those of which Christ here spoke were the Romans. The destruction of the Jewish State by the Romans was the coming of the Son of Man to judgment upon that generation at the end of that world. The invading hosts were “his armies, and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city” (Matt. 24:7). Amid the terrors of the times a remnant of his friends escaped the fate of “the carcase.” They were warned by his prophecy and escaped from Jerusalem in time. This made all sorts of sharp divisions among families and friends, as he said it would. One was taken and another left (Luke 17:34–37). Husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, lovers and friends were parted by the name of Christ. One escaped and fled to the mountains, and another, like Lot’s relatives of old, mocked at the warning voice, and perished miserably with “the carcase,” “those murderers” who, some forty years before, had nailed Jesus up on a cross to die outside the city. All this in turn illustrates the approaching end of the Gentile age (Luke 21:24). The Gentile “carcase” is likewise to be given to the “eagles” (the saints and the Jews—Rev. 19:17, 18; Ezek. 39:17–22; Rev. 4:7, 8, 9: 8:13 R. V.). Those who are Christ’s will escape the fate of the carcase, but the wicked will be “left” to share the awful judgments of the times.
. Vol. 42: The Christadelphian: Volume 42. 2001 (electronic ed.) (410–411). Birmingham: Christadelphian Magazine & Publishing Association.