A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
Our Lord gave us a pretty thorough overview of the End Times as they relate to Israel. It’s often called the Olivet Discourse because He was speaking to four of His disciples on the Mt. Of Olives. It was just a couple of days before He was arrested, and they asked Him about the End of the Age. Matthew’s account of His answer is in chapters 24-25. Mark’s is contained in chapter 13. Luke’s version is a little different in that it also includes a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. You’ll find it in his 21st chapter.
Since the Lord was answering questions about Israel’s future and His 2nd Coming, the focus was decidedly Jewish, so we don’t learn anything about the Church from studying it. But understanding how things will progress for Israel gives us a background that makes Paul’s prophecies about the church in the End Times, which came 20 years later, easier to understand. Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians, written about 51 AD, officially introduced the notion of the Rapture and its timing to the early church, and contain clarifying information about the anti-Christ and the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit as well. The 2nd Coming is referred to in every chapter of these two letters, for an average of once in every 13 verses.
In Luke 17:20-37, the Lord gave us some additional information about the time of His coming that’s often overlooked. But after you’ve gained the Jewish perspective from the Olivet Discourse and the Christian one from Paul’s letters, you can use Luke 17 to double check your understanding of the End times, and see if you’ve gotten it right. The fact that Luke 17 shares some language with the Olivet Discourse gives us a hint that they’re meant to be related. Let’s take a look.
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21)
Right off the bat, the Lord threw us a curve to make sure we’re paying attention. It came in the form of the word translated “within”. He was responding to the Pharisees who had posed the question, and the Kingdom of God was not within them because they weren’t believers. So what was He trying to tell us? Well, it turns out that the word can also mean “in the midst of”, and the Kingdom was in the midst of them. He was the personification of the Kingdom and He was standing right in front of them. Some translations, the NIV for example, offer “among” as an alternate to “within” in verse 21.
To the Pharisees it was only true that the Kingdom was among them. But once the Holy Spirit was given, the Kingdom would also be within all believers. At that point, both of these interpretations would become true. The Kingdom of God is within us, and we are in the midst of the world. This is the spiritual, or invisible phase of the Kingdom. But as we’ll see it’s not the final phase.
Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. Men will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. (Luke 17:22-25)
After being rejected and executed by the leaders of His generation, the Lord would go away, and only the invisible phase of the Kingdom would remain. It’s called the Church. But then He would return and when He did there would be no mistaking it. The second coming will light up the entire sky, and the visible phase of the Kingdom will begin.
This is a clue as to why the Church and Israel are mutually exclusive in the world. The Kingdom of God began with Israel. He had Moses tell them so. “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5-6)
But then because of their disobedience it was taken away from Israel and given to the Church. In Matt. 21:43 Jesus said. “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”
But this wasn’t to be permanent. After the Church disappears, the Kingdom will be restored to Israel. The early Church understood this, as evidenced by James’ prophecy in Acts 15:13-18 where he said that the Lord would first take from among the Gentiles a people for Himself, and after that would return to rebuild David’s fallen tabernacle. Later Paul confirmed this, saying that Israel had been hardened in part until the full number of Gentiles come in, and after that Israel would be saved. (Romans 11:25-27)
The Days Of Noah
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.”(Luke 17:26-27)
Like it was in Noah’s time most people on Earth at the End of the Age will be unaware that life as they know it is about to end, not because they haven’t been warned but because they haven’t believed the warning. Noah is used as a model of the believing remnant of Israel at the end of the age, preserved through the judgment while the world is destroyed. Noah and his family remained in the general location of the judgment while the unbelievers were swept away in the flood.
At the End of the Age Israel’s believing remnant will remain in the general location of the judgment but will be preserved while the Lord completely destroys the nations around them. Speaking of the time of Jacob’s Trouble (the Great Tribulation) in Jere. 30:11 the Lord said, I am with you and will save you,’ declares the LORD. ‘Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you.” In the symbolic language of Revelation the Jewish remnant is represented by a woman, while Satan is called the serpent.
The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. (Rev. 12:14)
The Lord used this same terminology to describe the manner in which He delivered Israel from Pharaoh’s Army in the Exodus. “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” (Exodus 19:4)
The Days Of Lot
“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:28-29)
At first glance this seems like another similar example. But it’s really very different. Lot was taken away from the location of the judgment to a place of safety. In fact the angels who were sent to remove him said they couldn’t bring the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah until Lot was away and safe. (Genesis 19:21-22) He was rescued from the out pouring of God’s wrath on Sodom and Gomorrah before it began.
In this sense, Lot becomes a model of the Church. Paul explained that the Church would be rescued from the time of God’s Wrath on the Earth as well.They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. (1 Thes.1:9-10)
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Jerry: I disagree when Jack said: "Lot becomes a model of the Church (at the rapture)." When you study prophecy BEFORE the cross, it is Old Testament. This means the Church >>is not<< found in Old Testament prophecy. Old Testament prophecy about Jesus' second coming is >>only<< for Israel and the Gentiles.
With this in mind, what is Jesus' point of mentioning Lat after Noah?
Noah represents the righteous:
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Gen. 6:9
The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. Gen. 7:1
He did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others. 2 Peter 2:5
Thus Lot is the opposite of Noah:
He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)-- if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. 2 Peter 2:6-9
Inwardly Lot had righteousness imputed by faith in God as Abraham had. But unlike Abraham, his outward life did not show this righteousness. Lot struggled with and gave in to carnality as a pragmatic business man. His witness for the true God was non-existent to the lost idolaters around him. But like God promised to Abraham:
Far be it from you to do such a thing-to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
The LORD said, "If I find fifty [ forty-five,forty ,thirty, twenty , ten) righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake." Genesis 18:25-33
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God could not spare Sodom because Lot did not share his faith with the people. Yet God's spare Lot and his family because God regarded him as righteous and godly in his soul.
The promise Jesus is making to the Israelites at the time of the great tribulation is that righteousness...either like Noah or like Lot...will lead to their deliverance. Carnality will not deter God from rescuing the righteous and godly.
When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring--those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 12:13-17
This principle relates to the Rapture in this way. There will be no partial rapture in which the carnal Christian is left behind to be tried by the tribulation to come. Christians who have more in common with Lot than Noah will be rescued from the wrath to come (1 Thess. 1:10). We may look at a Christians living in carnality and wonder "Are they saved or are they false professors?" We cannot see into their heart and soul and see them as God does...as He did with Lot.
Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness." 2 Timothy 2:19
With this in mind, what is Jesus' point of mentioning Lat after Noah?
Noah represents the righteous:
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Gen. 6:9
The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. Gen. 7:1
He did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others. 2 Peter 2:5
Thus Lot is the opposite of Noah:
He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)-- if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. 2 Peter 2:6-9
Inwardly Lot had righteousness imputed by faith in God as Abraham had. But unlike Abraham, his outward life did not show this righteousness. Lot struggled with and gave in to carnality as a pragmatic business man. His witness for the true God was non-existent to the lost idolaters around him. But like God promised to Abraham:
Far be it from you to do such a thing-to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
The LORD said, "If I find fifty [ forty-five,forty ,thirty, twenty , ten) righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake." Genesis 18:25-33
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God could not spare Sodom because Lot did not share his faith with the people. Yet God's spare Lot and his family because God regarded him as righteous and godly in his soul.
The promise Jesus is making to the Israelites at the time of the great tribulation is that righteousness...either like Noah or like Lot...will lead to their deliverance. Carnality will not deter God from rescuing the righteous and godly.
When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring--those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 12:13-17
This principle relates to the Rapture in this way. There will be no partial rapture in which the carnal Christian is left behind to be tried by the tribulation to come. Christians who have more in common with Lot than Noah will be rescued from the wrath to come (1 Thess. 1:10). We may look at a Christians living in carnality and wonder "Are they saved or are they false professors?" We cannot see into their heart and soul and see them as God does...as He did with Lot.
Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness." 2 Timothy 2:19
The Greek word translated “from” in verse 10 means the Church will be removed from the time or place or any relation to the coming wrath. Just like it was with Lot and the judgment of Sodom , we have to be away and safe before the End Times judgment of Earth can begin.
I’ve often said that Jesus didn’t teach the doctrine of the Rapture and didn’t even tell His disciples about it. But if you already know it’s coming you can find hints of it in the Gospels. This is one of them, and by using Lot as a model the Lord confirmed the timing. Before the judgment.
“It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”
“Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.” (Luke 17:30-37)
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.” (Luke 17:30-37)
In Matt. 24:17-18 Jesus warned the people alive at the beginning of the Great Tribulation not to go back into their houses for anything but to flee quickly, so it’s reasonable to assume He means the same thing here. It wouldn’t make any sense for Him to be speaking of the actual day of His return because by then it will be too late to run. Those who cling to the ways of this world at the beginning of the Great Tribulation will find themselves losing everything. But those who abandon them in favor of the next world will gain eternal life. I think Lot’s wife is a graphic model of those “in-name-only” Christians who attend church and even do lots of good things, but aren’t born again. Though they claim to be Christians, their hearts continue to long for the things of this world. When the time comes they’ll be left behind, and many will perish in the End Times judgments.
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Much of the material in Luke 17:20-37 found its way into the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24. When you remove Matthew 24:28 and 37-40...then this parallel's with Mark 13. Additionally when Matthew 24:28 and 37-40 is placed in the context of Luke 17:20-37, then the text makes more sense.
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As in Matt. 24:40-41 the word translated “taken” literally means received, and the word for “left” means to put away, as in a divorce. After the Lord returns, some tribulation survivors will be received directly into the Kingdom. They will have become believers after the rapture and will be welcomed into the Kingdom as their reward. But those who have persisted in their unbelief will be put away, off the planet, in the place prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41) This statement summarizes the judgments the Lord will conduct just after His return. Matt. 25 describes then in detail.
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Jerry: This disciples understood then mention of vultures from Ezekiel's prophecy in chapter 39:
"Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: 'Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as if they were rams and lambs, goats and bulls-all of them fattened animals from Bashan. At the sacrifice I am preparing for you, you will eat fat till you are glutted and drink blood till you are drunk. At my table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, mighty men and soldiers of every kind,' declares the Sovereign LORD . vs 17-20
You may be reading this prophecy and say "Wait haven't I read this also in Revelation 19? Indeed you have:
And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, "Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great." The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. Revelation 19:17, 18 & 21
This is know as a "double reference prophecy. Ezekiel's will be fulfilled after the coming war with Magog, and be fulfilled again after the Battle for Jerusalem (typically called Armageddon).
Know this about Jesus' answer to the disciples question" "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather." vs 37 also illuminates the meaning of the previous verses:
I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
The world population will be so devastated by God's judgments that the Beast will need to build up his army to attack Israel. To keep agriculture and industry operating it will cause him to enact forced conscription of every other man and woman to gather to his army in Armageddon (Revelation 16:13 & 14). It is history repeating itself. Nazi Germany, toward the end of WW II did some thing like this.
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So in Luke 17:20-37 the Lord explained the two phases of the Kingdom, the invisible phase (the Church) and the visible one (the Millennial Kingdom). He said he was going away and then coming back, and that His 2nd Coming will be physical just like His first one. He also said there will be three groups on Earth at the time. A believing remnant will be preserved through the End Times judgments that precede His return (Israel), another group of believers will be removed to a place of safety before the judgments begin (the Church), and a third group called Tribulation survivors. Upon His return, some of the Tribulation survivors will be received into the Kingdom as a reward for believing, while the rest will be sent to the place prepared for the devil and his angels for refusing to believe. It’s a remarkable overview of the Great Tribulation and 2nd Coming. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 01-15-11
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