what does this bible verse mean?
In Matthew 24:28, Jesus said to his disciples, "For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together."
I know he's talking of the last days, and of the sign of His return, but, what is the carcase, symbolically or literally, and who are the eagles, and why does Jesus say this, in between the verses about the lightning coming out of the east, and the verse about the stars shall fall from heaven?
What does the verse mean?
For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
The carcases I think suggest the dead spiritually who become the dead literally.
The eagles, if not a direct meaning of the birds of the air, I think might refer to the angels. This verse ends a section and should probably be considered an exclamation, "an exclamation at the conclusion of a sentence." - bullinger
Matt 24:23-28
23 At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it.
24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect-- if that were possible.
25 See, I have told you ahead of time.
26 "So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' 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.
(NIV)
Because of the reference to false messiahs, it has been suggested that the carcasses are the false messiahs, and the vultures are those who flock to them. I have also seen it suggested that the proverb might suggest that things come to pass with proper timing.
However, I don't believe that these explanations sufficiently explain the meaning.
The context here is how will we know if it's Jesus. How will we know where he is.
A man who performs great miracles and claims to be Jesus isn't sufficient.
If we hear that Jesus is somewhere, don't believe it. Because we will know it's Jesus and we will know where he is. Jesus's coming will be visible to all. His second coming is one of Judgement, so the judgement it's self will indicate his presence.
Luke 17:28-37
28 "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
31 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.
32 Remember Lot's wife!
33 Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.
34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.
35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left."
37 "Where, Lord?" they asked. He replied, "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather."
(NIV)
This may seem like an odd answer to the question of where. Some have suggested that this might refer to the sacrifices to the roman standard (which apparently has an eagle) around the destruction of the temple is in mind.
I think this must still refer to all the death and judgement that will surround Jesus on his second coming. (luke 19:27 for example)
But we must also consider other verses that have similar wording. Consider these, along with their context.
The eagle has symbolic meaning of swift and powerful judgement.
Job 39:30
30 His young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there is he."
(NIV)
Deut 28:49
49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand,
(NIV)
Hosea 8:1
1 "Put the trumpet to your lips! An eagle is over the house of the LORD because the people have broken my covenant and rebelled against my law.
(NIV)
Hab 1:8
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like a vulture swooping to devour;
(NIV)
Being eaten by birds was considered a terrible end.
1 Sam 17:46
46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
(NIV)
Ezek 39:4
4 On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals.
(NIV)
Ezek 39:17
17 "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.
(NIV)
Rev 19:17-18
17 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,
18 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."
(NIV)
And, what is the will of God?
In reference to what Jesus says in Matthew 7:21:
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, whall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
WHAT IS THE WILL OF HIS FATHER IN HEAVEN, WHICH WE MUST DO TO ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN?
What is God's will for your life?
If you really don't know, you should ask God, for He alone will give you the correct answer.
Another question:
Jesus says: And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Who are the children of the kingdom?
Where is outer darkness?
Where is the Lake of Fire?
Where is hell?
Where is hades?
Again, where is outer darkness, and who are the children of the kingdom?
Matt 8:11-12
11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
(NIV)
Who are the children of the kingdom?
In this passage it is probably referring to the Jewish people who reject Jesus.
Where is outer darkness?
Probably where Jesus isn't a light.
Where is the Lake of Fire?
It's in revelations ;) A place of destruction.
Where is hell?
Hell may refer to either hades or the lake of fire and even another place.
Where is hades?
Hades is probably a place of the dead.
In it was apparently a place of both torment and paradise.
Luke 16:23
23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
(NIV)
Hades will be destroyed in the lake of fire.