A Rich Feast

“I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

This lesson of Luke 17:34-36 is beautiful. Remember, Luke 17 and Matthew 24 are both accounts of our Lord’s Great Prophecy in which He gave signs of his parousia, his presence. The living church (that is “we who are alive and remain”, 1 Thess 4:17) cannot be caught up (raptured away as some imagine) at the moment of Christ’s return, for they will be here on earth discerning the signs of Christ’s presence. Nevertheless their relationship to the returned Lord is blessed and unique.

Chapters two and three of Revelation describe seven churches. Many Bible-believing Christians hold to the concept that these represent seven stages of the church down through the Christian Age. To the Philadelphia, or sixth stage, the Lord said, “Behold I come quickly.” (Rev. 3:11) But during the Laodicean, or seventh stage of the church, the Lord says, “I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Rev 3:20

So it is with the returned Lord. The fulfilled signs of our Lord’s Great Prophecy prove that we are in the Laodicean or seventh stage of church history, the period during which the Lord is present and some of the church (“the feet of him”) still remains here on earth. We might refuse to hear his knock; that is, refuse to understand the truth of his presence or even refuse to open the door of our hearts to the returned Lord. Nevertheless, he is present whether we accept it or not.

To those who do accept it, there is a great spiritual feast. They sup together with their returned Lord. This feast of truth that is to be the blessed portion of the church on earth when the Lord returns is also brought out in Luke 12:37-40:

“Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

The faithful church will be watching for the Lord’s return. When he returns, they will recognize it and he will serve them with a special feast of truth. This feast is not in heaven. It is enjoyed by watchful servants here on earth. These verses depict the blessed conditions of faithful Christians who remain on earth for a period of time after our Lord returns. This is one aspect of the two-fold lesson of the eagles we are considering. When the Lord returns, the eagle class, faithful Christians, will be gathered to this rich spiritual feast. The second lesson is that the eagle can see food afar off and will travel great distances to secure it. Rev 18:1-5 reveals what is involved in this traveling.

Fleeing Babylon

“After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”

Many believe the mighty angel of verse one is our returned Lord. The Greek word aggelos, here translated “angel,” simply means “messenger.” Rev. 20:1-3 also used the word “angel” or “messenger,” when referring to the returned Christ coming down from heaven and binding Satan. Malachi 3:1-3, a parallel passage to Rev 18:1-5, speaks of our returned Lord as the “messenger of the covenant.” Our returned Lord, the mighty angel of Rev 18:1, enlightens the earth with his glory. (We will deal later with other scriptures that show a great enlightenment of truth along every line—scientific, humanitarian, philosophical, religious, etc., which causes the earth to tremble. Psa 97:1, 4)

Rev 18:2-4, reveals that the returned Lord has a message against Babylon. Most agree that Babylon represents a false Christian system (the professing or nominal church). Rev 17:5 indicts that it is composed of both a mother system (Catholicism) and daughter systems (Protestantism). Therefore, Babylon represents a number of false Christian systems.

Note the difference between the fall of Babylon in Rev 18:2-4 BEFORE her plagues come, and the destruction of Babylon in Rev 18:8 WHEN the plagues come. Therefore, the Lord is present for a period of time before the destruction of Babylon. Before his return, the Lord tried to “heal” Babylon (Jer. 51:9), but she refused to be “healed.” At his return, he cast her off from favor. Rev 18:2-4 refers to Babylon’s fall from divine favor.

Then in Rev 18:4, our returned Lord has a message for all true Christians in Babylon: “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”

Continued with next post.