One Shall be Taken and One Shall be Left

Helpful for this article see: I come as a thief

The Eagles will be Gathered

A bible study on: “The one shall be taken, and the other left”.

LUKE 17:20
And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. 23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

Verse 20-21:
The kingdom they wanted to know about was a kingdom that would serve their own ends there and then, with Israel as the top nation and the Pharisees as rulers over the Romans. Christ averted his answer since establishing the literal kingdom was not His purpose at that time. (See verse 25 also John 18:36 ‘but now My kingdom is not from here). His reply was directed to those being called to be kings and priests in His kingdom far in the future, but the potential to be in that kingdom was available to them right there and then, if they qualified spiritually (internally). Christ’s answer was in effect an open invitation to be included in the kingdom; it was completely up to them and their own attitude.

Verse 22-24: (paraphrased)
When the time comes, be it through desperation, weariness or lack of patience that your mind wants to clutch at a spiritual straw, don’t jump the gun and imagine or believe that Christ is ‘here’ or has arrived already, as that day won’t occur until it is completely beyond any shadow of doubt to the whole world. (See the sixth seal Rev 6:15).

But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

Next, after Christ explains what He must accomplish ‘first’, He does answer questions concerning the arrival of the kingdom, but on His terms. The subject is abruptly changed to the world situation ‘In that day the Son of man will be revealed’. Circumstances will appear to be absolutely normal until the day the end time begins, when the cry will go up ‘the Lord cometh’. This happens when it becomes obvious to those who were ‘ready’ that the end time has started with the gospel going to the whole world; the first seal. Christ will not physically be revealed until the sixth seal, the mid point of the end time after three and a half years of war, a quarter of the world’s population dying and the Church having suffered heavy persecution from the beast.

The following verses, part of the sixteen instances of ‘you will not know beforehand’ make it clear life is still routine up until a very distinct moment. Once the rider on the white horse of the first seal ‘goes forth to conquer’ it is technically ‘the day of the Lord’, ‘the days of the Son of man’, the ‘time of Jacob’s trouble’ etc. (See Rev 6:2, Rev 14:6, Hab 3:9).

And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed

Verses 26-30:
These verses are emphasising the point that prior to ‘the days of the Son of man’, as in Sodom where Lot was and in the desert where Noah built his boat, life was pretty much as usual and the population of the day was completely unaware of the drastic situation about to unfold. Christ says ‘Even thus’; when the same complete lack of awareness exists, Christ will step back into the world’s affairs.
The timing of ‘even thus’ is also specifically referring to a day, where in the following verses it mentions certain people being ‘taken’.

In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. 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. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

Who are these people, and just as the disciples asked Christ ‘where are they going’, we would like to know also.
The clue to the context and meaning of this section is ‘Remember Lot’s wife’.

The first thing to do is double check the timing to see if this could be the resurrection being referred to. For a start Christ has emphasised that this is well before the end time gets underway. He is specifically stating ‘in that day’ which is the ‘even thus’ day, all things had been normal prior to that point. In the Matthew 24 account Christ again places emphasis on the fact that this day will arrive without any advance indications and because of this ‘make sure you are ready’:

40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

We should remind ourselves what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians; he categorically points out the resurrection can not possibly catch us by surprise since the falling away and the presence of the beast calling himself god will have occurred first. Both will be unmistakable events in their own right; in other words the end time would be at an advanced stage.

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 2 Thess 2:1

We can now draw one solid conclusion for this subject; the event that describes two being in the field and one being taken, two women grinding and one being taken and lastly two in one bed and one being taken can not be the first resurrection. The timing is completely inappropriate and if a resurrection were the subject, there would be no need to forsake their belongings and no need to think about their personal safety. No need to concern themselves with remembering Lot’s wife, all of which would be irrelevant.

Remember Lot’s Wife

What then is the real intent of this passage? What is Christ trying to tell us?

Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

He has given us several different elements to come to grips with, these are:

A sudden situation unfolds on the day ‘the Son of man is revealed’.
A decision has to be made.
When it occurs there will be an element of danger to be taken into consideration.
Do not be concerned for your ‘stuff’ (worldly possessions).
Reflect on how Lot’s wife fell short of the standard.
The end result is those ‘taken’ will congregate somewhere.

What are we to remember about Lot’s wife, how does she fit into the picture?
Lot’s wife did not really want to leave Sodom despite its debauchery; she loved the ‘world’ and was comfortable in it. She would have preferred to stay and keep holding onto her former ‘life’.
Lot’s wife made a very costly mistake, which is what we are to remember. We are not to repeat that mistake.

‘In that day’ the day the Son is revealed (when it has become clear He is going to return) those that are ready (wise virgins) will know what is expected of them; there is a job to be done. The dangers that are ahead have been reflected on and rejected. Whoever is willing to risk their life will ‘not lose it’. Those who ‘look back’ hesitating, thinking twice, still wanting to hold onto the past, will lose their opportunity. The element of one person amongst two, or half is also closely related to the wise virgin parable. Half were ‘all set’ when the cry went up ‘the Lord cometh’.

All scriptures concerning the Saints in the end time show that wherever the beast is, that is where you will find the Saints. Wherever the Saints are throughout the world they will need to congregate together before the beast arises to fulfil their role in warning in advance who the beast is and how to avoid his deception and the fatal outcome of taking his ‘mark’. This will become a head on spiritual confrontation against an antichrist state. The danger involved is the basis for the warnings about seeking to save ones life:

And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Matt 10:38

This preparation and attitude is what constitutes ample oil in the lamps of the wise virgins when Christ returns. The saints ‘associate’ themselves in their task and are counted as accepted, or ‘taken’ and the original Greek word for ‘taken’ certainly allows for this interpretation:

[Strong's G3880] Paralambano: means "to receive near, i.e., associate with oneself (in any familiar or intimate act or relation); receive, take unto, take with."

It should be added that there is no clear consensus on the meaning of this phrase, which a quick look through various commentaries will show. This difficulty to be able to clarify these verses is a good indication that there is more to it than meets the eye. All the versions that use this passage to support a ‘pre-tribulation rapture’ (the vast majority) are extremely shallow in light of the obvious contradictions pointed out above.

Come out of Babylon

Adding all this together indicates something is required of certain people. Those that are committed to putting service for Christ ahead of their own life if necessary will now move on to ‘where the eagles will gather’. The timing and nature of this subject falls directly into the ‘come out of Babylon’ section of scriptures of which there are ten others. (Rev18:4, Jer 50:8, v28, 51:6, 51:9, 51:45, 51:50, Isa 48:20, 52:11, Zech 2:6.). The Isaiah 52 passage starting in verse 10 sums up the situation in a few short verses. It clearly shows the timing, Christ has just made His presence known prior to His return and the world has not yet lost control. As a result those that ‘bear the vessels of the Lord’ i.e. serve Christ shall go ‘out’ but in an organized way and God will ‘back them up’ in their endeavours:

The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing ; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward. Isa 52:10

MATTHEW 24

The timing for the same expression ‘there will the eagles be gathered together’ in Matt 24:28 would appear to be at a later stage of events, immediately before the resurrection of the first fruits. If so, would this be a contradiction?

On the contrary, the indication would be the ‘body’; the Saints would have been all together in the same place from the beginning of the end time right through the first three and a half years up until just before the great tribulation. They have remained together faithfully carrying out their role, still in the beast’s territory. This would be consistent with the whole concept of coming out of Babylon to fulfil the main purpose of the Saints in the end time.

This is the complete context of the Matthew 24 section leading up to ‘where the eagles are’:

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

Christ gives quite a few parables that lead from this scene. Best known is the five wise and foolish virgins; however the one He uses to sum up this chapter is a good example.

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming. And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

As with the wise virgins: those that were ready and committed have a promising future. Those that were not ready will end up with even what they had taken away.
Those that seek to save their lives will lose it.
Those in whom Christ will find faith when He returns shall receive the crown of life.

Additional study, next: Come out of Babylon My people.