Luke 17:20–37

The kingdom of God was the national hope of Israel. It filled the mind of everyone who looked for good from God. It was tied to the Messiah's presence. That is how the Old Testament presents the Kingdom. The New Testament does not set this aside in any way. It confirms the expectation. It only reveals the Kingdom in another shape first, before the Kingdom comes in power when the Lord returns in glory.

They asked Him when the kingdom of God would come... They connected it with outward displays of God's power on Israel's behalf. There was truth in that. But so far none of it had been seen... The kingdom of God was already on earth, though they did not know it... The kingdom was to be there in a hidden form before it came in power. And while it is on earth in that hidden form, only those who are born again see it.

"Observation." In medicine, the word παρατήρησις and its related verb meant watching the symptoms of a disease. So they carry the sense of an early investigation. In astrology they meant observation of the stars. When Luke uses the verb (Luke 6:7, Luke 14:1, Luke 20:20), it shows hostile intent.

It is not a question of signs, wonders, or outward show. It is not that God did not accompany His message with signs. But the kingdom of God is revealed in the person of Christ. It went deeper. It appeals to faith, not sight. And it demands the Holy Spirit's work in the soul, so that the sinner can see it and enter it... It does not speak to the senses, or to the mere mind of man. It carries its own evidence to the conscience and the heart.

He told them that the kingdom of God does not come with observation. This truth was paramount for the time: the kingdom of God was among them, and they did not observe it. For what is a kingdom without a king? The King Himself was there, the Son of Man; and there were some at least whose hearts had been drawn in subjection to His authority, without display, without ostentation... The Pharisees, however, looked for the kingdom while refusing the King!

Should they not have known Him because He came in grace? If He had humbled Himself to know their sorrows and to die for their sins, was that a reason for not seeing His greatness? His moral perfection was shown in ten thousand ways. Did not His holy love to the poor and guilty prove plainly enough who He was?

The Pharisees asked when the kingdom of God would come. The Lord replied: "The kingdom of God comes not with outward observation." That is, it does not come in a way the eyes can see. "For, behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you" — certainly not "within" Pharisees! The kingdom was there as shown in its characteristic traits and power, in Him who was in their midst.

At once the Lord answers the condition of their souls. "You must look for the kingdom within you before you can get it around."... You are never ready for the kingdom in glory, till you have the kingdom within you.

So the passage clearly points to two comings of the kingdom. The first is not with observation, or outward show. The other will be visible as the lightning, to all. To the Pharisees the Lord would speak only of the first: "Behold the kingdom of God is among you." The King stands among you even now. He has already come, but you will not receive Him... Only by being converted could they enter it. But they would not repent.

Here He can speak freely of the future form of the Kingdom, which was all the Pharisees thought about. The disciples had received the Lord by faith. However little they understood, they grasped that the kingdom of God was among them. So the Lord could give them divine light about the future, when He would set up the Kingdom in open sight.

He was rejected and leaving them. Suffering awaited them. Their position now was hard: they were companions of a rejected Man. But days would come when they would long for one of those days of blessed and sweet fellowship with the Son of Man. That longing would be in vain.

Days were coming that would cause a yearning for one of the days of the Son of Man. That means His coming in great power to deliver His people Israel out of the terrible agonies of the great tribulation.

But as rejected, He says no more to them about this. Instead He turns to His disciples to tell them of the days of His absence. He is not speaking of Christian times. He carries them on to when Israel's long night would be hurrying to its close. Those are days when there would be disciples longing to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and not seeing it. But first He would have to suffer and be rejected.

The time would seem long — and indeed almost 2000 years have gone by. So there would be deceivers to trap souls with false hopes: "see here, or see there." These are plausible substitutes for the promise of the Messiah. The Lord warned the disciples to refuse to follow such things.

There will certainly be a time of fierce trial for the saints. Their desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man will show it. What then is to be their resource? Prayer, and prayer always. So the Lord added a parable to teach that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

In verse 22 Jesus turns again to His disciples and speaks of "the days of the Son of Man." It is the Son of Man who is to take the kingdom, when the hour comes for it to be set up in public, as Daniel 7:13-14 had made known long before. But meanwhile His rejection was going to come in between. The sayings recorded to the end of the chapter were clearly meant for the disciples as standing for saints who would be here until the time when He is revealed in glory. Many there have been who have desired to see one of His days, and have not seen it.

He was rejected and was leaving them. Suffering lay ahead of them. Their place now, as the companions of His rejection, might be hard. But days would come when they would long in vain for one of those days when they had enjoyed close and sweet fellowship with the Son of man. Then Satan, to attract and deceive in that day, would lead men to say, "Look, here!" or "Look, there!" But the disciples would know it was false. There was no hope for the nation that rejected Christ. The King had been there and was refused; He was no longer "here" or "there."

The enemy would certainly say it once the King was far away, to deceive them after they had rejected Him. Or, on the other hand, he would say it to dazzle and confuse them, so that they would fall into the hands of Antichrist.

There will be no question of "Look, here!" or "Look, there!" when Christ comes again, any more than when He was here. It was unbelief to say "See here" and "See there" while Christ was present in the power that showed Who He must be and was. It will be unbelief later on to say "See here" and "See there," for the Kingdom will then be set up in power. They were not to follow such rumours but to listen to His Word.

His day, however, will come, and it will come out in the open. And "as the lightning flashes from one part under heaven and shines to the other part under heaven, so will the Son of man be in His day" (Luke 17:24). Nothing about it will be hidden or uncertain, and knowledge of it will not be kept to a select few. Everyone will see it.

If any say "Lo, here is the Christ, or there," they must not believe it. His appearing will be as public as the lightning. Everyone will be aware of it, friends and foes alike.

Because the time would seem long (and almost 2000 years have now gone by), deceivers would trap souls with false hopes: "see here, or see there." That cry offers a believable substitute for the promised Messiah. The Lord warned the disciples to refuse to follow such things. When the Son of Man comes to reign, it will be as plain as lightning flashing across the sky. This will bring in the millennial kingdom. But notice that the stress falls not on the kingdom, but on the King Himself, the Son of Man.

The Lord did not feed simple curiosity. He urged them to be careful not to be deceived. When it comes to prophecy there are countless deceptions. But if we are deceived, we are to blame, for God is not deceived. Honest fellowship with Him, in submission to His Word, will keep us safe.

The central point of the conflict is always here. The devil knows that if he can deceive men as to Him, he can deceive them in everything else. If we are wrong at the centre, we are bound to be wrong all the way out to the edge. Being rooted in our knowledge of the true Christ makes us proof against the pull of the false ones.

Here He can speak freely of the future form of the Kingdom, of which alone the Pharisees thought. The disciples had received the Lord by faith. However little they understood, they recognised the kingdom of God among them. So the Lord could give them divine light about the future, when He would set up the Kingdom in a way all could see.

His day, however, will come, and it will be out in the open. There will be no concealment or uncertainty about it, and the knowledge of it will not stay with a select few. It will be clear to everyone.

Because the time would seem long (and almost 2000 years have now gone by), there would be deceivers trapping souls with false hopes: "see here, or see there" — that is, some believable substitute for the promise of the Messiah. The disciples were warned to refuse to follow such things. For when the Son of Man comes to reign it will be as obvious as lightning flashing across the sky. While this will bring in the millennial kingdom, notice that the emphasis is not on the kingdom, but on the King Himself, the Son of Man.

He returns not merely as the rejected Messiah, but as the Son of man, the exalted ruler of all nations, peoples, and tongues. His Kingdom will be seen under the whole heaven as He comes from heaven.

This is what the astonished disciples were taught by the Lord Himself, both before His death and after His resurrection, and nowhere more clearly than in the Gospel of Luke. "So will the Son of Man be in his day (that is, His appearing in glory). But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation" (Luke 17:24-25). Again, when risen He said (Luke 24:26), "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself."

When the Lord comes for the church He will come as the Morning Star; whereas His coming in His day will be "as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other" (Luke 17:24). As Enoch was taken without the world noticing, so will the church be taken. As the flood affected the whole world, God preserving a few to repopulate the earth, so the coming of the Son of man in His day will be judgment on the whole world.

Men will at last have found their happiness in forgetting God... So sudden will it be, breaking with horror on an astonished and careless world.

This rejection was already going on in principle at the time; the Cross would be its climax. The moral order is completely in keeping with God: first He must suffer... It must be so in a sinful world for one who seeks not his own glory, but God's, and the real and eternal good of man. It would be impossible to take the Kingdom while man is in a state of sin and rebellion. In grace, then, He accepts the rejection which was inexcusable on their part; and in His rejection He accomplishes atonement. So God can righteously introduce the Kingdom with many a rebel pardoned.

To His disciples He had other things to say. He was rejected and leaving them. Suffering awaited them... There was no hope for the nation which rejected Christ. The King had been there but refused; He was no longer "here" or "there." ... But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation, that is, the unbelieving Jews.

It means — as it very often does in Scripture — this Christ-rejecting race of Israel, and not a mere period of time. It is used in a moral sense to describe a race acting in a particular way, good or evil.

"First He must suffer many things, and be rejected by this generation" — a generation which goes on still morally, and will, until He returns in glory to judge.

They were not to expect this coming in the near future. First the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected, which would involve His being put to death. How long this rejection would continue is not suggested at all. Yet it has continued since His resurrection for almost 2,000 years, and verse 26 is still future.

We are not left in doubt about what the Spirit of Christ in the prophets of old meant. He testified beforehand to the glories of the anointed One whom all the saints awaited. He also testified — and at first sight this seems beyond measure strong — to the sufferings appointed for Him, which come first. The Lord Himself taught this to the astonished disciples, both before His death and after His resurrection, and nowhere more clearly than in the Gospel of Luke.

Suffering first, and then glory, mark the proper path or history of the saint. Ancient times show this. Remember Joseph, Moses, and David in connection with this truth. But it is the common history of those who hold to God in a system or world that has departed from Him and set up its own thoughts. In a deep moral sense it is the necessary history. For such must always be swimming against a contrary current.

Time had to pass, and events that looked disastrous to the cause they cared about had to happen, before the day of the Son of man could appear... First the Son of man — a title of the Lord tied to power (Psalm 8) — had to suffer many things, and that generation had to reject Him. The cross must come before the glory. His day will come, though, and it will come openly... Nothing about it will be hidden or uncertain. Knowledge of it will not be kept to a select few. It will be plain to all.

In Luke 17 He does not tell us that the world will slowly change from a wilderness into a Paradise. He does not say that the nations will drop their false gods, or that the Jews will drop their hatred of the true Messiah. Instead He warns the disciples that it will be as in the days of Noah, and in the days of Lot. Those were times of ease and worldliness, when all mankind was rising up against God. Yet they picture the scenes that will meet the Lord as He appears from heaven to judge the world... The world will show the same self-security and love of ease when the Lord is revealed as it showed just before the flood.

"They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all." (Luke 17:27) There was nothing wrong in any of these things by itself. The wrong was not in the things done, but in the doers of them. Each of them could be done in the fear of the Lord, and to the glory of His holy name, if only they were done in faith. But they were not. They rejected the word of God. He told them of judgment, but they did not believe.

How busy Satan is, even among Christians, in shutting out the things of God! He does it through the demands and pressure of things that may not be evil in themselves — things we have not learned to connect with God and to use for God.

This is not about receiving the Church, and not about judging the dead. The judging of the dead follows at the end, and the receiving of the Church comes first. What we have here is the judgment of the living on the earth — a truth Christendom has largely forgotten... This can only mean people alive on the earth, caught out by the flood... Men forget too easily that a far wider judgment waits for the world, on the pattern of these two times when God stepped in — and above all for the part of the world that has had God's testimony.

So Noah lived at the close of an age, when the storm clouds of God's judgment were gathering on every side. We too live at the close of an age, and once more God is preparing judgment for an evil world. Men are as careless and indifferent now as they were in the days of long ago.

Noah's faith saw that the world stood under judgment... Noah built an ark to save his household. We do not have to build an ark. We have to take the shelter of the death of Christ and the end of all flesh before God. Then we find that God's saving power carries us through a world under judgment.

The Lord next refers to the days of Noah: so should it be in His own days when He comes as the Son of man. This is not about receiving the Church, and not about judging the dead. The judging of the dead follows at the end, and the receiving of the Church comes first. Here it is plainly the judgment of the living on the earth — a truth the Christian world has largely forgotten. "The flood came and destroyed them all." This can only mean people alive on the earth, taken by surprise.

Here the passage does not warn people about sin, but about the unholy idea that the world may just keep going for ever. As soon as Noah entered the ark, the flood came and destroyed them all. As soon as the church is taken up, judgment will come, for Satan will have filled men's hearts with lies. Notice here how impossible it is to apply this to the great white throne. When He sits on the great white throne, the heavens and the earth flee away; there is a total destruction of everything. Men will not then be eating, drinking, planting, building.

People of the world will carry on in their own independent way. They will keep concentrating on the material things of life: eating and drinking and marrying. These things are not wrong in themselves, but too often they are the only thing men live for. They forget God, so they will be shocked when He steps into their affairs without warning to judge them.

While Noah built the ark, he was a "preacher of righteousness". With his hand he was driving a nail, but with his mouth he was saying: "Judgment is coming. God will destroy the world with a flood. All will be drowned. Come, come quickly into the ark." But they did not believe. Did they not know? It was not a few days or months that Noah took to build the ark: but 120 years... Perhaps they said, "No, Noah, you have said this for many years. The flood has never come: we are not afraid." Or "Today we cannot go in. Wait. We will not get ready yet. Maybe tomorrow."

The ark grew larger every day, a witness to the coming judgment. There was no sign at all of a coming flood... But the flood came, and destroyed them all. "And they went in to Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh;" "and the Lord shut him in." Every soul that was not shut in with Noah, was shut out. There was then no hope; it was too late.

Some would have us believe that righteousness will cover this earth from pole to pole, like a beautiful robe, before the Son of man appears in the clouds of heaven... but the brief passage just quoted pulls up all such empty and misleading expectations by the roots. How was it in the days of Noah? Did righteousness cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea?... Scripture replies, "the earth was filled with violence." "ALL flesh had corrupted his way on the earth." Well, then, "so shall it be in the days of the Son of man."

We know from the history (Genesis 19:4-10) that Sodom was also guilty of the dreadful moral corruption of homosexuality. But the Lord spoke here only of their concentration on living for this life. He adds to the previous verse that they bought, sold, planted and built. These things show how they were preparing to go on living on earth, with no concern for eternity.

There was progress in the world. Civilisation had advanced. But was it any better morally? … People too easily forget that a far wider judgment is waiting for the world, following the pattern of these two judgments from God.

Only this Gospel gives us this reference to Sodom in the days of Lot. And it is the Lord who tells us about the world before the flood, and about the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah too, and of Zeboiim. He saw it all. He tells us the future too.

There is nothing wrong in these things of the world themselves. The right or the wrong lies in the use man makes of them. There is no conscience in these things, no spiritual affection in them, no moral good in them (they are all God's creatures, of course). The things are not evil… It is a world that is forming pleasures for itself out of what God did create; but it does not care for God, for it rejected Him.

They held their market. The exchange opened, traders met there, and farmers came in from the country with their produce. Housewives went out to buy the food for the day, and everybody was busy… Note this: God is not going to give the world one single bit of warning when He judges it, any more than He gave Sodom. Its only warning was the angels leading Lot out of the city, and that warning the people despised.

The sun had risen on the earth when Lot entered Zoar. And yet that sunny hour was the very time for the rain of burning sulphur and fire to fall. Nothing could happen until Lot reached the city; but once he was in it, nothing more held back the fire.

Scripture nowhere teaches that the time of the earth's blessing will come before Christ comes. It comes after… If you are not a believer, but someone who rejects Christ, that day may catch you by surprise, just as it caught the people of Sodom when they had opened their shops for another day's business and another day's sins.

So in the days of Lot, the people of the cities of the plain were living as if nothing but permanent life on earth lay before them… Fire and brimstone rained down on them from heaven and cut their work short. "So will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed." Only in this Gospel do we have this reference to Sodom in the days of Lot. It is the Lord who tells us about the old world, and about the people of Sodom and Gomorrah… He witnessed it all. He foretells the future likewise.

They held their market. Their exchange was open, and business men met in it. In came the farmers with their produce from the country. The housewives went out to buy the day's food, and everybody was busy… Yes, quite true: "the sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar." Nothing looked different, in nature or in the city… Note this. God is not going to give the world one single bit of warning when He judges it, any more than He gave Sodom. Its only warning was the angels leading Lot out of it, and that warning they clearly despised.

The One to whom vengeance belongs has settled the whole plan of safety… But a solemn scene of judgment goes with all this. After this, Lot entered Zoar, and the sun had risen on the earth. And yet that sunny hour was the very time for the rain of brimstone and fire to fall. Nothing could be done until Lot entered the city, but then nothing remained to be done before the fire came down.

Bitumen, pitch, or sulphur, which is still found in its crude state in Palestine. In God's judgment it was rained from heaven. Gen. 19:24; Ps. 11:6; Ezek. 38:22; Luke 17:29. It is symbolic of what will add to the torment and anguish of the wicked. Rev. 14:10; Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:10; Rev. 21:8.

"Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building." There was progress in the world; civilisation had advanced, but was it any better morally? "But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all." Men too easily forget the judgment that awaits the world. It will be beyond all comparison wider than these two, but it will follow their pattern… No delusion is more ruinous than the idea that Christendom will escape its doom because there is much good in it. The Lord lingers to save souls. When His own are gathered out, judgment will proceed all the more sternly, because the world saw His grace, saw its fruits, and heard His warnings in vain.

The days of Noah ended in a flood of water. The days of Lot ended in a flood of fire. The present age will soon end in a flood as well. It will not be providential or temporary. It will be the direct judgment of God.

Led outside the city, he and those with him are put on the road to safety. But being on the road is not enough. They must reach the place of safety… "Escape for your life," is the word. "Do not look back" — do not turn back. "Do not stop anywhere in the valley; escape to the hills, lest you be swept away."… Know this: there is nothing but judgment for those who stay in the valley. There is no safety except in Christ.

There is a difference between the Greek words epiphaneia, meaning "the outshining", which we believe has to do with His glory, and apokalypsis, which means revelation. Then the One nobody can see will be seen in public: "every eye will see Him". What a reversal! I think the shock of it will grip the world. Suddenly the Man who was despised, rejected and refused will be seen as the glorified One.

This is not about receiving the Church, and it is not about judging the dead. Judging the dead comes later, at the end; receiving the Church comes earlier. Here it is plainly the judgment of the living on the earth, a truth the Christian world has largely forgotten… This can only mean people alive on the earth, taken by surprise when the flood came… Men too easily forget that a far wider judgment, following the pattern of these two acts of God, awaits the world.

This looks nothing like the releasing of Satan and the war of Gog and Magog in Revelation 20, or the past siege of Jerusalem by Titus in A.D. 70… It is not a general judgment in God's providence falling on everyone alike; verses 34 and 35 stand in sharp contrast to that. Nor is it the last judgment, which does not match it in a single feature. It is simply and only the Lord's appearing.

First, it will take the world by surprise. It will find godless people busy with the common pursuits of life, with no thought for the future… So in the days of Lot, the people of the cities of the plain lived as if nothing lay before them but a permanent home on earth… Then fire and burning sulphur rained down on them from heaven and cut their daily work short. Only this Gospel gives us this reference to Sodom in the days of Lot. It is the Lord who tells us about the old world, and about the people of Sodom and Gomorrah… He saw it all. He tells us what is coming too.

There was progress in the world; civilisation had advanced, but was it better morally?

Taking the saints up means taking them out of the way of those judgments. By contrast, the Jews who stay on the earth, and some Gentiles too, must pass through those judgments when they come. Lot passed through in that way. He escaped everything that happened to Sodom, but only barely, as through fire, while Abraham looked on at the judgments that fell on the guilty cities of the plain. In the same way, Noah came through the flood safely, while Enoch was taken up to heaven. These two cases stand as pictures of what will happen at the coming of the Son of Man.

The Son of Man would be revealed in judgment as suddenly as a flash of lightning, just as it was in the days of Noah and of Lot. They were to take care that their hearts were not held by anything they owned in the place under judgment. No one could escape this judgment, because it was God's.

This is not about the destruction of Jerusalem, any more than it is about the final judgment. It is absurd to apply it to death. But the mind of man is clever at finding ways to dodge the blows of the truth. It is a testimony that keeps the coming of the Lord Jesus to judge the inhabited world always hanging over the heads of careless people.

In Luke 17, He Himself compares the days of Noah and of Lot with the day when the Son of Man is revealed... When His day comes as a thief, it will overtake them eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building, marrying and giving in marriage. How strange to apply Luke 17:31 to the dissolving of all things! Or even to the destruction of Jerusalem! It is not a judgment in providence that falls on all alike — verses 34 and 35 stand in sharp contrast to that. Nor is it the last judgment, which it does not match at a single point.

Here the language of the two writers is almost identical. But Luke is not speaking of the siege of Jerusalem here. He is speaking of the revelation of the Son of Man. This makes it clear, therefore, that Matthew is speaking of the same time.

Verse 31 shows how clearly Jewish and local this scene is. The unbelieving people would go on in a false sense of security, counting on things staying as they were.

The point here is escape, because it is not safe to stay... It has nothing at all to do with the Christian's hope of going up to heaven to meet the Lord "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." What would be the point of telling a Christian not to come down from the housetop at that time? Would it matter whether he was at the top or the bottom of the house?

There must be no looking back; that would be to have the heart in the place of judgment. Better to lose everything, life itself, than to be associated with what is going to be judged.

They were to take care that their hearts were not held by anything they owned in the place under judgment. Escaping that judgment would be impossible, for it was God's; it would take away the ones it came for, even if they were together in bed or at the grinding stone.

This is a moral touch for those who might seem safer than others, but are not saved. It is unique to Luke, and a most searching word for everyone whose face and heart are not steadily fixed on the Lord. She was, after all, very close to Lot and seemed to have passed beyond all reach of judgment. But her heart was in the city she looked back to. She paid no attention to the warning of God's messengers, and in her destruction she proved true the word she had not believed. ... There is no security, and no real happiness, except in faith; and faith is always obedient to the Word of the Lord.

The day would be like Lot's day, and like Noah's day. Men would be at ease, busy with their worldly pursuits. They would be like the world that the flood overtook, and like Sodom that fire from heaven overtook... There must be no looking back; that would be to have the heart in the place of judgment. Better to lose everything, life itself, than to be associated with what is going to be judged.

"Remember Lot's wife." This short but weighty sentence shows the Lord's love for His own. It points to the danger His people must avoid on that day.

This is a moral touch for those who might seem safer than others, but are not saved. Only Luke records it. It is a most searching word for everyone whose face and heart are not steadily fixed on the Lord. She was very near to Lot, and she seemed to be out of all reach of judgment. But her heart was in the city she looked back to. She paid no attention to the warning of God's messengers. In her destruction she proved true the word she had not believed... There is no security, and no real happiness, except in faith. And faith always obeys the word of the Lord.

She was married to a true saint. Abraham, an eminent saint, prayed for her. Angels from heaven pressed her to leave. Yet she was lost. She had the unclean nature that loved the filthy garbage of Sodom. What upset Lot clearly had attractions for her.

Nearly saved, but not quite! Near to the place of safety, but not in it... She lingered a little behind her husband. Then this thought came up: I do not think the Lord will judge the place after all. Although her body was outside Sodom, her heart was inside it. So she decided to take a little look, despite the word, "Do not look back." Just as she was entering Zoar, the place of safety, she disobeyed God. Judgment overtook her... Unbelief led to disobedience.

The angels brought her out of Sodom, but she had left her heart there. She cared more about Sodom than about the word of God that the angels had spoken... To the disciples the Lord Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth." Lot and his wife should have been "salt" in that way in Sodom. She should have been salt inside Sodom in a moral sense. Instead she becomes salt outside it in a literal sense, a memorial of "the goodness and the severity of God."

Men bury themselves in the things of earth trying to save their lives. The result is that they only lose them. The believer is to let these things go in favour of the far greater things that God reveals to him. He preserves his life, as will be very clear when the Lord comes. Lot's wife illustrated this principle. The angels pulled her body out of Sodom, but her heart was still there. She lost everything, and her own life as well.

To her, leaving Sodom was exile, not deliverance... And this raises a solemn, practical question for us. How do our souls think about separation from the world? In the judgment of our hearts, is it exile or redemption? Are we singing over that thought, like Israel at the Red Sea? Or are we like Israel later on, remembering the fish of Egypt, its onions, its leeks, and its cucumbers?

This is not a question of the destruction of Jerusalem, any more than of the final judgment; and it is absurd to apply it to death. But the mind of man is clever at inventing ways to dodge the blows of the truth. It is a testimony that keeps one thing always hanging over the heads of careless people: the Lord Jesus is coming to judge the inhabited world.

One who sought to save his life would lose it, because he considered his possessions his life (v.33). This is a moral lesson for all times, but it will stand out sharply in that future time of tribulation.

There must be no looking back; that would be to have the heart in the place of judgment. Better to lose everything, even life itself, than to stay tied to what judgment is coming on. Suppose they did escape and keep their lives by being unfaithful. The judgment was still the judgment of God. He would know how to reach them in their bed. He could tell apart two people lying in one bed, and two women grinding the household's grain at the same mill.

Lot's wife looked back. Lot himself was a righteous man, though caught in the traps of the world. His wife only claimed to believe. She leaves the city, but her heart is still there. She looks back to the place she loved. So she becomes a lasting warning to everyone who only claims to believe. In a moment of fear such people may separate from the world, yet they have never known the call of the LORD.

The world to come reverses the finding and losing of the soul in this present world. There the finding becomes losing, and the losing finding. He who makes himself the object of his life loses himself and is cast away. He who sacrifices self and its interests for Christ's sake is really preserving everything for the world to come… And actually dying as a martyr is not needed at all for this to apply. Could none but those who actually die a martyr's death live eternally? Making it a question of literal death or life would say so.

Everything now depends on eternal life. It is no longer a question of living long on the earth… So if a man is careful to save his life now, he will lose it. He may save it in a lower sense, but he will lose it in a deeper. He may save it in this world, but lose it for eternity. But if I am willing to lose it in the lower, I shall save it in the best — the eternal — sense.

There is no security, and no real happiness, except in faith. And faith is always obedient to the word of the Lord.

He lets us know that in that night two would be in one bed; one taken, and the other left. So two women at the mill; for here we are not dealing with human judgments. God will then judge the living. Your company, your work, your sex, indoors or outdoors — none of it makes a difference. There can be no shelter or exemption. Two might be ever so closely bound together, but God would distinguish.

Here again the proof is complete and obvious. This is not a question of the Romans dealing with Jerusalem and the Jews, for the conqueror made no such distinction among the conquered. Nor is it any other providential judgment carried out by man, for man cannot distinguish like this. But it is not so with the Son of Man.

At first glance some have thought that this was like the rapture of the church, but it is exactly the reverse. At the rapture the saints are caught away, and the world is left to carry on its course. But when the Lord comes to judge the living on the earth, the taking away is in judgment. The righteous are left, and they pass into blessing on the earth in the millennium.

Those taken are taken by the judgment, not to blessing. Judgment is clearing the earth. So whatever is corrupting it must be removed. Take the case of Noah and the generation of his day: the flood came and took them all away. That shows what the taking away means here.

What right does he have to say that paralēmphthēsetai means taken home? The word "taken" is the ordinary word for taken. Other words in some passages may bring in the thought of home, but that is not in this passage at all. For instance, Matthew 4:5 says, "Then the devil took Him." He certainly did not take Him home. Matthew 27:27 says, "the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters." He was not taken home.

How is it that centuries before Copernicus lived, we find the coming of the Son of Man foretold as happening at the same time in broad daylight, at early morning, and in the dark of night? We see it in two men in the field, two women grinding together, and two men in one bed, all at the same moment. This could only happen if the earth turns on its axis. Sunlight then bathes the part facing the sun, while darkness wraps the part turned away.

He had spoken of two in one bed, one taken and the other left, and the same at the mill and in the field. And they ask, where will this taking and leaving happen? The answer was, "Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather." It is as if the Lord had said: "Where? What a strange question!" When the eagles hunt their prey, where do they go? Wherever a carcass is to be found. When these eagle-judgments are out searching for the wicked, where will they settle? Of course, wherever a wicked one is to be found.

That day will be a day of dreadful judgment — but judgment that distinguishes one person from another. For in that night two men will be in one bed; the one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding together, preparing the day's food; the one will be taken, and the other left. But taken for what? The context shows it is for judgment. At the flood the ungodly were swept off the earth. The sinners of Sodom were cut off. In the same way, those taken here will be taken away by an act of judgment.

"Taken" for judgment by the coming King; "left" for blessing in the kingdom. Suppose the Lord had been speaking here of the church or the Christian. Then the taking would have pointed to being caught up to heaven. But the context proves clearly, in both Gospels, that He is speaking of Jews in that future day when He appears. By then the heavenly saints have already been caught up, and they appear with Him in glory.

At a first glance some have thought that this was like the rapture of the church, but it is exactly the reverse. At the rapture the saints are caught away, and the world is left to go on in its course. But when the Lord comes to judge the living on the earth, the taking away is a judgment. The righteous are the ones left, and they pass into blessing on the earth in the millennium.

Here again the proof is complete and plain. This is not the Romans dealing with Jerusalem and the Jews, for the conqueror made no such distinction among the conquered. Nor is it any other judgment that God works out through men, for man cannot tell people apart like this. But it is not so with the Son of man, who will judge between one and another, whether among Jews or among Gentiles.

What right has anyone to say that paralēmphthēsetai means taken home? The word "taken" is the ordinary word for taken. Other words in some passages may bring in the thought of home, but it is not in this passage at all. For instance, Matthew 4:5 says, "Then the devil takes Him." He certainly did not take Him home. Matthew 27:27 says the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters. He was not taken home.

He lets us know that in that night two would be in one bed, one taken and the other left. So with two women at the mill. For here we are not dealing with human judgments. God will then judge the living. So whatever the relationship, the work, or the sex, indoors or outdoors, there can be no shelter and no one excused. Two might be ever so closely bound together, but God would distinguish between them by His own exact discernment of their state: one will be taken, and the other left.

But when the Lord had given this solemn warning, the disciples exclaimed, "Where, Lord?" And they ask, Where will this taking and leaving be? ... When the eagles seek their prey, where do they go? Wherever there is a carcass to be found. When these eagle-judgments are out searching for the wicked, where will they rest? Of course, wherever any wicked one is to be found. If he is in bed, or at the mill, or in the field, whatever righteous ones may be his companions, even there those judgments will go.

The illustrations that our Lord gives in Matthew 24 are dead against the opposite explanation, which says that those taken are taken for blessing and those left are left for judgment. Was not Noah left on the earth for blessing, and the people before the flood taken away in judgment? A parallel passage — Luke 17:20-37 — speaks of Lot. He was preserved for blessing; the inhabitants of Sodom were swept away in judgment.

"Taken" for judgment by the coming King; "left" for blessing in the kingdom. If the Lord had been speaking here of the church or the Christian, the taking would naturally have pointed to being caught up to heaven. But the context proves decisively in both Gospels that He speaks of Jews in that future day of His appearing.

Those who carry out God's judgment will not fail to be found wherever an object calls for it in that day. Power and righteousness are then together, and a wisdom equal even to that great occasion. It is the day of Jehovah for the world. The area of judgment is not limited to Judea as in Matthew 24, where a similar but stronger phrase appears.

The Lord makes some allusion to Job 39:30, though it is a proverbial expression, and one need not go far to find its meaning. Where the carcass of Israel is, there the judgment of God will descend with the sight and the speed of an eagle.

Now, if you apply this to the church — to the Christian — what will you be able to make of it? Is the church the carcass? I have heard something still more dreadful. There have been men who say the reference is to the Lord! ... Is the church a corpse? I believe it to be a living body. And the Lord is not regarded as a body dead or even alive, but as the Head.

The closing verses of Luke 17 are occupied with the appearing of the Lord, when He comes in His kingdom and executes judgment on the living. So the comparison is with the days of Noah and of Lot. It is not the heavenly hope dawning, as in Luke 12:32-38, but "the day that the Son of man is revealed," when the birds of prey are gathered together over the corpse.