Audio Download

The Fowl of The Air

[Study Aired April 12, 2026]

What is signified by “the fowls of the air?”

This study concerns the prophecy of Matthew 24, specifically verse 28:

Mat 24:28  For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

I take this title from the Lord’s words in Mark 4:

Mar 4:4  And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.

What is Christ telling us when He makes this statement concerning such an obvious truth about what eagles do?

We’re going to answer that question in this study. The spiritual significance of flesh being consumed by the fowls of the air will take up most of our Bible study because our carnal-minded flesh is just naturally and by default subject to all the lies, false doctrines and deceptions with which “the prince of the powers of the air” (Eph 2:2) has deceived the whole world (Rev 12:9).

Christ’s first words to His disciples makes this clear:

Mat 24:1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
Mat 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

When you read the Bible, you see the words in front of you and think of the temple that they were standing in front of and how huge the stones are. They are huge stones, and it is a wonder how they actually got those stones there. What’s in your mind is the physical, but, I am telling you as Christ tells you later in this chapter, “Let him that reads understand.” When you hear ‘There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” this is not talking about the stones of the temple to you or me as God’s elect. This is talking about what’s in our lives. If we don’t see these spiritual truths behind these physical letters, then we are not getting anything out of what Christ says later in this chapter.

Let me go back to make this point.

Mat 21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone [Christ] shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

These are the stones in the temple that we need to be thinking of.

Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world (age- Greek: aion)?

I want you to notice that this is not addressed to the multitudes. The Matthew 24 prophecy, according to the gospel of Mark, was addressed privately to just four of the Lord’s apostles:

Mar 13:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,
Mar 13:4  Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?
Mar 13:5  And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:
Mar 13:6  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

This prophecy was originally addressed to but four of the apostles and notice that in Mark’s account the first words out of Christ’s mouth is a warning against the work of ‘eagles eating carcasses’ and function of ‘the birds of the air.’ What you are about to hear is something that a few people got to hear at the time it was first revealed. What is being said here, once again, is talking about the end of my age and your age, not the end of someone else’s age. It has to be applied personally and inwardly.

Mat 24:4-5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

If you think Christ was speaking to these four disciples about events 2,000 years in the future then please explain this verse to me:

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

There are many people who come in Jesus Christ’s name and who teach about Jesus Christ and who do many wonderful works in the name of Jesus Christ, but they don’t have one bit of use for the words of Jesus Christ.

Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

This is who Jesus Christ is talking about here. He’s not talking about the occasional person who claims to be ‘Jesus Christ’ like Sun Yung Moon. He’s talking about “many” people, and many means the majority. Most people will come in Christ’s name, saying that He is Christ and will deceive most people; in other words, the Christian religion. Let’s just call things what they are.

Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

Once again, let me say it again so we can stay focused: Christ intended for us to apply all of this inwardly. Realize that this is talking to all of us including me. I, Mike Vinson, have been deceived; Mike Vinson was taken into the Babylonian system of the Christian religion that claims to know Christ and does many wonderful works in his name. Mike Vinson was deceived, he was one of the many deceived, and if you don’t see that these words also apply to you, then you are probably going to go to church every Sunday thinking you are not deceived.

Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

“They shall deliver you up… and shall kill you.” Why would “all nations” hate a dead man? It is after you begin to die to the flesh that you begin to be hated. They will ‘deliver you up to be afflicted’ and will kill you. That’s good! That’s the best thing that happens to you when you begin to die.

Mat 24:10-11 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

Who is he talking about here? Heathen people? No, the many people who are deceived thinking they know Christ. That’s what we are talking about. Christ is talking about people who have been called, who have accepted him, who come in His name, do many wonderful works and deceive people. At that point, many are offended and betray one another and hate one another.

Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

This is many coming in Christ’s name, saying they are following Christ, using Christ’s name, claiming they love Christ’s name and doctrine and they deceive many, most, the majority. That’s the litmus test right there, because God is love. While you can talk love all day, it is hard to live love, it is hard to turn the other cheek. You can’t do it. It takes Jesus Christ in you to do it. This is what separates the called from the chosen, this verse:

Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Nobody is saved right now. We are in the process of being converted, but being converted is not saved. “He that endures to the end shall be saved.” When they are resurrected, they are saved. You are converted, you are living a good Christian life, but read Ezekiel 3, and it will come right out and tell you, no matter how good a life you live, if you turn your back on it at the end, all your good works account for nothing. No matter how evil you have been, if you turn from your evil works, all your evil works count for nothing. It is what you do at the end that counts. The workers that came in at the last hour received their wages before the people who had been there working all day, doing the same works as the other people.

If you have the love of Christ, you are not the least bit perturbed at what God does. All things are of God to you. He could give the house away, and you would say “Amen, Father!”

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Mat 24:15  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:)

What does Matthew 24:14 mean to you? Does it mean that the churches of Babylon have to get the gospel preached in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America and the whole world? That’s been done for years. The gospel has been preached in all the continents of all the world for many years. If you still think that nations and kingdoms of Matthew 24 are outward nations, then you are apt to also think of the abomination of desolation is also outward and it will take place in some outward temple in some outward nation. That is how the whole world thinks of this prophecy. The churches of this world teach that Matthew 24 and the book of Revelation are both speaking of ‘end time events.’ They teach that all these things are yet future and are ‘out there’ somewhere in Europe or in the middle east. Most Christian ministers teach that the abomination of desolation will occur in a future temple yet to be built in Jerusalem. If indeed that is what you believe, then you don’t understand verse 15 at all:

Mat 24:15  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:)

“Whoso reads, let him understand” reveals that very few will understand what “the abomination that maketh desolate” means. “Whoso readeth let him understand” is telling us that only those who are “given ears that hear, and eyes that see” will understand. It is all to be understood as a message to the spirit within those who are given the spirit. God is spirit, and all that we see and touch is His way of getting through to us what is going on in the powers and principalities we are really wrestling against. These verses tell us about how the Lord communicates with His spirit within us:

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. [spiritual words]
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The Greek actually reads “comparing spiritual with spiritual.” The word ‘things’ is added by the translators.

What did Christ tell us about His words:

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth [G2227: ‘zoopoieo’, to make alive]. ; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life [G2222: ‘Zoe’, life].

With the understanding that the Lord’s words “are spirit” let’s ask, “What does the holy place mean?” “The holy place” is you; it is your heart and your mind; that is ‘the holy place.’ We are very clearly informed that spiritually speaking, which is what Christ tells us His Words are, “you are the temple of God.” The holy place is “the holy of holies” in the second room of the temple. It is the last room into which only the high priest was permitted to enter, and that was only once in the year on the day of atonement:

Heb 9:7  But into the second went the high priest alone once every year [On the day of atonement, Lev 16:16-17], not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Paul repeats this revolutionary Truth three chapters later in this same epistle and then again in his second epistle to this church:

1Co 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

2Co 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

What is ‘the abomination of desolation?’ It is “the beast… the man of sin [you and me] the son of perdition [our dying old man] who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God [“which temple ye are”], showing himself that he is God.” “The abomination that makes desolate” is you and me ruling in our own lives; it is our ‘beast’ within, empowered by the great red dragon, (Rev 13:2) having you and me for lunch, eating the dust that we are. That is the abomination of desolation. If you are given to see that “ye are the temple of God” and that you are also the man of sin sitting on God’s own throne within His own dwelling place, His own temple, then you can also see clearly that when Christ speaks of the gospel of the kingdom being preached in all the nations, this is also an inward statement speaking of all the powers and principalities within you, and within me, within each of us. Then you will see that beast, that man of sin, sitting on the throne in your heart, doing what he wants and never having lost a battle:

Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Once you see the inward application of scripture, then you finally have a handle on who “the man of sin” is.

2Th 2:3  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;
2Th 2:4  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.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

What Paul told these Thessalonians when he was with them was the same thing he told the Corinthians when he was with them… “Know you not that ye are the temple of God…” (1Co 3:15-16)

Now we can finally understand that what Christ taught His disciples in Matthew 13 was preparing them to understand His prophecy in Matthew 24:

Mat 13:9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Continuing on in Matthew 13 where Christ is explaining how we are to understand His words in Matthew 24 and everywhere else:

Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see [spiritually], and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear [spiritually], and have not heard them.
Mat 13:18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
Mat 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and [spiritually] understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one [“the fowls of the air”, (Mar 4:4)], and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

What is he talking about here? How does this have an inward application? Let’s let Christ finish what He is telling us here in Matthew 13 so we can apply the principles He is giving us here to what He tells us later in Matthew 24:

Mat 13:20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Mat 13:21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Mat 13:22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

‘He that received seed into stony places, receives it with joy, yet has no root in himself’ and does not ‘endure to the end’ when persecution comes because of the word, and he also who received the seed among the thorns is choked by the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and becomes unfruitful. What Christ is telling us here in Matthew 13 is just confirming what Christ had already taught us in:

Mat 7:13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

“Few there be that find it” here in Matthew 7 is the same message Christ is giving to us in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 where He tells us that it is not given to the multitudes of Christians who come to Him to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto [the multitudes] in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you [the “few… that find it”] to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them is it not given. [the “many there be which go in… the broad way”]

With this knowledge that few are given to understand Christ’s spiritual words let’s return to His words in Matthew 24:

Mat 24:15  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:)
Mat 24:16  Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Mat 24:17  Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Mat 24:18  Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
Mat 24:19  And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
Mat 24:20  But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
Mat 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

If this is not to be applied internally and spiritually, then how can it have any application for that time? Where was the abomination of desolation and the great tribulation 2,000 years ago? Why would Christ say, ‘Woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days’? It should be clear to all of us that Christ does not think any less of a pregnant woman nor a suckling child than He thinks of you and me.

If you don’t see this internally and spiritually, then you will never understand the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation says “the time is at hand [to] read, hear and keep the saying of the prophecy of this book.”

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Both Matthew 24 and the book of Revelation prophesy about a ‘great tribulation’ and ‘earthquakes’ and all kinds of trials and plagues. Both tell us that these prophecies “are at hand” and both tell us these things will be fulfilled in “this generation… for the time is at hand.” Revelation 1:3 is exactly what Christ says here in Matthew 24:

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Once you accept that everything Christ prophesied came to pass in that generation, and that ‘His Words do not pass away’ but continue to be fulfilled in every generation since those words were first spoken… once you are given to accept that as a truth, not to be negotiated, then you will understand why Jesus Christ says so many times in the book of Revelation, ‘I am he that is, was and will be.’ Once you get a handle on the ‘is, was and will be,’ nature of Christ’s Words, then the word of God opens up to you in a way that it will never be understood otherwise.

‘But for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened’ (Mat 24:22). How does that apply generation by generation? Right here it is:

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

That’s the days being shortened so the elect can “bear it.” If Jesus Christ is not in us, if He Himself is not living in us daily, and the days are not being shortened so we can bear it in our flesh, nobody would make it, no flesh would be saved alive.

Right at this juncture in your walk, when you are beginning to see that you are in Babylon:

Mat 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

Don’t believe it! All this talk about a secret rapture is a bunch of lies.

Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs [G4592: ‘semeion’] and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

That Greek word ‘semeion’, translated as ‘signs’ here in Matthew 24:24 is the same Greek word translated as ‘miracles’ in Revelation 13:

Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles [G4592: ‘semeion’] which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Spiritual gifts are not a synonym for the love of God or the fruits of the spirit. Spiritual gifts do not signify a mature son of God. The immature disciples of Christ were given to cast out demons and heal the sick long before they were even converted:

Luk 10:9  And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

Luk 10:17  And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.

Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Luk 22:33  And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
Luk 22:34  And he said, I tell thee, Peter, this day, before that the cock shall crow thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

Here is a Biblical Truth which is understood by very few. Paul tells us the church at Corinth “came behind in no gift”, and yet he tells them they are “yet carnal… babes in Christ”:

1Co 1:4  I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
1Co 1:5  That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
1Co 1:6  Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
1Co 1:7  So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Skipping ahead to chapter three:

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

God’s elect mature sons know the difference between gifts of the spirit and fruits of the spirit. You cannot and will not have “the fruits of the spirit” if Christ is not living His life in you. You will not and cannot, love your enemy without Christ being in you.

We will pause this study on “the fowls of the air” at this point and finish it in our next study.