Luke 17:26-37 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. 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.
Luke 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
The temptation is to view the Luke 17 passage as referring only to the End Times and the inclusion of the Luke 18 passage in the Lectionary selection would seem to confirm the intended context of this passage. In this way of thinking, the world would get progressively worse, but the faithful would be saved from the coming judgment by God at the Second Coming of Christ.
Another possible way to view these passages are in the context of the time between the ministry of Jesus and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The decline of Israel as the Church rises would be marked with great divisions as many would follow Christ and be driven out of Israel. The Hebrew religion would be seen as the dead body. In this way of thinking, the eagles can be seen as the Roman army who would destroy the Hebrew temple, kill most of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and carry off those who remained to slaver after the city fell. Overemphasis of this view has led some to depart from the faith and they abandon the Creedal statement "From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead". For a representative of this view of this passage see Gary Demar's book "Last Days Madness: Obsession of the Modern Church", p 486 (Third Edition).
There's a sense in which both are true. The destruction of Jerusalem was a significant event in redemptive history. At the end of time, Christ will come again and judge the world. People would be separated into those who are faithful to Christ and those who reject His Kingship over their lives.
The vcrses that are skipped (Luke 8:1-7). in the gap between the two passages are the parable of the judge who is worn out by the pleas for justice from the wronged woman. They show that even if an unrighteous judge will give satisfaction to the woman, how much more God hears the cries of his people.
This is in the Liturgy as the APOLYTIKION OF ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL:
"O ye foremost of the heavenly host, we beseech thee, though we are unworthy. Pray that we may be encompassed with the shadow of thy unearthly glory. Preserving us who kneel and cry endlessly. Deliver us from oppression since Ye are the princes of the highest power."
The source for this is found in Psalm 72:12 and the surrounding verses as well as other Psalms.
Psalm 72:12 For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.
Psalm 119:134 Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.
The Church identifies this Archangel with Michael specifically because he is the one who first answers the call when his voice is heard:
1 Thes 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
In the time between now and our deliverance from oppression we call for preservation from the evil times we live in. Between now and then we are admonished to Remember Lot's Wife. We are to not look back to the things of this world with fondness at those sins entangled us and kept us in bondage but are to look to the One who delivers us.
The difficulty of this on-going struggle is seen in the rhetorical question:
"...when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
We are to persist knowing that the time of our deliverance draws near.
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