by
David Allen Lewis
The
judgment of the sheep and the goats has long been a source of intrigue to
theologians and Bible students. Misappropriation of this important passage
of
Scripture leads to doctrinal fantasies that affect the quality of one's
eschatological views concerning the end of this age. On the other hand, a clear
understanding
of Matthew 24:31-46 has a most salutatory effect on our appreciation of our
position in Christ as well as giving us answers to some of the
most
intriguing questions presented to our minds as we approach the time of the
Lord's Coming.
Some
of the things that we will try to answer in this essay are:
1.
When does the judgment take place in relation to other prophetic events?
2.
Who are the nations: the sheep and the goats?
3.
What does the outcome of this judgment show us?
4.
Who are the Shepherd-King's (Christ's) brethren (the recipients of good deeds)?
5.
Is this a parable or a prophecy?
6.
What comes after this event?
"When
the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then
shall he sit upon the throne of his glory" (Matthew 24:31).
This
passage does not describe the rapture of the church nor does it describe the
great White Throne Judgment. It refers to the visible second coming of
Jesus
Christ which takes place at the end of the 70th week, designated as the
tribulation. The judgment of the sheep and goats takes place at the end of
the
tribulation to determine who of earth's natural folk will be allowed to enter
the millennium to rebuild the earth after the calamitous ruin of the
wars
and plagues of the great tribulation. The sheep are the people who will
repopulate the planet during the visibly manifested kingdom of God of 1,000
years
duration.
"And
before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats" (Matthew 24:32).
It
is singularly important at this juncture that we identify what is meant by
nations (Gr. ethnos). It is the conclusion of this author that nations, as
such,
are not referred to in this passage of Scripture. The Greek word ethnos is used
in the New Testament 164 times. The word is translated variously
as
follows: "Gentiles" 93 times; "nations" 64 times;
"heathen" 5 times; "people" 2 times. In general, the term
"nations" is commonly used to describe the
human
race.
In
addition, it is interesting to note that the Hebrew equivalent of ethnos
(goyim) is translated into the word "nation" 374 times;
"heathen" 143; "Gentiles"
30;
and "people" 11. We will demonstrate in the exposition of this text
that the word is used here, not as the general concept of nations, but rather
as
people.
So we would understand the meaning of verse 32 to be: "And before him
shall be gathered all people comprising the nations of this world." One
can
only
conclude that it is individual people and not whole nations that are being
judged.
"And
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall
the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew
25:33, 34).
One
thing is sure: No one will inherit the kingdom and everlasting life because he
is a Norwegian, a Scot or an African. By the same token, no one will
be
sent to hell because of a national identity. God does not have two ways of
salvation. People are saved not by works, but by the grace of God through
the
redeeming work of Calvary.
The
sheep on His right hand are those individuals who are saved as a result of the
witness of the 144,000, and comprise a company of people so vast that
no
man can number them. See the seventh chapter of Revelation.
Obviously
the antichrist will murder many who resist him, but the beast is not as
powerful as some have thought him to be. Many new post-rapture tribulation
believers
will escape out of his hand. These new believers are the sheep in this future
judgment. The sheep receive salvation, not because of their national
identity,
but because they will receive Christ as their personal Savior. Their good deeds
are a product of their transformed hearts. Salvation is not a
reward
for good deeds.
For
I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I
was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick,
and
ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous
answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee?
or
thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When
saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when
saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall
answer
and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one
of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (Matthew
25:35-40).
In
the traditional mode of interpretation in this fascinating passage, the sheep
and goat nations are generally identified as literal nations. We think
that
seeing the sheep and goats not as national entities but as the individuals who
comprise the nations is much more reasonable and in line with the context
of
the entire Bible. Thus the sheep are those people who treated Christ's brethren
with mercy and true Christian charity.
Christ's
"brethren" refers to the 144,000 Israelites, 12,000 from every tribe
of Israel, a mighty company of tribulation witnesses for the Lord. The
post-rapture
converts
from all the Gentile nations will react with goodwill and kindness to the
144,000 Jewish evangelists. This is a natural reaction, amplified by
the
Holy Spirit's anointing and guidance upon the new believers.
The
reason we identify Christ's brethren primarily as Jews will be apparent. The
only recognizable human groups on earth during the tribulation are:
1.
Israelites, including 144,000 Jewish preachers of the Gospel. Scripture regards
all of Israel to be Christ's brethren according to the flesh. (See Romans
9:3-5.)
2.
The tribulation-time Gentile converts. Saint Paul describes born-again people
as former Gentiles. (See 1 Corinthians 12:2, Ephesians 2:11-12.)
The
goyim, or unsaved, pagan Gentiles. Only people in categories one and two could
ever qualify as Jesus' brethren. Never, in any age, would unbelieving
pagan
goyim be thought of as Christ's brethren.
Salvation
by Nationality? By Works?
This
entire account of the judgment of the sheep and goats proposes a problem as it
is normally translated in our English Bibles. On the surface, it seems
that
the passage teaches that salvation is received because of national identity
(sheep nations), through good works.
Even
more distressing is the idea that people who are part of a goat nation are
damned to eternal hell because of their nationality and because everyone
in
that goat nation has neglected the works spoken of by the Son of Man who sits
upon the throne.
Nothing
could be further from the truth. To think that salvation comes by any means
other than God's merciful grace through faith is not recognizable as
being
a Biblical teaching. It is absolutely grotesque!
St.
Paul teaches, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-10).
The
great apostle of faith advocates our premise exactly. The phrase, "created
in Christ Jesus unto good works," can be applied to Jesus' teaching in the
prophecy
of Matthew chapter 25 regarding the sheep and goats. The people who will treat
Christ's brethren with kindness do so because they are saved. It
is
not the reverse, to wit, they are not saved by their mitzvot (good deeds).
Then
shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an
hungered,
and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a
stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick,
and
in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying,
Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked,
or
sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them,
saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the
least
of these, ye did it not to me (Matthew 25:41-45).
At
this juncture we note again that one is not damned because of his nationality,
so it is individuals and not entire nations that are being judged. If
the
traditional mode of interpretation were followed, we would have entire nations
being cast into hell with individuals having no opportunity to accept
or
reject Christ.
"And
these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life
eternal" (Matthew 25:46).
This
is no parable. It is a prophecy of definite future events! Verse 46 powerfully
drives home the fact that this passage is set in a post- tribulation
scenario
in which Jesus judges the people of planet earth. Every living person on earth
at the end of the tribulation is sent into hell, or is granted
entry
into the millennial kingdom, saved forever.
The
subjects of the judgment are twofold. First of all, there are the goats that
are damned for eternity. This damnation results from a rejection of God's
plan
of salvation. They are incorrigible rebels who have slavishly followed the
beast, have received his mark and worshiped his image. Their neglect of
good
deeds is a testimony of their hatred for the chosen people, the Jewish nation,
and it reflects the unredeemed condition of their souls. No one is
damned
because of his or her national identity.
The
second group is the sheep, representing those who will be saved in the
tribulation and who survive the wrath of the antichrist. These survivors stand
as
redeemed individuals before the Judge and are rewarded with entrance to the
kingdom because they accepted Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord.
Their
good deeds are displayed as evidence that they truly know Jesus as their
Savior.
The
tribulation-redeemed people (who survive martyrdom) will be subjects of
Christ's kingdom during the 1,000 year reign of Jesus on the throne of David
in
Jerusalem.
The
millennium, however, is an idyllic age, not a perfect age. There will be
occurrences of sin, rebellion, death and punishment (Zechariah 10
You
may wonder how saved people, living in the millennium under the reign of Jesus
Himself could possibly become rebels? After all, was not their reward
eternal
life (verse 46)? The answer is very simple. They cannot and will not rebel.
The
original earthlings who are allowed entrance into the millennial kingdom are
all saved people. They are saved after the rapture of the church. They
hide
from the antichrist and are not beheaded by the henchmen of the beast. They
stand in the judgment when everyone living on earth at the end of the
tribulation
will be called before the judgment throne.
The
sheep people who enter the millennium may be few in number. Having passed the
test in the Matthew 25 judgment, they have eternal life and cannot and
will
not rebel against Jesus but they will have children and grandchildren and great
grandchildren. Ideal living conditions characterize the earthly kingdom.
Poverty
and hunger are a thing of the past. There will be no wars. Under this umbrella
of physical grace, the population could easily reach 20 billion
in
1,000 years.
Those
born in the millennium will hear the preaching of the Gospel and must decide
whether or not to accept Jesus as Savior. Even under the wonderful conditions
on
planet earth when no one will be hungry and there will be more than adequate
housing for everyone, when wild animals will be tame and peace prevails
everywhere,
Jesus has to rule with an iron scepter to keep order (Psalm 2:9; Revelation
12:5; 19:15).
"Never
again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who
does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought
a
mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed"
(Isaiah 65:20 NIV). A thousand years' worth of generations will build the
greatest
civilization
earth has ever known. However, the offspring of the early pioneer
millennialists will not be coerced to except Christ as Savior. The purpose
of
the millennial age is to finally prove that the fallen human heart inclines
toward evil, unless the individual calls upon God for salvation. Even with
Satan
bound up during the 1,000 years and Jesus ruling the earth, there is rebellion,
especially at the very end of the millennium. See Revelation 20.
God
has no grandchildren. He only has sons and daughters. Jesus' dialogue with
Nicodemus as recorded in John's Gospel expresses it this way, "Jesus
answered
and
said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). (Also see John 3:7, 1 Peter
1:23.)
Let
us emphasize one more time that God does not have two or more plans of salvation.
The only salvation is provided for us by the death of Jesus on the
cross
and empowered by His victorious resurrection from the dead. This provision
applies to pre-Christian, Old-Covenant believers as well as all who are
saved
in the Church Age and further to all who will be saved in the tribulation and
in the millennium. Isaiah points out that the kingdom age will be the
greatest
time of bliss for humanity since the fall from Eden.
A
curious fact is that the Hebrew prophets, with their Near East mind-set did
not, in many cases, manifest a high regard for chronological arrangement of
ideas.
This challenges our Western mode of straight-line thinking. We seem to be
fanatics for chronology. Isaiah 65 is a good example of Oriental construction
and
expression of ideas:
Behold,
I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be
remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice for ever
in
what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people
a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the
sound
of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more (Isaiah 65:17-19).
This
portion of Isaiah's prophecy refers to the eternal state of the redeemed. In
verse 20 he reverts to predicting millennial conditions, many of which
are
temporary:
Never
again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who
does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought
a
mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They
will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat
their
fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and
others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people;
my
chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. They will not toil in
vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed
by
the LORD, they and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will
feed
together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the
serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy
mountain,"
says
the LORD (Isaiah 65:20-25).
Verse
25 beautifully describes the taming of all wild beasts and indicates the fact
that peace will prevail on God's earth. While it is not specifically
mentioned
that this is the 1,000 year phase of the eternal kingdom, pre-millennialists
will agree that this is the case.
We
know that many unredeemed people born in the millennium will be deluded when
Satan is loosed from the abyss and goes abroad throughout the world deceiving
vulnerable,
unsaved people who have already begun to question the person and authority of
Jesus. This, not Armageddon, is absolutely the final conflict
of
the ages.
Scripture
does not teach a general judgment for all humanity. But let me tell you briefly
about two other judgments that lie in the future. (For more information,
see
Chapter 12, Believers Bow Before the Bema.) One is the Bema judgment when,
after the rapture, all believers from Adam until the rapture (some say only
church
believers) will be evaluated according to their works, not to determine whether
they are saved or lost, but to determine what works they have done
which
deserve rewards. Everyone in this Judgment is saved before he arrives there.
Some receive great rewards. Some receive no rewards, but they are saved:
Now
if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall
declare
it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's
work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built
thereupon,
he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer
loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire (1 Corinthians
3:14-15).
This
Bema judgment of believers takes place right after the rapture of the church.
Paul speaks of it as "The judgment seat of Christ" before which all
believers
must
appear.
While
this is going on in heaven, the seven-year tribulation unfolds on earth. At the
end of the tribulation, Jesus will come back to earth with all the
holy
angels and with the raptured, glorified church in His entourage. (See
Revelation 19:8, 14.)
In
Revelation 19 and 20, the writer, John, describes how Messiah defeats
antichrist at Armageddon. Satan, the false prophet and the antichrist are
incarcerated
in
the lake of fire. "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received
the
mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive
into a lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Revelation 19:20). And
the
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where
the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night
for
ever and ever (Revelation 20:10).
The
judgment of the sheep and goats takes place. The millennium begins. At the end
of the 1,000 years, Satan is loosed for a season. He deceives many, builds
an
army, attacks Christ at Jerusalem, and is defeated, nevermore to have access to
planet earth. The Second Resurrection of all the wicked dead takes place.
The
millennium comes to an end. The battle of Gog and Magog II is over. Satan is
cast into the Lake of Fire. Now it is time for the final and last of all
judgments:
the great White Throne judgment.
And
I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth
and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I
saw
the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and
another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged
out
of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And
the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered
up
the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their
works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second
death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into
the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).
This
is not a judgment to decide who is saved and who is lost. That has already been
decided by each individual, in this life, on this earth. Since all
redeemed
persons are already resurrected in the first resurrection, this is a judgment
of the damned. This event is to reveal the degree and intensity
of
punishment each sinner will endure in the Lake of Fire.
No
More Wars, Poverty, nor Death - Never Again And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:
for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there
was
no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard
a
great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall
be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither
shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he
that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he
said
unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful (Revelation 21:1- 5).
Behold,
I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this
book. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give
every man according as his work shall be. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come.
And
whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
He
which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so,
come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen
(Revelation
22:7, 12, 17, 20, 21).