Gino (23 July 2023)
"judgment of the sheep and goat nations?"


(I'm convinced that there may be a number of people that may disagree with things I have written, here, maybe even with all of it.
I have considered, for a long time, that four judgments stand out.
The first judgment was that on our sins, upon Jesus on the cross.
Then for those who have believed on Jesus for salvation, there is the judgment seat of Christ.
That is an individual judgment, not to see if they go to heaven or hell, no they are already saved, it will result in rewards or lack thereof.
There is also an individual great white throne judgment for the lost, not to see if they go to heaven or hell, no they are the dead and not in the book of life.
But there is a more corporate judgment of the sheep and goat nations:)

 

Matthew 25:31 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:

  32 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:

  33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

 

(This judgment of the sheep and goat nations is not the final judgment.

This judgment occurs on earth, when Jesus returns right after the tribulation.

By contrast, the final judgment, which is the great white throne judgment, occurs a thousand years later, right after the kingdom.

Also, that judgment occurs neither on earth, nor in heaven:)

 

Revelation 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

  10 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.

  11 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.

  12 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.

 

(At the great white throne judgment are the dead, who were never saved, they had all died, while dead in their sins, without Jesus.

By contrast, at the judgment of the sheep and goat nations, everyone is still alive, in their mortal bodies.)

 

(The judgment of the sheep and goat nations is a favorite, "go to place", for catholics.

They do view this as the final judgment, where they believe it determines who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.

Instead of sticking to what it says, that the sheep and goats are nations, they, instead, say that it refers to people.

They say that everyone will be divided by whether they are a sheep person or a goat person, i.e., good people or bad people:)

 

  34 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:

  35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

  36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

  37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

  38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

  39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

  40 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.

  41 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:

  42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

  43 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.

  44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

  45 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.

  46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

 

(But, when catholics read lines 41 & 46 out of context, it sounds to them just like individual eternal judgment.

But if line 46 is about eternal judgment, then all one would need to go to heaven, is to feed the hungry & visit the sick.

There is no mention of the gospel, or the blood, or the cross, or the resurrection, or believing on Jesus.

Also, for that to be the final judgment, then the only reason people would go to hell, is for not feeding the hungry or visiting the sick.

There is no mention of rejecting the gospel, or dying without Jesus.

No, for this to be a judgment to determine heaven or hell, then what the apostles wrote, would contradict, for example:)

 

Titus 3:5a Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us,

 

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

 

(So, then, what is the judgment of the sheep and goat nations about?)

 

Matthew 25:32 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:

 

(It says that Jesus gathers all nations, not gathers all people, or gathers all individuals, as this is not the judgment of individuals.

He separates the nations into two groups: sheep nations and goat nations.)

Then he addresses the sheep nations, recounting what they did for his brethren according to the flesh, the children of Israel.

This particularly addresses what happened during the tribulation; how did they treat the Jews, and the other tribes of Israel?

Did they hide them from antichrist, and his dark minions? Did they feed the Jews who didn’t have the mark?

How did they treat those Jews who unable buy or sell, that were kicked out into the street, or imprisoned?

They asked him when did they see him hungry or sick, and ministered unto him.

The King, Jesus, the descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Judah, of the house and lineage of David answered them.

Jesus considered how they treated his brethren, according to the flesh, as directly related to how those nations treated him.

But then he explains to the goat nations how they did the opposite, by how they treated his brethren according to the flesh.)

 

(Jesus is dealing with nations, in relation to Israel, as he ever has been, since the flood:)

 

Genesis 10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

 

Deuteronomy 32:8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.

 

Genesis 18:18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

 

Micah 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

 

(Even in the great commission that Jesus gave right before he ascended:)

 

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

 

(But in the tribulation:)

 

Isaiah 66:18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

 

Ezekiel 38:23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.

 

(But all the nations will not blindly follow the antichrist, their kings need to be deceived by miracles of devils.

That's the only way that they can be fooled to be gathered to Armageddon, and go against Jerusalem, and Jesus at his coming.)

 

Revelation 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

  14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

 

(They, thus, will gather against the LORD and his Messiah, his anointed, the Son of God:)

 

Psalms 2:1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

  2a The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed,

  7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

 

(But, like with the thief on the cross, Jesus still offers repentance up to the very last second.

Possibly some kings gathered at Jerusalem, will repent, and kiss the Son, i.e. submit and receive him as the Lord & be spared:)

 

  10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

  11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

  12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

 

(There's a difference between entire nations destroyed at this time, and nations that survive, as described to Daniel:)

 

Daniel 7:11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

  12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

  26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

 

(The dominion of the beast, which is like an empire, is totally destroyed, which encompasses at least ten nations, with ten kings,

and all of them are totally destroyed as part of that antichrist dominion.

Yet, those other nations, that are allowed to survive into the kingdom, are certainly not the best of nations.

During the kingdom, they will yet be blessed, or not, based on their relationship with the Jews, and of course with Jesus.)

 

(Some nations Jesus will make a full end of:)

 

Jeremiah 30:11b  though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee:

 

Isaiah 60:12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

 

(He will cause nations to perish forever:)

 

Numbers 24:20b Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.

 

(How will Jesus do this?)

 

Matthew 25:41 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:

  46a And these shall go away into everlasting punishment:

 

(Perhaps it could be like when the rebels in the congregation were swallowed up alive into the pit:)

 

Numbers 16:32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.

  33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.

 

(It may not necessarily be that way, but it could be, else why, some 400 years later, would David pen words like this?)

 

Psalms 55:15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.

 

(David also penned that the LORD would turn nations into hell:)

 

Psalms 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

 

(So, either Jesus has them swallowed up alive into hell, or he slays them, and their souls go down to hell, and their bodies buried.

Either way, after the thousand years they will be resurrected to face the great white throne judgment.)

 

(Some nations have wicked rulers, captains & judges, where much of the nation may not have mistreated the Jews during the tribulation.

Those wicked leaders will be punished as criminals, and they, and any in their nations that had taken the mark of the beast,

            will be killed for that, and sent to hell.   Are possible examples like North Korea and Iran?

But some nations seem to hate & kill everyone else, even now, before the tribulation.   Are possible examples in the Middle East?

There may be some living in those goat nations, like Lot was in Sodom, and will be spared like he was.

Jesus doesn't want to destroy all nations, but wants to bless as many nations as will let him, and to reign over them in righteousness.)

 

 

(Even in our fallen state, nations realize that the judgment of the sheep and goat nations is necessary.

And they recently, did their own version of it, albeit, as best as lost men could do something like that.

At the end of the WWII, the nations that were victorious, decided as nations, to do things as nations, regarding other nations:

1. They formed the United Nations

2. They voted as nations to allow the surviving Jews to return to their ancient homeland, to form their own nation there

3. They tore in pieces the nation that hosted the Nazis, part to the Soviets, part to the British, part to France & part to the U.S.

4. The nations which were the most antisemitic, that turned over all the Jews they could find in their nation, to the Nazis;

some of the largest and worst ghettos & death camps were in those nations, like Poland, Ukraine, and other East European nations;

those nations were then turned over to the Soviets, & for an entire generation, lived in ghetto conditions behind the iron curtain

5. They held the Nuremberg trials, where war criminals, butchers, and worse, were tried, convicted, and executed

6. They began honoring those who helped the Jews during the war; people had risked their own lives to help the Jews;

like the Hiding Place of Corrie ten Boom, or those that hid Anne Frank, or like Schindler, or like countless others)

 

 

(There is still yet one more aspect of this judgment upon the sheep nations.

And that is for the nations, where the entire nation did not mistreat the Jews, but where there were some there who did.

Or that nation turned a blind eye to the persecution, or did not help the Jews.

There are some nations where this may very well be true.

e.g., if these happen in our days, now, then Egypt would be an example of this.

There are a number of evil people there, who are part of, or support, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other violent anti-Israel groups.

However, the nation had made a peace treaty with Israel – so what happens in that case?

It would appear that the nation will be blessed according to the treatment of the Jews, particularly during the tribulation.

To illustrate this, the nations, in the kingdom, are blessed or not, in relation to their keeping the feast of tabernacles:)

 

Zechariah 14:16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

  17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

  18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

  19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

(It is interesting that even in Psalm 22, the crucifixion psalm, the LORD prophesied of the sheep nations in the kingdom.

But that makes sense, considering that Jesus desires, whosoever will, to be saved:)

 

Psalms 22:27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

 


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