The Judgment of the Nations
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Matthew 25:31-46
Matthew 25:31-46
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Judgment is never an easy subject to cover, however it is necessary. God is the God of love, grace and mercy, but He is also the God of justice and judgment.
There are many judgments in the Scriptures. The Parable of the Ten Virgins, The Parable of the Talents all point to the Judgment of Israel. As we were working I didn’t point that out because we would cover it tonight.
Remember the bridesmaids missed the banquet, they were judged. Remember the talents? They were judged by their master. Remember the servants in the Parable of the Talents? They were judged. These represent the Judgment of Israel.
Tonight we come a passage of Scripture in which Jesus addresses the judgment of the Nations. The Greek word for nations is ethnos its the word from which we get ethnicity. So primarily the Gentiles from all over the world are in mind.
The Time of this Judgment (vs31)
Matthew 25:31
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
Notice how Jesus starts with “when”. When denotes a specific time. What is that specific time? When the Son of Man comes in His glory and sits on His throne.
Joel 3:1-2
“For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I will enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land.
The prophet reveals this judgment on the Gentiles will take place at the time the Lord restores the nation of Israel to their land which is at the Second Coming. So this judgment must take place after the Second Coming when Israel is regathered and judged. It seems to be right at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom because the sheep enter into the Kingdom (Vs34).
The place of the Judgment. The judgment takes place upon the earth. Joel 3:2 says it will take place in the valley of Jehoshaphat. To pinpoint the exact location is very difficult.
Some believe it refers to the Valley of Berachah (2 Chronicles 20:26) This is the place where Jehoshaphat defeated the Moabites and Ammonites. Some speculate that the victory changed the name, but Scripture doesn’t seem to fit.
2 Chronicles 20:26
And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, for there they blessed the Lord; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah until this day.
Others believe it refers to the valley of Kidron which is outside of Jerusalem. The Kidron valley is a deep ravine separating the Mt of Olives from Jerusalem. To my knowledge the Kidron Valley has never been called this.
The last thought on this location comes from Zechariah. The prophet tells us when Jesus returns to the Mt of Olives a great valley shall be opened up.
Zechariah 14:4
And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
Which faces Jerusalem on the east.
And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
From east to west,
Making a very large valley;
Half of the mountain shall move toward the north
And half of it toward the south.
The main thing is that we understand this judgment will take place upon the Earth when Christ returns.
Who will be judged? (Vs32-33)
Matthew 25:32-33
All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
All the nations. We know that during the Tribulation period all nations will go against Israel. As I stated earlier nation is ethnicity. There will be many ethnicities all of which are not Jewish.
Jesus says a separation will take place. There are two groups. Sheep and goats. He will take the sheep to the right and the goats to the left. We must note this will be a judgment of living individuals not the dead that have been resurrected and brought to judgment. This then will a judgment upon living gentiles at the Second Coming of Christ. Keep in mind Church saints will already have been judged at the Beama Seat during the Tribulation period in Heaven. The Nation of Israel will have already been judged.This is Gentiles surviving the Tribulation period.
What is the basis for Judgment? (Vs34-46)
The basis for this judgment is how they treated “my brethren”. Who are the brethren? Joel 3:2 says that Israel is the very center of the whole judgment program.
Joel 3:2
I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I will enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land.
Dr Dwight Pentecost writes “ According to the book of the Revelation God will seal a believing remnant, the 144,000 at the beginning of the Tribulation Period. They will be a witnessing remnant for that entire period and the fruits of their ministry are described in Revelation 7:9-17 where a great multitude is seen to have been redeemed. The brethren are evidently these same believing witnesses of the Tribulation period.” (Things to Come, Dwight Pentecost, 1958 Dunham Publishing Company)
During the Tribulation period “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all of the world”. (Matthew 24:14) This gospel of the kingdom will require personal faith and the new birth.
Matthew 18:3
and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
We know no one is ever saved by works.
Titus 3:5
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
During the tribulation period all nations will come against Israel. They will desire to destroy them. Only those who believe are the true Israel. They will also try to kill the 144,000 Jewish evangelists. Those who received the message treated the Evangelists well (naked you clothed me, I was hungry you fed me). Those who rejected the gospel rejected the brethren and refused to help them.
By their actions their faith was revealed or the unbelief was revealed. In other words their works revealed their faith or their rejection. Is this not what James is saying in James 2:14-18?
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
Now let me say this, Jesus is the only one who can judge someone’s salvation based on their works because He knows everything. In the context of the passage the gentiles who came to faith in Christ during the Tribulation period are the sheep and as a result of their faith they took care of the brethren.
The goats are those who rejected the gospel of the Kingdom and as a result persecuted the brethren.
The results of the Judgment. (Vs34, 45-46)
To the sheep, He told them to “inherit the kingdom of God”. The ones on His right hand, they are referred to the righteous and according to verse 46 the enter into eternal life. Those on the left the goats are cast into everlasting fire and punishment in Hell which is prepared for the devil and his angels.m (Vs41)
In this prophetic passage Jesus answered His disciples’ questions about the sign of His coming and the end of the age. He also presented practical lessons for those who will be living at that time. He encourages all believers of all ages to be faithful, watchful and prepared. Jesus concludes by pointing out the establishment of His kingdom and the coming judgment.
The message is this. We all know that His Kingdom is coming. Therefore we should live everyday of our lives with an awareness that He could come at anytime, therefore we should be ready, and faithfully serving until He comes.