Three Parties in Matt. 25:31-46

@sonship said
The third of the group of three parables is not about Christ as a man going to sell all that He had by His death on the cross.

This third parable is about the result of the Gentiles responding to the eternal gospel preached supernaturally from the air by the angel to warn earth dwellers to worship God the CREATOR rather than Antichrist.

See [b]Revelation 14: ...[text shortened]... very species separated into the preserved who are placed in vessels and the foul who are discarded.

The Scriptures are not only for teaching morals.
They are for teaching doctrine.

When it says that "All scripture is God breathed and profitable for TEACHING . . . for for reproof, for correction, instruction [ or discipline ] in righteousness that the man of God may be fully equipped for every good work ." ( 2 Tim. 3:16) the mentioning of TEACHING first signals that Scripture is not only for morality but informing of doctrine.

It is not just the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-8 is Scripture.
Also the parables in Matt. 13 symbolizing the meaning of Christ's death and
the events of the consummation of the age which are conveyed.

To fully equip the man of God is not only a matter of moral teaching.
It is also to understand Christ's redemptive work and the events of the end of the
age.

Rajk999 thinks the ONLY kind of equipping taking place in Matthew is instructions on how to receive eternal life.

Differences between the judgment of the great white throne in Rev. 20 and the throne of His glory in Matt. 25

1.) The judgment of Matt. 25 is BEFORE the start of the millennium (the restoration).
The judgment of Rev. 20 is AFTER the thousand years (the restoration).

2.) The judgment of Matt. 25 is of LIVING nations after the great tribulation.
The judgment of Rev. 20 is of all the dead.

3.) The judgment of Matt. 25 is of all the nations or all the Gentiles.
The judgment of Rev. 20 does not speak of nations but individuals.

4.) The judgment of Matt. 25 is in the Holy Land on the earth.
The judgment of Rev. 20 is suspended with no place for heaven or earth to be found.

5.) The judgment of Matt. 25 has the ones being examined on the left or the right of Christ the judge. They have been separated before the pronouncement of their destiny.
The judgment of Rev.20 says nothing about two groups on the LEFT or the RIGHT. Rather just that the dead "standing before the throne" .

6.) In the judgment of Matt. 25 the fire is only PREPARED for the devil and his angels, indicating that they have not YET been sent there. But that this punishment has been prepared for them.
In the judgment of Rev. 20 the Devil has already been cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10).

7.) The judgment of Matt. 25 involves sparing or condemnation in relation to treatment of a party of those whom Jesus points to as His brothers even to the least of them. The sheep and the goats are judged in relation to how they treated this group, the third in the teaching.
The judgment of Rev. 20 only has men condemned to the lake of fire based upon their names not being found written in "the book of life".

During the time of the great tribulation the empire of Antichrist will relegate elect Jews to be saved and Christian to be enemies of the state. They who do not worship the image of the Antichrist or receive the mark or the number of his name are not permitted have the things necessary to live.

They cannot buy or sell.
Without food, without shelter, sick, and in prisoned they will be in utter destitution.

Refugees trying to get AWAY from the Antichrist and his government will be as bad or worse than people trying to flee North Korea. But some will as indicated in Revelation 12. They flee to the wilderness.

This is most likely what was considered wilderness by the people under the Roman Empire. Probably places on earth like the "new world" and other places will qualify as "the wilderness" where persecuted elect of God will flee.

Some nations will heed the supernatural announcement from the air by angel/s to not worship Antidhrist who proclaims himself to be God. But rather they should fear the God who genuinely created the universe. This is the eternal gospel of God the Creator. No one, according to Romans 1, is with excuse not to acknowledge God as the Creator based on the evidence of the created universe.

" And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having an ETERNAL GOSPEL to announce to those dwelling on the earth, even to every nation and tribe and tongue and people, saying with a loud voice,

Fear God and give Him glory because the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who has made heaven and earth and the sea and the springs of waters." (Rev. 14:6,7)

This gospel announce by the angel in the air is to neutralize the terrible and compelling threat to mankind about worshipping the man Antichrist who is invested with the power and authority of Satan and who demands that he is God sitting blasphemously in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem.

These how heed the preaching of the eternal gospel may not know much. Perhaps it may be hard in those days to even get a Bible. But some will be sympathetic to the persecuted refugees and suffering saints hounded by Antichrist and his government.

This is a particular dispensational transition from the church age to the age of the manifestation of the kingdom.

Cont. below latter.

There is nothing in this understanding discouraging Christians from charitable deeds. It is not that because Matt. 25:31-46 is prophetic in nature therefore believers should neglect charitable acts.

Anyone wanting to allow such a teaching of charitableness to influence their generosity need not be faulted for this.

Of course such a one will not be astonished that what he does to fellow believers in Christ is done to the Lord. As Saul of Tarsus persecuted the church, Jesus asked Saul :"Saul, Saul, Why do you persecute Me?"

Throughout the church age then Christians benefit from this passage and know pretty well that the kind treatment to fellow believers is kind treatment to the Lord Jesus who is one spirit with them, in them, as they are His brothers.

The teaching shows here that both the sheep and the goats were astonished. The Lord accepts their astonishment. He accepts their surprise because He well knows that they have not done all these things for the sake of the Lord. The sheep here on His right hand are not Christians.

There are also "sheep" of God in other senses in the Bible.. In this passage the nations are also spoken of as sheep to God.

Psalm 100:1-3

"Make a joyful noise to Jehovah, all the earth. Serve Jehovah with rejoicing.
Come before His presence with joyful singing. Know it is Jehovah who is God. It is He who has made us and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture."

This is spoken to all created mankind on the earth ("all the earth" ). God has made us and not we ourselves. And we are the "sheep of His pasture". This is the sense that the sheep on the right hand of Christ in Matt. 25:31-46 are not Christians but created man as Gentile nations.

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Grammatic Corrections:

"And out of His mouth proceeds a sharp sword, that with it He might smite the nations; and He will shepherd them with an iron rod . . . " (Rev. 19:15a)

Since it says that Christ will "shepherd them" this indicates that they are the sheep that were on His right hand in the judgment of Matt. 25:31-46. Christ will "shepherd" these sheep with strong governmental authority as indicated by "an iron rod". Christ will guide those nations with strong governmental power and authority.

His overcoming victors will be rewarded with joining Him to shepherd these nations. The nations transferred into the millennium will need strong guidance to keep them in line as the need arises.

"And he who overcomes and he who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. And he will shepherd them with an iron rod, as vessels are of pottery are broken in pieces, as I also have received from My Father." (Rev. 2:26,27)

During the millennial kingdom there will be three realms:

1.) a realm of earthy blessings such as God originally gave to Adam when He appointed man a deputy authority over all that He made. These blessings include the restoration of nature and the earth yielding abundantly for its inhabitants. These are the blessings Adam lost when he fell under Satan's usurpation.

Because these blessings are restored it speaks of the kingdom "from the foundation of the world". Today beasts can hurt people. And men fear some animals today. There will be no fear of them during the millennial kingdom.

2.) Then there is the Messianic kingdom of the Jews. Though it will be centered in Canaan and the land of Palestine, the sphere of influence will reach further. As Isaiah 60:12 said "That nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted". So also Deuteronomy 15::6 - "Jehovah your God will bless you, as he promised you: and you shall lend unto many nations, but you shall not borrow; and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you."

3.) Then there is the realm where glorified and transfigured Christians will inherit the spiritual realm of the kingdom. Their bodies have been changed to glorified bodies like the transfigured Christ.

"Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: we all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, . . . and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (See 1 Cor. 15:50-52) The children of God will be joint-heirs with Christ. Romans 8 speaks of the manifestation of the sons of God and how this will effect the creation, setting it free from vanity and corruption brought in by Adam's fall.

There are indications of the harmlessness of wolves, lions, and formerly poisoners snakes like the asp. And the children of God who are rewarded to be joint heirs for one thousand years will be there.

Since some of God's children at that time are off somewhere being perfected late, the restoration is not total since the sons of God are not totally matured until the age of the new heaven and new earth.

This is the world on earth that the "sheep" transferred from the previous age into the millennium will inherit. I suspect the outworking of these matters will take place all during the one thousand years. Weapons will be beat into farming equipment. And scarcity will be replaced by abundance and plenty.