Question: Are “the sheep” in Matt. 25:33 the same as the Gentiles in Rev. 7:17. They are alike out of the nations, but which? Heathen or christened? How then 2 Thess. 2:10-12? G. R.
Answer: That they are the same objects of mercy in that day is confirmed by the remnant in Matt. 24:15-26, answering to Rev. 14:1-5, and His elect in Matt. 24:31, answering to Rev. 7:1-8. “All the nations” seem from the context to be outside Israel and Christendom (already judged in the previous parts of the Lord’s prophecy on the mount). 2 Thess. 2 does not exclude a remnant that love the truth, even when all that reject it perish irremediably.