(Matthew 25:31-46)
As mentioned at the beginning of the meeting, this last part of the Lord’s Olivet discourse takes up His coming (the Appearing) in relation to the Gentile nations (Matt. 25:31-46).
The first thing of note here, is that the Lord is speaking of Himself as “the Son of Man” again. This tells us He is not speaking of the Church, for He never takes that title in connection with the Church. It is the remaining Gentile nations of the earth that are before us here. Furthermore, it is important to see that what happens here will take place after the Lord appears. The proper rendering of the verse should be: “When the Son of Man shall have come in His glory” (vs. 31 – J. N. Darby Trans.). This indicates that this is after the Lord has come back. The fact that He is called “the King” here, also indicates that the Lord is back on earth and the kingdom is about to be set up (vss. 34, 40).
The Sessional Judgment
The judgment that we are about to look at is the last phase of the judgment of the “quick” (2 Tim. 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5). The “quick” is an old English word for living persons. The judgment of the quick is an “umbrella term” that covers three judgments of the Lord. These are the Harvest, the Vintage (Winepress), and the Sessional judgments. The Harvest judgment, which we have already looked at, is a discriminating (or separating) judgment that will happen when the Lord first appears and dispatches His angels to take the wicked out of the kingdom of heaven—the western part of the earth (the prophetic earth). Just as a farmer in the time of harvest separates the wheat from the chaff, the Lord will use His angels to execute judgment in this way (Matt. 13:38-43, 49-50; 24:37-41). Then there is the Vintage (or Winepress) judgment, which is not mentioned in this discourse. It has to do with the Lord’s judgment of the confederated armies of Gog (Ezek. 38-39; Isa. 33-34; 63:1-6; Rev. 14:17-20). There is no discrimination in this judgment, for all are judged together, just as grapes are trampled indiscriminately in a winepress. Lastly, when all hostile enemies are no longer existent on earth, the Lord will “sit upon the throne of His glory” and execute this calm and solemn Sessional judgment.
It says, “Before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats” (vs. 32). When the Lord says, “all nations,” He is referring to all of the nations that are left on the earth after the previous judgments have been executed. Perhaps we could call them third-world nations. He could not be referring to the Christianized nations in the western part of the earth, because they have been judged already. The nations that are assembled here are far less responsible than the previous two groups because they have not had the light the others have had. However, they are still responsible and will be assembled before the Lord’s “throne of His glory” for judgment.
This has often been confused with the Great White Throne judgment in Revelation 20. However, a closer look will show that this is not the same judgment. This is a judgment of living persons (nations); the Great White Throne is a judgment of dead persons. This takes place before the Millennium; the Great White Throne is after the Millennium. Also, this judgment has two classes of people being judged: the righteous (“the sheep”) and the wicked (“the goats”); whereas the Great White Throne judgment has only one class—the wicked. There are no righteous persons raised then because all the righteous will have been raised some 1000 years before.
In this judgment, those who have been favourable toward the Jewish messengers (“My brethren”) and who have preached the gospel of the kingdom in their country during the seven-year tribulation period will be permitted to enter the kingdom of Christ on earth (vs. 34). It is noteworthy that the earthly blessings for Israel, and for the Gentile nations that will populate the millennial world, are “from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 13:35; 25:34; Acts 3:21). The blessings of the Church, however, whose destiny is heavenly, are from “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).
Those who showed animosity toward the Jewish messengers will be separated out as “goats” and sent into the lake of fire (vss. 41, 46). This means that their nation will be removed entirely from the face of the earth. I used to think that one of the nations to be separated out at this time is Edom, because Scripture tells us that they will be annihilated from the face of the earth (Obad. 17-21). But Edom is a nation in the prophetic earth, which will have been judged before this. They will be gone before this judgment happens.
Three Phases of Edom’s Judgment
Edom’s judgment will actually take place in three phases. First, they will be deceived by their own confederacy under the King of the North and their land will be ransacked and looted; many will fall at that time (Obad. 1-14). A little later, after the Lord appears, He will go out to the land of Edom to tread the Winepress judgment (the Vintage) and will destroy the confederated armies of Gog who have converged there (Obad. 15-16; Isa. 34:1-10; 63:1-6); many more Edomites will fall at that time. Their third and final blow will come from the armies of restored Israel who will go out to that land, and the other surrounding countries, to wipe out any who remain (Obad. 17-21; Num. 24:1-19; Psa. 18:34-48; Psa. 108:7-13; Isa. 11:14; Micah 4:13; Ezek. 39:10; Zech. 10:3-5, 12:6, 14:14).
The criteria on which the nations are judged here is not whether they have received the Gospel of the Grace of God (Acts 20:24), or even if they have received Israel’s Messiah in faith. They are judged merely on whether they have been favourable toward the Jewish messengers who have gone forth into every nation preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom (Matt. 24:14). The simple criteria of whether they were hostile or receptive toward the messengers is all that is considered at this time. Some will “yield feigned obedience” and will be allowed to enter the kingdom of Christ (Deut. 33:29; Psa. 18:44; Psa. 66:3; Psa. 81:15 – J. N. Darby Trans.). What a merciful God we have! (Hab. 3:2) King David’s mercy on Shimei is a type of this (2 Sam. 19:16-23).
After the kingdom of Christ is established there will be a continual judgment of persons “every morning” throughout the Millennium (Psa. 101:3-8; Zeph. 3:5; Zech. 5:1-4). Those who have feigned obedience will be tested during the Millennium and will manifest themselves as wicked and will be judged. The Psalmist mourns this sad result, saying, “The haters of the LORD should have yielded feigned obedience unto Him; but [and] their time would have been for ever. He would have fed them with the finest of wheat; yea, with honey out of the rock would I have satisfied thee” (Psa. 81:15-16 – margin). “Forever” is a term in the Old Testament meaning as long as time goes on; it is not eternity. Solomon’s judgment of Shimei is a type of this. After David permitted him to live in the kingdom, he was tested later under Solomon’s reign and proven to be wicked, whereupon he was judged (1 Kings 2:36-46).
A difficulty some have with this is that those who are permitted to enter the kingdom are said to be “righteous” and they go “into life eternal” (vs. 46). This sounds like they all have faith. However, eternal life in the sense that it is used here is to live on earth as long as time goes on. The Old Testament and the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) view eternal life in this way (Psa. 133:3; Dan. 12:2; Matt. 19:16, etc.). The Christian sense of eternal life, found in John’s gospel and the epistles, is entirely different (John 17:3; Rom. 6:23, etc.).
While the judgment here is the judgment of the Gentile nations, the results are individual (vss. 41, 46). Every person who passes into a lost eternity will suffer the consequences of their own sins.
Three Destinies For Mankind
There are three distinct places, or destinies, for men—each are said to be prepared of the Lord. First, the Lord has gone to “prepare” a place in the Father’s house for the heavenly saints (John 14:3); and then, the earthly saints will inherit the kingdom on earth, which has been “prepared” for them (Matt. 25:34). Lastly, there is the lake of fire that has been “prepared” for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). We see from this last reference that it is not God’s intention that any man, woman, or child should end up in the lake of fire. It was prepared for “the devil and his angels,” but sad to say, many humans will have their end there because they have refused every gesture of grace toward them.
Summary
In this Olivet discourse the Lord has given us a comprehensive outline of His coming in connection with the three responsible spheres on earth—Israel, Christendom, and the Gentile nations. After this, the Millennium will be ushered in, and the Lord Jesus Christ will reign in righteousness “over all the earth” (Zech. 14:9; Psa. 72:8).
(Adapted)