The Judgment of the Nations
In Matthew 25 Jesus gives 2 parables. In the first, The parable of the Ten Virgins, He starts by saying “Then the kingdom of heaven will be compared to ten virgins...” (v. 1). In The Parable of the Talents, Jesus starts by saying, “For it is just like...” (v. 14). Lastly, He gives a prophecy about a coming judgment (v. 31-46). He does not call this a parable or use comparative language.
This section of the New Testament causes great concern and confusion because, once again, we are trying to understand Church Age doctrine by reading Kingdom of Heaven language.
To the average Western Christian it sounds as if Jesus is talking about social issues. In this teaching Jesus appears to make a person's entire eternal destination dependent upon whether they ministered to the poor or ignored them. In fact, this very passage in Matthew was the basis for the Social Justice philosophy in the United States that started in 1870.
Ministry to the poor was important to Jesus. He began His public ministry by claiming that He was the One spoken of in Isaiah 61 who would “...preach the gospel to the poor...”. When Judas left early and quickly from the Last Supper, the other disciples assumed he was ordered to give something to the poor (John 13:29). This apparently was Jesus' manner – to consider the poor. When Paul was meeting with the apostles in Jerusalem, they had one request of him as he left to go out as the Apostle to the Gentiles. They wanted Paul to “remember the poor” (Gal 2:10). Jesus' priorities had rubbed off on them. Paul also was “eager to do” that anyway, without their request.
But Jesus is not talking about general social issues here in Matthew 25. In chapter 24 He has just given details about His Appearing. From the rest of scripture we could understand this to include the events of the very end times. General persecution (John 16:33), then Great Persecution (Matt 24:21), and The Great Tribulation (Rev 7:14). The resurrection/ Rapture follows. The Appearance and the Coming of the Lord happen before the Millennial Kingdom is initiated.
Then...
In Matthew 25 Jesus begins by saying “Then the kingdom of heaven will be compared...”. The context of Jesus' talking about ministry to distressed people in verses 31 through 46 is The Judgment of the Nations.
In this strange worldwide evaluation there are really two judgments. First, there is a judgment of character or nature. The “goats” are placed on the left. The “sheep” are placed on the right. This is the first judgment. Then something else is brought up. The nations or peoples of the earth are commended or condemned according to their treatment of the Persecuted just previous to this. Did they help or did they ignore the plight of the Jews and Christians who were targeted by the Antichrist? As far as we can tell from this teaching that Jesus prophesied, the eternal fate of every person remaining on earth after the wrath of God is determined by this.
Those who were favorable to the Jewish and Christian Believers are granted entrance to the Millennial Kingdom. Those who were not are sent away into eternal punishment. It is that personally important to the Lord. Those who have been compliant with or even indifferent to the Antichrist's reign of terror are considered by the Lord to be guilty of the supreme crime – cooperating with the man of sin. Those who ignore the plight of the Persecution victims are considered personal enemies of Jesus Himself.
That is more than enough. They are cast in the eternal fire without any other trial or ceremony. The Day of Grace is over. No more Mr. Nice Guy. The Church Age will be seen to be an anomaly in human history. Grace is not normal or usual. We today are living in a very special historic bubble. The Super Old Testament Days are back. Severe Law is back but this time with the obvious reality of Jesus as the Messiah chosen and sent by God.
To use a theological hammer to try to force this “square peg” of the Millennial Kingdom in to the “round hole” of the Church Age causes all kinds of confusion. This is the Day of Grace for a little while longer. Be ready to meet the Lord at His soon appearing.
June 27, 2026