Sheep and the Goats - Armageddon

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins - God Judges the Church

The Story of the Sheep and the Goats - God Judges the Nations

Matt 25:31-46

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

In this story we see the Son of Man coming in Glory with his angels to judge the Nations on the Earth

There is another group of people mentioned in this story, namely 'these brothers and sisters of mine' who are probably with him too

The word for 'Nations' (ethnos) can also be translated as 'pagans' or 'gentiles'

'Ethnos' generally refers to the people of the world who are not saved

When Christ returns in glory with his Angels, brothers and sisters he comes to judge the people of the world who rejected the Gospel

The are judged according to how they treated 'the least of these brothers and sisters of mine'

This is a judgment according to works

Salvation is according to faith

The Sheep and the Goats. therefore, do not refer to the saved and the unsaved respectively

The Nations are the people of the world who rejected the gospel

They are the fish who did not make it into the Net

This is in agreement with other passages in the Bible where Christ comes with an army of believers to judge the Nations or the ungodly

The sheep are the people of the world who were kind to the 'least of these brothers and sisters of mine"

As the Sheep are regarded as righteous and given eternal life they must have refused to worship the beast and would not have received his mark

The Goats are the people of the world who persecuted God's people

It is probable that the Goats worshipped the beast and received his Mark

The Goats will be thrown into the lake of fire

The Sheep will receive a reward that was prepared for them in eternity past

Their reward will be to continue as the Nations during the Millennium

If they do not rebel against God when Satan is released at the end of the Millennium, they will become the Nations in Eternity along with those who are not condemned to the Lake of Fire at the Great White Throne

They will never be part of the New Jerusalem which is the destiny of those who are saved by faith

The judgment of the Nations when Christ returns is what happens at Armageddon

See Parable of the Weeds

1Thess 4:13-18

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

When Christ returns, he will bring with him all those who have fallen asleep in him

The dead in Christ will rise first. After that, those who are still alive and are left will be caught up to meet them in the clouds.

There will be a celebration in heaven and a wedding. Then Christ will lead an army of believers to judge the Nations (Revelations Ch 19)

Jude 1:14-16

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

In this passage, we see that the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge the ungodly and convict them of all the ungodly things that they have done

Christ will bring an army of redeemed saints to judge the ungodly

This is another reference to the Battle of Armageddon

Rev 17:12-14

“The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”

This passage refers to the Battle of Armageddon

Ten kings will receive authority along with the beast

They will give their authority to the beast and they will make war against the Lamb

The lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings

And with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers

Again, this shows that Christ will come to Strike down the ungodly and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers

Rev 19:11-16

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.

This is another reference to the Battle of Armageddon

It is the last event to occur before the Millennium starts

Again we see that Christ comes with an army of saints who have been redeemed from the Earth

They are riding white horses and are dressed in white clean linen

A great multitude appears in Heaven earlier in the same chapter

There is a celebration followed by a wedding

Then Christ leads his warrior bride to strike down the Nations on that Great and Awsome day of the Lord in what is known as the battle of Armageddon

1Cor 6:2-3

Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

The Lord's people will judge the world

This will be partially fulfilled in the Battle of Armageddon where Christ returns with an army of redeemed saints to strike down the Beast and the False Prophet and the Nations