THE JUDGMENT OF NATIONS

There are five judgments described in the Bible:  Past, Present, and Future.

Past:  "It is finished!"

1.  The Judgment of Christ on the Cross - Jn. 19:30; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 3:8.

Present:  It needs to be daily.

2.  The Born Again Believers Self-judgment - 1 Cor. 11:31-32; 1 Jn. 1:5-10.

Future:  The Church in Heaven (3); At Christ's Second Coming (4); After the Millennium (5).

3.  The Judgment Seat of Christ - Rom. 14:10; 1 Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Cor. 5:10.
4.  The Judgment of the Nations - Mt. 25:31-46; Joel 3:1-2, 13-14.
5.  The Great White Throne Judgment - Rev. 20:11-15.

Today, I would like to look at the fourth judgment, the Judgment of the Nations from Matthew 25:31-46.  To set the stage, the Church will have been taken up in the Rapture just prior to the time of God's wrath, known as the Tribulation, or Time of Jacob's Trouble (Dan. 9:27; Jer. 30:7; 1 Thes. 4:13-18; 5:9). 

This judgment takes place following the seven-year Tribulation, at Christ's Second Coming (Mt. 25:31).  Every human being who will have survived God's wrath, will stand before Him (Dan. 9:24-27; Mt. 25:32).  Jesus will divide them into two categories:  the sheep, for whom the Kingdom has been prepared, will be called righteous and will inherit eternal life (Mt. 25:32-40, 46); and the goats, who shall be rejected and sentenced to the Lake of Fire prepared for Satan and his angels (Mt. 25:41-46).

The identity of the sheep, since the Kingdom throughout the New Testament refers to the 1000 year reign of Israel's Messiah, must be identified as converted Jews.  Israel is now, and will remain blinded, in part, up until the Antichrist commits the Abomination of Desolation in the midst of the Tribulation (Dan. 9:27; Mt. 24:15; Rom. 11:25).  At that moment, they will realize that Daniel 9:27 follows Daniel 9:26, and they will recognize Jesus was their Messiah.  Trusting in Christ for the first time, Israel will scatter to avoid the Antichrist; they must avoid capture for three and a half years, the time between the Abomination of Desolation reveals the Antichrist's identity, and the Second Coming of Christ (Rev. 12:6 - 13:5).

The goats will be those who will have rejected Jesus, as evidenced by how they treated His brethren, the Jews.  This concept can be seen in Acts 9:1-5, where Saul of Tarsus was confronted by Jesus.  By persecuting believers, Jesus considered it persecution of He, Himself.

Born again believers will be gone during the Tribulation.  Thank God!