Matthew 25:31-46 -
The Gathering of the Nations
'When the Son of man shall come in His glory,
and all the holy angels with Him,
then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory:
And before Him shall be gathered all nations:
and He shall separate them one from another,
as a shepherd divideth His sheep from the goats'
(Mat 25:31-32)
Hello
@Hidden In Him,
These are just thoughts concerning these two verses. I am just beginning to get to grips with this passage you have raised, so please bear with me. I am grateful for Bible marginal notes, which are a guide to my search:-
* There is no resurrection mentioned here, therefore this is not a reference to Revelation 20.
* The GATHERING, as you have said, is to be
upon the earth:-
‘Come near, ye nations, to hear;
and hearken, ye people:
let the earth hear, and all that is therein;
the world, and all things that come forth of it.
For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations,
and His fury upon all their armies:
He hath utterly destroyed them,
He hath delivered them to the slaughter.’
(Isaiah 34:1-2)
‘For, behold, in those days, and in that time,
when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will also gather all nations,
and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat,
and will plead with them there
for My People and for My heritage Israel,
whom they have scattered among the nations,
and parted My land.'
(Joel 3:1,2)
‘Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen,
and gather yourselves together round about:
thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
Let the heathen be wakened,
and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat:
for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.’
(Joel 3:11 &12)
* There are Three classes here and not two, and the test is not works, but, as you have said,
@Hidden In Him: the treatment of the ‘brethren’, by the other two:- likened to '
sheep' and '
goats'; into which two categories individuals from among these nations will be divided.
* No ‘
Believer’ (ie., one who -
'received the word') is here (Acts 2:41; 1 Thessalonians 2:13); for these are, and will be,
‘taken out of all nations’ (Acts 15:14).
* Israel not gathered here, because,
‘not reckoned among the nations’ (Numbers 23:9)
* The Church of the Mystery (
Ephesians 3) is not here either, because the reward here is,
‘from the foundation of the world’ (v.34); while the church was chosen before that (Ephesians 1:4).
'According as He hath chosen us in Him
before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love:
* The throne is that of David (Luke 1:32-33).
'He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest:
and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David:
And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of His kingdom there shall be no end.'
Praise God!
* Hope these will be of use in the building blocks of thought that you are receiving.
Thank you
In Christ Jesus
Chris