Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: MATTHEW #42 - 25:31-46)
5. 25:31-46 JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS
a. 2:31-33 NATIONS: CATEGORIZED AS SHEEP OR GOATS
HOtan de ELtheho huiOS tou anTHROpou en te DOxe[1391]auTOU,
But when the Son of :man shall come in his :glory,
kai PANtes hoi AGge-loi met' auTOU, TOte kaTHIsei ePI THROnou DOxes auTOU:
and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on thethrone of his glory:
kai su-nachTHEson-tai [4863]EMpros-then auTOU PANta ta ETHne[1484]:
32and before him shall be gathered all the nations:
kai a-phoRIsei [873] auTOUS ap' alLElon,
and he shall separate them one from another,
HOsper ho poiMEN [4166]a-phoRIzei ta PROba-ta [4263]aPO ton eRIphon [2056];
just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
kai STEsei [2476]ta men PROba-ta ek de-xiON [1188]auTOU, ta de eRIphi-a ex eu-oNUmon [2176].
33and he shall set the sheep on his right, but the goats on theleft.
b. 25:34-36 COMMENDATION OF SHEEP NATIONS
TOte eREI ho ba-siLEUS tois ek de-xiON auTOU, DEUte, hoi eu-lo-geMEnoi [2127]tou paTROS mou,
Then shall the King say to them on his right, Come, youblessed of my :Father,
kle-ro-noMEsa-te [2816]ten he-toi-masMEnen [2090]huMIN ba-siLEIanaPO ka-ta-boLES [2602]KOSmou:
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the world's foundation:
ePEIna-sa [2983] gar, kai eDOkaTE [1325]moi phaGEIN; eDIpse-sa [1372],
35for I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty,
kai e-poTIsaTE [4222] me; XEnos [3581] Emen, kai su-neGAgeTE me [4863];
and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in;
gumNOS [1131], kai pe-ri-eBAleTE [4016] me; esTHEne-sa [770], kai e-peSKEpsasTHE [1980]me;
36naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me;
en phu-laKE[5438]Emen, kai ELtha-te PROS me.
I was in prison, and you came unto me.
c. 25:37 THEIR PERPLEXITY
TOte a-po-kriTHEson-tai auTO hoi DIkai-oi, LEgon-tes,
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying,
KUri-e, POte se EIda-men peiNONta, kai ethREpsa-men [5142]? e diPSONta, kai e-poTIsa-men?
Lord, when did we see you hungry, and fed you? or thirsty, and gave you drink?
d. 25:38 And when did we see you a stranger, and took youin? or naked, and clothed you?
POte DE se EIda-men XEnon, kai su-neGAgo-men [4864]? e gumNON, kai pe-ri-eBAlo-men?
e. 25:39 And when did we see you sick, or in prison, and came unto you?
POte DE se EIdo-men as-theNOUNta, e phu-laKE, kai ELtho-men PROS se?
f. 25:40 AN INTERESTING INSIGHT
kai a-po-kriTHEIS ho ba-siLEUS eREI auTOIS, A-MEN LEgo huMIN,
And the King shall answer andsay to them, Amen I say unto you,
eph' HOson e-poiEsa-te heNI TOUton ton a-delPHON mou, ton e-laCHIston [1646], eMOI e-poiEsa-te.
Inasmuch as you did it unto one of these my :brethren, these least, you did it unto ME.
g. 25:41-43 THE JUDGMENT ON THE GOAT NATIONS
TOte eREI kai tois ex eu-oNUmon [2176], PoREUes-the ap' eMOU, ka-te-raMEnoi [2672], eis to pur to aiOni-on
Then shall he say also to themon the left, Depart from me, youcursed, into the eternal :fire
to he-toi-masMEnon [2090] to di-aBOlo [1228] kai tois agGElois [32] auTOU:
:prepared for the devil and his :angels:
ePEIna-sa gar, kai ouk eDOkaTE moi phaGEIN;
42for I was hungry, and you gave me no meat;
kai eDIpse-sa, kai ouk e-poTIsaTE me; XEnos Emen, kai ou su-neGAgeTE me;
and I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; 43I was a stranger, and you took me not in;
gumNOS, kai ou pe-ri-eBAleTE me; as-theNES, kai en phu-laKE, kai ouk e-peSKEpsasTHE me.
naked, and you clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and you visited me not.
h. 25:44 THEIR PERPLEXITY
TOte a-po-kriTHEson-tai kai auTOI, LEgon-tes,
Then shall they also answer, saying,
KUri-e, POte se EIdo-men peiNONta, e diPSONta, e XEnon,
Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty or a stranger,
egumNON, e as-theNE, e en phu-laKE, kai ou di-e-koNEsaMEN [1247]soi?
or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you?
i. 23:45 SIMILAR ANSWER AS TO SHEEP NATIONS
TOte a-po-kriTHEse-tai auTOIS, leGON, A-MEN LEgo huMIN,
Then shall he answer them, saying, Amen I say unto you,
eph' HOson ouk a-poiEsa-te heNI TOUton ton e-laCHIston [1646], ouDE eMOI e-poiEsa-te.
Inasmuch as you did it not unto one of these :least, you did it neither unto me.
j. 25:46 And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.
kai e-peLEUson-tai [565] HOUtoi eis KOla-sin [2851] aiOni-on: hoi de DIkai-oi eis zo-EN aiOni-on.
NOTE: In 1962 I met a prophet from Norway in the Ballard area of Seattle. God visited him with many visions shortly after his conversion. One of them targeted in on the above passage. He saw as it were a great hand move through the congregation of some 900 that then attended. This hand very deftly separated the sheep from the goats, just as the Lord at the end of this age will send forth his angels to separate the sheep nations from the goat nations. The way nations of the world today treat Israel, will determine their destiny as sheep or goat nations. I fear that fewnations will be at the Lord's right hand at the end.
There is both an individual as well as a nation sheep and goat application in this picture of judgment at the Lord's Return. Jesus as Son of :man is a Jew! The way we treat Jews is the way we treat Him! Think of Hitler, Haman and Pharaoh, and all those of their ilk! I would fear to be in their shoes at the time of the fulfillment of the above word.
It is interesting to note that both the righteous as well as the unrighteous in the above passage were unaware that the way they treated both members of Israel and members of Christ's Body the Church, would determine their eternal destiny.
Both my wife Marie and I have been committed this way together since 1948, and for myself since 1944, to have a high regard for Israel. Is this nation better than other nations? No - God said so - perhaps more stubborn and stiff-necked than most! But - and hear this “but” - God in His Sovereignty has chosenthem for His own purposes, - and the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable! Read Romans 11 again! I was mentored in 1944 by one of my customers as a paper-boy in 1938. She was a Jewish convert first and then a Christian convert in Calgary, Alberta. She literally memorized the entire Bible, much of it in Hebrew as well as all in English. No matter what question I asked her, she would have me turn to passage after passage in Scripture and read to her, while she softly quoted along with me. The “Urim and Thummim” in the Summer of 1944 was the first question I posed to her. Then Leviticus 23 and the 7 Feasts of the Lord given to the Jews - she shared with me: Jesus fulfilled Passover! The Holy Spirit 50 days later fulfilled Pentecost! Jesus will fulfill the Feast of Tabernacles at His Return.
It is true that God saves by a “Remnant!” So will He do with Israel when a Nation is born again in a day. See the Book of Zechariah. So will He do with the Church at the Resurrection. Twice the above Jewish Missionary, Mrs. Mary Bertha Allquist, experienced in Vision the Resurrection of the Church in her body from Port Alberni, Canada.
Perhaps none of us will plumb the depths of the above passage, until at least we too have experienced the Church's Resurrection! J.A.W.