One of my family members brought up the wheat and tares that we see in Matthew 24, but she could not, or perhaps would not attempt to understand that all these events are conveying the final judgment; a judgment, by the way, that has nothing to do with the church, nor the catching away of the church.
Since I was woefully unequipped to answer her challenges that afternoon, I am going to answer her's and anybody else's questions pertaining to the final judgment and when it takes place.
The Final Judgment.
I have, for some time, adopted the view that Matthew 25:31-46 and Revelation 20 are the same event from different perspectives.
Is that true?
In Matthew's account, it is clear that only “the nations will be gathered before Him."
Matthew
25:32
NLT
“All
the nations will be gathered in his presence,
and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep
from the goats.
This is not speaking of the Jews as they have never been considered an aspect of the nations, and they consider anyone outside of the Synagogue to be a pagan dog.
Don't hold your breath as you say, Awe, I got it, as all of those gathered before Him will be dead people.
Allow me to paint a word picture for you. During the three days that affected Jesus' death, one of the things He did was to go into Hades and preach to the captives. Here is where you get to make an intelligent separation.
Some of those religious folk were not entitled to go up in the snatching away of the church. Why?
Do NOT set aside who Jesus was talking to when He said the things He said and Matthew recorded. The audience was Jewish, and the subject matter really pertained to them. Now, here we are, all those thousands of years later, trying to sort out what He said.
2
Timothy 3:16-17 BSB
“All Scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and
for training in righteousness, (17) so that the man of
God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.”
Because the church was not established until Pentecost, 50 days after "first fruits." (Jesus was the first fruit.) On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fell on the 150+ disciples who were obediently waiting in the upper room.
Psalms
102:18 BSB
“Let this be written for the generation to
come, so that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.”
Jesus's actions during the three days of His "death," are interspersed throughout the scriptures. If Jesus preached to the captives, as the scriptures tell us He did, we must accept that there were co-occurrent actions; I think that would indicate that an untold number would have, in some way, been set free. Don't get me wrong, I would not have expected them to come back to life; however, on the day of His death, we are told that many dead folk rose from the dead and walked the streets of Jerusalem. I think it is important to note that we are given no specifics as to who any of these people were. A moment of honesty, I am having a difficult time trying to envision what became of these formerly dead people.
At the end of the seven years of God's wrath, Jesus resurrects those who held to the testimony of Jesus Christ and subsequently were beheaded for NOT participating in the worship of the beast nor taking his mark. We see all this portrayed in Revelation 20:4-6, which I have included below.
We are also told that it is these resurrected dead that are seated upon those thrones that Jesus sets up as the millennial reign begins. These people are referred to as saints.
Note: the scripture makes it plain that the act of bringing these saints back to life is the first resurrection.
In John's account of the last 1000 years, which we call the Revelation, we see this.
Revelation
20:4-6
NKJV
“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and
judgment was committed to them. (Here
we are at the final throne that ends all judgment; and yet look at
the description that we get here in Revelation 20, a multitude of
thrones set up. It is obvious that Jesus cannot and will not sit upon
them all. This is where I try to answer the question, who are the
“they” that sit upon these thrones? The answer is given to us in
verse 4). "Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their
witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the
beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads
or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a
thousand years. (5) But the rest of the dead did not live again
until the thousand years were finished. This
is the first resurrection.
(6) Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first
resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall
be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand
years.”
Question: Who then are the rest of the dead?
They have nothing to do with the church. Here are several reasons why.
First, death has more to do with eternal separation from God.
Sure, death has much to do with the cessation of breathing, but that is not death in God's eyes. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 5:8, tells us that for the follower of Jesus, death is merely an absence from the body, at which point you are immediately present with the Lord.
These people who missed the rapture, and refused to turn to Jesus during the years of wrath, and are apt to be eternally separated from heaven, are acting in this manner entirely by their own choice. This option to obtain life was always before them, and they chose to ignore that action.
Since the time of grace left with the snatching away of the church, those who see the fallacy of their decision and turn to Jesus will have to prove their allegiance to Christ by their testimony, their refusal to take the mark, and their refusal to worship the beast. They will be executed in some manner, most likely beheading, although 19 years ago I saw pictures of some high-tech guillotines; this inglorious death allows for them to be resurrected in the first resurrection, which takes place at the beginning of the thousand-year reign.
Imagine a scenario that could happen within days of the rapture, where some of these who ignored Christ's call get squashed by a falling building. They then might fall into the category of those who get called before the great throne of God, along with the nations.
We have learned that those who do not (fully?) believe, their deaths are comparable to the parable of the rich man's death, which Jesus told the disciples. It would seem that they will find themselves in Hades, a waiting place of discomfort. Many of those who have spent a few moments there because of death do not describe an intense discomfort such as the rich man spoke of. That does not mean it does not exist; it can imply that the tremendous emotion and loss they feel overrides any other emotion at the time.
Those that go to hades become subject to the final judgment at the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ; whether it is called: the judgment of the tares, where all we see is the burning of the tares; the sheep and goat judgment, where those who are symbolized as goats are sent off to the lake of fire and the eternal torment that brings, while the sheep, those who did not go up in the rapture of the Church, are given entrance into the kingdom because of a simple work (such as: giving someone who needs it a drink of water, Christ symbolizes the recipients of this kindness as though we did it to Him;) And, finally the great white throne judgment, where we have no discussion about anyone receiving mercy; but unlike Matthew 25, the event where we see NO books, Revelation 20 speaks of books and the book of life. All of the people mentioned above are designated, at some point, as the nations, and there is a clear picture of “good” and “bad” people jumbled together. The “good,” portrayed by the sheep, demonstrates that some, lacking a commitment to Christ, still manage to follow the moral standard that lives within all of us; it is because of their unwitting works that they gain access. In Matthew's account of the sheep, they have NO clue that what they did would eventually gain them access into the kingdom of heaven, a place where NO evil will enter. This thought lends itself to the idea that Jesus will NOT leave them in whatever sinful condition they were in. If you have read any of my thoughts on how death strips the sin-laden body away, and how the death of the body may open the door for their entrance into the kingdom of Heaven.
(Revelation
20:7,8 NKJV)
“Now, when the thousand years have expired, Satan
will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the
nations
which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather
them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.”
(When you read this, ask the question, where are these people coming from? The answer is given to us, and it is NOT merely from the plains of Meggido; they are coming from the four corners of the earth. I suppose it is not fair to say they are primarily Muslims, but if your eyes are open then you have seen, the Jihadists, the followers of Islam that have been carrying out a form of warfare as they swarm across the globe, place themselves on school boards, become elected to city councils, and then get themselves elected into higher seats of authority, like Mayors of large cities such as New York.)
(Revelation
20:9
NKJV)
“They (the
nations that have been living scattered amongst the people on the
earth during the millennial reign)
went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the
saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of
heaven and devoured them. (So
these are now included among the dead, though just moments before
they were living among the nations.)”
Allow me to interrupt for a moment as I point out how Matthew conveys a similar oral picture of the final throne.
(Matthew
25:31
NKJV)
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the
holy angels with Him, then He
will sit on the throne of His glory.
When John describes this final throne, he sees a great white one. Now that whiteness may be depicting the light that emanates from His glory.
(Revelation 20:11-13 NKJV)
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.”
(12) And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
(13) The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.”
Things in common between the two scenarios:
Jesus is the judge in all cases.
If I have not said, I will. The whole of the Revelation is a revelation of Jesus Christ; therefore, it is Jesus upon that final throne. I might also add that all judgment has been given unto the Son, Jesus.
In Matthew's account, we are told that He gathers all the nations before Him.
It is at this time that He separates them into the two crowds, and refers to them as the sheep and the goats.
In the Revelation chronicle, we are told that the dead are gathered before Him.
What we fail to realize is that a huge number of these dead were alive only moments before, and were referred to as the nations, gathered from the four corners of the earth.
It wasn't until I had spent some time looking at these scenarios that someone pointed out the “parable of the wheat and the tares.” (Read about this in Matthew 13, verses 24 – 30.) This, too, is a judgment scenario. The dead show up as the angels with scythes, and they gather the tares at the end of time, into bundles, with the intent to burn them; this is when the final judgment takes place. The difficulty in understanding comes as this does not have comparable details to the others. The commonality is that it, too, is a final judgment setting.
Note: There are not multiple judgments of the dead; there is only one, and it happens at the great, white, glorious throne, where Jesus sits.
What is the difference between the judgment scenarios?
In Matthew's account, there is NO mention of books, nor the book of life, as we see in Revelation 20. And yet, in Matthew 25:32, He is separating the judged, called sheep and goats, good or bad, based upon some work found in one of the books, that demonstrates an act that has earned them entrance into the kingdom. Since God is organized and NOT random, then there have to be records.
Matthew
25:32
NLT
“All the nations will be gathered in his presence,
and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep
from the goats.”
In Malachi, a time in which the Torah was scarce, those who feared the Lord shared their understanding of God's law, gave attention to what they heard, and began writing a book of remembrance before the Lord. This statement covers a very wide group of people, some of whom might not be religious.
Malachi
3:16
NASB
“Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and
the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was
written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His
name.”
In the Revelation, there are books, and the dead are judged based on what is written in them. Religion will be judgmental, asserting that everything written is negative and that all of them should be sent to hell.
Revelation
20:12
NASB
“And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing
before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was
opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the
things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.”
Matthew shows us the nations being gathered before Jesus on His glorious throne. There is NOTHING that excludes the idea that, at least, some of these, if not all, were physically dead.
This leads to the next question: What is death?
While many worry about physical death, we who have been in the scriptures long enough know that death is nothing more than a permanent separation from God, an event that happens in conjunction with the great white throne judgment and culminates with the condemned being tossed into the Lake of Fire and nowhere else.
Daniel 7 gives us yet another view of the final judgment at the end of the thousand years. Here is an image of God and His throne that, in this case, has a river of fire glowing out from it; we had not seen this before.
Daniel
7:9-10 NLT
“I watched as thrones were put in place and the Ancient One sat
down to judge. His clothing was as white as snow, his hair like
purest wool. He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire,
(10) and a river of fire was pouring out, flowing from
his presence. Millions of angels ministered to him; many millions
stood to attend him. Then the court began its session, and the books
were opened.”
The beast of Revelation 17 is one of those things that will be judged, and it is represented by the antichrist. Revelation 17 attempts to define the beast. This is a little confusing because we have descriptions of kings with crowns and horns, which are kingdoms, when other passages point us to a singular man. This is where many of us get baffled, as numerous prophetic interpreters apply their statements about a human who sustains a mortal head wound and then comes back to life. This teaching is out of context and causes people to look for the wrong thing, like the Pope or the Vatican rising up against the world.
Revelation 13:2-3 NASB And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. (3) I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;
Note: the beast, and it is like so many things. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. A multi-headed monster, unlike anything we have ever seen, and God called it a him. To make things even more confusing, the scriptures tell us that one of its heads sustains a head wound that makes it appear as though it is dead. The bible explains these heads to be kingdoms; therefore, one of the kingdoms, or, shall we say, empires, sustains what appears to be a mortal wound.
What empire did just that?
The Ottoman Empire around 1924.
Ask yourself, what was the driving force behind the Ottoman Empire?
Islam.
Where can you find Islam today?
They are educators in your schools, making decisions over your city councils, sitting as mayors of your cities, they are your senators, and we had one as a president for two terms.
How did that work out for us?
Aside from trying to destroy the economy of the United States, the man gave billions to Iran to support their nuclear programs.
What's the primary ideology of Iran?
Islam and all the twisted commands of the Quran and associated hadiths.
An angel explains to John about the harlot who rides the beast.
Revelation
17:7 NIV
“Then the angel said to me: 'Why are you astonished? I will
explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides,
which has the seven heads and ten horns.”
By definition, astonished is to be stunned or surprised, but that is not what Daniel was. Daniel used the Hebrew word thaumázō, which means he, too, was caught up in admiration and marvel.
The
angel told Daniel the mystery of the same woman.
Mystery
is the Hebrew word mustērion
and, among other things, means a
hidden or secret thing, not
obvious to the understanding.
As you listen to internet teachers, going on about Mystery Babylon, how many of them make sense? Not many. It is past time to invest in God's Word.
If the woman, who is drunk on the blood of the saints, has all these aspects rolled up as a part of her package. Then what are those aspects?
Power, money, an intentional lack of moral restraint, brutality against God's people, including the Jews and the Christians, an atrocious degree of arrogance, and they think they are untouchable.
If you doubt that these things are not part of what constitutes the harlot, then what became of Jeffrey Epstein's client list?
CNN told us that the US Attorney General, Pam Bondi, told President Trump that his name was on that list, several times. You see how quickly the evidence disappeared.
What became of Epstein's girlfriend? If there is nothing to substantiate that crimes happened, then why is Epstein's girlfriend in jail? There are a tremendous number of what-ifs, and this is such a small piece of the puzzle.
All that follows was an attempt to direct you to a proper footnote. Passing my writing through a document checker and back again tends to scrub details such as the footnote that follows.
1I have copied and pasted the words that Jesus spoke, just as the translators put them on the page. I am aware that in the world of social media, putting text in all capitals is equivalent to yelling angrily. I am not so sure Jesus was doing that, but He might have been, especially if He was dealing with Pharisees.
(Luke
4:18 NKJV)
"THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE
HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR; HE HAS SENT ME TO
HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES AND
RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET AT LIBERTY THOSE WHO ARE
OPPRESSED;
I want to focus on this statement that Jesus quoted, but made personal,
“To proclaim liberty to the Captives.” (NKJV) If you focus on the (NASB), it states,
“To proclaim release to the captives.”
From the UCRT.
To preach deliverance.
Deliverance translates aphesin (Strong's # G859, Mat_26:28). Here, in this context, the necessity to translate aphesin as deliverance rather than forgiveness is absolute.
From the Word Study Dictionary Strong's # G859
áphesis; gen. aphéseo¯s, fem. noun. from aphíe¯mi (G863), to cause to stand away, to release one's sins from the sinner. Forgiveness, remission. This required Christ's sacrifice as punishment for sin, hence the putting away of sin and the deliverance of the sinner from the power of sin, although not from its presence, which will come later after the resurrection, when our very bodies will be redeemed.
It is interesting indeed that in Luke 4:18, the word áphesis is used without any designation of what this deliverance or forgiveness is from. The Lord said: "He hath anointed me to . . . preach deliverance to the captives [the word is the same, áphesis] . . . to set at liberty [again the word is the same, en {G1722}, in; aphései, at freedom]." The work of Christ, therefore, is designated as deliverance from everything that holds man a prisoner away from God. However, setting sinful man free would have been a very dangerous thing if God did not simultaneously change man's nature (2Co_5:17; 2Pe_1:4). Man's freedom is not one that permits him to continue in sin (1Jn_3:6), but binds him in Christ. What Christ does is not simply to take man from prison and set him free, but also to change him radically (katallássei [G2644]), giving him power over sin.
Áphesis is part of a larger process that does not involve simply the freedom of the sinner, but the change of the sinner from being a slave of sin to becoming a slave of God. With that freedom from sin, he acquires freedom of action because of his changed nature and spirit. He acquires the ability to follow after God instead of fleeing from God, and the desire to flee from sin and pursue it. Forgiveness, therefore, must never be understood as the permission for the sinner to continue in his sinful condition.
In the same manner, we must not misunderstand the use of the verb aphíe¯mi (G863), to forgive on the part of the Christian in regard to another, as meaning the forgiving Christian is supposed to allow the sinner to continue in his sinful condition. Forgiveness is not condoning sin but rather doing everything possible to see that the particular sin or sins of the sinner are removed from him by God, who is the only One who can deliver and cleanse him. Forgiveness, therefore, is never freedom in sin but freedom from sin by God (italics added).
Heb_9:22 contains an absolute statement, "without shedding of blood is no remission [áphesis]." As animal sacrifices gave OT sinners relief from the guilt of sin, so Jesus Christ's shed blood (His sacrificial death) gives believers not only freedom from the guilt of sin, which in the NT is called justification (dikaío¯sis [G1347]) (Rom_4:25; Rom_5:18), but also katharismós (G2512), cleansing or purification (Heb_1:3; 2Pe_1:9). This is why in Rom_3:25 in speaking of the OT sacrifices, Paul calls the result páresis (G3929), which unfortunately is translated "remission," as if it were the same as áphesis. If Paul meant it to be áphesis, the permanent remission of sins without the need of further sacrifices, he would have called it that. The blood of Christ provided the removal of the guilt of sin as well as the cleansing from sin on a permanent basis. Páresis (G3929), occurring only in Rom_3:25, must be translated the "bypassing" of sin and not the "remission" of sin, for where there is forgiveness of sins there is no more offering for sin (Heb_10:18).
