Matthew 25:31-46 Judgment of the Nations

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 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; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, ... “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been 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; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, ...’ “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” [Matthew 25:31-46 NASB]

Jesus is concluding His teaching on the end times. To put this into context, He has told us about the great tribulation, and the gathering of the saints to Himself. Through a variety of parables, He has warned us to be prepared. It is not enough to abstain from evil, but we must avoid indifference, and we must actively do good.

Within this context, the Son of Man will come in His glory and sit on His throne. At the end of Daniel's 70th week - after the tribulation and the wrath of God, Satan will be bound for a thousand years, and Jesus will reign on earth. He will begin His reign with the judgement of nations.

This is one of three judgments spoken of in the Bible in relation to the last days.

The Judgment seat of Christ is where the saints receive their rewards for service.

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." [2 Corinthians 5:10 NASB]

This does not determine whether we will enter heaven or hell since our salvation is by grace, and our sins have already been forgotten. Rather, it will judge what we have done for Jesus in His service.

"Each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." [1 Corinthians 3:13-15 NASB]

If your work for Him is pure of motives and free of selfish ambition, you will receive a reward for your service. If you motivation is self-serving, you will not lose your salvation, but you will lose your rewards.

The Great White Throne Judgment takes place after the millennium and after the last great rebellion against God, immediately before He creates the new heaven and new earth. At this judgment, everyone who has ever lived will be judged. In this judgment their eternal fate will be sealed, whether for heaven or hell.

"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 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. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." [Revelation 20:11-15 NASB]

The judgment of nations that Jesus describes in today's passage is not the White Throne Judgment. First, the timing is all wrong. This judgment takes place immediately after the tribulation and before the Millennium. Second this is not a resurrection of all the souls who have ever lived, but is a judgment of the nations on earth. Those judged will be those who have survived the tribulation and the wrath of God. This does not include the believers, as they will have already been caught up to meet Jesus, and have been glorified.

During the last seven years, the earth's population will be decimated. The current global population of about 8 billion will be whittled down to about 3 billion. These survivors will then be judged based on their treatment of God's people (Jews and Christians). Those who persecuted or ignored the plight of persecuted Christians will go straight to hell. 

During World War II, there were always people who were willing to help the persecuted Jews. In the same way, during the Great Tribulation, there will be people who will help the persecuted. They will enter the millennial kingdom of Christ.