In arid lands, Shepherds often grazed the sheep and goats together. During the night, when the temperatures got colder, the goats were put into a shelter because they were would freeze without the warm woolly coat of a sheep. Sheep are docile animals that are easily led to green pastures, on the other hand, goats are known for being stubborn and not wanting to obey. When we look at these characteristics, we can relate them to a person that eagerly follows God and someone that prefers to do whatever they want and not obey anyone.
http://biblestudents.net31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 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, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46
When Jesus returns and Satan has been bound for a thousand years in a pit, it will then be time to judge those that survived the tribulation period. The purpose of this judgment is to determine who is worthy to enter the millennial kingdom.
The sheep represent the people that came to believe in the Lord after the rapture and did not take the mark of the beast and follow the Antichrist. The goats represent those people that did not come to faith in the Lord during this time and many of them did take the mark of the beast and have followed the Antichrist. Jesus separates the sheep on his right hand side, and these people will be going into the millennial kingdom. The goats will go to eternal punishment.
The main part of this judgment is God's people, the Jews. During the tribulation, Satan and the Antichrist will make an all out effort to finally destroy the Jews.
13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. Revelation 12:13
The woman in this verse is Israel, and the male child referred to in this verse is Jesus. At around the midpoint of the tribulation, Satan is thrown out of heaven. Up to this point, Satan had been allowed into heaven as the "accuser of the brethren".
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down. Revelation 12:10
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down. Revelation 12:10
The Jews at this point will have to hide from the Antichrist because they will be hunted like they were during the Holocaust but worldwide. The sheep, being Christ followers will be the ones that reach out to help the Jews during this time. The goats will be turning in the Jews for persecution. This is what they will be judged on.
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