MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

Jerry Parks, “I’m wondering what your thoughts might be on Jesus statement in Matt 24, and Mark 13 about Fleeing the housetops when the abomination of desolation is revealed. Does that in your mind imply a future war with some kind of military defeat?”

I think it will be a future war that will bring Israel to its knees, but not a full military defeat. The Prophet Zechariah alludes to this, showing us that only half of Jerusalem would be taken before the Day of the Lord. If Israel were to be completely conquered, then I’m thinking this would necessitate that all of Jerusalem be completely overrun. But this will not happen:

Zechariah 14:2-3, “For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.”

From Zechariah’s perspective, he could be referring to the eastern portion of Jerusalem that includes the “Old City” that was built around 1000 years before Christ. The Old City, also known as the City of David, was the entire city of Jerusalem up until about 1860. The Western Wall is there, as is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre along with the Dome of the Rock and al Aqsa Mosque. It is near where Jesus was crucified and is the spiritual homestead of the Judeo-Christian faith.

Jews, Christians and Muslims all now reside within the Old City. Today, however, Muslims make up the overwhelming number of residents. And as we are being regularly reminded, Muslim residents have become increasingly “radicalized” and lawless, filled with a fomenting hatred of Jews and even Christians. In light of Zechariah 14, we can therefore expect to one day witness an “intifada” unlike any other. Perhaps a triggering event of some sort will spur the Muslim population to immediately rise up (the “man of lawlessness” visiting the al Aqsa mosque on the temple mount, perhaps?), to possibly then be joined by other Islamist fighters either coming from or coming through the West Bank, effectively taking over much of the Old City. As is par for the course during jihad, they will plunder the homes of Jews and Christians while raping the women as the “spoils of war.”

Jerry Parks, “Or is it simply a new world order round up of Jesus followers with the persecution of Christians and Jews?”

I doubt it. From what I read in Scripture, Antichrist’s geographical dominion is limited in scope, though it will be felt globally. See the article below where I list out a few reasons why:

Antichrist: Leader Of A One-World Government?

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Jerry Parks, “I had also understood that there would be nations and dominions remaining when Jesus returned, as seen in both Daniel 7 and Matthew 25.”

Yep, I see that as well. Scripture is quite clear that there will be many Gentile survivors after the Second Coming of Christ who will be permitted to enter into the earthly Millennial Kingdom. For instance:

Isaiah 2:2-4, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. AND HE SHALL JUDGE AMONG THE NATIONS, AND SHALL REBUKE MANY PEOPLE: AND THEY SHALL BEAT THEIR SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES, AND THEIR SPEARS INTO PRUNINGHOOKS: NATION SHALL NOT LIFT UP SWORD AGAINST NATION, NEITHER SHALL THEY LEARN WAR ANY MORE.”

Isaiah is obviously talking about nations of the Earth that are not destroyed either during the Great Tribulation or after the Second Coming of Christ.

Zechariah 14:9,16-19, “And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one … AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT EVERY ONE THAT IS LEFT OF ALL THE NATIONS WHICH CAME UP AGAINST JERUSALEM shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of ALL NATIONS that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.”

If it’s only “Tribulation Saints” who survive the tribulation according to pre-trib teachers, then who on earth are the “heathen” that the Lord will “smite” if they don’t keep His feasts? After the post-trib rapture, there are many who will be alive after the Second Coming to repopulate the Earth, and these are they who did not worship Antichrist and receive the Mark of the Beast but are permitted to enter the earthly Millennial Kingdom after the Sheep and Goat judgment. Scripture leaves no doubt about it.

Matthew 25:32, “Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”

There are no “tribulation saints” outside of the Church the way that dispensational pre-trib teachers claim, so the “sheep” here are not new “Great Tribulation” Christians who missed out on a secret pre-trib rapture. According to Scripture, the only judgment that followers of Christ face is the Judgment Seat of Christ to receive rewards (2 Corinthians 5:10, Romans 14:10). Furthermore, those who come to faith in Christ receive eternal life the instant they believe (Luke 8:11-15; Romans 10:9; Acts 16:31). They are not forced to face a judgment to determine whether or not they’ll be counted among the “blessed” (Matthew 25:34) because of their good works. We are saved by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9).

By the time Matthew 25:31 comes, the King of Kings has now already returned in great power and glory, destroying Antichrist, Antichrist’s armies and Antichrist’s kingdom. The Millennial Kingdom is about to be ushered in and, since there were other kingdoms of the world besides Antichrist’s (cf. Revelation 11:15), billions of people likely survived the Great Tribulation and the “orge” wrath of God. Just imagine how many children there are. What is Christ to do with everyone? It is His will that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9) and even in wrath remembers mercy (Habakkuk 3:2). The Lord is going to issue judgment, not based upon what they believed per se, but upon how they behaved when Antichrist’s beast-like predatory kingdom waged a genocidal campaign against the children of God. These survivors will be separated into two groups.

One group, likened to sheep, will be permitted entry in the Millennial Kingdom. They will be blessed because they will be deemed “righteous” [dikaios]. According to the context of Matthew 25, they are not righteous in a religious sense but in more of a judicial sense where their treatment of God’s people during Great Tribulation is characterized by compassion, kindness, love, by what is just and right. Kind of similar to how non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust are honored as “Righteous Among The Nations.” These are the type of people that Christ will allow into His earthly kingdom:

Matthew 25:35-40, “‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was 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, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'”

Because they showed mercy to Christ, Christ will show mercy to them. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth… Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:5,7).

By stark contrast, the second group — likened to goats — are cursed and expelled into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

Matthew 25:42-45, “For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'”

Because they did not show mercy to Christ, Christ will show no mercy to them. “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy …” (James 2:13).

When we see the masses of violent pro-Hamas “protesters” rampaging on university campuses across America, when we see discriminatory treatment of Jews all around Europe, when we see brothers and sisters in Christ ridiculed, mocked, persecuted and prosecuted for standing against abortion, against the rabid iniquitous redefinition of “man” and “woman” and “marriage” all across the “enlightened” West, when we see our brothers and sisters killed and imprisoned by the CCP in China and the KWP in North Korea, by the IRGC in Iran and the Taliban in Afghanistan and beyond, we are seeing the goats. And their days are numbered. All of them.

There are some who claim that such a view — that survivors will be permitted entry into the Millennial Kingdom based upon how they treated Yahweh’s elect — promotes a works-based salvation, but I would push back against that claim. Matthew 25:31-46 is not talking about salvation, which guarantees eternal life. For one, the Millennial Kingdom is the earthly reign of Christ. It is not the eternal state. Two, these survivors remain in earthly bodies whereas the saved are glorified and incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Peter 1:4). Three, though these survivors enter into an earthly Millennial Kingdom, it is a Kingdom that itself will never end (cf. Daniel 7:27) and thus they are welcomed to enter into eternal life, but they and/or their offspring still have the choice to follow Christ or to rebel (and by the end of the 1000 years, some will indeed rebel per Revelation 20:7-10; also see Zechariah 14:16-19 above). By the time Matthew 25:31 comes to pass, the saints had already decided to follow Christ and our choice has been fully solidified / actualized forever.

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