The sheep and goats in Matthew 25 picture Christ separating the surviving believers from unbelievers at the end of the Tribulation, when He sits on His throne in Jerusalem.
Matthew 25:31–46 records Jesus' own description of what happens when He returns in glory: all nations are gathered before Him, and He separates them as a shepherd divides sheep from goats. Les Feldick teaches that the sheep are believers who responded to the preaching of the 144,000 Jewish witnesses and survived the Tribulation, while the goats are unbelievers who rejected the Gospel and are removed from the scene. Only believers enter the Kingdom.
Matthew 25:31–46 — This passage is Jesus' own description of the separation of the sheep from the goats when He returns in glory and sits on His throne, directly answering the question.
Matthew 25:31–46 records Jesus' own words about His return and the judgment of the nations. Verse 31 says, "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." Verse 32 continues, "And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." The sheep are set on His right hand and the goats on the left (v. 33). To the sheep the King says, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (v. 34), because they had fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, taken in strangers, clothed the naked, and visited the sick and imprisoned (vv. 35–36). The King answers, "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (v. 40). To the goats He says, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (v. 41), and "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me" (v. 45). Verse 46 concludes: "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."
Les Feldick teaches that Matthew 25:31–46 is not a parable about general charity but a prophetic description of a real judgment that will take place at the end of the seven-year Tribulation. He says the "survivors of the Tribulation" — the few people left after the world-wide judgments and the mark of the beast — are brought before Christ in Jerusalem when He returns in glory with His holy angels and sits upon the throne of His glory (His Second Coming). Les says Christ "providentially" sorts the believers from the unbelievers, just as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. The sheep on His right hand are believers who responded to the preaching of the 144,000 Jewish witnesses, and because of their new relationship with Christ they ministered to those witnesses' needs — feeding the hungry, giving drink, clothing the naked, and visiting those in prison. The goats on His left are unbelievers who rejected the Gospel and are "taken off the scene." Les emphasizes that these are all Gentiles — no Jews are involved in this judgment — and that no unbeliever enters the Kingdom. He also carefully notes that the sheep's good works were not the cause of their salvation; rather, their salvation produced the works.
Les Feldick places the sheep-and-goats judgment at the end of the seven-year Tribulation, at Christ's Second Coming. He says Matthew 25:31 — "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him" — is Jesus speaking of His Second Coming, and the throne of His glory will be in Jerusalem. All the survivors of the Tribulation are gathered before Him there, and He immediately separates the believers from the unbelievers. The Tribulation leaves few people alive — Les notes that even after a tremendous calamity like Hiroshima, there were survivors — but a percentage of the survivors will have heard the Gospel from the 144,000 and become believers.
Les Feldick identifies "my brethren" as the 144,000 Jews who preach the Gospel of the Kingdom during the Tribulation. He says "nobody's a brethren of Jesus except the Jew," and in this context Jesus is referring specifically to the 144,000. During the closing days of the Tribulation, believing survivors minister to the needs of these Jewish witnesses, and Jesus treats that help as help given to Himself: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." The goats, who did not help, are likewise judged by how they treated these brethren.
No. Les Feldick is careful to say that the sheep's good works — feeding the hungry, giving drink, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned — did not perform their salvation. Rather, their salvation caused them to perform the works. They were believers first, because they responded to the preaching of the 144,000; the works were the evidence of their new relationship with Christ. When Christ says to the sheep, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom," He is welcoming those whose faith was proved genuine by their works.
Les Feldick is emphatic that "those were all Gentiles, there are no Jews involved in that judgment of Matthew 25." The remnant of Jews who fled Jerusalem at the midpoint of the Tribulation are pictured separately; the sheep-and-goats separation concerns the surviving people of all nations — the Gentiles. The believing Jews are dealt with in a separate context, while the sheep and goats are the Gentile survivors who either received or rejected the Gospel preached by the 144,000.
The sheep, on Christ's right hand, are invited to "inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world," and they enter the Kingdom. The goats, on His left, are told to depart into "everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels"; they are "removed from the scene" and "taken off the scene." Les summarizes: "no unbelievers will go into the Kingdom, it'll only be believers."
Les explains that during the Tribulation, the mark of the beast will control all buying and selling — without that number a person cannot pay rent, buy gasoline, or buy groceries. Those who refuse the mark "are going to die of starvation" and "die of exposure because they can't maintain their home." This is why the survivors gathered before Christ in Matthew 25 are so few. Some of them are "sheep," believers who responded to the 144,000's preaching and survived; "not very many will, but a few will," as Isaiah says.
Few Survivors After the Tribulation Holocaust
Les describes the end-time catastrophe — a world-wide holocaust that leaves "few men left" — explaining why so few people remain to be judged in Matthew 25.
Sheep Are Believers Who Helped Christ
Les says the sheep in Matthew 25 are believers who fed, clothed, and visited Christ — help given to the hungry, thirsty, naked, and imprisoned — and compares them to Christians in Nazi Germany who hid Jews.
Salvation Produces the Sheep's Works
Les explains that at the end of the Tribulation Christ separates the survivors in Jerusalem, and that the sheep's works did not save them — their salvation produced the works; the goats were judged for refusing to help Christ's brethren.
The King Separates Sheep From Goats
Les reads Matthew 25:32–34, showing the Son of Man gathering all nations and separating them as a shepherd divides sheep from goats, then saying to the sheep on His right hand, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom."
No Jews in the Sheep-and-Goats Judgment
Les emphasizes that the sheep and goats are all Gentiles, with no Jews involved in that judgment, and that no unbeliever will go into the Kingdom.
Survivors Who Responded to the 144,000
Les connects the mark of the beast to the sheep-and-goats judgment: those without the mark die of starvation and exposure, so the sheep are the few Tribulation survivors who believed the preaching of the 144,000.
The Second Coming and the Throne in Jerusalem
Les reads Matthew 25:31 as Jesus speaking of His Second Coming, when He sits upon the throne of His glory in Jerusalem, and the gathered survivors are brought before Him.
'My Brethren' Are the 144,000 Jews
Les identifies "the least of these my brethren" as the 144,000 Jewish witnesses whom believing survivors ministered to in the closing days of the Tribulation, while the goats who refused are taken off the scene.
Matthew 25:31: When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Identifies the timing of the sheep-and-goats separation — Christ's return in glory — and the throne from which He judges.
Matthew 25:32: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Shows that all nations are gathered and separated exactly as a shepherd separates sheep from goats.
Matthew 25:33: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Pictures the placement of believers (sheep) and unbelievers (goats) at the judgment.
Matthew 25:34: Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Records the invitation the sheep receive to enter the Kingdom.
Matthew 25:35: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Lists the ministries of the sheep that the King recognizes.
Matthew 25:36: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Continues the list of compassionate works the sheep performed.
Matthew 25:40: And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Reveals that the sheep's kindness to "my brethren" is counted as kindness to Christ Himself.
Matthew 25:41: Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Records the sentence pronounced upon the goats.
Matthew 25:46: And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Summarizes the two destinies that result from the separation.
The sheep and goats picture the separation of the surviving people of all nations at the end of the Tribulation. Christ, sitting on His throne in Jerusalem, separates believers (sheep) from unbelievers (goats); the believers enter the Kingdom, and the unbelievers are removed.
The sheep are believers who survived the Tribulation and responded to the preaching of the 144,000 Jewish witnesses. Their salvation produced works of compassion toward these witnesses — feeding the hungry, giving drink, clothing the naked, and visiting those in prison.
The goats are the unbelieving survivors of the Tribulation who rejected the Gospel preached by the 144,000. Because they did not minister to Christ's brethren, they are told to depart into everlasting fire and are removed from the scene.
Les Feldick teaches that Christ's "brethren" are the 144,000 Jews who preached the Gospel of the Kingdom during the Tribulation. Help given to them was treated as help given to Christ Himself.
It happens at the end of the seven-year Tribulation at Christ's Second Coming. He gathers all the survivors before His throne in Jerusalem and separates the believers from the unbelievers.
No. Les Feldick teaches that the sheep's works did not perform their salvation; rather, their salvation caused them to perform the works.
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