According to Les Feldick, 'My brethren' are the 144,000 sealed Jewish witnesses of the Tribulation.
Les bases this on the context of Matthew 25, where the King judges the surviving nations after the Tribulation. He says, "Now remember, nobody's a brethren of Jesus except the Jew. And so He's referring to the 144,000." The sheep are believers who help these Jewish witnesses, and the goats are those who refuse to help them.
Matthew 25:40 — This is where Jesus first calls them 'my brethren' and says acts of kindness done to them are done to Him.
Matthew 25:45 — This is the parallel verse for the goats, showing that neglecting these brethren is neglecting Him.
Revelation 7:4 — This identifies the 144,000 as sealed from the tribes of Israel, whom Les connects to Jesus' 'brethren.'
In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus describes the Son of Man sitting on His throne of glory and gathering all nations before Him. He separates them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, placing the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left. To the sheep the King says, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." He then names the acts of mercy: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, taking in strangers, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick and imprisoned. The King explains, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40). To the goats He says the same thing in reverse: neglecting these same brethren is neglecting Him (Matthew 25:45). The passage itself does not name the brethren beyond calling them "the least of these my brethren."
Les Feldick teaches that 'my brethren' in Matthew 25 are not all believers or the human race in general; they are specifically the 144,000 Jewish witnesses sealed during the Tribulation. In Clip 1 he says plainly: "Now remember, nobody's a brethren of Jesus except the Jew. And so He's referring to the 144,000." He connects this to their role: these 144,000 Jews are sealed at the start of the Tribulation (Clip 4), go out with the Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus preached at the beginning of Matthew, and circle the globe proclaiming it (Clips 2, 3). They cannot be killed because God has sealed them (Clip 2). Les also explains the sheep and goats in this judgment. The sheep are surviving Gentiles who believe the message of the 144,000 and show their faith by feeding, clothing, housing, and visiting these Jewish witnesses during the Tribulation. Les compares them to Christians in Nazi Germany who hid Jews at great risk (Clip 5). The goats are those who refused to help; they are taken off the scene (Clip 1). This judgment happens after the Tribulation when only a small percentage of earth's population survives (Clip 0).
Les bases his identification on the immediate context of Matthew 25 and the nature of Jesus' brethren. He says, "Now remember, nobody's a brethren of Jesus except the Jew. And so He's referring to the 144,000." He shows that these 144,000 Jews are sealed early in the Tribulation (Clips 2, 4) and cannot be killed, even though they suffer the privations of that seven-year period. They take the Gospel of the Kingdom—the same message Jesus preached when He said "the kingdom of heaven is at hand"—to the whole world (Clip 4).
Les describes the sheep as believers who heard the Gospel from the 144,000 Jewish witnesses and, because of their new relationship with Christ, ministered to their needs. In Clip 1 he says these believers "will minister to their needs" in the closing days of the Tribulation. He compares them to Christians in Nazi Germany who hid Jews at the risk of their own lives (Clip 5). The goats, by contrast, are those who rejected the message and did not help; Jesus tells them they failed to do it to "one of the least of these My brethren," and they are taken off the scene (Clip 1).
The text of Matthew 25:40 and 25:45 speaks only of "one of the least of these my brethren." The passage lists their conditions—hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, in prison—and says that caring for them is caring for the King. The Bible does not explicitly name these brethren as the 144,000 in this passage; that identification comes from Les's teaching connecting Matthew 25 to Revelation 7:4 and the Tribulation ministry of the 144,000 Jewish witnesses.
Les notes that at the end of the seven years there will be survivors, even from catastrophic events, though they will be a small percentage of the earth's population. Using the examples of Hiroshima and the Oakland earthquake, he says survivors will be found "from every tongue and tribe and nation." It is these surviving nations—sheep and goats together—whom Jesus brings before His throne in Jerusalem for the Matthew 25 judgment (Clip 0, Clip 5).
Survivors at the Close of the Tribulation
Les explains that only a small percentage of humanity will survive the seven-year Tribulation, and these survivors are the ones brought before the King in Matthew 25.
The Brethren Are the 144,000
Les explicitly says that no one is a brethren of Jesus except the Jew, and in Matthew 25 Jesus is referring to the 144,000 Jewish witnesses.
Sealed Jews Who Cannot Be Killed
Les shows that the 144,000 are sealed so no one can take their life, and they suffer the privations of the Tribulation while proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom.
The 144,000's Worldwide Ministry
Les says the 144,000 Jewish witnesses will supernaturally know every language and encircle the globe, and the great Tribulation saints are the fruit of their ministry.
144,000 Proclaim the Kingdom Gospel
Les explains that at the beginning of the Tribulation God seals 144,000 young Jews who take the Gospel of the Kingdom—the same message Jesus preached—to the nations.
Sheep Are Believers Who Helped
Les compares the sheep to Christians in Nazi Germany who hid Jews, showing that their practical care for Jesus' brethren grows out of the love of Christ in their hearts.
What Happens to Gentiles After the Tribulation? Isaiah 24
It's going to be glorious. It's going to be beautiful. All right, at His Second Coming, this escaping remnant of Jews who went out in unbelief, and remember now, this is a mixed group. They are not the 144,000. This is Matthew 24, beginning with verse 15, and you remember it speaks of those who are on the housetop and those who have children, and so it's going to be old and young.
Sealed from the Twelve Tribes of Israel
Les stresses that the 144,000 are literal Jews sealed from all the tribes of Israel, not a symbolic or replacement group.
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.
This is the King's explanation that kindness shown to His brethren is kindness shown to Him.
Matthew 25:45: Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
This is the King's parallel statement to the goats, showing that neglecting His brethren is neglecting Him.
Revelation 7:4: And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
This identifies the 144,000 as sealed from the tribes of Israel, whom Les connects to Jesus' 'brethren.'
Les teaches they are the 144,000 Jewish witnesses sealed by God during the Tribulation. He says no one is a brethren of Jesus except the Jew, so Jesus is referring to these 144,000 Jews who preach the Gospel of the Kingdom.
No. Les says they are sealed so that no one could take their life (Clip 2). They suffer the privations of the Tribulation—hunger, thirst, and persecution—but God keeps them alive to complete their worldwide ministry.
The goats are the ones who did not help the 144,000 Jewish witnesses. Jesus tells them that when they failed to do it to the least of these His brethren, they failed to do it to Him, and Les says they are taken off the scene.
They preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, the same message Jesus began with in Matthew: "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Clip 4).
Watch the Teaching: Christ's Return to the Mount of Olives. Zechariah 14 Explained.