Matthew 25

[themuzicman]

Oddly enough, Matthew 25 comes right after Matthew 24, and seems to continue the discourse (verse 1, at that time, the kingdom of God wil be like...) with two parables, the parable of the ten virgins, and the parable of the sheep and the goats.

And Jesus says:

31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 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.

This is followed by the separating of the sheep and the goats, and the apparant judgment of both!

How, for the preterist, then, has the rest of this passed, but not this?

Michael

[Hitch]

I reckon the 'sheep and goats' of the first century well defined by their recations to the horrors of the Siege and the Imperial persecutions.

[dizzle]

To plagiarize myself

Switch On! ~ THE Judge Jesus

Matthew 25:31 and following describe Jesus sitting on His throne and judging the nations, separating the sheep from the goats. This event certainly cannot said to have happened in the first century. Many nations did not even yet exist at that time.
Switch Off!

The Pro-Switch argument is powerful against the NeoHymenæans who pitifully reduce the work of Christ to Gnostic proportions, but it is not really that powerful against orthodox preterists. Why? "Judging" and "reigning" are intimately tied in the OT [Mo BDJ 8-11]. Christ's reign is His judging reign, in fact His act of "coming" against the apostate Jews is His first act of national judgment, thus, this separation of the sheep from the goats is not an activity that takes place at one event but is an ongoing activity of Christ's rule. He currently is separating out the sheep from the goats and placing them on one side or the other. The one event happens when all the separating is done, the two sides are complete, and then He pronounces the verdict.

This dovetails perfectly with 1 Cor 15 and the nature and purpose of this period of time from Ascension to Return ~ he is putting all of His enemies under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:20-24) ~ that is the separation, as an enemy is subjugated he gets puts with the rest of his goatish buddies..