MATTHEW 24-25 FULFILLED IN AD 70 OR FUTURE? PART 14 - THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN TO JUDGE THE NATIONS AND SATAN

In Part 13 we saw how the eschatological wedding was fulfilled in AD 70, but how were the nations and Satan judged at the end of the old covenant age? To this question we now turn our full attention.

The coming of the Son of Man and the judgment of the nations

• “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.  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. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 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.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  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.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:31-46).

The coming of the Son of Man here in glory with His angels is the same coming of Christ in glory with angels as mentioned previously in Matthew 24:30-31 (and Mt. 16:27-28) to be fulfilled in Jesus’ contemporary generation.  As I have documented in my books both Gary DeMar and Keith A. Mathison are Partial Preterist theologians who understand that the coming of the Son of Man in glory of Matthew 25:31 is the same coming of Christ mentioned in Matthew 24:31 – thus both were fulfilled spiritually in the AD 70 generation.  Unfortunately, these Partial Preterists will not admit what their confessions of faith teach them in that these texts are indeed references to the Second Coming event which brings about the judgment of the dead and Satan – at the end of the age.  They do gymnastics on Matthew 25:31ff. as they do on Matthew 24:30-31.  They claim the “gathering” of Matthew 24:30-31 is a 2,000 plus years and counting evangelism and not the end of the age resurrection event.  And here in Matthew 25:31ff. they claim this separation of the sheep and the goats is a 2,000 plus years and counting evangelical judgment instead of the Second Coming and judgment of the dead and Satan event.   

Again, this is common Hebraic or prophetic recapitulation Matthew is developing while Mark and Luke do not.  There is no evidence that this is a different, or future to us, coming of Christ. 

The judgment separation of the sheep from the goats is the same event mentioned by Jesus in the separation of the wheat and tares in Matthew 13:39-43, or the “wrath about to come” separation in the “harvest” John the Baptist was teaching about in Matthew 3:7-12 GNT.   

There are differing views as to who the “nations” are that Jesus is referring to.  Are they strictly the nations of the Jews or do they include the nations of the Gentiles within the Roman Empire and previous evil kings and nations in Hades? 

J. Stuart Russell makes the connection between Christ coming in judgment upon the mourning tribes of the land of Palestine in Matthew 24:30 and the Jewish “nations” here:

“In our Lord’s time it was usual to speak of the inhabitants of Palestine as consisting of several nations.  Josephus speaks of ‘the nation of the Samaritans,’ ‘the nation of the Batanaeans,’ ‘the nation of the Galileans,’—using the very word which we find in the passage before us.  Judea was a distinct nation, often with a king of its own; so also was Samaria; and so with Idumea, Galilee, Perea, Batanea, Trachonitis, Ituraea, Abilene--all of which had at different times princes with the title of Ethnarch, a name which signifies the ruler of a nation.  It is doing no violence then, to the language to understand… [this judgment to be upon]…as referring to ‘all the nations’ of Palestine, or ‘all the tribes of the land.’”[1]

While Russell offers a compelling argument here, I should point out that the Great Commission of Matthew 24:14 was not limited to the “nations” of Palestine, but rather the “whole world” and the “nations” that made up the Roman Empire.  Paul’s mission was to the Jews and Gentiles of this world and these nations.  Paul would preach to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. 

It was his custom to begin in the synagogues where there were Jewish members, who had been scattered throughout the Roman Empire, and their Gentile proselyte converts.  Some within these synagogues were converted to Christianity and thus a Church plant had begun.  Those who were not converted to Christ began to persecute the Jews and Gentiles in these early churches. 

Most likely Nero being married to a Jewess who had friends in high places, such as the Pharisees who had an ax to grind with the Christians, came up with a scheme to blame the Christians for the fires Nero had started.  So, these synagogues for a season were somewhat protected from the wrath of Nero. 

When the feasts of Israel began in and around AD 67, Jews and Gentiles (Judaizers or Christians) from the synagogues within the Roman Empire would have traveled to Jerusalem.  Those who had not converted to Christ would have been deceived by the false messiahs and prophets to stay within the walls of Jerusalem and not leave (just as those Jews and their Gentile converts who lived in Jerusalem would have done), and thus Christ’s wrath fell upon them and He gave them the same kind of “trouble” they had given the Jewish and Gentile Christians (cf. 2 Thess. 1:5-10) through the hands of the Romans. 

When Roman / Jewish tensions began to heat up during the beginning of the war, Jews throughout the Roman Empire also revolted, and Rome was no longer favorable to them, and thus wrath fell upon them and many perished from both groups. However, the Jewish and Gentile converts would have fled to Pella and would have been safe. In this way the Great Commission and God’s wrath and judgment extended to the “nations” of the Roman world as well.   

The gospel itself, preached throughout the nations of Rome and the nations of Palestine, served as judgment being an “aroma of life” to those God sovereignly called and an “aroma of death” to those who rejected it (cf. 2 Cor. 2:16).   

I think Russell also misses that this was likewise a judgment that took place in the spiritual realm for “the Devil and his angels” with Hades being emptied and all those in it being judged at Christ’s coming.  Jesus connects the vindication of the dead going as far back as Genesis in Matthew 23, so this was not just a local judgment upon Palestine.  Therefore, it would have included all of the wicked Jewish and Gentile kings and those “nations” of the OT who had died and were awaiting judgment at Christ’s coming in AD 70 (cf. Revelation 20:5-15 and Revelation 22). 

Jesus Himself identified “the day of judgment” and His coming at the end of the old covenant age as not just involving unbelievers within the disciples’ local Jewish towns and nations of Israel, but also involving “Sodom and Gomorrah” (cf. Mt. 10:15, 17-23).

The author of Hebrews mentions that it is appointed to die once and then experience judgment (Heb. 9:26-28). This would apply to those who died prior to AD 70 awaiting the judgment, and to those who die post AD 70 and either continue in God’s presence or are immediately cast into the lake of fire only to continue having no rest day and night, being eternally separated and tormented.   

Jesus said that if anyone did not believe that He was the great “I Am,” then he would “die in his sins” (Jn. 8:24).  The same principle applies today as we continue to preach the everlasting gospel to the “nations” in the new covenant age (cf. Rev. 22:2, 17).  In fact, the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem and the wrath involved is a testimony not only of the Deity of Christ, but also of one’s eternal destiny in responding to His gospel.  For if God took the sin of rejecting His Son so seriously that He came upon the clouds to judge His own covenant nation, how much more will He pour out His wrath upon those today who refuse to hear the message of the “Spirit and the Bride” concerning the “Faithful and True Witness” in fulfilling His prophecies of His passion and Parousia in the historical events of AD 30 – AD 70?!?  Selah.

Daniel 12:1-12=Matthew 25:31-46=Matthew 13:39-43

Having spent some time critiquing and refuting the Partial Preterist division theories of Kenneth Gentry and other Partial Preterists by using the exegesis of a Partial Preterist (Gary DeMar), I will turn some attention to Gary DeMar, Keith Mathison, and those Partial Preterists that see the coming of the Son of Man throughout both Matthew 24-25 as being fulfilled in AD 70.

As I have pointed out in this series Partial Preterists that DeMar publishes through American Vision acknowledge “the end” judgment and resurrection of Matthew 13:39-43; Matthew 24:3 and Daniel 12:1-7 is referring to the end of the old covenant age and was fulfilled in AD 70.  That being the case, Daniel is only predicting one “time of the end” judgment and resurrection and Jesus places that one “end of the age” judgment and resurrection to take place at the end of the old covenant age in AD 70:

DeMar’s attempts to place the coming of Christ and “gathering” of Matthew 24:30-31 and the coming of Christ and judgment of Matthew 25:31-46 as a 2,000 plus years and counting event and not the actual Second Coming, resurrection and judgment event that takes place at the end of the old covenant age – is not exegetical but an invention of him to avoid the wrath of the reformed hyper-creedalists. 

(update - DeMar in his recent debate with Michael Brown over Matthew 24 conceded that the “gathering of the elect” has to do with angels gathering the dead souls of the OT saints. Since he and other Partial Preterists are teaching there was a spiritual resurrection of souls out of Abraham’s bosom or Hades into God’s presence at Christ’s coming in AD 70, there is no reason to believe the resurrection of 1 Thess. 4; 1 Cor. 15 and Rev. 20 is not likewise this same AD 70 spiritual resurrection event).

Partial Preterism itself forms Full Preterism when we consider what is admitted in Matthew 24-25:

Major Premise:  The coming of Christ and judgment of Matthew 25:31-46 is the Second Coming event (Kenneth Gentry).

Minor Premise:  But the coming of Christ and judgment of Matthew 25:31-46 is the same coming of Christ and judgment mentioned in Matthew 24 which was fulfilled in AD 70 (Gary DeMar).

Conclusion:  The Second Coming and judgment of Matthew 25:31-46 is the same coming of Christ and judgment found in Matthew 24 and therefore was fulfilled in AD 70 (Full Preterism).

The Judgment of Satan and Demons

Partial Preterists are usually prolific writers on anything in the NT that is to be fulfilled “shortly” except when it comes to Paul’s statement that “Satan” was going to be “crushed shortly” under the feet of the first century Church at Rome – in fulfillment of Genesis 3:15/Romans 16:20. Once again, we find the inspired Apostle Paul to be in line with the first century time frame of fulfillment that Jesus lays out in Matthew 24-25 when it comes to the first century imminent time frame of Satan’s judgment.    

Many today see the evil of the New World Order, China, the CDC/FDA, Islam, Zionism etc., and can’t fathom how all of this evil exists without the influence of Satan and the demonic.  Yet in the book of James, the origin of evil in wars comes from the hearts of men and not the demonic (Jms. 4:1ff.).  According to James, wars, coveting, murder, etc., come from the inner passions of the heart and are Satan and demons are not necessary for these sins to continue post AD 70.

Isaiah 65-66 and Revelation 21-22 depict evil people in darkness outside the gates of the Church or the New Jerusalem needing evangelism and healing through the gospel.  In Revelation, this is after Satan is cast in the Lake of Fire in Revelation 20:5-15.  Again, there is nothing in Revelation that suggests the end of the millennium judgment of chapter 20 wouldn’t be fulfilled “shortly.”  Thus, per Isaiah 65-66, Revelation 21-22 and Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 24-25, evil will continue post AD 70 even after Satan and the demonic were judged.  The presence of evil in the world today does not overthrow the Full Preterist exposition of these texts. 

Daniel 12 = Matthew 24-25 = Revelation 20 - All describing the same end of the millennium judgment and resurrection event in AD 70:

Concluding the Series on Matthew 24-25/Luke 21

After examining Matthew 24-25 and Luke 21 we see no exegetical evidence of a future-to-us Second Coming or “rapture” event that will take us off the planet and rescue us from the evil in the world.  To the contrary, we see that Christ came when He said He would and that the inspired NT authors also placed a first century fulfillment of these eschatological events. 

God wants us in this world but not of it – and definitely not to be taken out of it!  He wants us to be the salt and light and influence culture through prayer and being image bearer’s of His Son.  The Postmillennial Partial Preterist concept of a “golden age” in which all nations of the world will become Christian before Christ’s third coming is completely unbiblical.  But so are the pessimistic positions of Amillennialism and Premillennialism.  The truth is that like Israel Nations will go through cycles when it comes to exposure of the gospel or divine revelation.  Some will harden their hearts and will reap the consequences.  Others will embrace the gospel for a large part, but then become comfortable, backslide, and also reap the consequences.  

But the fact remains as I mentioned in the opening of this series,

“The Great King and His New Covenant Kingdom came in its mature form in AD 70 when the physical, temporal, and typological Old Covenant Kingdom ended -- during the Roman Empire and it is everlasting, ever increasing, spiritual / within us, can never be shaken by world powers, and is completely sovereign over all kings and nations of this world who do His bidding and can go only as far as He alone determines (Lk. 17:20-37/Lk. 21:27-32; Lk. 1:33; Mt. 21:43-45; Jn. 18:36; Dan. 2; Dan. 4:34-35/Prov. 21:1; Dan. 7:13-14; Isa. 9:6-7; Heb. 12:18-29; Rev. 11:1-15; etc.).  We fear no man or tyrannical system – we only fear the Living and True God – King Jesus.” 

During the time I am writing this we have evil world systems that want to rule the world and persecute, enslave, and even kill Christians – the New World Order, China, Islam, Israeli Talmudic Zionism, etc.  But in the first century the Roman Empire (the sea beast) and apostate Israel (the land beast) also sought these goals.  And just as God put it in their hearts to persecute the Church, He also put it in their hearts to destroy each other and thus deliver the Church in the process.  Who is to say God will not put in the heart of China to go after the New World Order or the other way around?  God has never allowed a Uniting of the Nations or world government ever since the tower of babel.  The only Nation He wants ruling the world is the Church or New Jerusalem that brings healing to the other nations (Rev. 22:17). 

Again, the nations and evil in this world goes through cycles and God’s faithfulness in the past in preserving and prospering His people in the OT and NT is a road map of His faithfulness in the new covenant age post AD 70.  Christ will always be victorious no matter what current events look like.  One need not be a Postmillennialist or wait for a Second Coming event for us – that the Bible doesn’t teach to gain “victory” in this world.  We have all that we need “in Christ” right now - where all the blessings of God are found (2 Cor. 1:20).  Christ has redeemed His Church and there is no unclean thing found or darkness in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21-22).  We are perfect in His sight because Christ has finished what He came to accomplish.  If that isn’t “victorious” or exciting enough for you, then go find a Hal Lindsey book at a garage sale for .25 cents and knock yourself out.  As for me and my house we will serve the Lord and honor the time and nature of Christ’s coming, His salvation and the nature of His Kingdom.  Selah. 

Having concluded this series on Matthew 24-25 I will pick up the series on Revelation in Part 15. 

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[1] Russell, Ibid., 105.