We have seen that ‘the sheep nations’, who were placed at the right hand of the Lord, enter and inherit the Kingdom. Now it is the turn of ‘the goat nations’. The verses about them are almost identical to those about the sheep. The difference is that the goats have not done what the sheep have done. They are judged for their attitude toward Israel.
41 Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his messengers.
42 For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink;
43 I was a stranger, and you did not take Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me. Weak, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or in need, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then He will answer them and say, Amen. I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.
46 And these will go away into the aeonian punishment, but the righteous into the aeonian life.
aeonian life
The righteous (> sheep) go into the aeonian life (:46). That is something different from what is usually understood by ‘eternal life’. When we read this section, we see that the aeonian or eternal life is that they receive the Kingdom as their lot possession (:34). That is the Kingdom of the Messiah on earth.
the aeonian fire
The unbelievers do not enter the Kingdom. They go to the aeonian fire, into which Satan and his messengers are also thrown (Rev. 20:10): the lake of fire.
The aeonian life is opposed to the aeonian fire (:41), or the aeonian chastisement (:46). They will be cast into the lake of fire and will have no part in the aeon to come. After the thousand years they will rise to be judged before the great white throne (Rev.20:7; 11-12). After that they will be cast again into the lake of fire, which is also described as the second death (Rev. 20:14). For they then die a second time.
the new heaven and earth
They will also not experience the era of the new heaven and earth (>the aeon of the aeons). Revelation 21 begins with: and I saw a new heaven and a new earth. Revelation 21 and 22 then describe this new heaven and earth. But this is not yet the ‘final situation’. Because these chapters also speak about the second death and ‘those who are outside’.
Revelation 21
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone; which is: the second death.
Revelation 22
15 Outside are dogs, and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
not yet the end of the ages
Here the world ages of the aeons are not yet over. Revelation does not speak about the end of the aeons, but Jesus’ speech in Matthew 24 and 25 does not reach that far either. After all, the disciples’ question concerned the end of the aeon (:30) and that concerns the end of this present evil aeon (Gal. 1:4). After this aeon follows the aeon of the thousand years (Mark 10:30; Luke 16:30; Rev. 20:2). And this age is followed by the last aeon, the aeon of the aeons (Eph. 3:21), the age of the new heaven and earth.
Paul was allowed to announce that death as the last enemy will also be destroyed and will no longer exist. This will therefore only take place after the aeon of the new heaven and earth, which Revelation 21 and 22 speak about.
We will discuss the end of Jesus’ speech, but also the end of the aeons, in a next blog.