This judgment is for those who survive the tribulation. This is not the Christian's judgment, nor is it the judgment at the end of time when everyone that has ever lived will be judged by God.
When Christ comes back and destroys the AntiChrist's kingdom, He will bind Satan and cast him into the bottomless pit. Then He will judge the nations according to how they helped or hindered the people of Israel. It is not based on faith, but on how they treated the Jews during the tribulation period.
Joel 3:1-2,11-14- For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
This will be a terrifying time for humanity. Standing before the Lord Jesus Christ after He's bound the AntiChrist who people thought was invincible, knowing that now they will be next.
Can you imagine escaping the holocaust that the AntiChrist propagates, and enduring the destruction and plagues that God has rained down on the earth, then to be ushered before the Conquering Savior to give an account of what you did while trying to survive?
Matthew 25:31-40- 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: 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: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 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: 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: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 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 particular judgment isn't mentioned in any other gospel. Matthew writes his gospel from the view of Christ the King. And this judgment only occurs after He is crowned King during the Millennium.
Mark emphasized Christ's humanity. Luke regards Him as the servant. And, John points out His deity as the Son of God. None of these viewpoints show His kingship, and that is why this event isn't expounded upon in their writings.
Christ is the one who will be doing the judging at this time.
John 5:22- For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Notice how in Matthew, Jesus said it is based on how they treated his brethren, the Jewish people. How you treat the Israelites during the tribulation will seal your fate in the millennial kingdom.
Isaiah 58:10-12- And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
Some will make it through to live in the renewed earth under Jesus as their ruler for the millennium. Others will be cast alive into a burning pit.
Matthew 25:41-45- 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: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 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 fire is not buried deep in the heart of the earth like hell. It's a pit that is on the surface of the earth where people can come and look at those who have been imprisoned there.
Isaiah 66:23-24- And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
This was prophesied back in the Old Testament. But many who read this passage believed it would occur when the Messiah came the first time. It didn't happen then because the first advent was all about Christ dying for the sins of the world. This recompense is for a specific time after the second return of Christ when He rescues the remnant of the Jews that survive the devastation of the AntiChrist during the tribulation period.
2 Thessalonians 1:7-10- And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
When does He recompense this vengeance? When He is revealed from heaven as the true Messiah who has come to be glorified- the Second Advent.
Revelation 19:11-16- And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Christ as King returning in flaming fire to smite the nations. Why is coming like the force of a nuclear bomb with the angels of heaven and the redeemed from the Church Age? To rescue the remnant of the Jewish people that have survived the captivity of the Tribulation.
Ezekiel 39:25-29- Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
When the time of Jacob's trouble ends, the time of the Gentile nations' judgment will begin.
Jeremiah 30:16,23,24- Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness. The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.
Jeremiah knew there was a judgment coming. Even the disciple, Jude, speaks of the time when Enoch prophesied of this before the flood of Noah.
Jude 1:14-15- And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Where does this judgment take place?
Zechariah 14:4-5- And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
It happens just outside of Jerusalem, where Christ's grand entrance has split the Mount of Olives and has made a valley- the Valley of Decision, as Joel called it.
How does one avoid ending up in this place? By taking care of the Jews during the Great Tribulation when the AntiChrist is actively hunting them to destroy them. What you do could cost you greatly during the AntiChrist's rule, but it will definitely cost you during Christ's reign.
Numbers 32:23- But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.
Isaiah 3:10-11- Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
