The parable of the sheep and the goats is the last parable in Matthew 25. It is a parable that describes the Great White Throne Judgment of Christ when He returns to the earth. (If you read Revelation, you find out that this is after the Millenium... but that is a different discussion for a different day.) This is how it goes:
"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, andye took Me in: naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.' The 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.'
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 was 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.' And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."
This parable is almost exactly the same in form as the second parable in Ezekiel 34; however, God only describes the behavior of the goats in Ezekiel. Here is the parable as it appears there (Ezekiel 34:17-28), the entire parable being in spiritual imagery:
"And as for you, O My flock', thus saith the Lord God; 'Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams [Hebrew: 'ayil' = "male sheep"] and the he goats. Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? And as for My flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet. Therefore' thus saith the Lord God unto them; 'Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; therefore will I save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.
And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even My servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
And I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and non shall make them afraid."
So what both parables are saying is that all members of the flock must treat the other members of the flock with respect, and with human decency. Decency dictates that if someone is in trouble, we help them. God's law even dictated that if your enemy was in trouble, that you helped that person. It always gave you the right to defend yourself if an enemy was threatening you, but also to help that person when they are in trouble (and by extension are no threat to you).
This concludes the three parables relating to our behavior in the end times that appear in Ezekiel and Matthew 25. Since we don't know exactly when "the end" will come, if we take heed to the parables during our daily lives, we will be in good standing before God. God bless.
