The Judgment of the Nations
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats” (Matt. 25:31–32)
There are a number of ways to show this passage was fulfilled in AD 70. First, consider the following logical argument:
If A, B, and C are true, then D is true. This is simple logic. So let me prove that A, B, and C are true.
Re. A: Everyone agrees Matthew 25:31–34 refers to the Second Coming / judgment of the nations. After all, it describes the Son of Man coming with his angels and judging the nations. Nothing controversial here.
Re. B: Compare the descriptive elements in Matthew 25:31–34 and Matthew 16:27–28:
Both passages contain the same descriptive elements: the Son of Man, coming, in glory, with angels, to reward the faithful, in Jesus’s kingdom. They are even listed in the same order!
Moreover, Jesus uttered both statements in approximately the same time period. So if Jesus had two different events in mind, he surely would have said so to avoid confusion. He certainly would not have used the same descriptive elements, yet had a different event in mind.
Furthermore, both statements are recorded in the same book of Matthew, just a few chapters apart. So if these were different events, Matthew, too, would have told us!
It’s obvious that both passages refer to the same event.
Re. C: We know Matthew 16:27–28 was fulfilled in the first century because Jesus said: “There are some standing here who shall not taste death [die] till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom” (Matt. 16:28). There’s no getting around the timing indicator.
Re. D: Since Matthew 16:27–28 and Matthew 25:31–34 refer to the same event, and Matthew 16:27–28 was fulfilled in the first century, then so was Matthew 25:31–34. In other words, the Second Coming and judgment of the nations happened in the first century.
Denying this conclusion would turn logical Bible interpretation on its head. One might as well argue that these passages describe two different Sons of Men, which would be just as absurd. As Christians—as Bereans—we cannot sacrifice logic and reason, even for our favorite doctrines and traditions. We are told to love God with not only our hearts, but also our minds (Luke 10:27). And our minds clearly show that these passages refer to the same event, which happened in the first century…which means the Second Coming / judgment of the nations happened in the first century.
Second, by the first century, Israel was a melting pot of nations. Therefore, when Israel was judged in AD 70, so were the nations. Consider Peter’s statement at Pentecost:
“And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven [all nations]. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, ‘Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God’” (Acts. 2:5–11, bolding mine)
As this passage shows, first-century Israel was comprised of “every nation under heaven.” Therefore, when Israel was judged in AD 70, so were “the nations.”
Third, Jesus linked the judgment in AD 70 to prior judgments of infamous nations. For instance, Jesus said the men of Nineveh and the queen of the South—renowned Gentiles of ages past—would rise up and condemn Israel during the judgment in AD 70:
“The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this [first-century] generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this [first-century] generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here” (Matt. 12:41–42)
Likewise, Jesus linked the judgment of AD 70 to the past judgments of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom:
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you” (Matt. 11:20–24)
Commenting on these passages, theologian Don Preston said:
“These kinds of passages show that ‘the nations’—and that includes the non-Jewish [Gentile] nations, even nations that extended centuries in the past from the first century—were to be judged at the same time as Israel! That included nations that existed before there was even ‘Israel!’”[1]
Fourth, Jesus said that all the blood, of all the prophets, that had ever been shed throughout all biblical history, would be avenged in his generation (Note: a biblical generation equates to about forty years – see Heb. 3:8–10, Num. 14:30–34, Neh. 9:21):
“I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes some of them you [Israel] will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel [the first person murdered in the Bible] to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar [many commentators say this refers to someone in Jesus’ day]. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation” (Matt. 23:34–36, bolding mine).
The judgment in AD 70 was a multi-generational judgment!
As this judgment drew near, Peter said in approximately AD 63 that Jesus was ready to judge the living and the dead: “They will give an account to Him [Jesus] who is ready to judge the living and the dead…For the time has come for judgment to begin” (1 Pet. 4:5, 17, bolding mine)
The judgment in AD 70 was much more than just a local judgment. It was a judgment of the living and dead. It was a judgment of “all the nations.”
For more information about the topics discussed in the article, get my book The End Is Here: How the New Testament Prophecies Were Fulfilled, available Fall 2024.
By Alex Polyak, Director of The Bible Fulfilled, 9/30/24
[1] Don Preston, “The Judgment of the Nations in AD 70,” Dec. 14, 2018, DonKPreston.com, viewed Jan. 2, 2022, https://donkpreston.com/ the-judgment-of-the-nations-in-ad-70/
