Faith # 68
68. 4. The failure of caring in the people described in Matthew shows that goats mean people who are devoted to a faith divorced from caring. We can see that the goats and sheep in Matthew 25:31-46 have the same meaning as the goat and the ram in Daniel because deeds of caring are listed for the sheep and it says that they did them, and the same deeds of caring are listed for the goats but it says that they did not do them, and that this is why these latter are condemned. A neglect of deeds is characteristic of people who are devoted to a faith divorced from caring because of their refusal to believe that deeds have anything to do with salvation or the church. When people so set aside caring—which consists of deeds—then faith fails as well, because faith comes out of caring; and when there is neither caring nor faith, there is damnation.
If the goats in this passage had meant all evil people it would have listed all the evil things they did rather than all the deeds of caring they did not do.
People like this are also meant by goats in Zechariah:
My wrath blazes against the shepherds, and I will execute judgment upon the goats. (Zechariah 10:3)
And in Ezekiel:
Behold, I am judging between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats. Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture? Will you also trample what remains of the food with your feet? You attack all the weak sheep with your horns until you have scattered them. Therefore I will save my flock, so that it will no longer be prey. (Ezekiel 34:17-18, 21-22, and following)
A Faith Divorced from Caring Destroys the Church and Everything It Stands For
Psalms 46
1
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2
Therefore we won't be afraid, though the earth changes, though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas;
3
though its waters roar and are troubled, though the mountains tremble with their swelling. Selah.
4
There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High.
5
God is in her midst. She shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn.
6
The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He lifted his voice, and the earth melted.
7
Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
8
Come, see Yahweh's works, what desolations he has made in the earth.
9
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.
10
"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth."
11
Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.
