End of the Age Separation

JESUS said, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”—Matt. 13:47-50

“The kingdom of heaven” in this parable is not the kingdom established and reigning in the earth in power and glory, but the kingdom in preparation. When Jesus called his disciples into the ministry he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matt. 4:19) Fishing with nets is the illustration used in the parable, which apparently was the principal method employed in Jesus’ day.

The apostles who had been fishermen would know that when a net is cast into the sea there is no way to control what sort of fish are caught in it, and that after the net is drawn ashore the fish must be sorted. They would therefore readily grasp the idea that as fishers of men some undesirables would find their way into the “net,” and that these likewise would need to be separated from the others.

Jesus presented this parable as covering the entire Gospel age, and indicated that the sorting of the fish would take place at the end of the age. This applies, however, only in a very general way. It is not as though the early disciples cast the net into the sea, and that only at the end of the age the net is drawn ashore. Actually, each individual disciple of Christ throughout the age has been a “fisher of men,” and has drawn his individual “net” ashore many times.

However, the main lesson of the parable is to point out what the Lord would accomplish at the end of the age. In this respect the lesson is somewhat similar to the one taught by The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, in which h a separation is also pointed out. But in this case the “tares” are counterfeit “wheat,” whereas nothing is said about the rejected fish in the “net” being counterfeits of the approved “fish.” We do not need to pass judgment on individuals to recognize that throughout the professed Christian world today there are millions of respectable people who have found their way into the “Gospel net,” yet, in the true sense of the word, are not dedicated followers of the Master.

The “angels” who are sent forth at the end of the age to sort the “fish” are the same servants of the Lord who did the fishing. This does not mean, however, that these “fishers of men” are any more qualified to judge the good, and separate the evil from the good, than were the Lord’s people throughout the age. It is the message they proclaim that does the separating. Those to whom the Lord gives ears to hear, understand and appreciate the “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,” and from choice separate themselves from those who have no ear for the truth. It is the mighty power of the kingdom Gospel that does the separating work in the end of the age.

The reason this is more particularly true in the end of the age than throughout the age is that the pure truth, the Gospel of the kingdom, was largely hidden throughout the age by creedmakers and worshipers. There were a few in every generation who held tenaciously to the main principles of the truth, but there was almost no opportunity to make a public proclamation of this message, so its influence among the great mass of professing Christians was negligible.

But in his providence the Lord, at the end of the age, makes somewhat of a change in this situation. With his blessing “the children of the kingdom” are able to give a wide witness for the Gospel of the kingdom, and impressively enough to induce some to take a stand for it, and separate themselves from the nominal worshipers, who, realizing the unpopularity of the truth, are quite willing to have it so.

The Furnace of Fire

IN THIS parable also, as in The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, those who are not the Lord’s true people, but merely associated with them for a time, are said to be “cast into a furnace of fire.” The further explanation is given by Jesus that “there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

This is one of the texts seized upon by those who search the Bible for proof of the God-dishonoring doctrine of eternal torture. They reason that here, at least, is a mention of “fire,” and here also is a statement by Jesus which seemingly suggests that those in the fire are being tormented. What other reason could they have, it is argued, for the “wailing and gnashing of teeth”?

We feel confident, however, that this is not the lesson of the parable. Jesus said to those who rejected him in his day, “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.”—Luke 13:28

The ancient faithful servants of the Lord are to be raised from the dead to be the earthly rulers in the messianic kingdom. This was the position sought by many in Jesus’ day, and he simply pointed out to them how disappointed they would be, when raised from the dead, to see that those more worthy occupied the position they believed belonged to them.

This, we think, is a good illustration of what is signified by the expression, “wailing and gnashing of teeth.” It does not denote physical torment, but is a symbol of keen disappointment. And thus it will be with those “fish” in the “Gospel net” who are not accepted as the true disciples of Christ to live and reign with him.

These “fish,” by their great numbers, and through their influence, have thought they could eventually establish a rule of righteousness throughout the earth. But the prophecies reveal that all human attempts to accomplish his will fail, that the great organization of men will collapse in “a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation.” (Dan. 12:1) It is this “time of trouble,” we think, that is symbolized by “the furnace of fire” mentioned in the parable.

The casting of the “fish” into the furnace of fire does not denote the destruction of individuals, but merely the destruction of their identity as supposed followers of Jesus. As individuals, these, even as those who were once tares, will have an opportunity later to receive life-giving blessings as subjects of the kingdom of Christ.

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