Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them
To the rams and he goats of the flock, that use the pastures and defile the waters after this manner, and make them unfit for the lesser cattle; or that use the poor people of God after this sort: behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the
lean cattle.
The Targum is,
``between the rich man and the poor man;''this is repeated, and in very strong terms, for the confirmation of it: this the Lord promised to do, and he has done it by his son, to whom he committed all judgment; and who, in the days of his flesh, made a difference between those who were full of themselves, self-righteous persons; who were self-sufficient, and needed not repentance, nor any other righteousness but their own; who trusted in themselves, and despised others: and may be meant by the "fat cattle": and between those who were low and mean in their own eyes, humble and meek, weary and heavy laden, hungering and thirsting after the righteousness of another: now for judgment did Christ come, that they which see not might see, and those who saw might be made blind; he called the one, and not the other, to repentance; made known the things of the Gospel to babes, and hid them from the wise and prudent; rejected the one, and had compassion on the other; see ( John 5:22 ) ( 9:39 ) ( Matthew 9:13 Matthew 9:36 ) ( Matthew 11:25 Matthew 11:26 ) , and when he comes a second time, he will judge between these, and separate them; and set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the left, ( Matthew 25:31-33 ) .