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The Dubious Disciple

Book Reviews and Theological Rants of a Liberal Christian

The Dubious Disciple

Book Reviews and Theological Rants of a Liberal Christian

Matthew 25:33, What’s Wrong With Goats?

October 24, 2014

And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

//What’s wrong with goats? Why do they get separated from the sheep? The sheep go on the right … “come, ye blessed” … and the goats go on the left … “depart from me, ye cursed.”

Is it because goats are stubborn? Naw. Goats have had a bad rap in scripture from the beginning. It’s interesting to note that anytime you have a goat and clothing in the same story in the Bible, it’s a tale of deceit.* Some examples:

  • Jacob fools his blind father and steals his brother’s birthright by wearing his brother’s clothes and putting goat hair on his arms, so he’ll be hairy like his brother

  • Joseph’s brothers smear Joseph’s coat-of-many-colors with goat’s blood to fool their father into believing Joseph was killed by wild animals

  • Tamar dresses up like a prostitute and fools her father-in-law into having sex with her, charging him a goat’s kid for her services.

Back, now, to today’s verse. The “goats” ask Jesus what they did to deserve everlasting fire, and Jesus answers “I was naked, and ye clothed me not.” There’s the theme again: goats and clothes, and this time, the goats finally get their comeuppance.

* Examples taken from Richard Gist’s new book, You Don’t Understand the Bible Because You Are Christian

Bible Commentary

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Comments (2)

  1. Ed Denham says:
    November 20, 2014 at 12:23 pm

    Your Logic Eludes me! Goats provide all kinds of benefits to the community!

    1. Eliza B says:
      March 29, 2015 at 4:06 pm

      Quite frankly I agree with Ed

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