Matthew 24:31

“And he will send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

And His first act on being revealed will be to gather to Him all Who are His, ‘His elect', those whom He has conscripted. They are to be gathered to His banner. His angels will come like a group of mustering sergeants to muster His troops, who will respond to a trumpet from the heavenly trumpeter (compare Isaiah 27:13; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16), and they will ‘gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other'. The ‘four winds of heaven' were a regular description of universality and indicated the activity of God (Jeremiah 49:36; Daniel 8:8; Daniel 11:4; Zechariah 2:6, and compare Ezekiel 37:9). ‘From one end of heaven to the other' indicates the heavenly nature of those gathered (compare Ephesians 2:6; Philippians 3:20), and the universality of their presence. This event is vividly described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; and is in mind in Revelation 11:12. Thus we have here the final ending of time as the righteous are taken to life eternal, while the remainder face His eternal judgment (Matthew 13:41; Matthew 13:49; Matthew 25:46).

While silence is sometimes a dangerous weapon it is difficult to see how, if anything was to follow this on earth (such as a Millennium), there would be no hint of it here. And that is especially so as there is no reference to any such Millennium anywhere else in the New Testament. (The suggested reference seen by some in Revelation 20 is very much dependent on interpretation. See our commentary). Even after Matthew 25:31 the same silence applies, and there it is even more incredible if there were any truth in the idea. But there the only destinies awaiting men are either eternal life or eternal punishment. And we can also compare Matthew 13:41; Matthew 13:49 where the impression is given that the reference there is also to the final destiny of men. Silence might be one thing, but a total blanket over the idea, and the giving of a different impression is quite another. It would seem therefore that Jesus knew nothing of any Millennium, and that we must therefore interpret any such ideas which are found in the Old Testament which give that impression, in the light of this fact, and as being portrayals in earthly terms (necessary at a time when there was no concept of men living in Heaven) of the everlasting kingdom in the new heaven and the new earth (Revelation 21:1 compare Isaiah 65:17).

Some have interpreted this as signifying the sending forth of the messengers (aggeloi) of the Gospel, but in view of Matthew 16:27 where a similar description refers to the final judgment, and the clear indication from the parallel ideas in mind in both, we must surely see this as in line with that. Taken together with the clear parallel picture given in Matthew 24:27, where the visible coming of the Son of Man is made very apparent, it must be seen as very unlikely that it refers to the evangelising of the world, wonderful though that is.