Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth
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For the one who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless defector into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
Matthew 25:29-30
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What is Weeping & Gnashing of Teeth?
The phrase is an idiom, a turn of phrase, a shorthand for resentful groaning and regret. A mix of male and female stereotypical response to being left out, people weeping in sadness or attempts to appeal to your emotions, and others gnashing teeth in frustration and anger. It is mentioned in seven places in Matthew & Luke but isn't mentioned anywhere else in the bible as an idiom but the gnashing is mentioned five times in the Old Testament.
Old Testament References
[Job 16:9] - "His anger has torn me and hunted me down, He has gnashed at me with His teeth; My enemy glares at me."
[Psalm 35:16] - "Like godless jesters at a feast, They gnashed at me with their teeth."
[Psalm 37:12] - "The wicked plots against the righteous, And gnashes at him with his teeth."
[Psalm 112:10] - "The wicked will see it and be vexed, He will gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked will perish."
[Lamentations 2:16] - "All your enemies Have opened their mouths wide against you; They hiss and gnash [their] teeth. They say, "We have engulfed [her!] This certainly is the day which we awaited; We have reached [it,] we have seen [it!]"
New Testament References
[Matthew 8:12] - "but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
[Matthew 13:42, 50] - "and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ... 50 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
[Matthew 22:13] - "Then the king said to the servants, 'Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.'
[Matthew 24:51] - and he will cut him in two and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
[Matthew 25:30] 30 "And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
[Luke 13:28-29] "In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. And they will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God."
Table of Contents
It isn't about Gehenna/Hell
The popular idea and tradition is this phrase is a specific idiom for Hell/Gehenna. If you read each occurrence in context that is clearly not so, except for [Matthew 13:42] which is talking about the separating of the saved from those that reject the Messiah's payment and putting them in a furnace of fire. This does not mean it is about Gehenna/Hell/Second Death. If you dig deeply into the Tribulation it is described in many places as being a last chance crucible, a furnace of fire not water to increasingly cause repentance. There will be nations and people that do not believe in God & his Messiah that will be allowed into the Millennial Kingdom because they [Mat 25:40] did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.
The key point in the other five verses that do not talk about the furnace of fire is they are talking about the marriage supper of the lamb/Messiah. This will occur after Messiah returns and claims ownership of the Earth as part of the fufillment of the Fall Moedim holidays.
How are you Sure?
The outer darkness is the key:
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I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 8:11-12
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In Hebrew weddings they are done largely in the fall when the crops are harvested and at night after the days work is done. This is why the many quotes about having oil for the lamps is used as a metaphor for faith and the rapture to come.
The celebration is well lit but it is also locked only for the invitees of the Bride and Groom which is why if you have no white linen gown (the official clothing of a Hebrew wedding) and the Groom does not know you, the response is you are either locked out or ushered outside into the darkness.
Read Matthew 8:11-12 again closely it isn't the sinners who are kicked out into outer darkness but the sons of the kingdom, those saved or children of those chosen who should have been saved but not worthy of the wedding gown that are kicked out. This was written as a warning to the Jews Messiah was speaking to at the time that Gentiles would sit and dine with their ancestors before they would if they did not repent from the leavening of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
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How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Matthew 16:11-12
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The Marriage Festival of the Messiah & Bride
The entire New Testament and much of the Old Testament are about specifically the Marriage of the Messiah and his bride. This is either via shadows (precursor typologies) as seen in the Old Testament books like Hosea:
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I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In favor and in compassion, And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the LORD.
Hosea 2:19-20
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Or via more direct statements in the New Testament like:
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Let's rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself." It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright [and] clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.'" And he said to me, "These are the true words of God."
Revelation 19:7-9
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The marriage feast is where those that love Messiah, those that have a relationship with Messiah will gather and celebrate the culmination of all the work, struggle and agape love we have for each other. This will require a degree of development to be a part of it. This is mostly symbolized by the fine bright linen. This linen is a gift for transversing this complicated, muddy, lie filled life and not losing your hope, trust, faith and focus on your betrothed Messiah, God, and his creation you are to love as yourself.
Those that do lose that focus on Messiah, but help the people of the Messiah, or those that come to it very late and have all their actions burned by the trial of fire with only their life intact, naked, poor and empty with no white linen to enter the Marriage Feast with will still live but with no crown and in a very different role than many would expect.
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each one's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is [to be] revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one's work. If anyone's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet [only] so as through fire.
1 Corinthians 3:13-15
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Life in the New Kingdom
Those that do not have the bright white linen, who don't ride with Messiah on white horses upon his return [Revelation 19:14] who are not part of the rapture before the hour of trial [Revelation 3:10] that is designed to drive repentance in all that live through it. Those that are saved, but only as if a person who escaped a fire, naked, broke with only his life will enter the Kingdom Age weeping and gnashing their teeth. They will watch the festivities from a distance knowing that the rest of the next 1,000 years in the rule of Messiah could have been theirs, learning now their lives are to be extended for hundreds of years and they work the ground for the Kingdom of Messiah.
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Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers. 6 But you will be called the priests of the LORD; You will be spoken of [as] ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, And you will boast in their riches.
Isaiah 61:5-6
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It is Not Too Late
It is not too late to become part of the body of the Christ. To be a Bride of the Messiah, to be given the white linen of faithful service and true devotion. This is the only thing in life that maters and once you realize it you would spend anything to get it but that has a time limit on it. Messiah is coming for his Church very soon and once he does during the Tribulation, keeping your life by sacrificing it for the sake of others is the highest water mark possible.
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The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid [again;] and from joy [over] it he goes and sells everything that he has, and buys that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of immense value, he went and sold everything that he had to buy it.
Matthew 13:44-46
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It isn't a single denomination that will save you, no teachings of men, or groupings only trust, devotion and investment into the teachings of your Messiah that will begin the cleansing of leaven from your soul and take you into the olive press of his use. Put your time, focus and faith in Messiah, fear not and learn so you can teach his sheep that their fiancée is returning shortly this time not as a priest but as a King over every nation on the Earth.