I'm not sure what the point is that you are making about the sheep and the goats. Do you have a link to what Barbara said? If so, she should have good documentation of what the WTS has said in the past and changed to later with appropriate quotes.
*** w95 10/15 pp. 21-23 How Will You Stand Before the Judgment Seat? ***What Does the Parable Say?
20 Shortly before Jesus died, his apostles asked him: “When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?” (Matthew 24:3) Jesus foretold significant developments on earth before ‘the end would come.’ Shortly before that end, the nations will “see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”—Matthew 24:14, 29, 30.
21 How, though, will people in those nations fare when the Son of man arrives in his glory? Let us find out from the parable of the sheep and the goats, which begins with the words: “When the Son of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him.”—Matthew 25:31, 32.
22 Does this parable apply when Jesus sat down in kingly power in 1914, as we have long understood?Well, Matthew 25:34 does speak of him as King, so the parable logically finds application since Jesus became King in 1914. But what judging did he do soon thereafter? It was not a judging of “all the nations.” Rather, he turned his attention to those claiming to make up “the house of God.” (1 Peter 4:17) In line with Malachi 3:1-3, Jesus, as Jehovah’s messenger, judicially inspected the anointed Christians remaining on earth. It was also time for judicial sentence on Christendom, who falsely claimed to be “the house of God.” (Revelation 17:1, 2; 18:4-8) Yet nothing indicates that at that time, or for that matter since, Jesus sat to judge people of all the nations finally as sheep or goats.
23 If we analyze Jesus’ activity in the parable, we observe him finally judging all the nations. The parable does not show that such judging would continue over an extended period of many years, as if every person dying during these past decades were judged worthy of everlasting death or everlasting life. It seems that the majority who have died in recent decades have gone to mankind’s common grave. (Revelation 6:8; 20:13) The parable, though, depicts the time when Jesus judges the people of “all the nations” who are then alive and facing the execution of his judicial sentence.
24 In other words, the parable points to the future when the Son of man will come in his glory. He will sit down to judge people then living. His judgment will be based on what they have manifested themselves to be. At that time “the distinction between a righteous one and a wicked one” will have been clearly established. (Malachi 3:18) The actual pronouncing and executing of judgment will be carried out in a limited time. Jesus will render just decisions based on what has become evident about individuals.—See also 2 Corinthians 5:10.
25 This means, then, that Jesus’ ‘sitting down on his glorious throne’ for judgment, mentioned at Matthew 25:31, applies to the future point when this powerful King will sit down to pronounce and execute judgment on the nations. Yes, the judgment scene that involves Jesus at Matthew 25:31-33, 46 is comparable to the scene in Daniel chapter 7, where the reigning King, the Ancient of Days, sat down to carry out his role as Judge.
26 Understanding the parable of the sheep and the goats in this way indicates that the rendering of judgment on the sheep and the goats is future. It will take place after “the tribulation” mentioned at Matthew 24:29, 30 breaks out and the Son of man ‘arrives in his glory.’ (Compare Mark 13:24-26.) Then, with the entire wicked system at its end, Jesus will hold court and render and execute judgment.—John 5:30; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10.
27 This clarifies our understanding of the timing of Jesus’ parable, which shows when the sheep and the goats will be judged.
IN THE PAST THE WTS TAUGHT THAT THE SEPARATION OF THE SHEEP AND GOATS WAS NOT FUTURE BUT ALMOST OVER:
*** TRUE PEACE BOOK tp chap. 7 p. 83 par. 27 When Will the Foretold World Destruction Come? ***This separating work has been proceeding for many years. It is now near its conclusion. According to God’s Word, those who have rejected his Kingdom rule, as well as those who indifferently pass up the opportunity to learn of him, will be cut off. (Matthew 25:34, 41, 46; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9)
*** w87 3/1 p. 29 par. 15 Making All Things New ***At this present time the enthroned King, Jesus Christ, is separating people one from another, “just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” “The sheep” are those who show themselves righteously disposed toward the King and his spirit-begotten brothers of the “new creation.” These “sheep” are therefore invited to inherit everlasting life in the earthly realm of Jehovah’s Kingdom. Already, they enjoy the spiritual paradise restored here on earth.—Matthew 25:31-34, 46; Isaiah 11:6-9.
*** w51 6/15 p. 368 par. 9 The Place of God’s Word in Our Lives ***We are living at the time of the presence of Christ Jesus in his glorious kingdom, and one of the visible evidences of this is his separating of the people of all nations into two classes, sheep and goats, symbolically speaking. Mighty angels attend this separation work, for Jesus predicted respecting this time: “When the Son of man arrives in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne.” Those angels are not just ornaments, but are with Jesus for some service in the work to be done.—Matt. 25:31, NW.
