AM Bible Study Group; December 16, 2009
Revelation 20:11-15
Theme: This passage describes the final judgment at the end of this present age..
This morning’s passage describes something that is both awesome and dreadful. It’s an event that will follow after the conclusion of the 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth&—;the final judgment. Many people of an irreverent mind find it an extremely distasteful thing to discuss. And truthfully, who could help shrinking back from it? It’s the most somber passage in the Bible; and no true child of God would ever delight in what it describes.
But consider God’s motivation in recording it for us. He is a good and loving God&—;a God of great mercy who isn’t willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). God’s word tells us that He so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him “should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). And so, as unpleasant the final judgment of the wicked is, the Holy Spirit has revealed and recorded the truth about it so that we might ultimately be saved from it. He shows us the destiny of those who are outside of Christ so that we might make very sure we are in Christ and thus saved from that sorrowful destiny.
And for those of us who are in Christ, this passage stretches our emotions from dread and sorrow to glorious hope. As believers, we should bow in humble praise and worship before the God that’s described in this passage; and we should faithfully and unhesitatingly proclaim what it says to the world so that others might be saved by His grace.
I. THE JUDGE (v. 11).
A. We’re not told who this is sitting on the throne; but the Scriptures seem to indicate that it will be none other than the Lord Jesus Himself (John 5:22; Acts 10:42; 17:31). Everyone who mocks Him today must, one day, come to terms with who He really is. Today, He is the Savior from our sins, willing to welcome anyone who turns to Him and save anyone who trusts in Him. Tomorrow, however, He takes His place upon the throne as the Judge of the living and the dead.
B. Consider His authority. He is shown sitting on a great white throne. "Great" suggests its majesty (see Philippians 2:9); and white suggests its purity (Psalm 97:2). Heaven and earth are said to flee from it; which may be a suggest the dreadful majesty of Him who sits upon the throne; but it may also be a description of the final destruction at the end of the age (2 Peter 3:10-13). The heavens and the earth flee and are found no more; and what now follows is the creation of a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1ff).
II. THE JUDGED (vv. 12-13).
A. Back in verse 4, we’re told about the resurrection of the saints who were killed during the reign of the Antichrist. But we were told then that the rest of the dead would not be raised until after the 1,000 year reign had been completed. The "dead" that we read of in this passage, then, is the rest of the dead not raised at the coming of Christ. These are the dead raised unto judgment (John 5:29). Note that they are said to be "standing". Their spirits will have been reunited to a body suitable for judgment. And all are said to stand together&—;the small and the great. All are on equal footing before the throne of judgment.
B. We’re told that the sea gave up its dead (v. 13); so that even those who may have died in the ocean and whose physical particles had been scattered beneath the waves are raised to stand in judgment. “Death and “Hades” must give up the dead that are in them. "Death" speaks of a state of being. “Hades” is translated “Hell” in some translations&—; but this isn’t the best way to translate that word. “Hell” speaks of the place of ultimate judgment&—;equivalent to the lake of fire described later in this passage. But “Hades” refers to a place where the dead abide during the intermediate state between death and ultimate judgment. When Jesus told His parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, He described the rich man as “being in torments in Hades” (Luke 16:23). All those in Death and Hades are summoned forth and made to keep their appointment before the great white throne. Because heaven and earth are gone, there’s no place to hide.
III. THE JUDGMENT (vv. 12-13).
A. We’re told of books that were opened (see Daniel 7:10). What are these books? They may be the testimony of John the Baptists, or the recorded works of Jesus, or the written word of the Father, or the law of Moses; because all are used to testify against those who reject Christ (John 5:31-40). Clearly, they are also books that contain the record of the works of all who stand before the throne. But notice also that there is the Book of Life&—;the registry of those who are in Christ (see Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5).
B. God is sovereign over whose names are recorded in the Book of Life. But note that no one is judged on the basis of whether or not they were the elect. They are judged according to their works. As Paul says, they will have treasured up for themselves “wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’” (Romans 2:5-6; cf. Psalm 62:12).
C. Apparently, there will be differing degrees of judgment (Matthew 10:14-15; 11:21-24; Mark 12:38-40); but all will be in torment. And what’s more, there will apparently be some who will protest the judgment of God (Matthew 7:22-23); but their protestations will not prevail.
IV. THE SENTENCE (vv. 14-15).
A. Both Death and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire. These two places represent the inhabitants that were in them. The lake of fire itself is apparently a place that exists outside the present created realm; because it exists after they are destroyed. Apparently, it is even a place that exists at the same time as this present created order; because the beast and the false prophet will be cast alive into it at the beginning of the 1,000 year reign (19:20), and Satan also at that reign’s end (v. (20:10).
B. One of the descriptions the Bible gives to the lake of fire is as a place of deep and terrible darkness. Both Peter and Jude said that those who were destined for ultimate judgment were “reserved for the blackness of darkness forever” (2 Pet. 2:17; Jude 13). Jesus Himself said that some would be “cast out into outer darkness” (Matt. 8:12). Another description Jesus often gave it is as a place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth”. He said that some would be cast into “outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30). This is a picture of dreadful, mournful agony. The apostle Paul referred to it as a place characterized by punishment “with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thess. 1:9). Jesus referred to it as “an everlasting fire”. He will say to those destined for punishment, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared or the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). He called it an “unquenchable fire” (Matt. 3:12). He also referred to it as “the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:42). How it can be both a place of “everlasting fire” and “outer darkness” at the same time simply shows how the dreadfulness of eternal punishment exceeds even our abilities of conception!
C. Notice also that the experience of being cast into the lake of fire is called by another name: the second death. Surely, anyone who knew the truth and was given the choice, would gladly suffer a million “first deaths” if it would mean that he or she could avoid the “second death”. The guilt for sin alone isn’t the reason why, in the end, those who will be condemned before the great white throne will suffer eternal punishment. It’s not because of what’s written in the books that record their deeds that they’re finally cast into the lake of fire. Their works are the basis of their judgment; but many of us who are in Christ have committed the same works. Rather, it’s because their names were not written in the Book of Life. They will have rejected the only alternative to that terrible destiny that God has ever offered — faith in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. As John says, “anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (v. 15).
* * * * * * * * * *
That judgment is the final one. There is no other afterwards. What a dreadful prospect! And yet, it’s a mercy of God that He has warned us about it in advance. Everyone who reads this passage does so before they have died; and so they are being given an opportunity to avoid what it describes. And our Lord Himself has told us plainly how to do so. He said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death into life" (John 5:24).
May we be sure that we are safe in Christ! And what’s more, may we be faithful to share the word about Him so that others may believe and be safe in Him too!