Rev 20:12-14 | KingComments | STEP | . The devil gets a special treatment. He is the instigator of the mass rebellion, but this is the last time he is able to do his diabolic work. His eternal destiny is “the lake of fire and brimstone” into which he is “thrown”. In that way he receives the absolute, unchangeable lowest point of his fall which has been executed in four phases. 1. First he has fallen into sin by his pride ( ). As the liar and the father of lies ( ) he has spread deceptions and committed his murderer’s work from the beginning of creation. This is how he has been occupied for thousands of years. 2. But you have noticed that at a certain moment he is thrown down to the earth ( ), where he with the greatest wrath causes death and destruction because he knows that he has got only a little while. 3. After a course of three and a half years God makes an end to his rage and has him thrown into the abyss to be shut up there for a thousand years ( ). From there he will be released 4. to make his definite fall to end up in hell, that has been prepared for him and his angels ( ). There he meets his two vassals who were thrown down there before him ( ). They will not be able to help one another, but will have enough of their own pains and torments they will suffer endlessly. . The defeated rebels will be in Hades for only a short time because immediately after them being consumed by God’s fire, the judgment follows before the “great white throne”. That they have been consumed by God’s fire does not mean that they have stopped to exist. John sees a great white throne. It is a ‘great’ throne because He Who sits on it is great in majesty and great in authority. It is a ‘white’ throne because He Who sits on it is perfectly pure. His throne as a symbol of His kingdom and His Person are perfectly in agreement with one another. The Judge is perfectly pure in His judgment. He judges perfectly righteous. In His judgment there is not a single impure element. He is incorruptible. Every investigation of His trustworthiness on earth has ended in a testimony of His perfect honesty. No one can oppose the judgment that He sentences and executes. He will convince everyone who appears before His throne of the righteousness of His judgment and everyone will agree. Every mouth that is still braggingly opened to heaven will then be stopped. The pure whiteness of the throne is the reflection of the glory of God Who is light and in Whom is no darkness at all ( ). In the Scripture there is mention of three court sessions held by the Lord Jesus: 1. The first one takes place in heaven, right after the rapture of the believers. When the believers are in heaven, they will first appear before “the judgment seat of Christ” or “the judgment seat of God” ( ; ). Every believer will get to see there what he has done in the body during his life on earth and see whether he has done that for the Lord’s sake or for his own sake. He will be rewarded for the good. 2. The second court session will take place when the Lord Jesus returns to earth with the believers to judge the evil and establish the kingdom of peace on earth ( ). Before that judgment seat, the “throne of His glory”, the nations that will be living on earth will appear. They will be judged according to the attitude they adopted toward the messengers of the Lord Jesus during the great tribulation. 3. The third court session will take place at the border between time and eternity. Only unbelievers will appear before the “great white throne”. They will be judged by what is written of them in the books. When the moment of this third court session has come, “earth and heaven” flee away. That concerns the old earth and heaven. With the court session and the judgment attached to it, the entire old state of affairs has come to an end. The old heaven and the old earth flee away to give way to the new heaven and the new earth. They flee away, not so much from the throne, but from the face of Him Who sits on it. The Lord Jesus, Who as the Son of Man has received all the judgment from the Father, sits on the throne ( ; cf. ). . John sees the dead. It is the ‘the rest of the dead’ from . They do not stand on the earth, for it has gone. But even though the earth has gone, man remains to answer to God for all his rebellious deeds and to receive the deserved wages. Through the power of the Almighty they stand before the throne. John sees great and small dead people. That is not so much about the size of the body, but more the extent of the crimes they have committed. There are the mass murderers, but also the petty criminals. There are the bragging politicians that have spoken great words, but also the unremarkable family father who took good care of his family. They have one thing in common: they have never judged themselves as sinners in the light of God and have all died in their sins. To whatever extent they have been sinners, the judgment will be justified. The proofs that form the basis for the judgment come from the books. All of their deeds are presented to them again. The gravity of their judgment is determined according to the severity of their crimes and the extent of their responsibility ( ). No one will have a rebuttal. Everyone will be convinced that God is righteous in His judgments. Another compelling proof of their judgment is the absence of their names in the book of life. This means it is absolutely right that they will be thrown into hell. . The dead will be called to come out of the places where they have ended up after their death. In the first place the sea is mentioned. The sea will have to return all the dead that it has swallowed like a great monster. The sea is put in the same line like “death and Hades” of which is also said that they “gave up the dead which were in them”. A person who has died is bodily dead. For that state of bodily death it doesn’t matter whether the dead body is on earth or in the sea. That the sea is mentioned as an abode of the dead, will have to do with the untraceable state of a body that has had a seaman’s grave. It can also be said of people who have been torn to pieces by, for example, wild beasts, that their bodies are untraceable. But the point is the general thought. The dead come from death and Hades. You may say that death is the condition in which man is and Hades is the place where man is. The body that was in death is united with the soul, which was in Hades, which is the realm of the dead, and with the spirit. God knows how to make every dead person alive and to bring him to justice. Every call to appear before Him will be answered by His mighty arm. Although it is said that they come to life ( ), they are still called “the dead”. They have no life of God; there is no connection at all with the living God. When they were born they received their life from God. However, they chose to live their own life, without considering God Who gave it to them. That caused them to be already dead when they were still living on earth, because they lived in trespasses and sins, without connection with the living God ( ; ; ). Now they have come to life again, nothing has changed in their spiritual condition. They stand as dead persons before the great white throne to be judged, “every one [of them] according to their deeds”. That each dead is judged according to his deeds implies that babies that die and children that die in the womb or are murdered, will not appear before the great white throne as dead persons. They have after all, not been able to do deeds according to which they should be judged. All who die in the womb or as a baby will be forever with Him in heaven by virtue of the work of the Lord Jesus. . Then you see the final result of the work of Christ and His resurrection, through which He has conquered the death. Now the last enemy is destroyed ( ; ). Death finds its end here; this is the end of death, as it was foretold in the Old Testament ( ; ). After this very last judgment, there will be no more bodily death and the abode of the souls of the dead will no longer exist. Death and Hades are presented here as persons who are thrown into hell. All evil and all who have served evil will be shut up forever in hell. This is “the second death”. The first death is the bodily death and the abode in the realm of the dead. The second death is the bodily existence of man without life of God in the place where the judgment of God prevails forever. . Now it becomes apparent why in the book of life had to be opened. Their evil deeds have been written down in the other book ( ). They were judged according to that. Those deeds have never been removed from it, because they have refused the sacrifice of Christ. This is why their names are not “in the book of life”. The compelling evidence has been provided. The fate which is their part is terrible and horrifying. It should stimulate us, because we know the fear of the Lord, to persuade people to accept the gospel ( )! Now read Revelation 20:10-15 again. Reflection: Where does the great white throne stand? Who sits on it as Judge? Who are standing before the throne? What is their judgment?

‏ Revelation of John 20:12-14

The Great White Throne – the Lake of Fire

Rev 20:10. The devil gets a special treatment. He is the instigator of the mass rebellion, but this is the last time he is able to do his diabolic work. His eternal destiny is “the lake of fire and brimstone” into which he is “thrown”. In that way he receives the absolute, unchangeable lowest point of his fall which has been executed in four phases.

1. First he has fallen into sin by his pride (1Tim 3:6). As the liar and the father of lies (Jn 8:44) he has spread deceptions and committed his murderer’s work from the beginning of creation. This is how he has been occupied for thousands of years.

2. But you have noticed that at a certain moment he is thrown down to the earth (Rev 12:9), where he with the greatest wrath causes death and destruction because he knows that he has got only a little while.

3. After a course of three and a half years God makes an end to his rage and has him thrown into the abyss to be shut up there for a thousand years (Rev 20:1-3). From there he will be released

4. to make his definite fall to end up in hell, that has been prepared for him and his angels (Mt 25:41).

There he meets his two vassals who were thrown down there before him (Rev 19:20). They will not be able to help one another, but will have enough of their own pains and torments they will suffer endlessly.

Rev 20:11. The defeated rebels will be in Hades for only a short time because immediately after them being consumed by God’s fire, the judgment follows before the “great white throne”. That they have been consumed by God’s fire does not mean that they have stopped to exist.

John sees a great white throne. It is a ‘great’ throne because He Who sits on it is great in majesty and great in authority. It is a ‘white’ throne because He Who sits on it is perfectly pure. His throne as a symbol of His kingdom and His Person are perfectly in agreement with one another. The Judge is perfectly pure in His judgment. He judges perfectly righteous. In His judgment there is not a single impure element. He is incorruptible. Every investigation of His trustworthiness on earth has ended in a testimony of His perfect honesty.

No one can oppose the judgment that He sentences and executes. He will convince everyone who appears before His throne of the righteousness of His judgment and everyone will agree. Every mouth that is still braggingly opened to heaven will then be stopped. The pure whiteness of the throne is the reflection of the glory of God Who is light and in Whom is no darkness at all (1Jn 1:5).

In the Scripture there is mention of three court sessions held by the Lord Jesus:

1. The first one takes place in heaven, right after the rapture of the believers. When the believers are in heaven, they will first appear before “the judgment seat of Christ” or “the judgment seat of God” (2Cor 5:10; Rom 14:10). Every believer will get to see there what he has done in the body during his life on earth and see whether he has done that for the Lord’s sake or for his own sake. He will be rewarded for the good.

2. The second court session will take place when the Lord Jesus returns to earth with the believers to judge the evil and establish the kingdom of peace on earth (Mt 25:31). Before that judgment seat, the “throne of His glory”, the nations that will be living on earth will appear. They will be judged according to the attitude they adopted toward the messengers of the Lord Jesus during the great tribulation.

3. The third court session will take place at the border between time and eternity. Only unbelievers will appear before the “great white throne”. They will be judged by what is written of them in the books.

When the moment of this third court session has come, “earth and heaven” flee away. That concerns the old earth and heaven. With the court session and the judgment attached to it, the entire old state of affairs has come to an end. The old heaven and the old earth flee away to give way to the new heaven and the new earth. They flee away, not so much from the throne, but from the face of Him Who sits on it. The Lord Jesus, Who as the Son of Man has received all the judgment from the Father, sits on the throne (Jn 5:22 ; 27; cf. 2Tim 4:1).

Rev 20:12. John sees the dead. It is the ‘the rest of the dead’ from Rev 20:5. They do not stand on the earth, for it has gone. But even though the earth has gone, man remains to answer to God for all his rebellious deeds and to receive the deserved wages. Through the power of the Almighty they stand before the throne.

John sees great and small dead people. That is not so much about the size of the body, but more the extent of the crimes they have committed. There are the mass murderers, but also the petty criminals. There are the bragging politicians that have spoken great words, but also the unremarkable family father who took good care of his family. They have one thing in common: they have never judged themselves as sinners in the light of God and have all died in their sins. To whatever extent they have been sinners, the judgment will be justified.

The proofs that form the basis for the judgment come from the books. All of their deeds are presented to them again. The gravity of their judgment is determined according to the severity of their crimes and the extent of their responsibility (Lk 12:47). No one will have a rebuttal. Everyone will be convinced that God is righteous in His judgments. Another compelling proof of their judgment is the absence of their names in the book of life. This means it is absolutely right that they will be thrown into hell.

Rev 20:13. The dead will be called to come out of the places where they have ended up after their death. In the first place the sea is mentioned. The sea will have to return all the dead that it has swallowed like a great monster. The sea is put in the same line like “death and Hades” of which is also said that they “gave up the dead which were in them”.

A person who has died is bodily dead. For that state of bodily death it doesn’t matter whether the dead body is on earth or in the sea. That the sea is mentioned as an abode of the dead, will have to do with the untraceable state of a body that has had a seaman’s grave. It can also be said of people who have been torn to pieces by, for example, wild beasts, that their bodies are untraceable. But the point is the general thought.

The dead come from death and Hades. You may say that death is the condition in which man is and Hades is the place where man is. The body that was in death is united with the soul, which was in Hades, which is the realm of the dead, and with the spirit. God knows how to make every dead person alive and to bring him to justice. Every call to appear before Him will be answered by His mighty arm.

Although it is said that they come to life (Rev 20:5), they are still called “the dead”. They have no life of God; there is no connection at all with the living God. When they were born they received their life from God. However, they chose to live their own life, without considering God Who gave it to them. That caused them to be already dead when they were still living on earth, because they lived in trespasses and sins, without connection with the living God (Eph 2:1; Col 2:13; Jn 5:25). Now they have come to life again, nothing has changed in their spiritual condition. They stand as dead persons before the great white throne to be judged, “every one [of them] according to their deeds”.

That each dead is judged according to his deeds implies that babies that die and children that die in the womb or are murdered, will not appear before the great white throne as dead persons. They have after all, not been able to do deeds according to which they should be judged. All who die in the womb or as a baby will be forever with Him in heaven by virtue of the work of the Lord Jesus.

Rev 20:14. Then you see the final result of the work of Christ and His resurrection, through which He has conquered the death. Now the last enemy is destroyed (1Cor 15:26; Rev 21:4). Death finds its end here; this is the end of death, as it was foretold in the Old Testament (Isa 25:8; Hos 13:14). After this very last judgment, there will be no more bodily death and the abode of the souls of the dead will no longer exist.

Death and Hades are presented here as persons who are thrown into hell. All evil and all who have served evil will be shut up forever in hell. This is “the second death”. The first death is the bodily death and the abode in the realm of the dead. The second death is the bodily existence of man without life of God in the place where the judgment of God prevails forever.

Rev 20:15. Now it becomes apparent why in Rev 20:12 the book of life had to be opened. Their evil deeds have been written down in the other book (Rev 20:12b). They were judged according to that. Those deeds have never been removed from it, because they have refused the sacrifice of Christ. This is why their names are not “in the book of life”. The compelling evidence has been provided. The fate which is their part is terrible and horrifying. It should stimulate us, because we know the fear of the Lord, to persuade people to accept the gospel (2Cor 5:11)!

Now read Revelation 20:10-15 again.

Reflection: Where does the great white throne stand? Who sits on it as Judge? Who are standing before the throne? What is their judgment?