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Revelation 20:12
Plumstead Conference 2001
"And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is that of life. And the dead were judged out of the things written in the books according to their works." (v.12)
This is the seventh in our series in the book of Revelation. It must be manifest to all that we are moving on to the climax. God will have the last word. It is our privilege here to see what God has in mind for His own pleasure, but also that which is necessary as an answer to the sufferings of Calvary's cross. What has been for God throughout the centuries will also come into display. The blessedness of these chapters has already come home to many hearts, and there has been eager desire to look into these passages in some detail and I am sure we will not be disappointed.
It was thought that we should consider further the judgment seat that comes before us in these earlier verses and one could hardly think of a better start to these meetings than the realisation of accountability. Some of us who are older feel that the fear of God is not only passing out of the community, but also from the Christian profession generally, and, sad to say, even from our meetings. We have to ask ourselves how we measure up to the fact that God is a God of judgment. "By him actions are weighed" (1 Sam.2:3). This is a good start for these readings.
In the Scriptures it is possible to distinguish seven characters of judgment. The first one, the most precious of all, was when God judged sins and sin at the cross. Secondly the judgment seat of Christ when everyone will have to give an account of themselves, and there will be reward or loss according to the way in which we live our lives here. The third aspect of judgment is the very important practical one, self-judgment, which is the essential preliminary to the precious occasions when we break bread and drink the cup. The fourth and fifth aspects of judgment have been our studies in Revelation, the fourth being the providential judgments of God, and the fifth where the Lord Himself directly takes up the matter of judgment. This we have seen in Armageddon, but also in regard to Israel. (Matthew 25 was referred to), and also the important passage in Ezekiel 20:38 where God pleads with the ten tribes as they move back, pleads with them face to face. The sixth aspect of judgment is that of the fallen angels (Jude 6), and some think the saints will have part in this.
I would like to make a few comments as to verse 11. The throne is a picture of power and judgment. This is what we have here. The throne is great because of the One who sits upon it, the Lord Jesus to whom all power has been given. He is the One who sits on His Father's throne now. The great white throne is a place of judgment. The kings who sat on thrones were judges, they had the power of life and death. Here is the greatest judge ever, the judge of heaven and earth, of all people, from the beginning of creation to the end of mankind. Then we have the white colour. This speaks of purity and of glory. On the Mount of Transfiguration His garments became white and effulgent, whiter than any fuller could make them. So we have here the power and the glory of God, of the Lord Jesus, who is here to judge of all.
One thing that must rest upon all our spirits is the way in which Scripture very carefully guards the dignity of the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 5:23 we read "that all may honour the Son, even as they honour the Father". The Father has "given all judgment to the Son" (v.22) because He is the Son of Man. If we consider the thought of who He is, we get a suitable approach to the glorious dignity of this occasion. He is none other than God the Son. In Daniel 7 there is another situation of judgment "I beheld till thrones were set, and the Ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was flames of fire, and its wheels burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened." (vv.7-10) Now all this is just in connection with the judgment of the beast, how much more when we turn to the great white throne. This should solemnise our hearts, the realisation of what is in store for man away from God. God would have us realise something of the holiness that becomes us when drawing near to God.
Is it not remarkable that the word of God tells us here who are brought before the throne, "the dead, great and small". The dead have been raised. The dead are alive, because there are two sessions in the resurrection, the resurrection of grace at the beginning of the millennium, and the resurrection of the wicked at the end of the millennium to appear before the great white throne. So the dead are alive. It is not souls, or spirits separate from the body who appear before the great white throne, it is man - body, soul and spirit together. They, as responsible persons, have now to answer for their deeds, for their works. The criteria of judgment here is the works. The works have been written down in books. There is another book, the book of life. If your name is in the book of life you will not appear before the great white throne.
The whole picture is very sober, very simple, no details, just a white throne. At the time of Daniel 7, or the time of Solomon, there were given many details, but here there are no details, no special glory of God or of the Lord presented, just a white throne. This is the more solemn. We have the works, the judgment and the purity and holiness of God, nothing else. This is a matter of fear. Our thoughts are not distracted by anything else, it is just a white throne.
I would like to connect the thought of the great white throne with Romans 3:23. The measure of all things is the glory of God, "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God". Another portion is Isaiah 64:6 "All our righteousnesses" compared with the purity of God, are just like "filthy rags".
Reference was made last night in the address to things that are first and things that are second. Some things in Scripture are said to be first or second by direct statement, like the "first man" and the "second man", but some things are first or second by implication. In verse 5 of this chapter we read of a "first resurrection" which, as we considered, occurred in phases. The phrase 'second resurrection' does not appear in the text, but what we are coming to now is quite clearly most distinct from the first resurrection. It seems valid to distinguish this final resurrection as a 'second resurrection', even though the term does not appear in Scripture. As we come to it, the reference made to personal accountability becomes very clear. They stand before God. In the nineteenth century, carrying over into the first half of the twentieth century, the behaviour in many homes was regulated by a large eye in a picture upon the wall, underlined with the text "Thou God seest me" (Gen.16:13). And for those with a conscience this had a salutary effect upon their behaviour. Every one that stands before God having been resurrected for judgment will be in no doubt there will be no doubt about it that the eye of God had been upon them and taken account of every thought, word and deed. It is in the light of that that they stand before God.
These dead are "the rest of the dead" in verse 5. Is that correct? I wonder whether it is not called the resurrection, because resurrection really is to life, never to perish. We would call it, in the manner of men, 'the resurrection of the wilfully impenitent', and they have to stand before God, but they have no other life than the life they had from Adam, "And as in Adam all die" (1 Cor.15:22), and so they are called "the dead". They are brought to life in their bodies, but it is not the resurrection as the Christian hope, which is never to perish. Lazarus was raised, but he would die again, but the resurrection that we have as believers is never to die, to have new bodies and to enjoy God's blessing. What we have here really is "God's strange work" (Isa.28:21). It is unusual for God to judge. His delight is to bless, He is the blessed God. His desire is to make men happy. But here are those who are Christ rejecters, and finally impenitent. They have not passed from death unto life, they are raised in the condition in which they were sown, in weakness, in dishonour, in corruption. This is their state. There is just one question that this raises, as they are raised, body, soul and spirit to stand before the great white throne, can those bodies which they have pass through or endure the fire to which they will be sent, or will they be perpetually separated from bodies which are destroyed, but soul and spirit abiding in eternal torment?
I am not sure which of those several questions you wish to be dealt with first, I will take the easy one and leave others to deal with the difficult ones. I am happy with the distinction you draw, but the Scripture you referred to in John 5:29 does speak of a resurrection unto life, and a resurrection unto judgment, damnation and condemnation. So the word resurrection is valid in speaking of the wicked dead.
I think resurrection means bringing together again body, the material part of the human person, soul and spirit, whether it is for eternal blessing or eternal condemnation. I would like to add one thing only in answering the other questions, as to the comment that the dead of Revelation 20:12 are at least those dead of verse 5 "the rest of the dead", to which I think we should add those people who have been devoured by the fire coming down from heaven in the last rebellion of Gog and Magog led by Satan against the city of Jerusalem. Finally, all wicked, whether they live at the beginning of the millennium or whether they die, will have to appear, one time or the other, before God as the Judge. God will always judge before condemning those who do not have God's life, whether it is Armageddon or in the valley of Jehoshaphat, at the early part of the millennium, or at the end of the millennium in the place we reach now.
The whole passage from 20:11 to 21:8 really gives one connected thought. We stand at the threshold to eternity. John sees four visions, the first in verse 11, the second in verses 12 to 15, the third in 21:1 and the fourth in 21:2-8. The first and the third of these belong together, and the second and the fourth. In the first and the third vision it is a matter of creation, the universe. In the first vision the old, or the first, creation disappears, and in the third vision we see the new universe, the new creation. In the second and in the fourth vision it is a matter of man. In the second vision it is a matter of godless men and their eternal destiny. This is a very solemn vision. In the fourth vision we find redeemed men and their eternal destiny. This is a very wonderful vision, and there will be two parts to it. There are the men who form the tabernacle, and then there are all other redeemed men. So the Spirit of God presents one connected train of though in those verses. Twice the throne is mentioned, there is the great white throne in verse 11 and 21:5 again, the throne. We see that in the first reference it is the Lord Jesus who sits upon the throne, and I am looking forward to the comments of my brethren as to who sits on the throne in 21:5! (This question is referred to later)
To bring out the solemnity of this judgment with regard to verse 12, the dead are described as "great and small". Four other times in Revelation we have "small and great", here it is "great and small", to emphasise the awfulness of this judgment. No matter how great men are, even the president of the United States, the most powerful man in the world today, he is going to stand before the greatest Person ever, the Lord Jesus sitting on the throne. No matter how great men are, they are still going to be before Him if they are unrepentant sinners.
Perhaps it should be mentioned that in the Authorised Version it is still "small and great", but most editors, and Darby follows, puts "great and small". Is it not in keeping with God's ways that He always deals with the most responsible first? At Armageddon He puts His hand on the Beast and the Antichrist, He deals with them first, the rest subsequently. Likewise, at the great white throne, it will be the great first and then the small. No-one will escape.
I was greatly impressed by a remark as to the simplicity of this statement here. Without multiplying words in this particular passage we can bring in all that Scripture has told us already about the One who is sitting upon the throne. This is where Revelation becomes extremely interesting. As an exercise, where possible, let us import into the simple accounts, what has already come to light elsewhere in the revelation of God. In that way, the whole book takes on tremendously increased value.
To regress a little what is meant here "from whose face the earth and the heaven fled, and place was not found for them"? The earth is a very important place for us because we live on it, and all men have been living on it. In 2 Peter 3 we read that all the works and the earth are going to be burned up and done away with. Also, where is the great white throne judgment going to take place? The earth here has fled away from the face of Him who sits on the throne so there must be another place in space where this great white throne judgement takes place.
Space is defined in reference to other things, e.g. to sun, earth, but here there is nothing else, everything has disappeared, there is no reference. The only thing which exists is the white throne. So the concept of place has no meaning here.
At one time I thought man would try to do God's work and destroy the earth, but my father-in-law told me, 'No, God will keep this in store for Himself to His glory'. Can we imagine what the fervent heat will be when the entire world is transformed into energy? It will be absolutely fantastic, but morally speaking there is no place for them, it is the final step of the first creation. God was the Originator and Creator of all things being made, and God makes everything disappear, to be replaced by something different, a new heaven and a new earth.
God has fully declared Himself. He is in the light. Men will stand before God and have attention drawn to things that will be unavoidable, inescapable and there will be nowhere to hide. The judgment here is in the light of a fully revealed God.
As to the unanswered question as to who sits on the throne in verse 5, it would seem to be a further example of what is so common in John's writings, viz. that it is often difficult to say when the passage refers to the Lord Jesus or to God.
From the manifold glories of the Lord Jesus who will sit upon the throne, I would bring in especially Revelation 1:14, He who's eyes are like "a flame of fire", also Hebrews 4:13 "all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes of Him with whom we have to do". It is a great white throne, the measure is the holiness of God, and nothing can be hidden from His eyes. I would add that in these verses we find the fulfilment of 2 Corinthians 4:18 "the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal".
This heaven here is not the heaven of heavens where God dwells. This is the heaven attached to the universe, I take it.
It is the second heaven. English has an advantage over French in that you have a special name for the lower heaven, the sky, but in French we have 'ciel' in both cases. I think it is the galaxies, the cosmos, which will fly away here, but obviously there is the "light which no man can approach unto". That is eternal, everlasting.
There was one thing we did not settle last year, when we compared the judgment of the quick, the living, with the judgment of the dead. The judgment of the living is at the beginning of the millennium, and that of the dead here is at the end of the millennium, the end of the world, the end of the ages. What will be the portion, the position of the judged living who do not have God's life? When we compare the situation of those who have God's life and those who do not, I think their position is shown in its final stage in Matthew 25, the sheep and the goats. The sheep will go into life eternal, but the goats will have to experience the torments. They will be judged finally, but will their judgment be carried out immediately? And where will they be? I do not think they will be judged twice. God judges all men, judges them finally, once; the unbelieving living at Armageddon and in the valley of Jehoshaphat, and the unbelieving dead before the great white throne. The lake of fire has been prepared for Satan and his angels, not for men. We know that the Roman Beast and the Antichrist, will be thrown alive into the lake of fire, and Satan will join them at the end of the millennium. Will the living, unbelieving people go immediately into the lake of fire or will they be thrown there at the same time as the devil? To me it is a question. I am not sure if the word of God allows us the proper answer.
Last year weight was given to the fact "where the beast and false prophet are". It does not mention anyone else. In the light of that it was thought they would be the sole occupants of the lake of fire until this particular stage. I did not hear any dissenting voice to that suggestion, so we take it as being possible.
Are you meaning then that, as we would say in England, a criminal has been found guilty but is remanded until the sentence is decided on?
In Scriptural language, they will be in hades.
I would like to emphasise the responsibility of the dead who are small. The great are mentioned before the small, and this is in accordance with the greatness of this throne, and the greatness of the consequences of this judgment, which will be eternal. This is what visions two and three have in common, eternal consequences. But the small are also mentioned, and perhaps there are some people who think that their case is really too trivial to appear before the great white throne, but this is not so. In Colossians 3, a similar thought is before us, because there we have the case of slaves (and many of the believers in those times were slaves), and it is said at the end of the chapter "For he that does a wrong shall receive the wrong he has done, and there is no respect of persons" (v.25). So this verse clearly points out that even small offenders will be brought before God. This is really a warning for many people, perhaps the most, that if they do not receive the Lord Jesus, if their names are not in the book of life on the ground of His work, they will stand before the great white throne to give account to their own works, and there will be no respect of persons. The small will not escape because they were too small.
