Sunday School Notes: Revelation 20:11-13

¹¹ And I saw a great white throne, and one sitting upon it, from whose face earth and sky fled, and a place was not found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and another book was opened which is the one of life. And the dead were judged from the things which had been written in the books, according to their works. ¹³ And the sea gave [up] the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave [up] the dead that were in them. And they were judged each according to their works.

So we come to the final stage of the final judgment. Satan and his armies have launched one last effort to bring harm upon the Lord and his people, but to no avail. Satan and the beasts under his control have been defeated and cast into the lake of fire and eternal torment. Now John sees the dead gather before the great white throne to receive their due.

Even here, though, we need to resist looking at the visions John receives as representing consecutive events. We might be tempted to ask whether the dead standing before the throne happens temporally after the casting of the beasts in the lake of fire. Since these beasts represent culture, government, and the various rulers and influencers who are aligned with Satan (knowingly or unknowingly), are these “dead” different from those represented by the beasts? If not, then how can they stand before the throne after being thrown into the lake of fire? If they are, then who are they? Rather, I think these verses present the final judgment in two ways. First, with Satan and the beasts John sees the condemnation and destruction of the powers and authorities that defy the Lord and act against his people (this is covered by 20:7-10). But this is not some kind of corporate judgment. This judgment is individual and personal–that’s the second view. Each one of the people represented by those groups is judged and condemned according to their works. The “dead” around the throne includes all those represented by the beasts and those who serve and worship the beast.

The vision opens with the great white throne. From the context and previous appearances of this throne (4:2, 7:10, and also Daniel 7:9), this is clearly God’s throne with God sitting on it. White is symbolic of purity and righteousness, reminding us that God does not judge out of malice, spite, or prejudice. His judgment is righteous and just because it flows out of his pure and holy character.

John notes that earth and sky flee from the face of God. The Greek word ouranos (from which the planet Uranus was named, by the way) can mean either “heaven” or “sky.” Given the context, the latter translation is probably what John intended. This image of earth and sky fleeing from God may be related to what we will see in 21:1, which says that the first heaven and earth pass away to be replaced by the new ones. It might also be looking back to 6:14 where John saw a vision of the sky vanishing like a rolled-up scroll, and islands and mountains being removed from their places. In the Old Testament, Isaiah 13:13, Isaiah 24, and Joel 2 contain similar apocalyptic language with regard to God’s judgment and the coming Day of the Lord. Again, Revelation shows the fulfillment of these prophesies.

Interestingly, John adds that “a place was not found for them”–i.e., the fleeing earth and sky. This is similar to the language used of Satan and his armies after their defeat against Michael and his angelic hosts in 12:8. Having been vanquished in heaven, Satan turns his attention to God’s people on earth. Now, however, there is no place at all for the earth and the sky. They have passed away. More on that in chapter 21.

In verse 12, John says that both the great and the small stand before God’s throne. This goes along with the purity and justice of God’s holy judgment. God is not partial. He judges without regard to blood, wealth, social standing, ethnicity, or politics. Before the throne of God, everyone is equal. The only thing that makes a difference is the blood of Christ.

Question: Are the dead before the throne all the dead, or only earth-dwellers (i.e., unbelievers)? While this verse could simply be referring to the resurrection of all the dead at the End Times, my understanding of Revelation, and other New Testament passages, suggests that we are seeing here the judgment of the earth-dwellers. Revelation 14:14-20 gave us a picture of this final judgment in terms of reaping. In verses 14-16, the Lord reaps his harvest from the earth. We understood this to be the final gathering in of God’s people. Then 17-20 depicts the gathering of unbelievers as a reaping by an angel, with those reaped being thrown into the wine press of God’s wrath. I don’t see these as one event following another, but two simultaneous events. Here in chapter 20, John is now seeing another angle on that in-gathering of the earth-dwellers. As for the heaven-dwellers, they are with the Lord. As we’ve already discussed, all believers are spiritually seated with Christ from the moment of salvation. At death, their souls go to be with the Lord while their bodies remain in the ground. When the Lord returns, the dead in Christ are raised, their souls being reunited with their bodies. What happens to the earth-dwellers when they die? Their souls reside in Hades, the abode of the dead, until the End Times. What we are seeing in 20:12 is an image of unbelieving souls facing final judgment (see also Daniel 12:2 on this topic).

The vision then speaks of “the books” being opened, along with another book: The Book of Life. This is not the first mention of the Book of Life either in Revelation, or Scripture as a whole. Jesus mentioned it in Revelation 3:5, saying that the overcomer’s name will not be removed from the Book of Life. It also appears in Daniel 12:1-2 as the book that contains those who will be delivered. So the Book of Life contains the names of those God has elected to salvation, i.e., the heaven-dwellers. Those are the ones for whom Jesus died, who do not belong to the beast, but instead have the name of the Lord on their foreheads (14:1,4). If that’s the Book of Life, then what are these other “books”?

In Daniel 7:10, we have a similar scene where the Ancient of Days (God) takes his seat with thousands standing before him. The court sits in judgment and “the books” are opened. I think the suggestion is that these books contain an accounting of everyone’s works, their words and deeds. Why would this be important, especially if those standing before the Lord are the earth-dwellers and, therefore, already condemned? Remember the context of Revelation. This is a letter to the persecuted church, to Christians facing daily struggles with a hostile world, and with the increasing temptation to take the easy way and capitulate to culture. The point of Revelation is to encourage the church to remain faithful, and to remember God’s faithfulness. That although the church’s enemies seem to get away with violating God’s Law, mocking the Lord, and abusing his people, the Lord does not forget. Every word and deed that slips by the fallible, often godless, earthly justice system is captured in “the books.” These are probably not literal books, but they symbolize God’s remembrance. They are a permanent record that the Lord will display as evidence against the earth-dwellers. It is conclusive proof that God is just, and they have no excuse.

Although it says that the dead are judged “from the things which had been written in the books, according to their works,” this does not mean that God’s judgment is based on people’s works. We are told that salvation depends solely on whether your name is in the Book of Life. Revelation 13:8 gives us the full title of that book: “The Book of Life of the Lamb Who Was Slain.” The basis for inclusion in that Book is the blood of the Lamb. If you belong to Jesus, your name is there. So the works in the “books” are not redemptive works. If any of those works could have earned them salvation, their names would be in the Book of Life. Rather, these works are evidence that God is just to condemn them. They bear testimony to their allegiance with the beast, the worldly culture, and their disregard, even hatred, for the Lord and his people.

As a side note, some hold that Matthew 10:14-15 and 11:20-24, and 2 Corinthians 5:10 suggest there are degrees of punishment in Hades/the Lake of Fire (and glory in Heaven, for that matter). That is to say, for example, your unbelieving friend who is otherwise a basically decent guy will somehow suffer a lesser torment than Hitler. While that’s certainly one way to understand these texts, I wouldn’t expend a lot of effort defending this view for a couple of reasons. First, we are 100% reliant on revelation for our understanding of the afterlife. No-one has reported back from Hades or the Lake of Fire to tell us whether this is correct. And, frankly, I don’t particularly want to find out first-hand! And Scripture doesn’t provide a lot of details about either Heaven or Hades. In what sense would one person’s punishment be better or worse than another’s? We aren’t told. And while speculating on the topic may make for interesting after dinner conversation, it’s just that: speculation. And secondly, it doesn’t really matter. The main point is that there is an eternal punishment for the earth-dwellers, and you don’t want to experience it, whatever the degree or intensity!

Verse 13 tells us where these dead people have come from: the sea and death and Hades. I think this supports the view that these “dead” are earth-dwellers. The “sea” is used symbolically in Revelation as a source of evil. In 13:1, the beast rises out of the sea, and in 4:6 and 15:2, the sea is described as being “like glass,” that is, stilled. Conquered. There are also places throughout the Old Testament where the sea has a negative connotation (e.g., Psalm 74:12-15; Daniel 7:2ff.). As for death and Hades, these two were personified in 6:8 riding out with authority to kill a quarter of the earth with sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts. These are used by God by way of judgment (see the notes on 6:8 for more details on that passage). I think it’s fairly clear, therefore, that these “dead” are unbelievers who are now facing final judgment.

I had hoped to finish the chapter this week, but we’ll have to finish up next time. I also want to address a couple of questions that came up in class, but we didn’t have time to dig into fully:

• What is the difference between Sheol and Hades?
• Is it true that Hades consists of hell on one side and “Abraham’s Bosom” on the other?

I’ll share our thoughts on these next time…