And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
The great white Throne, the General Resurrection, the Judgement on all the Dead and on Death and Hell, Rev 20:11-15
11. a great white throne ] Probably not absolutely the same as that of Rev 4:2 &c.: the King is to sit now not as Lawgiver or Administrator but as Judge. Possibly it is called “great” as compared with the thrones of Rev 20:4; “white,” of course, as symbolical of the holiness and purity of the judgement to be administered.
and him that sat on it ] This has throughout, from Rev 4:2 onwards, been universally the title of God the Father. Moreover, the description of the Great Assize here is substantially the same as that of Dan 7:9-10: and there the Ancient of Days, Who sits on the throne, is plainly distinguished from the Son of Man. Therefore we are no doubt to understand the presence of the Father here, in spite of St Joh 5:22; Joh 5:27. There is no contradiction, if we take a duly high view of the relation between the Father and the Son. St Paul’s doctrine, Act 17:31; Rom 2:16 (allowing that Tit 2:13 is ambiguous), shews the accurate relation between the two sides of the truth: and Rev 3:21, compared with our Lord’s own words in St Mat 16:27 and parallels, shews the propriety of this image.
from whose face &c.] The passing away of earth and heaven is spoken of in Isa 51:6, St Mat 24:35 and parallels; but the strong expression of their fleeing before God’s presence is peculiar to this place: Psa 104:32, however, is something of a precedent. That the destruction will be by fire is not stated here, or anywhere but in 2Pe 3:10; 2Pe 3:12, and perhaps 2Th 1:7-8. In St Peter l.c. we have this destruction of the world by fire compared with the destruction by the Flood, and this parallel seems to have been recognised in popular Jewish belief. Popular Christian belief continued the series, by interpolating between the two a purely mythical “flood of wind;” an idea also found, curiously enough, in the Mexican mythology, which completed the elemental series with a destruction by earthquakes. The lesson of all this seems to be, that the Deluge is a matter of universal tradition, and that the destructibility of the world is recognised by a universal instinct: but that the manner of its destruction is not so revealed, that it can safely be conceived by us in picturesque detail. The destruction of our globe, perhaps of the whole solar system, by fire is quite within the bounds of possibility, even according to the known laws of nature; but those laws more naturally suggest the world literally “waxing old like a garment, and them that dwell therein dying like a moth,” and the elements rather congealing with cold than “melting with fervent heat.” On the other hand, passages like Act 10:42; 1Th 4:15 ; 2Ti 4:1; 1Pe 4:5 seem plainly to prove that the human race will not be extinct when that Day comes, but that there will be “the quick” as well as “the dead” ready to undergo the Judgement. But the judgement of the dead only is described here. St John had learnt, as St Paul had not, that the dead would be the larger class of the two: whether he learnt it from his own longer life, or from the length of time implied in this vision.
and there was found no place for them ] The phrase is a reminiscence of Dan 2:35; we had a similar one in Rev 12:8.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And I saw a great white throne – This verse commences the description of the final judgment, which embraces the remainder of the chapter. The first thing seen in the vision is the burning throne of the Judge. The things that are specified in regard to it are, that it was great, and that it was white. The former expression means that it was high or elevated. Compare Isa 6:1. The latter expression – white – means that it was splendid or shining. Compare 1Ki 10:18-20. The throne here is the same which is referred to in Mat 25:31, and called there the throne of his glory.
And him that sat on it – The reference here undoubtedly is to the Lord Jesus Christ, the final Judge of mankind (compare Mat 25:31), and the scene described is what will occur at his second advent.
From whose face – Or, from whose presence; though the word may be used here to denote more strictly his face – as illuminated, and shining like the sun. See Rev 1:16, And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
The earth and the heaven fled away – That is, as the stars, at the rising of the sun, seem to flee to more remote regions, and vanish from human view, so when the Son of God shall descend in his glory to judge the world, the earth and all other worlds shall seem to vanish. Every one must admire the sublimity of this image; no one can contemplate it without being awed by the majesty and glory of the final Judge of mankind. Similar expressions, where the natural creation shrinks back with awe at the presence of God, frequently occur in the Bible. Compare Psa 18:7-15; Psa 77:16-19; Psa 114:3-5; Hab 3:6, Hab 3:10-11.
And there was found no place for them – They seemed to flee entirely away, as if there was no place where they could find a safe retreat, or which would receive and shelter them in their flight. The image expresses, in the most emphatic manner, the idea that they entirely disappeared, and no language could more sublimely represent the majesty of the Judge.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rev 20:11-15
I saw a great white throne.
The age of retribution
I. This retributive period will dawn with overpowering splendour upon the world.
1. The character of this manifestation. A throne is an emblem of glory. This is a white throne. There is not a single stain upon it. It is a great white throne. Great in its occupant: He filleth all in all. Great in its influence: toward it the eyes of all intelligences are directed; to it all beings are amenable; from it all laws that determine the character and regulate the destiny of all creatures, proceed.
2. The effect of this manifestation. Before its refulgence this material universe could not stand: it melted–vanished away. It will pass away, perhaps, as the orbs of night pass away in the high noontide of the sun: they are still in being, still in their orbits, and still move on as ever; but they are lost to us by reason of a glory that excelleth.
II. This retributive period will witness the resurrection of the dead and the consequent destruction of Hades and the grave.
1. In the resurrection there will be a connection between mans raised and mans mortal body.
(1) The one rises out of the other.
(2) The one retains the same plan, or outline, as the other.
(3) The one fulfils the same functions as the other.
2. The resurrection will be co-extensive with the mortality of mankind. Not an infant too young, nor a patriarch too old. Tyrants and their slaves, sages and their pupils, ministers and their people–all will appear.
III. This retributive period will bring humanity into conscious contact with God.
1. There will be no atheism after this.
2. No deism.
3. No indifferentism.
IV. This retributive period will settle for ever the question of every mans character and destiny.
1. The worth of a mans character will be determined by his works.
2. A mans works will be determined by recognised authorities. Gods moral and remedial laws are books, and they will now be opened–to memory, to conscience, and to the universe.
3. According to the correspondence, or non-correspondence, of mans works with these recognised authorities will be his final destiny. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The great white throne
I. A throne. Yes, a royal seat, a seat of judgment, the seat of the great King and Judge of all.
II. A great throne. All earths thrones have been little, even the greatest–Nebuchadnezzar, or Alexander, or Caesar, or Napoleon; but this is great; greater than the greatest; none like it in magnificence.
III. A white throne. White is purity, truth, justice, calmness. Such is the throne to be–unsoiled, untainted, incorruptible; no one-sidedness nor imperfection; no bribery nor favour there. All is white–transparent and spotless perfection.
IV. One seated on it. It was not empty or unoccupied, nor filled by a usurper, or by one who could not wield the power required for executing its decrees. God was seated there; that very God before whose face heaven and earth flee away; that God whose presence melts the mountains, and made Sinai to shake (Psa 102:26; Isa 36:4; Isa 2:6; Jer 4:23; Jer 4:26; Rev 6:14; Rev 16:20). How terrible to stand unready before such a Judge and such a throne! All justice, all perfection, all holiness! Who can abide His appearing? But besides the Judge and the throne, there are the millions to be judged. (H. Bonar, D. D.)
The great white throne
I. When once the great white throne is erected, all distinctions of this life will have been for ever abolished. We often marvel at the contrast exhibited in the present life, between the circumstances or conditions in which mankind are placed. From the extreme of affluence to the extreme of destitution there are endless varieties of condition, yet, in certain respects, all are equal; the noble and the mean; the richest and the poorest. Surely it ought to make the wealthy set loose to their riches, and the poor think lightly of their poverty, when it is remembered how soon the small and the great will stand alike before God, to be judged according, not to their respective conditions on earth, but each according to his works.
II. The next feature which calls for notice is the opening of the books. The idea is that of a faithful register to be brought forward hereafter, to decide the everlasting portion. Thus, when we hear of the books to be opened at the judgment, and of men being judged out of those things which are written in the books, we are, in effect, reminded that the actions which we day by day commit, the very words we speak and the thoughts we indulge, contribute the materials for a final reckoning, upon the issue of which will be suspended eternal joy or eternal shame. This regard to the inevitable connection between conduct in this life and our portion in eternity, would serve alike to restrain from iniquity and impel to obedience.
III. It must not be overlooked, however, that while mention is made of books–of several volumes of account–out of which the dead will be judged, allusion is made to but one book of life, containing the names of those who would be saved. Possibly an intimation is hereby conveyed as to the comparative fewness of the saved. Yet another interpretation of the difference is, that, whereas there are many different methods by which men may go to perdition, there is but one way of life. It is not alone the heathen, who never heard of a Redeemer; nor the infidel, who professed to disbelieve the existence of God or a revelation; nor the heretic, who corrupted the truth and turned the grace of God into lasciviousness; not alone the scoffer, the profligate, the profane, who will be excluded from heaven; but the impenitent, the unbelieving, the unconverted, the ungodly–all who have refused to lay hold of the salvation which is offered in the gospel.
III. The dead, universally, are said to be judged according to their works. This accords with the representation given in other parts of the Bible. The reward is of grace; the judgment is according to things done in the body.
IV. The issue of the judgment, as described in the closing verse of the chapter. No sooner has the evangelist spoken of the judgment itself, than he tells us of the extinction, thenceforward, of death and of hell. There will be no more slumber in the grave. Up to this period the wicked will nat have entered upon the full consummation of misery. The soul is not the man. The soul, in union with the body, constitutes the nature, which Christ redeemed, and which must, hereafter, partake of punishment or reward. Hence the complete wretchedness will not overtake the wicked till the final abolition of death and the grave. Whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire. This will be the consummation of the ruin of the ungodly. From this doom there will be no appeal; from this sentence no reprieve. We can be earnest for time; who, comparatively, is earnest for eternity? The book is still open. Christ is willing to write your name there. (Bp. R. Bickersteth.)
The great white throne
I. What John saw. When the eagle-eyed seer of Patmos, being in the Spirit, looked aloft into the heavens, he saw a throne, from which I gather there is a throne of moral government over the sons of men, and that He who sits upon it presides over all the inhabitants of this world. There is a lawgiver who looks down and spies every action of man, and who does not suffer one single word or deed to be omitted from His note-book. Now we know that this moral governor is God Himself, who has an undisputed right to reign and rule. Some thrones have no right to be, and to revolt from them is patriotism; but the best lover of his race delights the most in the monarchy of heaven. In addition to this, His throne is one from the power of which none can escape. The sapphire throne of God, at this moment, is revealed in heaven, where adoring angels cast their crowns before it; and its power is felt on earth, where the works of creation praise the Lord. Even those who acknowledge not the Divine government are compelled to feel it, for He doeth as He wills, not only among the angels in heaven, but among the inhabitants of this lower world. See, then, at the very outset how this throne should awe our minds with terror. Founded in right, sustained by might, and universal in its dominion, look ye and see the throne which John of old beheld. This, however, is but the beginning of the vision. The text tells us that it was a white throne. Does not this indicate its immaculate purity? There is no other white throne, I fear, to be found. Why, then, is it white for purity? Is it not because the King who sits on it is pure? Hark to the thrice sacred hymn of the cherubic band and the seraphic choir, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth. Creatures who are perfectly spotless themselves unceasingly adore the yet superior holiness of the great King. Oh fairest of all thrones I who would not be a willing subject of Thy peerless government? Moreover, the throne is pure, because the law the Judge dispenses is perfect. There is no fault in the statute-book of God. When the Lord shall come to judge the earth, there will be found no decree that bears too hardly upon any one of His creatures. The statutes of the Lord are right; they are true and righteous altogether. I have thought, too, that perhaps this throne is said to be a white throne to indicate that it will be eminently conspicuous. You will have noticed that a white object can be seen from a very great distance. We must see it; it shall be so striking a sight that none of us will be able to prevent its coming before us; every eye shall see Him. Possibly it is called a white throne because of its being such a convincing contrast to all the colours of this sinful human life. There stand the crowd, and there is the great white throne. What can make them see their blackness more thoroughly than to stand there in contrast with the perfections of the law and the Judge before whom they are standing? Perhaps that throne, all glistening, will reflect each mans character. The next word that is used by way of adjective is great. It was a great white throne. You scarcely need me to tell you that it is called a great white throne because of the greatness of Him who sits upon it. Speak of the greatness of Solomon? He was but a petty prince. Speak of the thrones of Rome and Greece before which multitudes of beings assembled? They are nothing, mere representatives of associations of the grasshoppers of the world, who are as nothing in the sight of the Lord Jehovah. A throne filled by a mortal is but a shadow of dominion. This will be a great throne because on it will sit the great God of earth and heaven and hell, the King eternal, immortal, invisible, who shall judge the world in righteousness, and His people with equity. You will see that this will be a great white throne when we remember the culprits who will be brought before it; not a handful of criminals, but millions upon millions; and these not all of the lesser sort, not serfs and slaves alone whose miserable bodies rested from their oppressors in the silent grave; but the great ones of the earth shall be there; not one missing. It will be a great white throne, because of the matters that will be tried there. It will be no mere quarrel about a suit in Chancery, or an estate in jeopardy. Our souls will have to be tried there; our future, not for an age, not for one single century, but for ever and for ever. Turn not away your eyes from the magnificent spectacle till you have seen the glorious Person mentioned in the words, And Him that sat on it. The most fitting One in all the world will sit upon that throne. It will be God, but hearken, it will also be man. The Christ whom you despised will judge you, the Saviour whose mercy you trampled on–it is He who shall judge righteous judgment to you, and what will He say but this–As for these Mine enemies, who would not that I should reign over them, cut them in pieces before My eyes!
II. The inferences which flow from such a sight as this.
1. Let me search myself.
2. Having spoken a word to the Christian, I should like to say to every one of you, in remembrance of this great white throne shun hypocrisy.
3. But there are some of you who say, I do not make any profession of religion. Still my text has a word to you. Still I want you to judge your actions by that last great day. Oh sir, how about that night of sin? No, say you, never mind it; bring it not to my remembrance. It shall be brought to thy remembrance, and that deed of sin shall be published far wider than upon the house-tops. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The great white throne, the opened books, and the assembled dead
I. The supreme tribunal: A great white throne. It is a new wonder. St. John saw other thrones in more than one apocalyptic disclosure, but none like this. It is unique and transcendent. It is great. It represents Divine majesty. It is white. Its intolerable splendour is without a stain. It is not a throne of grace. To it no penitents are welcomed. None could bow before it. No elemency is published and no forgiveness dispensed. It is the supreme and final tribunal. From the decisions of this bar there is no appeal. The sentences of the King are irreversible.
II. The intolerable purity of the judge: Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. Descriptions may be indefinite from the lack of graphic ability in the narrator, or from the impossibility of seizing and reporting the transcendent and stupendous objects which he has to record. Not a single minute particular is given in St. Johns outline of the dread vision. All that we are told of the throne is, that it is vast, and dazzling in its whiteness. Him that sat upon the throne; but not a syllable is there about that sight. Of that face–its majesty, brightness, terror–St. John could utter nothing; but he has recorded what followed its unveiling. Earth and heaven, as conscious and guilty things, fled away–just as the stars retreat and disappear when the sun darts forth at break of day, or rather as tow and gossamer fly and vanish when touched by the flame. The face from which all nature shrank into instantaneous invisibility, and could discover no space to hide in, was incapable of description.
III. The universality of the dread assize: I Saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. Earth and heaven were permitted to vanish from the face, the splendour and purity of which they could not endure. Not so men. The guiltiest, though the heart shrink, must encounter the sight and hear the sentence. St. John saw the earth and heaven fly; but the dead, small and great, stand, stand before the throne, and await their doom.
IV. The impartiality of the solemn awards. The prominent truth in the vision is, He will judge the people righteously. According to their works, as good or evil, holy or unholy, the sentence will be given. Faith |n the blood of atonement, without a life of reverence, virtue, love of God, self-sacrifice, and Christ-like nobleness, is the pretence of hypocrites and traitors. According to their works, St. John saw every man judged.
V. Great and approaching changes in the seen and unseen worlds: And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. We cannot understand this statement without recalling the peculiarities of our present life. To the righteous now there exist the earth and the unseen heaven. After the judgment the distinction between the earth where we are and heaven where God is, will be abolished. The earth and the visible skies are to depart; the unseen heaven will alone remain. Resembling changes await the wicked. The bodies of the unrighteous are in the graves of this planet. Their souls are in Hades awaiting judgment. The scene of retribution is a future and unseen world. After judgment, the earth and the grave will be Be more. Hades–the unseen world of spirits–will be similarly abrogated. Death and Hades, and all which they represent, will merge in retribution, of which the lake of fire is the symbol. (H. Batchelor.)
The great white throne
I saw a throne. There is a throne now, but men do not see it. There is a real government now, but it will be a visible one then. You know the sceptic has doubts, because he cannot see. He says, Where is God, and whom is the throne? I have never seen it. Did you ever see the throne of England? I never did–but you know there is one; you know there is a government. I never saw the Queen, and I dare say many of you have not seen her, but you know there is a Queen. I never saw the great King, but He is here. He reigns; and by and by His throne will become visible, and faith and doubt will be lost in sight, and the believer will say, It is He; and the infidel will say, It is He; and there will be no more doubting and no more believing–it will be sight. I saw a throne. It is called a great throne. I saw a great white throne. Now, of all the seats in the world, I believe thrones are the filthiest. I believe the throne of England to be one of the purest in the world; but that throne has oftentimes been stained with the blood that tyrants have shed. But that is the great white throne. Many a time darkness has dimmed it round, for clouds and darkness are round about him; it has been veiled in mystery; but behind the cloud it was a white throne–a throne that never was tarnished by injustice, and that never was defiled by wrong-doing. The infidel and the doubter have often had hard thoughts of God; but when the throne is set it will be seen to be without a stain. I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it. It is the Man of Calvary; it is the Babe of Bethlehem–but, oh, how changed! See His eyes piercing and flashing–pictures of His penetrating wisdom. See His feet that have the glow of the furnace, that outshine the sun in its glory. And then hear His voice. It is louder than the choruses of mature. It is as the voice of many waters. And as He says, Rise, ye dead. they come forth at His bidding. Oh, when that day comes, may you find that the blessed One who sits upon the throne is your friend. A minister was one day travelling with a young spark, a sceptical fellow; and as the manner of such men is, and probably liking a little to annoy the person with whom he was travelling, he said, among other things, Talk about the Bible being an inspired book! why, I tell you, those books of the old pagans were far better; it is not fit to be named in the same day of the week with Homer. Well, said the minister, calmly, since you seem to be so great an admirer of Homer, would you give me a specimen–some favourite passage from your beloved author? In a minute, said the young man, I will; and very readily he pointed to what he thought a fair specimen of the sublimity and power of Homer, where he speaks in these words–Jove frowned and darkened half the sky. Now, there, sir, said he, just think of the sublimity of that figure–the very frown of the god darkened half the face of nature. I grant, said he, you have selected with very good taste; but before you venture to pit your favourite author against the inspired Word of God, read it a little more. What do you say to this: I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. How much less sublime what you have repeated from Homer is than that? The young man was silent. I hope he learned never again to pit any book against the Book of God. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it. Now, those of you that are at all acquainted with the opinions of the people that lived when the Apostle John wrote, will know that it was thought among the most impossible of things that anybody should ever be recovered that was lost in the waters. Hence, in the Odyssey you will find that when Ulysses was in peril of drowning he moaned that he had not fallen in the fight before the walls of Troy, for he speaks of himself as sinking in the waters, and so being for ever dead. And it was a great opinion that all who had not sepulchral rites could never have peace or happiness after; the body they never dreamed could rise, but even the spirit they thought was destroyed. Blessed be God, we have a better view than that. How many of the bravest of Britains sons and the fairest of her daughters have gone forth and have gone down with the storm for their requiem, the wreck for their coffin, and the waters for their winding-sheet. There they are. Though you do not know where they are lying, Jesus knows; and when the last trump is heard they will come forth. And not only so, but death and hell shall give up the dead that are in them. This is a noble personification. Death and hell are the twin giants that rule the grave and the spirit-world. What a blessed thing it is that both will be conquered! When the trumpet is blown, the dust in the charnel will begin to stir and creep and quiver, and bone will come to his bone, and the frame will be built up again. And when the trumpet is blown, it will be heard in the highest heaven, and the blessed spirits will come down, and it will be heard in the deepest pit, and the lost souls will come up, and there, by some wondrous appointment, body and soul will be remarried never to be divorced for ever. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. I saw them–small and great–the man of wealth and the man of rank, the prince and the man of poverty. What a mighty host will that be! You and I will be among the number. Then there is another thing. The books were opened. Now what are these books?
1. First of all, there will be the books of Gods requirements. Where are these books? There are many. First, Gods requirements as they are written in nature. The poor pagan has had that book, that book whose syllables are constellations and whose letters are stars. The firmament has declared the being and power of God, and the dew of heaven and the flowers of nature have shown His goodness. There is enough in nature to make a man feel after God, if haply he may find Him; and the heathen have had that.
2. Then there will also be that book of moral conscience which God puts into a man; and He has written something on the page of every heart. You may, if you like, try to be irresponsible, but there is something within that wont let you feel like that. When Pericles once kept one of his friends waiting, when at last he got in he said, Pericles, why was I kept waiting so long? He said, I was preparing the accounts for the citizens. Why take so much trouble? said his friend; why not declare yourself irresponsible? Well, now, that is just what many silly infidels of this day say. They cannot get their accounts quite clear for the throne, but I tell you what they do–they declare that they are not responsible, that they are conquered by circumstances, and cannot help whatever they may be. Will that do? God will open the book of conscience, and He will judge you, and your own conscience will attest that God is true.
3. Well, then, there is the book of inspiration. Every sceptic in this land will be judged by this book. Your not believing it is no reason; if you do not believe it, you ought.
4. Well, the book of Gods providence will be opened, and God will be justified in that day. You know sometimes His providence seems dark, and we are sometimes inclined to grumble, and say this is wrong and that is wrong; but when that day comes, it will all be open, and we shall say, It is all right, and even the sinner will be obliged to bow his head and say, It is all just.
5. And there is another book–the book of Gods remembrance. It is a beautiful figure that represents the Divine knowledge as the book of Gods remembrance. That book will be opened, and your very secret sins will all be there.
6. Ay, and then the book of memory will be opened. There are some strange facts that now and then transpire with respect to human memory. I do not believe when a thing has once been in your mind you ever really lose it again. I cannot understand it at all, but I could tell you fact after fact about it. I remember coming home from an appointment one very dark night, and there came on a storm, and by and by the lightning flashed out, and for an infinitesimal portion of time I could see everything. There I saw the church steeple, which might be a mile off, as plainly as could be, and the whole of the landscape, in that infinitesimal portion of time. Have you never had it like that in your memory? I believe there is a key somewhere that would unlock everything you ever did, and bring it up before your mind. Now, when the books are opened, the book of memory will be opened, and there will come flashing up pictures of all sorts of things you did; and I tell you, if you do not get sin washed away by the blood of Christ, there is nothing for you but horrors–horrors for ever. (S. Coley.)
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.—
The last judgment
When Massillon pronounced one of those discourses which have placed him in the first class of orators, he found himself surrounded by the trappings and pageants of a royal funeral. The temple was not only hung with sable, but shadowed with darkness, save the few twinkling lights of the altar. The beauty and the chivalry of the land were spread out before him. There sat Majesty, clothed in sackcloth and sunk in grief. All felt in common, and as one. A sense of the indescribable nothingness of man at his best estate, of the meanness of the highest human grandeur, now made plain in the spectacle of that hearsed mortal, overcame him. His eye once more closed; his action was suspended; and, in a scarcely audible whisper, he broke the long-drawn pause–There is nothing great, but God. I take the sublimely affecting sentence and mould it to the present theme–There is nothing solemn but judgment. The thunderstorm is solemn: when the lightnings, as arrows, shoot abroad. But what is it to that far-resounding crash, louder than the roar and bellow of ten thousand thunders, which shall pierce the deepest charnels, and which all the dead shall hear? The ocean-tempest is solemn: when those huge billows lift up their crests; when mighty armaments are wrecked by their fury. But what is it to that commotion of the deep, when its proud waves shall no more be stayed, its ancient barriers no more be observed, the largest channels be emptied, and the deepest abyss be dried? The earthquake is solemn: when, without a warning, cities totter, and kingdoms rend, and islands flee away. But what is it to that tremour which shall convulse our globe, dissolving every law of attraction, severing every principle of aggregation, heaving all into chaos and heaping all into ruin? Great God! must our eyes see–our ears hear–these desolations and distractions? Must we look forth upon these devouring flames? Must we stand in judgment with Thee? Penetrate us now with Thy fear; awaken the attention, which Thy trump shall not fail to command; surround our imagination with the scenery of that great and terrible day!
I. Let us consider the scenery which shall illustrate this august assize. The throne is the emblem of royal dignity. It is the symbol of Divine supremacy. The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom ruleth over all. It is a great white throne. It is vast, shadowy, undefined. No rainbow of the covenant girdles it; no suppliants or penitents sue before it; no pardons are issued from it. It is a tribunal throne. He hath prepared His throne for judgment. It is occupied. There is One, that sitteth upon it. This is often characteristic and distinctive of the Father. There is no manner of similitude. Nothing at first appears to guide us in the present discrimination. There is no form. It seems essential, and not distinguished, deity. But need we be at loss? We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. He now thinketh it no robbery to be equal with God, and as God He is Judge Himself. From the face of Him who sitteth upon the throne, the earth and the heaven flee away. Who can think of that countenance and not associate with It pensive downcast, deepest affliction, sweetest meekness? Into what expression mast that countenance have now kindled! With what terrors must it now be clothed! Things inanimate, insensible, smitten with a strange panic and with a sudden dismay, start back; and those refulgent heavens and this fair earth shrink into ancient disorder and anarchy: they rush into primeval chaos and night. Rut net so can the sinner flee away; rocks–mountains–cannot cover him; there is no hiding-place for the workers of iniquity. It makes little difference whether it be the greater catastrophe or the inferior; the larger could not strike a deeper terror–the smaller could not induce a less. And why do heaven and earth pass away? and why is no more place found for them? They have realised their end. They were but as the scaffolding; the erection is complete. They are of no further use. They may be set aside. The mystery of God is finished. There is the consummation. Time, therefore, need be no longer.
II. We now, then, turn to the multitude that shall be summoned to this judgment. Death delivered up the dead which were in it. This is the power of the grave, it is the personification of death. He who burst the barriers of the tomb and made death bow before Him–He shall send forth His mandate, publish His behest; and then the vaults and the catacombs and the mummy pits and the bone-houses shall disgorge their relics. It was much for the sea to obey Him who sitteth on the throne; it was more for inexorable death–the grave–the sepulchre–to yield its victims; but hell–the place of departed spirits, where the disembodied soul of man is to be found, whether in happiness or in woe–hades has listened to a voice until then unknown to it. The gates of the shadow of death unbar, and its portals fly open. And now there come–there come–there come–clouds of spirits rolling upon clouds, in swift succession, with impetuous rush; sumless, but unmixed, but individualised; the consciousness of each distinct, the character of each defined, the memory of each unobliterated, and the sentence of each foredoomed. And hades sends back spirits to those bodies, which the sea and the grave may no more retain. The small and the great stand before God. All who have been among the mighty, and would not let go their prisoners, and who destroyed the earth, and all of minor state. None are so great that they can intimidate: none so little that they can escape. And thinking of that mighty throng, there is a distinctive circumstance which must not be overlooked: every man was judged. God can say, All souls are Mine; and all souls, on that day, shall pass in review before Him. Each of your idle words, each of your vain thoughts, each of your impure desires, every bias of your spirit, every movement of your heart must reappear. Be sure your sin will find you out.
III. Let us consider the process which must determine this judgment. When Hilkiah found the law, and read it to the people, they rent their clothes, terror-struck, that they had committed so many offences against a long-forgotten law. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? He is the God of judgment. He is the God of truth. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth. But then that book, which is closed to so many, shall be opened–shall be opened in all its injunctions, all its penalties, all its sanctions. You will not then think that its bands are small; you will not then think that its terrors are weak. If the law, by one drop of its present fury, one flash of its present power, causes the stoutest heart and the most rebel conscience to quail, how will the stoutest heart be as tow in the fire, and the most rebel conscience be as wax before the flame, when this book shall be opened!–shall be opened in all its contents, shall be opened in all its principles, shall be opened in all its awards! But these books may refer to the discoveries of the gospel. And these might indeed cheer, and these ought indeed to fortify, if you have won Christ and are found in Him. Yet if you are unbelievers still, if you are enemies in your minds by wicked works, this book, the word of reconciliation, is more portentous in its aspect against you, even them the volume of the law. You will be judged according to this gospel. All the beseechings of mercy, all the remonstrances of authority, all the pleadings of tenderness! This book shall be opened only the more terribly to convict and to condemn. Mercy will in that day be more terrible than justice. (R. W. Hamilton, D. D.)
The last judgment
I. The majesty of the tribunal.
II. The person of this judge. Here is justice, we may say, here is retribution, in the very commencement of this judgment, the very constitution of this court–the once abased but now exalted–openly exalted–Jesus, is receiving from His Father a compensation for all His former degradation and shame.
III. The dissolution of the whole material world. What is a man advantaged if he gain the whole of such a world as this? The world would be a poor thing to make our portion, even if it were destined to last for ever, but we shall be alive ages and ages after it has perished; and if the world is our all, where then will our happiness be? where will our comfort and support be?
IV. The strange, vast assembly gathered together in it.
V. The process of this judgment.
1. Its exactness. The books were opened. The books were opened–the book of Gods law; the law of His universe, which every creature is bound by his very existence in His universe to obey. The book of His gospel–a book superadded in mans case to the book of the law, and as binding on man when made known to him as the law itself. And then there is a hook to be opened within us, the book of memory and conscience. There are few of us who have not at intervals been surprised at the power of these two faculties within us; it is an indication of their future power when they are called forth in their full energy before our Judge.
2. The justice or equity of this judgment: The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books. False accusers can do nothing against us now. Friends and flatterers can do nothing for us. They will not be listened to. The books–the true and faithful books only–will be regarded, and by their testimony will our sentence be determined.
3. The wonderful grace that will be manifested by Him in this judgment. There is another book mentioned. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. He that believeth shall be saved, it says. Now bring forward that book of life. It is My once secret register of all that are Mine. Open it. There stands that mans name written; I with My own hand wrote it there; and though My law condemns him, and record upon record condemns him, yet he believed in Me for salvation, and that is enough–I will never condemn him. I will not blot out his name out of that book of life, but I will confess his name, declare and proclaim it here as a name dear to Me, before My Father and before His angels. (C. Bradley, M. A.)
The great assize
There are three great days connected with the history of our race.
1. The day the world was made.
2. The day the world was redeemed.
3. The day the world will be judged. It is to the last of these days our text invites attention. Come forth with me and view the scene. Every prophecy is fulfilled, the last hour arrived; the funeral day of the world has come. For the first and last time are found in one great assembly every angel, every saint, and every devil. The books are opened.
I. The preliminaries of the judgment.
1. The day will be ushered in with sound of trumpet and the voice of God. The debaucher will be revelling in obscenity–the prodigal rioting in prodigality and wantonness–the self-righteous wrapped up in his own carnal security–the robber on his errand of sin–the whisperer slandering his neighbour–the infidel glorying in his shame–the miser counting over his gold–the soldier in the tented field–the sailor on the briny deep–the careless sitting at ease–the hypocrite practising deceit. When the shrill blast of the archangels trump, waxing louder than ten thousand thunders, shall shake the earth, and the angel shall swear by Him that liveth for ever and ever that time shall be no more.
2. The Judge will appear. Every eye shall see Him, for like the sun He will appear equally near to all who shall be placed at His dread tribunal. All our previous ideas of grandeur will be infinitely surpassed by the realities of this solemn scene.
3. The dead shall be raised, and all created intelligences shall stand arraigned before the judgment-seat. People of every age and condition, rank and degree. Populous assemblies! Not one missing of past, present, or future generations.
II. Proceedings of the judgment. And the books were opened.
1. There will be the book of Gods omniscience. Every thought, feeling, desire, motive, and purpose of every heart are fully recorded; and every act of every life.
2. The book of conscience. The one will be found to tally exactly with the other. Oh, trifle not with your conscience, for it will wake up in the judgment and echo the truthfulness of Gods omniscience.
3. The book of life. The Divine wisdom or remembrance, whereby the Lord knoweth them that are His.
III. Its final and irreversible results.
1. The whole will be divided, and there shall be no mistake. Not one sinner shall stand in this vast congregation of the righteous.
2. Sentence will be pronounced. If we have not on the wedding garment, we must hear that awfully tremendous voice saying unto us, Depart, ye cursed.
3. Execution of the sentence. (J. D. Carey.)
The last judgment
I. The seat of judgment–a great white throne.
1. Its dignity. A throne is the seat of royalty (1Ki 10:18-19; Isa 6:1).
2. Its purity. White is an emblem of purity. As from the majesty of this throne there can be no appeal, so with respect to the equity of it there can be no just cause of complaint.
II. The author of judgment.
1. Who is the Judge? Jehovah in the person of Christ. The Father judgeth no man (Joh 5:22).
2. His qualification for His work.
III. Infinite knowledge.
(1) Unspotted justice.
(2) Unlimited power.
III. The subjects of judgment. I saw the dead, small and great, etc.
1. The appearance will be universal.
2. The appearance will be inevitable.
IV. The rule of judgment. Conclusion:
1. Flee to the Cross of Christ.
2. Ever associate that day with feelings of the deepest solemnity. (J. G. Breay, B. A. )
The last judgment
I. The subjects of the judgment.
1. The dead, small and great.
(1) Young and old.
(2) Rich and poor.
(3) Illiterate and learned.
2. These shall stand together before God.
(1) Social distinctions are not accounted at that tribunal.
(2) Ethnic distinctions cease.
(3) Distinctions of time also are at an end. All generations mingle in one grand congregation.
3. The value of character will then appear.
(1) When conventional, accidental distinctions vanish, the real, permanent distinctions of character come out in the boldest relief.
(2) The interval of the disembodied and millennial states will afford the best opportunities for reflection upon that conduct which is now crystallised into character.
(3) If anything further is needed to force home this lesson upon the spirit, here it is in the excitements of the judgment–the prodigies–the Judge–the witnesses–the impending doom.
II. The character of the judge.
1. Christ appears not now as Mediator.
(1) Death ends probation.
(2) The shadows of the great judgment are felt here in the court of conscience. Works, words, thoughts, motives, should be ever examined here in anticipation of the more imposing court.
(3) The preparation of holiness we must have.
2. He now appears as King.
(1) He comes in the glory of His Father–the glory of His Divinity. The dead stand before God.
(2) He comes in His own glory–the glory of His exalted and beatified manhood. Here is the only universal Monarch. On His head are many crowns.
(3) He comes with His retinue of holy angels.
3. His resources are equal to the occasion.
(1) See the effect of His glance. The world kindles into conflagration (verse 11; 2Pe 3:7-12).
(2) The eye of flame can discriminate as it can search.
(3) What impiety can dare that throne?
III. The standards of the judgment.
1. The book of Gods works.
(1) This volume treats of His power. The forces of Nature assert His sovereignty. How has that been respected?
(2) It treats also of His wisdom. The exquisite dovetailing of things, nice adjustments, wonderful adaptations, assert His adorableness. How has that been respected?
(3) It treats further of His goodness. What contrivances to give pleasure to His creatures! Every voice of beneficence calls for gratitude. How have we responded?
2. The book of Gods Word.
(1) In this we have His law.
(2) In this also we have His gospel.
3. The book of memory.
(1) Gods memory forgets nothing.
(2) Mans memory will be prodigiously quickened.
4. The book of condemnation.
(1) The names of the doomed are written there. The character of the writing is legible and black.
(2) How many millions will find their names there! Is yours amongst the number?
(3) What does it mean to be written there? Exclusion from heaven.
5. And another book was opened which is the book of life. (J. A. Macdonald.)
The last assize
Though the Book of Revelation contains much that is mysterious, and even inexplicable, passages such as this are as instructive as magnificent. The delineation is that of transactions in which we must all bear a part in the last general assize. It was before the Redeemer that the mighty multitude of those whom the grave had surrendered were arraigned, the title of absolute divinity being justly assigned to Him who is evidently the Son of Man, seeing that the two natures coalesced indissolubly in His person. Our text then proceeds to give some account of the principles upon which judgment will be conducted, showing that an accurate register has been kept of human actions, and that men will be judged according to their works, and therefore judged in righteousness. We know not whether the principles of Gods moral government are insisted on with sufficient frequency and urgency from our pulpits, but we are sure that they produce not their due influence on the great mass of men. Here and there, indeed, you may meet with an individual whose thoughts are set on the account which he must one day render, and whose habitual endeavour it is to preserve an habitual sense of the coming of the Lord. But even individuals such as these will confess to you that their endeavours are but partially successful; that they have great cause of humiliation before God, on account of their forgetfulness of the day of trial. So that there can be no class of hearers to whom the subject of discourse presented by our text is not appropriate. We shall premise a few remarks on the necessity of a general judgment, in order to vindicate Gods moral government, and then proceed to examine the several assertions made in our text in regard to this fact. Now, in every age of the world, men have been perplexed by what seemed opposite evidences as to the superintending care of a wise and beneficent Being. On the one hand, there is no doubt that we live under a retributive government, and that cognisance is taken of our actions by an invisible but ever-present Being whose attributes render Him the determined foe of vice and the steadfast upholder of righteousness. On the other hand, there has been an irresistible demonstration, from the experience of all ages, that no accurate proportion is at present maintained between conduct and condition, but that vice has most frequently the upper hand, while righteousness is depressed and overwhelmed. There has been no reconciling of these apparent contradictions, except by supposing that human existence would not terminate with death, but that in another, though yet unknown state, vice would receive its due meed of vengeance, and righteousness of reward. Thus you see how reason concurs with revelation in directing your thoughts to a state of retribution. We next remark that the season of judgment is not to arrive until the end of all things, when the dead shall be raised. Once admit that all men are to be put upon trial, and you also admit, so far as we can see, that their final portion is not entered upon ere that trial is past; for what could be more contrary to all show of justice than the sentencing after execution? But when men would curiously inquire into the particulars of the intermediate state, we are not at all able to answer their questions. We doubt not that the justified soul is immediately assured of its acceptance with God, and consigned to the peace and repose in the blessed certainty that heaven will be its portion. We doubt as little that the soul of him who dies in his impenitence is immediately conscious that its doom is determined, and given over to anguish and remorse because allowed no hope that lost time may be redeemed and hell yet avoided. It is the whole man, the compound of spirit and flesh, which has obeyed or transgressed; it must be therefore the whole man which is put upon trial, and which receives the portion whether of promise or threatening. Thus, whatever our thoughts of the intermediate state, we know that the allotments of eternity cannot be fully dealt out unless the vision of our text shall have been first accomplished, and the dead, small and great, stand before their God. We pass now to the contemplation of the person of the Judge. We wish to set before you the combined wisdom and mercy of the appointment, that He who is to decide our portion for eternity, is the very Being who died as our surety. We cannot dispense with the omniscience of Deity; we see clearly enough that no finite intelligence can be adequate to that decision which will ensure the thorough justice of future retribution. But then neither can we dispense with the feelings of humanity; at least we can have no confidence in approaching His tribunal if we are sure that the difference in nature incapacitates Him from sympathy with those whose sentence He is about to pronounce, and precludes the possibility of His so making our case His own as to allow of His deciding with due allowance for our feebleness and temptations. It is thus we are assured that mercy and justice will alike have full scope in the transactions of the judgment, and that in appointing that the Mediator who died as our substitute will preside at our trial, God hath equally provided that every decision shall be impartial, and yet every man be dealt with as brother to Him who must determine our fate. It would have been an encouragement to wickedness had the Judge been mere man, and therefore liable to be deceived. It would have filled humble piety with dread had the Judge been only God, and therefore not touched with a feeling of our infirmities. This leads us to our concluding point, the thorough righteousness of the whole procedure of the judgment. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
The judgment
It is related of Daniel Webster, the reality of whose moral endowments no one disputes, that when once asked what was the greatest thought that had ever occupied his mind, he replied, The fact of my personal accountability to God. Eliminate accountability, and man drops into the category of instinct and natural desire; if he is a savage, he becomes a beast; if he is civilised, he becomes virtually a criminal. Freedom and conscience imply accountability; accountability implies rendering account, and this implies a judgment; such is the logic that covers human life, few and simple in its links, but strong as adamant and inexorable as fate. It underlies and binds together the twofold kingdom of time and eternity–one chain, whether it binds things in heaven or things on the earth. It is the weakness of formulated theology that it arbitrarily transfers the most august and moving features of Gods moral government to a future world, thus placing the wide and mysterious gulf of time and death between actions and their motives. All broken law begins at once to incur judgment; the quick pang of conscience that follows sin is the first stroke of judgment; while undergoing it the soul is passing a crisis, and turns to the right or the left hand of eternal righteousness. Thus we are all the while rendering account to the laws without and within; we are all the while undergoing judgment and receiving sentence of acquittal or condemnation. Conduct is always reaching crises and entering upon its consequences. It may be cumulative in degree, and reach crises more and more marked; it may at last reach a special crisis which shall be the judgment when the soul shall turn to the right or left of eternal destiny. A profound view of judgment as a test or crisis entailing separation, shows us that it attends change; for it is through change that the moral nature is aroused to special action. It is a law that catastrophes awaken conscience. It is also a peculiarity of the action of the moral nature under great outward changes that man is disclosed to himself. Recall the most joyful event of your lives, and you will find it to have been also a period of great self-knowledge. Recall your deepest sorrow and you will still more vividly recognise it as an experience in which there was a deep, interior measurement of yourself. If change has this revealing and judging power, the change of worlds must have it in a superlative degree. It is appointed unto men once to die, and after that cometh judgment; the testing and unveiling of character and conduct. Pre-eminently, far beyond anything that has preceded, man is then judged and assigned his true place and direction. I think the central truth of the judgment can nowhere more easily be got at than in the passage before us. No other symbol than that of books could so vividly convey the fact that the whole life comes into judgment. Nothing is left out or forgotten; there can be no mistake. The books are the unerring transcript of the life. The simplicity of the symbol is marred by the introduction of another book than those recording the works. Why is there another book which is the book of life –and what does it mean? Mankind do not go up to the throne of God to be judged simply by their works. Parallel with humanity is the kingdom of heaven. Parallel with mens deeds are the purposes of God. Over and above what humanity does of itself is a plan of redemption, the working out of which enters into human destiny. It may be that the other book represents that other power, and the influences that flow out of the life of Christ. It is a book of life, and He is the life of the world. Men are judged by the records of their works, but it may be that the sentence pronounced is affected by what is written in the book of life. I am aware that this complicates the thought, but we must remember that the problem of spiritual destiny is not absolutely simple. But we will leave this side issue and turn to the main thought–the books out of which men are judged. The books must be found in God, or nature, or man. The mind of God must indeed be a tablet whereon are written all the works of men, but let us not touch that ineffable mystery without warrant. Science, in the person of some of its high priests, has suggested that all the deeds of men are conserved as distinct forces in the ether that fills the spaces of heaven, and may be brought together again in true form, in some new cosmos, as light traversing space as motion is turned to heat when arrested by the earth. But we can find no link between such a fact, if it be a fact, and the moral process of judgment. We must search man himself for the elements of his great account. Take the mind: at first it is merely a set of faculties, without even self-consciousness, but contact with the world brings them into action–first observation, then memory; soon the imagination spreads its folded wings; then comes the process of comparison and combination, and thus the full process of thinking is developed–a process to which there is no end, and the capacities of which are immeasurable. When we reach the limit of our own powers, we open the pages of some great master of thought, and there find new realms that reveal corresponding powers. Take the soul: there are faculties that exist only in germ till certain periods of life arise. The child knows nothing of the love that breaks in upon the youth with its rapturous pain and yearning of insatiable desire, flooding the heights of his being, but the capacity was in the child. The soft touch of a babes hand unlocks new rooms in the heart of the mother. New relations, new stages of life, disclose new powers and reveal the mysteries of our being. We are all the while finding out new agencies in nature; even its component parts are not yet all discovered, while the forces developed by combination are doubtless immeasurable in number and degree. Take the memory, the faculty through which the consciousness of identity is preserved. With so important a function to fulfil, it is altogether probable that its action is absolute, that is, it never forgets. We cannot understand its action, but probably we speak accurately when we say that an impression is made upon the mind. The theory that memory is a physical act, and therefore cannot outlast death, is untenable. Matter, having no real identity, cannot uphold a sense of identity, which is the real office of memory. The impression of what we do, say, hear, see, feel, and think, is stamped upon the mind. An enduring matrix receives the impression; is it probable that it is ever lost? We think we forget, but our thought is corrected by everyday experience. The mind wearied by till forgets at night, but remembers when sleep has refreshed the body. The body forgot; the mind retained its knowledge. We forget the faces we have seen, but on the first fresh glimpse we remember them. We revisit scenes that long since had faded from memory, but the new sight uncovers the old impression. Even so slight a thing as a note of music, or a perfume, will bring up scenes long ago forgotten; a strain of music, and a face that had grown dim to memory, comes back from the dead in all its freshness. De Quincey, a profound observer upon the subject, says that when under the influence of opium, the most trifling incidents of his early life would pass again and again before his distempered vision, varying their form, but the same in substance. These incidents, which were originally somewhat painful, would swell into vast proportions of agony, and rise into the most appalling catastrophes. This was the action of a diseased nature, but it indicates what shape our lives may assume if viewed at last through the medium of a sin-diseased soul Not only does the memory retain conduct, but all impressions upon the soul remain imbedded within it. Nothing is lost that has once happened to it. We are taking into ourselves the world about us, the society in which we move, the impress of every sympathetic contact with good or evil, and we shall carry them with us for ever. We do not pass through a world for nought–it follows us because it has become a part of us. It may be said that these impressions are so numerous and conflicting that they can yield no distinct picture hereafter. But we must not limit the capacity of the soul in this respect, in the presence of greater mysteries. In some sense, it may present, as it were, a continually fresh surface. A most apt illustration waits upon our thought drawn from the palimpsests forbad in the monasteries of Italy; parchments that, centuries ago, were inscribed with the history or laws of heathen Rome, the edicts of persecuting emperors, or the annals of conquest. When the Church arose, the same parchments were used again to record the legends and prayers of the saints. Later still, they were put to further use in rehearsing the speculations of the schoolmen, or the revival of letters, yet presenting but one written surface. But modern science has learned to uncover these overlaid writings one after another, finding upon one surface the speculations of learning, the prayers of the Church, and the blasphemies of paganism. And so it may be with the tablets of the soul, written over and over again, but no writing ever effaced, they wait for the master-hand that shall uncover them to be read of all, What are these apocalyptic books but records of our works printed upon our hearts? What are the books opened but man opened to himself? is is a view of the judgment that men cannot scoff at. Its elements are provided; its forces are at work; it lies within the scope of every mans knowledge. It is but the whole of what we already know in part. As there are powers in man that render judgment possible, so there are conditions on the other side that cooperate. One cannot be judged except there be one who judges. Man is judged by man; nothing else were fit. The deflections from perfect humanity cannot be measured except by the standard of perfect humanity. Hence it is the Son of Man, the humanity of God, who judges. When man meets Him, all is plain. His perfection is the test; He furnishes the contrast that repels, or the likeness that draws. This then is judgment: man revealed by the unveiling of his life, and tested by the Son of Man. (T. T. Munger.)
The judgment
I. Its place in Christian belief.
1. It is an essential part in the creed of a Christian.
2. Its importance may be gathered from its prominence in the Scriptures. It is foretold in the Old Testament–the Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel, Malachi, all reveal it. Our Lord, in His parables, especially in those called eschatological, because of their reference to the last things. The scene in Mat 25:1-46. is in line with the text. The day of judgment is pointed to both in the Epistles and Apocalypse.
3. Yet belief in the general judgment is difficult. The mystery is so transcendental, so vast, so seemingly unlikely, that the inability of the imagination to bring home to itself this stupendous truth is apt to lead the understanding astray and to obscure the light of faith.
II. Why there should be a general judgment? The question was debated of old, why the particular judgment of the soul in the hour of death should not suffice. It was urged that the Lord judged the penitent thief and rewarded him with Paradise on the day of his death; Nah 1:9 was quoted; and the fact that desert appertains only to the deeds of this life. Yet one verse demolished all this (Joh 12:48). The reasons for the general judgment may be found in this–that the issue of our actions do not stop with the actions themselves. Not only actions, but their far-reaching effects, will form the subject-matter of that tribunal. The complete being, body and soul, must also be arraigned before judgment is complete.
III. The procedure.
1. The persons: the dead, the living being numerically inconsiderable when compared with the generations of mankind who had departed.
2. Small and great stand before God–that is, all earthly distinctions no longer are of any account; as we should say, all sorts and conditions of men. The only surviving difference is that of goodness or badness.
3. They stand before the throne. They are not merely spirits, but men and women in bodily form.
4. He who sits upon the throne is the Son of man.
5. The books were opened, etc.; that is, the secrets of all hearts are made manifest (Psa 1:3; 1Co 4:5). Another book, etc., has been differently explained, as that which pours light upon what is written in The books, declaring what is good and what is bad in reality; or again, it is taken to be the book of Divine predestination; or again, as by St. Anselm, as the life of Jesus, which is to test the life of His followers, which, perhaps, is the best exposition, for the issues are decided by the lives of those judged–by their works.
IV. Lessons.
1. Test our belief in the Second Advent of Jesus Christ: is our faith in the mystery clear and vigorous, resting upon Divine revelation and the teaching of Christs Church?
2. Has the mystery an effect upon our lives, knowing it is one in which we must take part? Does it impress upon us the seriousness of life, and how we shall have to answer for all our actions?
3. Are we becoming more familiar with that other book, the life of Christ, as written in the Gospels and made manifest in the lives of His saints? and seeking to bring our lives into more accord with it?
4. Do I live as one who really believes in the day of judgment? (Canon Hutchings, M. A.)
Standing before God
Do you not see what that means? Out of all the lower presences with which they have made themselves contented; out of all the chambers where the little easy judges sit with their compromising codes of conduct, with their ideas worked over and worked down to suit the conditions of this earthly life; out of all these partial and imperfect judgment chambers, when men die they are all carried up into the presence of the perfect righteousness, and are judged by that. All previous judgments go for nothing, unless they find their confirmations there. Men who have been the pets and favourites of society, and of the populace, and of their own self-esteem, the change that death has made to them is that they have been compelled to face another standard, and to feel its unfamiliar awfulness. Just think of it. A man who, all his life on earth since he was a child, has never once asked himself about any action, about any plan of his. Is this right? Suddenly, when he is dead, behold he finds himself in a new world, where that is the only question about everything. His old questions as to whether a thing was comfortable, or was popular, or was profitable, are all gone. The very atmosphere of this new world kills them. And upon the amazed soul, from every side, there pours this new, strange, searching question, Is it right? That is what it is for the dead man to stand before God. But, then, there is another soul which, before it passed through death, while it was in this world, had always been struggling after higher presences. Refusing to ask whether acts were popular or profitable, refusing even to care much whether they were comfortable or beautiful, it had insisted upon asking whether each act was right. It had always struggled to keep its moral vision clear. It had climbed to heights of self-sacrifice that it might get above the miasma of low standards which lay upon the earth. In every darkness about what was right, it had been true to the best light it could see. It grows into a greater and greater incapacity to live in any other presence, as it had struggled longer and longer for this highest company. Think what it must be for that soul, when for it, too, death sweeps every other chamber back and lifts the nature into the pure light of the unclouded righteousness. Now for it, too, the question, Is it right? rings from every side; but in that question this soul hears the echo of its own best-loved standard. That is what it is for that soul to stand before God. God opens His own heart to that soul, and is both judgment and love. (Bp. Phillips Brooks.)
The books were opened.
The open books
By this imagery it is clear we are meant to understand that there is a record before God of all that we do here. Words and acts of ours which may have escaped our own memory are not lost sight of by Him. In one of the Bridgewater treatises, published some fifty years ago, Babbage pointed out what is in a certain sense true, however overstrained the speculation may have been, that there exist at this moment traces of every word ever spoken upon earth. We are all familiar with the facts that sound takes time to travel and that the further it travels the fainter it becomes. We know also that the air pulsations set in motion by our words do not cease to propagate themselves when they become inaudible to our ears, but that they travel on in fainter pulsations capable of being discerned by organs more sensitive than ours. Babbages remark was that no limit can be assigned to this propagation; that the waves of air raised by any spoken word within some twenty hours have communicated to every atom of the atmosphere an altered motion due to the infinitesimal portion of the primitive motion conveyed to it through countless channels, which altered movement must continue to influence its path through its future existence. Those aerial pulses, unseen by the keenest eye, unheard by the acutest ear, unperceived by human senses, are yet demonstrated to exist by human reason. True they may be infinitely small; but modern science concerns itself much with the infinitely little. Babbages speculation, then, was that if a man possessed unbounded knowledge of mathematical analysis he would be able to calculate the minutest consequence of any primary impulse given to our atmosphere; or conversely from every slightest deviation from its orderly motions to detect the operation of a new cause, to trace the time of its commencement and the point of space at which it originated. Thus, he says, the air itself may be regarded as a vast library on whose pages are for ever written all that man has ever said or even whispered. If we could imagine the soul in an after state of existence connected with a bodily organ of hearing so sensitive as to vibrate with motions of the air even of infinitesimal force, all the accumulated words pronounced from the creation of the world would fall at once upon the ear. Imagine in addition a power of directing attention entirely to any one class of vibrations; the apparent confusion would vanish, and the punished offender might hear still vibrating on his ear the very words uttered perhaps centuries before, which at once caused and registered his condemnation. And so in like manner he contends, the earth, air, and ocean are eternal witnesses of the acts we have done. No motion impressed by natural causes or by human agency is ever obliterated. The track of every vessel which has yet disturbed the surface of the ocean remains for ever registered in the future movements of all succeeding particles which may occupy its place. The solid substance of the globe itself, whether we regard the minutest movement of the soft clay which receives its impression from the foot of animals or the concussion produced from fallen mountains rent by earthquakes, equally retains and communicates through all its countless atoms their apportioned share of the motions so impressed. Thus while the atmosphere we breathe is the ever living witness of the sentiments we have uttered, the waters and the more solid materials of the globe bear equally enduring testimony to the acts we have committed. Fanciful as this speculation of Babbages may be, I could not help being reminded of it by the invention of the phonograph, an invention which seems destined to advance to greater perfection, through which what might seem to be the most transient thing in nature, the utterances of the human voice, are permanently fixed, so that words spoken in America have been heard in our islands, and it seems likely that men of future generations will be enabled to compare the very tones of the voice of actors or orators of our day. These things are only worth mentioning just as enabling the imagination to familiarise itself with the fact that words and actions of ours, transient as they are, can write themselves in permanent record. But there are ways in which they do so which come more practically home to us than those I have mentioned, which one is tempted to dismiss as a mere scientific fancy. In the first place, our words and actions are written in the book of our own memories. In fading characters, no doubt. Yet we know that many things which we seem to have long forgotten are not really blotted out of our recollections. Some accident often brings up to our remembrance events or conversations of times long gone by, which had been absent from our minds for years. A statement made by the late Admiral Beaufort has been often quoted. He was rescued from drowning, and reanimated after he had for some time lost consciousness. He stated that in the last few moments of consciousness a host of long buried memories had suddenly started into life, and that he seemed in these few moments to peruse the history of his whole past life. But this writing of the book of your memory is a trivial thighs in comparison of what I wish next to speak of: the writing on the book of your character. I had better explain what I mean by this word character. Mr. Mill long ago asserted that you could with certainty predict any mans actions on any occasion if you knew his character and knew the motives that were influencing him. The assertion is not true if you use the word character in its ordinary sense. A man may have deservedly got the character of being miserly, and yet you cannot be certain that he will not act generously on some particular occasion, and vice versa. The sense in which the proposition is true is, if you understand by character the degree of susceptibility to different motives at any particular instant. So understood, the proposition is true, but it is one of those identical propositions which convey no information. You can tell with certainty whether or act a man wilt be impelled to action by a certain motive if you know what is at the moment the amount of his susceptibility in respect of that motive. But what I want now to remark is that character (in this, which may be called the scientific sense of the word) is in a state of continual change. Not to speak of changes of disposition resulting from changes of bodily health, every one of our words and acts in some degree influences our character, which results as the integral of a number of very small influences. The amount of change at any moment is imperceptible. The friend whom we meet day by day seems to us in bodily form the same to-day as he had been yesterday; until one day perchance it strikes us how much altered he is from what we can remember him, and in any case one who has not seen him for some time is struck at once with the change, perhaps finds it difficult to recognise him. In like manner it occurs to us from time to time to Cake notice of changes in a friends character. We may take notice, for example, that he is less easy to deal with, more snappish in temper than he used to be. The topic does not need to be enlarged upon, what enormous alteration can be matte by the accumulated effect of minute changes, each separately, it may be, absolutely undiscernible. But what, though obviously true, much needs to be borne m mind is that none of these minute changes takes place without a cause. It changes in character take place, it is because every incautious word that falls from our lips, every thoughtless action, though our own attention may have been scarce conscious of it, is writing itself on our nature in characters far more deep and more practically important than in those traces on inanimate nature which formed the subject of Babbages speculation. But there is yet another larger book on which our words and actions write themselves; for they influence not only ourselves, but others. Babbage spoke of the traces spoken words leave on the physical atmosphere. There is a moral atmosphere which presses on as all, though as in the ease of the physical atmosphere we feel not the pressure, and scarce take note of its existence unless when its motions are unusually violent. I mean, as of course you understand, the public opinion of the community in which we live, which is practically the law that regulates our conduct. On the wholesomeness of this atmosphere our moral health in great measure depends. But it too responds obediently to every impulse communicated to it by those who live in it. Public opinion is in short nothing but the aggregate representation of the moral sentiments of each individual of the community; and plainly each change in the moral condition of any individual affects that of the community. In an infinitely small degree, no doubt, but I have been all along pointing out that all the great changes in nature are the results of the accumulation of movements each infinitesimally small. Yet, however small the direct effect of the action of one individual on the whole community, it might be large enough in his own immediate neighbourhood. Poisonous miasma might be enough to make a whole house uninhabitable which might have no perceptible effect when diffused through the whole atmosphere. But no comparison with the action of completely inanimate bodies gives an adequate illustration. If you insert a little leaven into a lump of dough, it would be a delusion to imagine that the amount to which the character of the mass had been altered could be estimated by comparing the weight of the newly inserted matter with the weight of the entire. Now, as in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man. The same temptations which assail us beset others too; if we are sensible of higher and nobler motives, so are others. The sight of a brave and generous deed excites admiration, which soon leads to imitation; the fall of one man leads others to think lightly of a similar fall as natural and pardonable. If it be true that every sound we make sets waves of air in motion which spread in wide and wider circles, far more is a similar statement true of the moral effect of the waves we set in motion. For the mere physical effect is so attenuated as it spreads as to become in a moment or two imperceptible to our senses, but as I just pointed out, it is otherwise in the moral atmosphere. Each disturbance brings new forces into action, so that the effect resulting from a single impulse may be immensely greater than any one could have predicted as due to the original force. Thus, though what we have said or done be not recorded by pen, ink or paper, it may be written in more permanent form by its influence upon others or ourselves. If I have seemed to you over subtle in elaborating the proof of this, remember I am doing no more than insisting that that is always taking place, instances of which are perpetually striking you. We may, if we look back on our own history, be able to trace in some degree how events were linked together and how trifles helped to bring us to form important decisions. But of the greater part of this we know little. And if God could enable us to read the book of our own lives we should be astonished to find how the performance of some petty act of duty has been blessed by Him as the means of giving us strength for higher service in His cause; or how some apparently trifling opportunities neglected had checked our own spiritual life or had resulted in serious injury to others. When the books are opened God may permit us to see, as He can see, each act written by its consequences. Nothing would make us more hate and dread sin than if we could see how each act of sin may not only be written in terrible stains on our own hearts and consciences, but even on those of persons dear to us, who may have drunk in poison from our example, which cannot be neutralised even by our repentance. I have not spoken of that book which most naturally suggests itself to a reader of the text, the book of Gods omniscience, but I have shown that without going beyond what our own reason and experience tell us of we can see that our own words and actions do permanently record themselves. (G. Salmon, D. D.)
The revivals of memory a prophecy of judgment
I. A perfect memory, then, will accompany judgment. The fields of memory at some magic touch give back again all the lights and shadows which have ever swept across their surface. The children of memory rise again from their graves, and wander in without warning into the once familiar rooms which they have long ceased to visit. The canvas of memory is retouched by some artist whose skill restores the tints which had faded away. The colours of memory are like those in Egyptian halls, long concealed by sand, but fresh as if they had just come from the painters hand when the drifted heaps are blown away. Is there absolute oblivion? What destroys memory and effaces her work finally? Not the loss of a sense–the deaf musician still possesses the strain which the outward ear has not heard for years. Not old age–the old mans memory is the one thing more touching than his forgetfulness. Not madness, or the fever which for a time seems to calcine the images of the mind. Memories retain in very different degrees, like the sand, like the freestone, or the marble; but all are gifted with this possibility of resurrection.
II. With a full perception of the reality of judgment accompanied with a revived memory we shall most profitably enter upon a consideration of the danger of evil thoughts. Let us suggest some simple rules of self-examination.
1. We should then, really examine ourselves, if possible every day, with this prayer–try me, O God, and seek the ground of my heart; prove me, and examine my thoughts. We should ask ourselves two questions every night. First, have I led any into sin this day? We sin together–can we repent together? Second, have I harboured willingly and knowingly any evil thoughts? Have I allowed the birds of evil omen to settle down upon the sacrifice, and failed to sanctify Christ as Lord in my heart? In the dreadful chronology of sin, the actual fall is often not the first, or the hundredth sin.
2. I now suggest some simple rules. When unholy thoughts come, pray quickly–Spirit of evil! in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, depart. Blessed Spirit of purity! quench this sinful thought. After falling into sin, pray–God, be merciful to me a sinner! For the sake of Jesus Christ, lay not this sin to my charge. Occupy yourselves with business. Go into virtuous society. Do not go about visibly brooding. Take freely to wholesome literature and innocent recreations.
III. Enough, perhaps, of details. A word of motives.
1. A great commentator on Scripture advises us, if we are tempted to unholy thoughts, to look through our window. Gaze, he says, upon the serenity of the sky, and be possessed with a loathing of impurity. But what if we have lost the faculty for such a sight? what if we are colour-blind to all the blue of heaven? Seek for a purer joy.
2. Dwell upon the reality of judgment: Without this you will be liable to strange falls. You will be like sailors who are lost because they have not calculated for the send of the sea. (Abp. Wm. Alexander.)
The books of judgment
It is obviously of no importance whether we assume that the terms thus employed convey only an image or an absolute and literal reality. If the language is metaphorical, it is nevertheless used to convey to us the ideas which we should naturally conceive from the actual unfolding of a vast register.
1. First, then, there is the book of Gods remembrance. Now, strictly speaking, there can be no such thing as forgetfulness in relation to God. Memory implies previous forgetfulness. To remember, is with an effort to summon up the past. But with God, who is eternal, inasmuch as time is not to Him, there can be no such distance put between one event and another. All things are uniformly and unchangeably present to Him. Neither does the multiplicity of the things recorded there cause either mistake or confusion. All things are always present to the infinite mind of the Eternal. Take the old man of fourscore years; God does not call up as by an effort that mans boyhood and earlier manhood, but He looks upon all that he then did, or said, or thought, as though it were now going on: for no past nor future can limit Him who is incomprehensible. The history of every one of us is indelibly written on the mind of God Himself.
2. But we believe that yet another book will then be opened. Each of us carries his own history, written and engraven on the tablet of his own spirit. Conscience will then slumber no more. No counterfeit voices will then drown its accents, or confuse its utterances. No burden of the flesh shall make the vision grow dim, which shall show us to ourselves, shall blur its colours, or distort its lineaments. Imagine, as far as you can, this perfect selfknowledge for the first time breaking in upon us by the quickening power of conscience. We are not, indeed, left altogether without witness beforehand of what this will be. We have an assurance respecting it, amounting to all but the testimony as of some who have risen from the dead, to tell us what they have seen and known. What if we go hence impenitent and unforgiven? What will it be in the resurrection of the dead, in the day when the dead, small and great, shall stand before God? The light of Gods countenance shines in on that stricken soul, alas! not now to save and bless, but to witness against, and to condemn. The first glance shows all. He knows as He is known. It tallies–that witness of conscience–with Gods knowledge and revelation of him. Self-convicted, self-condemned, sinner, depart!
3. Two volumes have already been opened. A third remains. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. Now with the idea of life is intimately associated the presence and working of God the Holy Ghost. He is the Lord and Giver of life. From our baptism upwards, the Holy Ghost has been dealing with us, is dealing with us still, except we be reprobates. Nothing but our own deliberate sinfulness, the wilfulness of our own evil choices, can undo the Spirits blessed work in our souls. The result of this life-long process of judgment will be seen then, when the books shall be opened, and that other book–the Book of Life. The question then will be, What can you show of the Spirit of Christ? Upon the manifold doings of the earthly life, where is the seal of the Spirit of the Lord? What remains when the sifting is over, when all former judgments of the Spirit close in this one final judgment, after which is heaven or hell everlasting? (Bp. Morrell.)
The opening of the books
Someone has said, and the saying has often been applauded, Give the past to oblivion, the present to duty, and trust the future to Providence. I fear that many of us are much more ready to comply with the first of those three directions than with the other two; indeed, many of us need no persuasion to induce us to consign the past to oblivion, or, at any rate, a great portion of it. But before we turn our backs upon it, might it not be well to form some sort of definite idea of the record that it contains, lest one day we should have to renew our acquaintance with it under the most painful possible circumstances? Above all, before we consign it to oblivion, would it not be wise to endeavour to make sure that God has consigned it to oblivion also, or, at any rate, that part of it which tells against us? Judge therefore yourselves, that ye be not judged of the Lord. Unfortunately, however, this is just what most men are exceedingly reluctant to do. Too many resemble in this respect the conduct of the fraudulent bankrupt, who has a general idea that he is not solvent, but goes on from day to day counting upon the chapter of accidents, and hoping that some fortunate circumstance may sot him on his legs again; but who shrinks from going carefully through his books and facing his actual commercial position. Even so men drift on from day to day with a sort of undefined misgiving that all is not right between themselves and God, but shrink from facing the true state of the case; never put to their hearts the question, How much owest thou unto my Lord? or probe their consciences with an honest inquiry, What hast thou done? Are you prepared to face the record of your life? What! Would you shrink from putting that volume into my hands, and permitting me to read its contents in the ears of this congregation, or of your own friends? Then reflect, I beseech you, what will be your feelings when its inmost secrets are divulged in the very presence of your Judge and before an assembled world. We must realise our own individuality then, if we fail to do so now; and indeed it must be admitted that many of us do fail to realise it. Ah, it will avail us little to realise then, it may be for the first time, all that our own separate and distinct existence involves! Nay, rather, it can only enhance our terror then and deepen our despair. But it is otherwise now. And, oh, let me urge upon you the importance of rising above the shallow unrealities of a merely conventional life! Surely it were wiser that as such you should live, not indeed ignoring your relations to society, but neither, on the other hand, permitting your own individuality to be mastered by these relations. But there are other thoughts suggested to our minds by the words of our text. No doubt some other books may be opened in that last dread assize besides those which contain the record of our earthly lives. The book of Nature, which contains so much that seems perplexing and mysterious, and which is so often misread now, and still more frequently never read at all, will be opened at last in all its wonder. And when the books are opened at last, how strong, how damning will be the testimony of Nature against those who have deified her or endeavoured to content themselves with her. Wilt not His voice be heard upbraiding those who have thus abused her? Ye fools and blind, I told you that here ye were strangers and sojourners, that ye were born to trouble, as the sparks fly upwards. I told you that here moth and rust do corrupt, that the grass withereth and the flower fadeth, and that the fashion of this world passeth away. I told you that the things which are seen are temporal. Why did ye live in contradiction to my teaching, ever seeking in me what ye should have known I could not bestow? I might have been your handmaiden or your instructress, but ye insisted on making me your substitute for God, and in doing so ye abused the gift God gave you in me, and, lo! He hath done justly in taking it away. Ye chose earth instead of God, and now ye have lost both for ever. Yet another book mill be the book of Providence, which will contain the record of Gods dealings with us, just as the book of our lives contains the record of our dealings with God. Here is one who had a pious father, whose life was a constant example of all that is beautiful and attractive in true religion. That life appealed to you, more eloquently than any sermon could; but you hardened your heart against it, and turned your back upon your fathers God. You have been the subject of a mothers prayer. Ah I how often has she watered her pillow with her tears for you. You have often been stirred to the very depths of your nature by the appeals of that earnest servant of God whose ministry you attend, and time was When his holy eloquence so deeply impressed you that Son were almost persuaded to yield. Ah! in such cases as these, how will you face the book of Gods providence? But there is another book surely that will be opened then, though to many it is a closed book now–the book of Revelation. The words that I speak, exclaimed the Christ, the same shall judge you at the last day. Ah! we may close our Bibles now, and keep them closed; but remember the glad tidings of deliverance and salvation has gone forth, and we have heard it, and whether we receive it and benefit by it or not, we can never be as though that sound had never reached us. And closely connected with this volume of Revelation there is another which will be opened then, though men seldom think of attempting to read it now–the record of the inner revelations of God to the soul, the story of the dealings of God the Holy Ghost with the heart of man. It will be, I am persuaded, a startling surprise to not a few when this book is opened. How many an inward desire, how many a smothered emotion, how many a rising tear, that they never thought of attributing to anything but natural causes, will men find to have been due to the secret influence of the Spirit of God! But there is one book more, and for purposes of judgment it is the most important book of all; and it is spoken of here as affording the criterion by which men must stand or fall, and its name is the Book of Life. Of this mysterious volume no less can be said than that Christ Himself is its Author. No one else can write a page or a line or a name in the Book of Life. Are any of you saying to-night, Would to God my name might be written in the Lambs Book of Life, but how is it to be done? I have no power to write it there, and I feel as though it never could be written there. I have merited death over and over again; eternal life I feel, I know, I never can merit. To such let me say, the kingdom of life, the land of the living, has been thrown open to you by Him whom St. Peter well calls the Prince of Life, and he has obtained the right to introduce you into the fellowship to inscribe your name upon that muster-roll. Put your case into the great Life-givers hands. Tell Him that you have discovered yourself to be a citizen of the City of Destruction. Tell Him that you feel you cannot by any effort of your own will quicken your own soul, and that therefore by faith you cast yourself upon Him as the Resurrection and the Life, and you shall prove in your own experience the truth of His words: He that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and he that liveth and believeth on Me shall never die. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. (W. H. M. H. Aitken, M. A.)
Life a book
You are writing your own history, your own biography, the memoirs of yourself. A mysterious and invisible agency is silently tracing the records of your life. The waves in the sea write their history in the ripple marks, congealed in the sands; and so, the hidden and silent currents of our thoughts and feelings leave behind them permanent traces. What you write, God reads. Life is a history. We may classify mens lives as we do books. We have separate series on different subjects.
1. Life may be the history of mind–its growth, culture, and education–its thoughts, perplexities, and questionings–its researches and conclusions. And, yet, till we sit at the feet of the Great Teacher, and learn of Him, we shall never find rest for our souls.
2. Life may be the history of the affections. In some lives the affections determine the character. They are the freshness, the beauty, the strength and joy of life. They may be misplaced–they may degenerate into passions. Instead of being the strength of life, they may become the source of its weakness. A life without love to Christ is a life that does not know what love is, that has never read the literature of the spiritual realm, that has never found the love that passeth knowledge.
3. Life may be the history of the flesh. It may be a life in the flesh–the minding the things of the flesh; a life written in the letter, not in the spirit; a life in sensuous characters. If we live after the flesh, we shall die.
Take another series of the books.
1. The book may contain the history of a life that has its ideal–its pattern–its standard. All its endeavours are after the higher life. He who has seen the perfect will never more be satisfied with the imperfect. He who has looked on the mark of the prize of his high calling of God in Christ Jesus, will forget the things that are behind, and reach forth unto those things that are before. But the book may contain the history of a life that has no ideal, no standard; that is, formless, shapeless, purposeless: a life that proposes to itself no end, that has no continuity, no cohesion, that is fragmentary and broken; a life, the scattered fragments of which can never answer any efficient purpose. We may look at another series.
2. In the book we may read the history of a brave life–a life that has its foundations in the everlasting principles of truth; that brings nothing but truth to the truth, and so builds up character; that offers stern resistance to all forms of evil, and does battle with all kinds of falsehood; that practises self-denial; that builds no cross for itself, and yet never fears any cross the world can build; that uses suffering as a sharp instrument for fashioning life, and bringing it into conformity to Christ. It may be a simple and quiet life of which we read the records–a life not wanting in its naturalness, its beauty, its fragrance. The true sons of God often live in obscurity; the world knoweth them not, but then–it knew Him not.
3. It may be the history of a useful life–a life essentially practical–the epitome of which may be found in the words descriptive of the life of Christ, Who went about doing good. When you die, it may be said that you rest from your labours, and that your works follow you.
4. The book may contain the history of a Christian life. It is the life of one who felt himself to be a sinner, and has looked out of himself for a Saviour–who has come with all his guilt to the Cross–whose trust is simply in the one Sacrifice for sins.
5. You may read a book that contains the history of an unreal life–a life professing to be Christian, but not a Christ-like life; a life that has the form, but not the power, that has a name to live, but is dead; a life that adjusts with the greatest care the drapery of religion, that arranges all its folds, so that they may fall gracefully around it; a life that has the lamp, but not the oil in the vessel. There is another book which you may read every day–it is the history of a life that is, alas, very common–a life of indifference to everything spiritual. It does not positively reject, but it offers indifference to the Gospel: indifference to Gods love, to Christs death, to the Spirits work, to all earnest and loving appeals. It is indifference that ruins men. There is only one more series which we can find time to glance at.
6. It is a worldly life which we are reading now. It thinks only of buying and selling and getting gain. With what sorrow we read the history of a life that is perverted and abused. But we cannot finish reading these books that are open to us without being impressed with the fact that many a life is the history of failure. There was failure at the beginning, failure in the middle, and failure at the end. The book may have this title–The History of a Life that was a Failure. Some of you are young; you have a fair page; there is as yet no blot, no erasure has been made; you have life before you–it is unwritten. Take care what you write, for what is once written is written. There can be no new edition, with its emendations and corrections. Ask Gods Spirit to teach you, to help you, to guide you by His counsel. We may learn from the subject, The Possibilities of Life. We may well be aroused from our apathy, and be ashamed of our indolence. Is there no end grand enough? Is there no prize sufficiently attractive? Why do we not exercise ourselves unto godliness? Do not confine all labour to the wants of the outward life. Strive for things that are worth striving for. Work out your own salvation, etc. The books will be opened. We are to be judged out of the book which we ourselves have written. We are now framing the indictment; we are collecting the evidence; we are preparing the materials of judgment. We shall judge ourselves, and God will judge us. (H. J. Bevis.)
The opened books
I. There is no power of mans body, no faculty of his mind, no feature of the world he lives in, which does not become a book recording all he does.
1. Man has a relation to God. God is part of his world. Gods memory and Gods heart must become a record for or against him.
2. We stand in relation to the Book in which God has recorded His will. It challenges our belief and exacts our obedience. It lays down the principles of holiness, and enforces the guilt of transgression. Such a Book surely must be laid open at the bar of Judgment. Its mysterious passages will be read in a flood of light. Its neglected pages will flash with the fire of indignation.
3. Providence is another book in which mans character is written. The mind of man cannot disentangle the threads that are intermingled in the web of life. But there is one Hand that can. He knows the end from the beginning.
II. Science has its own suggestions on this matter. It points us, for instance, to a slab of sandstone taken from the quarry, and bids us notice the impressions left upon it. In the dim past a reptile of monstrous shape walked along the shore of an ancient sea seeking its prey, and left these marks behind it. The next tide covered the footprints with a layer of sand, and the following tide did the same. For centuries that process was repeated; deeper and deeper sank the sandstone, still preserving the story of the reptiles life, till a change took place. The mass of rock, long buried, was heaved up again into the sunlight. Man needed the rock for his dwelling: the crowbar opened the leaves of the stone book, and science interpreted it. Yes! and we are told that what the rock did for that reptile the universe is doing for us. The air is a vast library, on whose pages are written for ever all that we have said or even whispered. There is not a thought, or a feeling, permitted to lodge in the mind that does not mark the face. We cannot by abstaining from action cease from writing: work undone, duty unperformed, responsibility not met, have their record too. Every man is writing memoirs of himself. The character we trace is immortal. It cannot be folded up as a vesture and laid aside. The dead does not and cannot bury its dead. We cannot revise this book. Only once do we take a step or decline to take it; once taken it cannot be recalled. The past closes up like a crystal wall behind us, transparent but impervious. Further, the mind is a book; every faculty a volume by itself. Imagination is the divinest and most regal. Heaven comes to earth; the plainest house is turned into a palace. This world, cursed as it is by sin, seems a second Eden, and God walks up and down in it. But let the imagination pass under the domain of an impure or sinful passion: it does not cease to work, but its bearing is changed, and what a change! God is gone; the light is put out. The imagination has gone out into foul places. It has been a hewer of wood and drawer of water to Satan. At his bidding the eye sees vile visions, the tongue sings foul songs, the hand handles black deeds. What a spectacle when that book is opened! If imagination is the grander faculty, memory is the more useful. It is the mother of arts and sciences; the parent of history and experience. It is an ocean which, if it swallows up every jewel, will one day bring all to light. A great sea filling, never full, but from which will come one day a perfect resurrection. Latimer tells us that, when examined before Bishop Bonnet, he took special care of what he spoke. He heard a pen at work in the chimney behind the cloth, setting down all, and perhaps more than all, he said. Imagine how we should feel in daily life if told that some one was writing our history, that his reporters were present when we spoke, that his spies watched every movement when we went abroad, that they dogged our footsteps out of doors, sat with us at table, followed us to our profoundest meditations, watched us in an hour of prayer. This imagination is a fact. On the broad page of memory every event of daily life is written and cannot be erased. That book will also one day be opened. Think of Felix and Nero confronted by Paul, Pharaoh by Moses, Ahab by Elijah, the father by the child whom he has permitted to tread the way to ruin; the minister by the people to whom he preached smooth things; the murderer meeting again the victim for whose blood he plotted; the seducer compelled again to face the poor girl whose life he has blighted. The thought becomes more terrible when we remember that conscience is another book. Conscience is a sort of moral memory. It may be said to anticipate as well as to reflect. Nothing escapes its watchful eye. Every sin is duly marked, every corrupt imagination, every wrong principle, indulged in or professed. Every idle word, every unhallowed thought, goes to swell the score. Even if our sins were as frequent as our breathing, the account goes on day after day; pages are filled till the last awful hour has come, when the sinner beholds the magnitude of his transgressions.
III. Retribution is a fact which the preacher must declare, and which the man must ponder. But retribution is not the gospel of Christ. It is to be used for the levelling of the wall that guards the mount, that the King of Glory may enter in. There is another book in the hand of the Judge. It is the Book of Life. When His children are recorded there He gives them a new name. What beautiful names He gives! It is worth becoming a child of the family to get one. For Abram He writes Abraham, the Father of the faithful and Friend of God. For Saul of Tarsus, Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles. Jacob, the supplanter, becomes Israel, Prince with God. (J. A. Macfadyen, D. D.)
The books opened
I know not how many books there shall be, nor how ponderous, nor all their titles: but I remark, first, that there will be a book of tears. Have you ever thought, ye afflicted ones, that God is keeping a record of all your woe? There have been grains of corn found in ancient sepulchres, three thousand years old, but they have been brought out and recently planted, and have come up luxuriantly. So the sorrows of earth have in them enough vitality to produce an eternal fruitage. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
2. Again, I remark that there will be a book of unforgiven sins. The iniquities of the righteous will all have been pardoned, and so will not be mentioned. But the sins of the unpardoned will on that day be announced. Sins of the heart: the pride that would not bow to Divine authority, the foolish choice of this world to the next, the impure thought, the unholy imaginations. Sins of the tongue: tattling, base innuendoes, backbiting, profanity, hypercriticism of the conduct of others. Sins of the hands, of the eyes, of the feet, from the smallest omission to the most diabolical commission, all of which shall be recorded in the book from which the Judge shall read. Oh, when it is opened, what cowering! what shame! what hate! what woe! what despair! Drunkenness will answer for all the property wasted, for all the manly natures it imbruted.
3. Again, I remark, there will be a book of privileges. If you have lived twenty years, you have had more than one thousand Sabbaths. If you have lived more than fifty years, you have had more than two thousand Sabbaths. What will be our sensation when those one, two, or three thousand Sabbaths confront us at the judgment. From that book of privilege God will read so many strivings of the spirit, so many sicknesses when we vowed return, so many sacraments, so many death-beds, so many accidents, so many escapes, so many warnings, so many glorious invitations of a crucified Jesus.
4. Again, there will be a book of good deeds. Then we shall hear of the cup of cold water, given in the name of a disciple; the food left at the wayside cabin, the smile of approval, the word of encouragement, the good deed of which made no record, blazing out among the names of those who endowed universities, and civilised nations, and broke shackles, and disenthralled empires, and inspired generations.
5. Again, there will be a book of death. When it is opened, all the evil-doers of earth will tremble for their fate. What a long catalogue of liars, drunkards, thieves, murderers, adulterers, vagabonds, tricksters, oppressors, defrauders, infidels, blasphemers! Glory to the grace that ransomed the chief of sinners. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
The book of memory
I am assured that there is no such thing as forgetting possible to the minds thousand circumstances may and will interpose a veil between our present consciousness and the secret inscriptions of the mind, but alike, whether veiled or unveiled, the inscription remains for ever. Just as the stars seem to withdraw from the common light of day, whereas we all know that it is the light which is drawn over them as a veil, and that they are waiting to be revealed when the obscuring daylight shall have withdrawn. (De Quincey.)
The book of life
I. It is vital; hence here called the book of life. And if our names be written in this book of life, then the law of life is written vitally in our souls. The entire destruction of the adversary and all his powers. If I am identified with this book of life, I am brought to where the adversary, as far as I am concerned, and all his powers, are brought to nought.
II. This book is not only vital but also exemptional. It is exemptional in a threefold respect.
1. First, in exempting us from the wrath to come; such shall not be cast into the lake of fire. This globe shall be burned; but what care I for that? I have a new earth.
2. As this book of life exempts from the wrath to come, so it exempts us from the fear of man.
3. Third, it is exemptional also from delusion; cannot deceive these people.
III. But, lastly, this book of life is admissional. If I am identified thus with the gospel, if I am an able servant of the new covenant, if I overcome the fear of man, if I am delivered from delusion, and am thus called, and chosen, and faithful, then I shall be admitted into this city. There shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth; and we can enter there without defilement only by the perfection that is in Christ; nor worketh abomination; and we can enter free from abomination only by the same thing, the completeness that is in Christ; or maketh a lie; and we can enter there only by the truth; but they which are written in the Lambs book of life. (James Wells.)
The book of life
Tamerlane had always by him a catalogue of his best servants, and their good deserts, which he daily perused. (J. Trapp.)
The dead were Judged according to their works.—
The Day of Judgment
It belongs to man, in which he would seem to differ essentially from the inferior animals, to make himself and his own thoughts an object of thought; not only to know what he is doing, but to be able to review his conduct and compare it with an ideal standard of expediency and right; in one word, to call himself to account. There is, therefore, an important sense in which the whole of human life is one continued Day of Judgment. Moreover, the self-judgment here referred to is understood and felt to be of an authority and sanction higher than that of man. We cannot shake off the conviction that there is a Divine, as well as human, element in conscience. It is the voice of God speaking to us through the human faculties, ordained by Him for that purpose. Who can believe that God has so made us, that we cannot help judging ourselves by the law o! right, without believing, at the same time, that He intended us to be judged, and rewarded or punished according to that law? On looking round, however, we see that this law is very far from being universally applied, or fully carried out in the present life. If there is ever to be a perfectly righteous retribution, we must look for it beyond the grave. By such natural intimations as these, almost every people, with or without the aid of revelation, have been led to entertain, with more or less distinctness and confidence, the presentiment of a judgment to come. Even in Homer there are unmistakable traces of a popular belief in a future state of existence, where the fate of the individual is made to turn, more or less, on his previous character, and especially on his conduct towards the gods. The same is also laid down as a practical doctrine of great moment by the best among the pagan philosophers and moralists; and sometimes, as in the apologue of Erus the Pamphylian, given in Platos Republic, in language bearing striking resemblance to that used four hundred years afterwards in the New Testament. A brave man, having fallen in battle, was permitted to return to the earth on the twelfth day, in order to warn the living by a revelation of what he had seen. He had seen the dead arraigned, and when the judges, to borrow the words of the apologue, gave judgment, they commanded the just to go on the right hand, and upwards through the heaven, having fitted marks on the front of those that had been judged; but the unjust they commanded to the left, and downwards, and these likewise had behind them marks of all that they had done. From the pagans we pass to the Jews, among whom Christianity arose. Moses, their great Lawgiver, aimed to establish what is called a theocracy, that is government of God upon earth, in which perfect righteousness was to be fulfilled. Of course, in such a state of things, as they had a present Divine judgment, there was the less occasion to appeal to a future Divine judgment. Be this, however, as it may, there can be no doubt that in the time of our Lord the great body of the Jewish people had become believers in the doctrine of a future state of rewards and punishments. Accordingly, the doctrine of a future state of retribution cannot be accounted a Christian doctrine in the sense of being first taught in Christianity. It has given us new evidence of the facts in the case; it has enabled us to see these facts in new lights, and under new aspects and relations: so that the old doctrine, in itself considered, has become substantially a new doctrine. This being the case, it remains for me to speak of what may properly be considered as peculiar and original in the Christian doctrine of the judgment to come. On the whole, the most natural and Christian view would seem to be, that, with every individual, as soon as this life ends the next life begins. As regards everything pertaining to the form and manner–or, so to speak, the outward appearance–of the invisible world, what most distinguishes Christianity when compared with other and false religions, is, not the fulness of the information it conveys, but its discreet and solemn reserve. One thing, however, is put beyond question–happiness to the good, misery to the bad; that is, all that can give moral effect to the revelation: not a word, not a syllable, either to stimulate or gratify an idle and impertinent curiosity. Nowhere but in Christianity will you find it distinctly laid down, as of Divine authority, that every man will be judged at last by what he has himself done, whether it be good or bad. Let us now go one step further, and ascertain, if we can, precisely what is meant when it is said that men are to be judged according to their deeds. If, therefore, there is one thing clearer than any other in Christian ethics, it is this–that every man is to stand or fall according to what he is in himself;–not by what he does, except in so far as it expresses what he really is. Acts of worship in a hypocrite, munificent gifts merely for the name of it, solemn make-beliefs of the would-be worshipper of God and the world at the same time, go for nothing. The question continually returns, what is man in himself? There is no occasion for the nice balancing of accounts, item by item, referred to above; neither is there any occasion for a miraculous memory to enable us to call to mind every thought we have indulged, every word we have uttered, and every action we have performed. It will be enough, if we know in what moral and spiritual state all these have left us; and to know this it will be enough, if we are made conscious of what we are. It may be said, that the guilty soul will still be in the hands of a compassionate God; and this is true. Beware, however, of making compassion in God what it often is in man–a mere tenderness, I had almost said a mere weakness. Nor is this all. We must not expect in the next world what is incompatible with its nature and purpose. We are placed here to make a beginning. Are you sure it will be so in the world to come? Why first a world of probation and then a world of retribution, if after all both are to be equally and alike probationary? Let us not run risks, where the error, if it be one, is irretrievable, and the stake infinite. (James Walker.)
On future happiness or misery
I. There exists a natural sense of equity in the mind, which dictates, that recompense in futurity will be apportioned according to our knowledge or ignorance of our duty, to our exemption from temptations, or the magnitude of our dangers;–that flagrant offences ought to be more severely punished than smaller errors; great excellences more honoured than inferior good qualities; and, in short, that the number of good or bad deeds, as well as their nature, will be estimated in our great account. And these notions respecting the Divine administration appear to be sanctioned by striking facts. In the economy of the present world, it is most clearly perceived to be a general law of the Divine Providence, that different degrees of iniquity shall produce, as their natural consequences, nearly proportionate measures of suffering. Does not the dissipated character, even after his reformation, experience the result of the waste he has made, in fortune, in health, in reputation, or in time? Is he not often deeply stung by self-reproach on account of the past, though he feels humbly assured that, through Christ, it is forgiven?
II. To these surmises of reason, let us annex the surer information of scripture. It is enjoined (Deu 25:2.) that, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to be beaten according to his fault by a certain number, namely, of stripes:–in allusion to which passage our Saviour declares (Luk 12:47-48). Again, when our Lord declared to the cities of Galilee, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, etc., it is obvious that in this very phrase more tolerable, the same diversity of future allotment is implied–the same balance of disobedience and suffering (Jam 3:1).
III. An assent to this article of belief is beset with several dangers, against which it is of the utmost moment that a serious caution should be offered.
1. Beware, in admitting this delicate doctrine, of considering works as in themselves worth anything–as in the smallest degree establishing a right to remuneration in the sight of a pure God. What hast thou that thou didst not receive? and, after ye have done all, say, we are unprofitable servants.
2. Another danger is that of our resting satisfied with inferior degrees of obedience. Tis well:–we are secure of obtaining some place in heaven;–we may with safety, therefore, now leave something undone, or not trouble ourselves about higher attainments. But chiefly be it remembered, as the most serious truth, that though the gospel of Christ offers happiness to the penitent, no portion of that happiness can be expected by the presumptuous transgressor, let him offend but even in one point.
3. A mercenary service, in opposition to that holiness which results from the love of God, is likewise to be apprehended as a perversion of the doctrine before us. (J. Grant, M. A.)
The sea gave up the dead which were in it.—
The sea giving up its dead
I. This great doctrine, the resurrection of the body, seems yet better fitted than the kindred truth of the immortality of the soul, to make a powerful impression on the mind of man, when receiving the gospel for the first time. The heathen may have heard of the existence after death of the immaterial spirit within him; but he thinks of that principle as something impalpable and unearthly, that he has never yet seen, and that is scarce the same with himself. Talk to him of the inward man of the soul, and he listens as if you spoke of a stranger. But bring your statements home to the outward man of his body, and he feels that it is he himself who is to be happy or to be wretched in that eternity of which you tell him. Hence a living missionary, in his first religious instructions to the king of a heathen tribe in South Africa, found him indifferent and callous to all his statements of the gospel, until this truth was announced. It aroused in the barbarian chief the wildest emotions, and excited an undisguised alarm. He had been a warrior, and had lifted up his spear against multitudes slain in battle. He asked, in amazement, if these his foes should all live. And the assurance that they should arise filled him with perplexity and dismay, ouch as he could not conceal. He could not abide the thought. A long slumbering conscience had been pierced through all its coverings.
II. The sea will be found thickly peopled with the mortal remains of mankind. In the earlier ages of the world, when the relations of the various nations to each other were generally those of bitter hostility, and the ties of a common brotherhood were little felt, the sea, in consequence of their comparative ignorance of navigation, served as a barrier, parting the tribes of opposite shores, who might else have met only for mutual slaughter, ending in extermination. Now that a more peaceful spirit prevails, the sea, which once served to preserve, by dividing the nations, has, in the progress of art and discovery, become the channel of easier intercourse and the medium of uniting the nations. It is the great highway of traffic, a highway on which the builder cannot encroach, and no monarch possesses the power of closing the path or engrossing the travel. Thus continually traversed, the ocean has become, to many of its adventurous voyagers, the place of burial. But it has been also the scene of battle, as well as the highway of commerce. Upon it have been decided many of those conflicts which determined the dynasty or the race to whom for a time should be committed the empire of the world. All these have served to gorge the deep with the carcases of men. It has had, again, its shipwrecks. Though man may talk of his power to bridle the elements, and of the triumphs of art compelling all nature to do his work, yet there are scenes on the sea in which he feels his proper impotence. The sea, then, has its dead.
III. The meeting of the dead of the sea with the dead of the land.
1. There must be, then, in this resurrection from the sea, much to awaken feeling in the others of the risen dead, from this, if from no other cause: these, the dead of the sea, will be the kindred and near connections of those who died upon the land. Among those whom the waters shall in that day have restored, will be some who quitted home expecting a speedy return, and for whose coming attached kindred and friends looked long, but looked in vain. The exact mode, and scene, and hour of their death have remained until that day unknown to the rest of mankind. And can it be without feeling that these will be seen again by those who loved them, and who through weary years longed for their return, still feeding the hope that keeps alive despair? The dead of ocean will be the children and pupils, again, of the dead of the land. Their moral character may have been formed, and their eternal interests affected, less by their later associates on the deep than by the earlier instructions they received on shore.
2. Let it be remembered, again, that a very large proportion of those who have thus perished on the ocean will appear to have perished in the service of the landsman. Some in voyages of discovery, despatched on a mission to enlarge the bounds of human knowledge, or to discover new routes for commercial enterprise, and new marts for traffic. Thus perished the French navigator La Perouse, whose fate was to the men of the lash generation so long the occasion of anxious speculation. Still greater numbers have perished in the service of commerce. As a people we are under special obligations to the art and enterprise of the navigator. We are a nation of emigrants. The land we occupy was discovered and colonised by the aid of the mariner. The seaman has, then, been employed in our service. And as far as he was our servant doing our work, we were bound to care for his well-being; and if he perished in our service, it was surely our duty to inquire whether he perished in any degree by our fault.
3. Others of those buried in the waters have lost their lives in defence of those upon the shore. Can a nation claim the praise of common honesty or gratitude, who neglects the moral and spiritual interests of these their defenders?
4. Let us reflect, also, on the fact, that many of those who have perished on the waters will be found to have perished through the neglect of those living on shore. We allude not merely to negligence in providing the necessary helps for the navigator. May there not be other classes of neglect equally or yet more fatal? The parent who has neglected to govern and instruct his child, until that child, impatient of all restraint, rushes away to the sea as a last refuge, and there sinks, a victim to the sailors sufferings or the sailors vices, can scarce meet with composure that child in the day when the sea gives up its dead. Or if, as a community, or as churches, we shut our eyes to the miseries of the sick and friendless seaman, or to the vices and oppressions by which he is often ruined for time and eternity, shall we be clear in the day when inquisition is made for blood? No, unless the Church does her full duty, or, in other words, reaches in her efforts the measure of her full ability, for the spiritual benefit of the seaman, her neglect must be chargeable upon her.
5. Many of the dead of the sea will be found to have been victims to the sins of those upon shore. Those who have perished in unjust wars waged upon that element, will they have no quarrel of blood against the rulers that sent them forth? The statesmen, the blunders or the crimes of whose policy the waters have long concealed, must one day face those who have been slaughtered by their recklessness. And so it may be said of every other form of wickedness, of which those that sail in our ships are rendered the instruments or the victims. The keeper of the dram-shop, or the brothel, where the sailor is taught to forget God and harden himself in iniquity, will not find it a light thing, in that great day of retribution, to encounter those whom he made his prey. The literature of the shore will be called to account for its influence on the character and well-being of the seaman. The song-writer, who, perhaps, a hungry and unprincipled scribbler, penned his doggrel lines in some garret, little careful except as to the compensation he should earn, the dirty pence that were to pay for his rhymes, will one day be made to answer for the influence that went forth from him to those who shouted his verses in the night watch, on the far sea, or perchance upon some heathen shore. The infidel, who may have sat in elegant and lettered ease, preparing his attacks upon the Bible and the Saviour, thought little, probably, but of the fame and influence he should win upon the shore. But the seeds of death which he scattered may have been wafted whither he never thought to trace them. And in that day of retribution he may be made to lament his own influence on the rude seaman whom he has hardened in blasphemy and impiety, and who has sported with objections derived by him at the second hand or third hand from such writers, whilst he figured amongst his illiterate and admiring companions as the tarred Voltaire or Paine of the forecastle and the round top, the merriest and boldest scoffer of the crew. Lessons:
1. The dead shall rise, all shall rise, and together. From the land and from the sea, wherever the hand of violence or the rage of the elements have scattered human dust, shall it be reclaimed. And we rise to give account. Out of Christ, judgment will be damnation.
2. If the reappearance from the seas of the sinner who perished in his sins be a thought full of terror, is there not, on the other hand, joy in the anticipation of greeting those who have fallen asleep in Christ, but whose bones found no rest beneath the clods of the valley, and whose remains have been reserved under the waters until that day, while, over their undistinguished resting-place, old ocean with all its billows has for centuries pealed its stormy anthem?
3. This community especially owes a debt to that class of men who go down to the sea in ships, and do business in the great waters.
4. It is, again, by no means the policy of the Church to overlook so influential a class as is that of our seafaring brethren. They are in the path of our missionaries to the heathen. If converted, they might be amongst their most efficient coadjutors, as, whilst unconverted, they are among the most embarrassing hindrances the missionary must encounter.
5. While humbled in the review of her past negligence, and in the sense of present deficiencies, as to her labours for the seaman, the Church has yet cause for devout thankfulness in the much that has recently been done for the souls of those who go down to the sea in ships, and in the perceptible change that has already been wrought in the character of this long-neglected class of our fellow-citizens and fellow-immortals.
6. In that day, when earth and sea shall meet heaven in the judgment, where do you propose to stand? Among the saved, or the lost–the holy, or the sinful–at the right hand of the Judge, or at His left? (W. R. Williams, D. D.)
On the general resurrection
I. The elements into which the dead are dissolved do only receive them into safe custody. The matter out of which we are made doth never perish; the foundation remains, though it put on a thousand shapes and figures. The quantity and quality indeed of many mens bodies is lost, by various transmutations, in the several elements through which they pass after their dissolution: yet for all this, the substance is kept entire, and wholly incapable of being destroyed.
II. These elements are, at the command of the Almighty, to give up those pledges which they receive. The fish that swallowed up Jonah, and afterwards threw him up again upon the dry land, when God by His will appointed it so to do, was not more obedient to that will than each element shall be in giving up the dead upon the authority of His command.
1. The earth, and the sea, and other quarters of the world to which they retire, are in every point known to God. Nor is He ignorant of the means which are proper to unite them, how far soever they may be scattered, or how much soever confounded.
2. Another argument why the dead should be given up at His word is, because the matter whereof they were composed lies subject to Him, and He can new-mould and repair it as He pleaseth. What work can be too hard for Him that is above all resistance whatsoever? Could He do the greater work in making us that which we were not, and shall we doubt of His ability in the less, which is refashioning us to what we were? But it may be asked, What necessity is there for such a general delivery of the dead? Cannot the sea and the land bury us, as it does other creatures, who are dissolved into those elements and perish? Why must we be reposed in them, as in a treasury; preserved for a time, in order to be taken out or given up again? At present I would only observe, that the necessity of this dispensation will appear from the consideration of God, of Christ, and of mankind.
(1) Of God, who is necessarily just; and therefore is in justice concerned in a general giving up of the dead to Him, that so the whole man may acknowledge the righteousness and equity of His government.
(2) The necessity of the rising again will appear by a consideration of Christ, who has merited lordship and dominion over us. Now the honour of that lordship would cease, except the dead were given up to be subject to His rule.
(3) The consideration of mankind evinces the necessity of this dispensation, who are subject to His laws, and qualified with natures to receive wages. These are divided into good and bad, each of which have need of a resurrection. The good, that so they may silence their false accusers and clear their innocence to the world, and experimentally find by what they reap that their labour hath not been in vain in the Lord. The bad, that they may receive a due recompense of their deeds. Further, it is to be considered, that although the personal acts of sin in the wicked are transient, and die with the committers; yet the poison and infection of those acts long continues. To conclude. You hear there is no retreat, no sanctuary for your bodies to lodge in, neither in sea, nor in land, nor fire, nor air, but they will be everywhere exposed to the all-seeing eye of God, and ready to be given up at His command. (James Roe, M. A.)
Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.—
Death and the grave
It is of His two chief enemies that God here speaks–death and the grave, or place of the dead. This is not the first time, nor the only place, in which they are thus classed together. There is a striking series of passages, running through all Scripture, in which they are named as allies–fellow-workers in the perpetration of one great deed of darkness from the beginning. Often are death and the grave in the lips of Job. David speaks of them (Psa 6:5). Solomon uses them in figure (Son 8:6). Hezekiah refers to them (Isa 38:18). Isaiah mentions them in their connection with Messiah (Isa 53:9). Hosea proclaims their awful fellowship in evil (Hos 13:14). Paul takes up the language of the old prophets (1Co 15:55). And then, as the summing up of the whole, we have these strange words of the text. This is the end of that death.power which was let loose in paradise, and which has continued exercise dominion upon earth through these two channels. The reign has been long and sad; it has been one of dissolution, and blight, and terror; but it ends at last. Death has been the sword of law for ages; but when it has done its work on earth, God takes this sword, red with the blood of millions, snaps it in pieces before the universe, and casts its fragments into the flame, in the day of the great winding-up, in token that never again shall it be needed, either on earth or throughout the universe. The grave has been the chain and the prison-house of justice; but when its purpose is served, and justice has got all its own in the heaven of the saved and the hell of the lost, God gathers up each link of the chain and flings them into the lake of fire upon the head of the great potentate of evil; He razes the dungeon to its foundation, and buries its ruins in a grave like that of Sodom, the lake of the everlasting burnings. Death and the grave were east into the lake of fire.
I. God abhors death. It is to Him even more unlovable than it is to us. He has set limits to its power; He has made it to His saints the very gate of heaven–for blessed are the dead that die in the Lord; He has proclaimed resurrection and interruption. But still, with all these abatements, He loves it not, nor is reconciled to it in one act or aspect. It is, in His eyes, even more than in ours, an enemy, a destroyer, a demon, a criminal, a robber. So thoroughly does He loathe it, that in order to make His displeasure known, He reserves it to the last for doom; He sets it apart for a great outstanding condemnation, and then casts it into the lake of fire.
II. Gods reasons for abhorring death.
1. It is the ally of sin (Rom 5:12). Partners in evil, sin and death have held dark fellowship together from the beginning, the one reflecting and augmenting the odiousness of the other; like night and storm, each in itself terrible, but more terrible as companions in havoc.
2. It is Satans tool. To inflict disease, but not to heal; to wound, but not to bind up; to kill, but not to make alive–these are the works of the devil which God abhors, and which the Son of God came to destroy.
3. It is the undoing of His work. God did not mean creation to crumble down or evaporate. But death has seized it. Mans body and mans earth are falling to pieces, undermined by some universal solvent; the beauty, and the order, and the power giving way before the invader. The sculptor does not love the hand that spoils his statue, nor the mother the fever that preys upon her darling; so God has no pleasure in that enemy that has been ruining the work of His hands.
4. It has been the source of earths pain and sorrow. Pain is the messenger of disease, and disease is the touch of deaths finger; and with disease and death what an amount of sorrow has poured in upon our world!
5. It has laid hands on His saints. Though He permitted Herod, and Pilate, and Nero, and the kings of the earth, to persecute His Church, He did not thereby indicate indifference to the wrong, far less sympathy with the wrong-doer. He treasures up wrath against the persecutor; He will judge and avenge the blood of His own. So will He take vengeance on the last enemy,
6. It laid hands upon His Son. Death smote the Prince of life, and the grave imprisoned Him. This was treason of the darkest kind, the wrong of wrongs, perpetrated against the highest in the universe, Gods incarnate Son. And shall not God visit for this? Shall not His soul be avenged on such a destroyer for such a crime? (H. Bonar, D. D.)
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire.—
The eternity of the sorrows of the lost
Is this, then, the end of all the projects and all the acts of the boastful sinner–man? Alas I who, then, art thou, that repliest against Omnipotence? Who art thou, that thinkest God is to be mocked?
I. When the day of judgment shall come, and how long it shall last, Revelation has not disclosed. It is called the day of judgment: but in Scripture a day is not always meant to express that particular portion of time which we affix to the term; but a season. But however long or however short a period the tremendous judgment of the world will occupy, we know assuredly that at its conclusion a solemn separation will be made of those who have served God, from those who have served Him not. The place to which the latter will be consigned is described in almost every term expressive of sorrow and pain. It is called a furnace of fire, the bottomless pit, whence shall be seen ascending the smoke of the torments of the damned. Scripture warns us in the plainest terms, that it is not merely the loss of the happiness which God had offered that the condemned sinner then shall suffer, but some positive and exquisite anguish and torment. They shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation. They shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire. Their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched. They shall go away into everlasting punishment.
II. The leading observations which have been made against the doctrine of eternal punishments.
1. The chief one–and, indeed, what almost comprises all the rest–is that it seems hardly consistent with the justice of God to inflict eternal punishment for a temporal sin. The notion seems to arise from the want of a due consideration of what is sin. If a man considers only one or two individual acts of his own wickedness, there may appear between them, taken abstractedly, and eternal punishment, a great disproportion. But he omits to consider what the effect of those few acts is, not only on his own soul, but on the world in which he lives. But independently of the effect of sin on others, you ought not to forget, however trifling your sin may appear, what is the nature of a sinful soul in the pure sight of God! There is another consideration. Although eternal punishment is denounced against what are termed temporal sins, yet it is only on sins unrepented of. God has shown you how you may flee from the wrath to come. He has declared how you may be redeemed from the influence and the curse of sin. The degree of your punishment will certainly be proportioned to your sins, for the Judge of all the earth will do right. But its duration seems to be fixed for eternity by the immutable laws of Providence, because no revealed means remain after death for cleansing your soul from its pollution. There is yet one other consideration. When a man dies without repentance and change of heart, after a life of habitual neglect of heaven, it is but reasonable to believe that had his life been prolonged, and the power of indulging in sin remained, he would have continued a sinner as long as he continued to exist. It is said, I know, that punishments cannot be meant to be final and eternal, because they are intended to reclaim, either by their effect on the sinner himself, or as examples to others. The punishments of this world are so. But lest we should presume, and think these His only judgments, He has given us proofs sufficient that in the ordinances of His providence there are such things as final punishments. Every one knows that the whole world was once exterminated except one family, and that such extermination was for its sins. We are hereby taught that punishment is not always intended for the reformation of the sinner.
2. We will now consider those observations which are drawn against the doctrine from Scripture itself.
(1) We are reminded, then, that the words which are made use of to imply what we consider to be a never-ceasing duration are often applied in Scripture to other matters, which are known to have an end, and therefore that they mean not strictly and properly eternity, but only a long and undefined succession of ages. It is perfectly true that the words, eternal, everlasting, and for ever, are applied to some things which are known to have an end: but we see them also applied to those things which we know have no end; and, above all, the expressions in question concerning the duration of punishments are those which are applied to show the true and proper eternity of the Supreme Being Himself. To reconcile this apparent inconsistency, however, is not very difficult. These words, eternal, everlasting, and the like, seem always meant to indicate the longest expressible existence of the thing, or the being, to which they are applied.
(2) It is said that the doctrine of eternal punishments militates against the known mercy of God and the general spirit of the gospel, which is a scheme of salvation. It is maintained that as it is impossible for any creature to live in eternal torments, though some may persist for a longer, some for a shorter, period, all in the end must be subdued, and that a universal restoration will crown the solemn scene: that, as the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost, His coming would be defeated if the greater part were lost for ever; that when it is said He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet, and that the last enemy, which shall be destroyed, is death–the death here intended is the second death–and that when this penal fire shall have accomplished in purpose, it, too, shall be extinguished; that then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. These are contemplations, full indeed of awfulness, but full of holy joy, and agreeing, as they do, with the hopes of frail and sinful man, are too readily, perhaps, indulged by him as founded on irrefragable truth. Whatever meaning your own opinion may affix to the Scriptural expressions concerning the duration of the sinners woes, remember one truth, viz., that no limit is there affixed to them; that, allowing the terms to mean only a succession of ages upon ages, yet that no period is mentioned when such succession shall end. On what is to take place after the day of judgment Scripture seems purposely silent. (G. Matthew, M.A.)
The terrible doom of the lost
It is a pathetic tale to tell, but I do not vouch for its absolute truth, that once a famous composer wrote a great anthem to be sung at a festival. He sought to picture the scenes of the final judgment, and introduced a strain of music representing the solemn lamentations of the lost. But no singer was found willing to take such a part. So the wailings and woes were omitted; and when the passage was reached, the leader simply beat the time in silence till the awful chasm was passed, and the musicians took up gloriously the strains of celestial unison lying on the other side of it, The shout of them that triumph and the song of them who feast. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Society divided by Christ into two great parts
In a sermon preached by the Rev. J. H. Jowett, M.A., he pointed out the different aspects from which the world and Christ viewed society. The world draws a horizontal line of division, or rather two lines, which mark off humanity into three sections, the upper, middle, and lower classes. Christ draws a vertical line throughout the whole scale, dividing society into two parts, those on the right hand and those on the left; the sheep and the goats.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. A great white throne] Refulgent with glorious majesty.
Him that sat on it] The indescribable Jehovah.
From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away] Even the brightness of his countenance dissolved the universe, and annihilated the laws by which it was governed. This is a very majestic figure, and finely expressed.
There was found no place for them.] The glorious majesty of God filling all things, and being all in all.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
God now giveth his prophet a vision of the last day, the day of judgment. He seeth
a throne, a place of judicature; said to be great, to denote its gloriousness;
white, to signify Christs purity and holiness in his judging the world. And he saw Christ sitting upon it, and all old things passing away. Peter thus describes this flying away of the earth and heavens; The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works therein shall be burned up, 2Pe 3:10. All these things shall be dissolved, 2Pe 3:11.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. greatin contrast to the”thrones,” Re 20:4.
whitethe emblem ofpurity and justice.
him that sat on ittheFather [ALFORD]. Rather,the Son, to whom “the Father hath committed all judgment.”God in Christ, that is, the Father represented by the Son, is Hebefore whose judgment-seat we must all stand. The Son’s mediatorialreign is with a view to prepare the kingdom for the Father’sacceptance. When He has done that, He shall give it up to the Father,”that God may be all in all,” coming into direct communionwith His creatures, without intervention of a Mediator, for the firsttime since the fall. Heretofore Christ’s Prophetical mediationhad been prominent in His earthly ministry, His Priestly mediation isprominent now in heaven between His first and second advents, and HisKingly shall be so during the millennium and at the general judgment.
earth and heaven fledawayThe final conflagration, therefore, precedes the generaljudgment. This is followed by the new heaven and earth (Re21:1-27).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And I saw a great white throne,…. This vision refers not to the Gospel dispensation, from the exaltation of Christ to his second coming; when he sat down on his throne at the right hand of God, and was declared Lord and Christ; when there was a shaking of the heavens and the earth, a removing of the Mosaic economy, and the ordinances of the ceremonial law in Judea, and of Paganism in the Gentile world; when the Gospel was preached to all nations, and the dead in sins were quickened, and arose and stood before the throne of grace; when the books of the Scriptures were opened and explained, and the book of life was also opened; and by the conversion of some, and not others, it was known who were written in it and who were not, and men were judged to be alive or dead in a spiritual sense, according to the influence the opening of these books had upon them; and the powers of the world, comparable to a sea, and of death and hell, were not able to hold in the dead in sin, when they were called to life, with respect to whom death and hell were destroyed; nor was the Gospel the savour of death to any but to such who were not written in the book of life. This, in other words, is the sum of Cocceius’s sense of this vision; but this affair will be over, and all God’s elect gathered in by the preaching of the Gospel, before this vision takes place: nor does it respect the restoration of the Jews, who now are as dead, like Ezekiel’s dry bones, but will at this time be quickened, and stand upon their feet an exceeding great army, and will be gathered from the several parts where they are as dead; and when it will be known by their conduct and behaviour who are God’s elect among them, and who are not; which is Brightman’s interpretation of the vision: but this, as we have seen, will come to pass according to the vision in the preceding chapter, before the thousand years begin; whereas this vision will not begin to be accomplished until they are ended: it is best therefore to understand it of the general judgment at the last day, which is the common sense of ancient and modern interpreters; though it seems only to regard the judgment of the wicked, for no other are made mention of in it: the “throne” here seen is a throne of judgment; it is called a “great” one, because a great Person sat upon it, the Word of God, the King of kings and Lord of lords, even he who is the great God, and Judge of the whole earth; and because of the great work that will be transacted upon it, the judgment of all the wicked; this will be the greatest assize that ever was held; it is called the judgment of the great day, and the great and dreadful day of the Lord, #Jude 6 Mal 4:5 this throne is also said to be a “white” one; just as the same Person is said to sit upon a white cloud, and ride upon a white horse, Re 14:14 it may be in allusion either to a white and serene cloud, or to a throne of ivory, such an one as Solomon made, 2Ch 9:17 and this is either expressive of the majesty and splendour of it, it being a throne of glory, or a glorious throne, Mt 25:31 or else it may denote the purity and justice of him that sits on it, according to which he will proceed in judgment, and finish it; his character is the righteous judge, and the judgment he will execute will be righteous judgment:
and him that sat on it; the throne was not empty, one sat upon it, who is no other than the Son of God; to whom all judgment is committed, and who is ordained to be Judge of quick and dead; and is every way fit for it, being of great knowledge, wisdom, and sagacity, and of great integrity and faithfulness, as man and Mediator, and being, as God, both omniscient and omnipotent, and so capable both of passing a right sentence, and of executing it; to which may be added, his great majesty and glory, necessary to strike an awe, and command an attention to him:
from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away, and there was found no place for them; which is to be understood not figuratively, as in Re 6:14 where in the one place is described the destruction of Paganism, and in the other the destruction of the Papacy, and all antichristian powers; but literally, and not of the present earth and heaven, as they now are, for these will be burnt up with fire at the beginning of the thousand years, but of the new heaven and new earth, at the end of them; and the phrases of fleeing away, and place being found no more for them, show the entire annihilation and utter abolition of them; after this there will be no place in being but the heaven of angels and saints, and the lake of fire, in which are the devils and damned spirits: but though this is mentioned here, it will not be till after the judgment is over; for how otherwise will the dead have a place to stand in before the throne, or hell, that is the grave, and also the sea, give up their dead, Re 20:12 but it is observed here, though afterwards done, to set off the majesty of the Judge upon the throne, at whose sight, and by whose power, this will be effected.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Universal Judgment. | A. D. 95. |
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
The utter destruction of the devil’s kingdom very properly leads to an account of the day of judgment, which will determine every man’s everlasting state; and we may be assured there will be a judgment when we see the prince of this world is judged, John xvi. 11. This will be a great day, the great day, when all shall appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. The Lord help us firmly to believe this doctrine of the judgment to come. It is a doctrine that made Felix tremble. Here we have a description of it, where observe, 1. We behold the throne, and tribunal of judgment, great and white, very glorious and perfectly just and righteous. The throne of iniquity, that establishes wickedness by a law, has no fellowship with this righteous throne and tribunal. 2. The appearance of the Judge, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, who then puts on such majesty and terror that the earth and the heaven flee from his face, and there is no place found for them; there is a dissolution of the whole frame of nature, 2 Pet. iii. 10. 3. The persons to be judged (v. 12): The dead, small and great; that is, young and old, low and high, poor and rich. None are so mean but they have some talents to account for, and none so great as to avoid the jurisdiction of this court; not only those that are found alive at the coming of Christ, but all who have died before; the grave shall surrender the bodies of men, hell shall surrender the souls of the wicked, the sea shall surrender the many who seemed to have been lost in it. 4. The rule of judgment settled: The books were opened. What books? The books of God’s omniscience, who is greater than our consciences, and knows all things (there is a book of remembrance with him both for good and bad); and the book of the sinner’s conscience, which, though formerly secret, will now be opened. And another book shall be opened–the book of the scriptures, the statute-book of heaven, the rule of life. This book is opened as containing the law, the touchstone by which the hearts and lives of men are to be tried. This book determines matter of right; the other books give evidence of matters of fact. Some, by the other book, called the book of life, understand the book of God’s eternal counsels; but that does not seem to belong to the affair of judgment: in eternal election God does not act judicially, but with absolute sovereign freedom. 5. The cause to be tried; and that is, the works of men, what they have done and whether it be good or evil. By their works men shall be justified or condemned; for though God knows their state and their principles, and looks chiefly at these, yet, being to approve himself to angels and men as a righteous God, he will try their principles by their practices, and so will be justified when he speaks and clear when he judges. 6. The issue of the trial and judgment; and this will be according to the evidence of fact, and rule of judgment. All those who have made a covenant with death, and an agreement with hell, shall then be condemned with their infernal confederates, cast with them into the lake of fire, as not being entitled to eternal life, according to the rules of life laid down in the scripture; but those whose names are written in that book (that is, those that are justified and acquitted by the gospel) shall then be justified and acquitted by the Judge, and shall enter into eternal life, having nothing more to fear from death, or hell, or wicked men; for these are all destroyed together. Let it be our great concern to see on what terms we stand with our Bibles, whether they justify us or condemn us now; for the Judge of all will proceed by that rule. Christ shall judge the secrets of all men according to the gospel. Happy are those who have so ordered and stated their cause according to the gospel as to know beforehand that they shall be justified in the great day of the Lord!
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
A great white throne ( ). Here (great) is added to the throne pictures in Rev 4:4; Rev 20:4. The scene is prepared for the last judgment often mentioned in the N.T. (Matt 25:31-46; Rom 14:10; 2Cor 5:10). “The absolute purity of this Supreme Court is symbolized by the colour of the Throne” (Swete) as in Dan 7:9; Ps 9:1; Ps 97:2. The name of God is not mentioned, but the Almighty Father sits upon the throne (Rev 4:2; Rev 4:9; Rev 5:1; Rev 5:7; Rev 5:13; Rev 6:16; Rev 7:10; Rev 7:15; Rev 19:4; Rev 21:5), and the Son sits there with him (Heb 1:3) and works with the Father (John 5:19-21; John 10:30; Matt 25:31; Acts 17:31; 2Cor 5:10; 2Tim 4:1).
From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away ( ). Second aorist (prophetic) active of . See 16:20. The non-eternity of matter is a common teaching in the O.T. (Ps 97:5; Ps 102:27; Isa 51:6) as in the N.T. (Mark 13:31; 2Pet 3:10).
Was found (). First aorist passive indicative of . All is now spiritual. Even scientists today are speaking of the non-eternity of the universe.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
7) DOOM OF THE GREAT WHITE THRONE
JUDGMENT v. 11-15
1) “And I saw a great white throne,” (kai eidon thronon megan leukon) “And I saw (recognized) a great white throne; a) Great because of the occasion, b) great because of the number of persons gathered there, c) great because of the judge upon the throne, and d) great because of the final issues being judged, Mat 25:31-46. White indicates the righteousness of the judgment at hand.
2) “And him that sat on it,” (kai ton kathemenon ep’ auton) “And the one sitting (presiding) on it; The one upon the great white throne is the Creator, Jesus Christ, the Son of God who had also sat upon the white horse in triumph, Dan 7:9; Dan 7:13-14; Rev 4:2-3; Rev 4:11; Rev 19:11-16; 1Ti 4:2. This is the hour of judgment of the wicked.
3) “From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away,” (ou apo tou prosopou ephugen he ge kai ho ouranos) “Away from whose face (presence) the earth and the heaven fled,” the unredeemed sought to flee, desired to escape, just to hide; And the elements of earth and heaven were dissolved into invisibility, leaving the wicked facing the great white throne, on which Christ sat, Dan 2:35; Rev 6:14; Rev 12:8; Rev 21:1.
4) “And there was found no place for them “(kai topos ouch heurethe autois) “And not (even) a place, not even one hiding place, not one place of escape, was found (or to be found) for them,” for even one of them, 2Pe 3:7; 2Pe 3:10-11; Act 17:31; Rom 2:8-9.
This hour of white throne judgment, symbolized as a
white throne,” indicates the purity, and righteousness of unimpeachable justice, Joh 5:30; Joh 8:16; Rom 2:16. There will be no ray or rainbow of hope for the lost, no songs of joy or praise or gladness at that hour. It will be too late – -too late – – too late, Heb 4:7.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT
The Biblical Order of Millennial Events as set forth in Rev 20:1-10 will be found discussed fully in the authors volume, The Evolution of the Kingdom.
Rev 20:11-15
THIS Apocalyptic vision more and more justifies its name, The Revelation of Jesus Christ. There is so much in the volume that could be known to no man, save as the Son of God revealed it unto him, that we do an injustice when we speak of it as Johns revelation. It was the Revelation of Jesus Christ made to John, and through John to us.
When one remembers this, the offenses that some find in Revelation are removed, every one. It may be well enough to say that no man could ever have entered into the mysteries of all time, and so laid before his fellows the plan of the ages, as is here done. But who can deny that the Son of God knows the end from the beginning; and, at His pleasure, can lift the veil that hides from our eyes the future and read with clear vision its last line.
All through this Book John is saying, over and over again, And I saw.
But he was not seeing in the sense of discovery; he was simply looking at what Gods Son showed unto him. He was seeing as the scientists child sees, when his learned father takes the complex flower, and picking it to pieces, explains its every part; he was seeing what he never could have seen alone, unaided by the higher intelligence of the Son of Man. And yet, what he saw is of the first moment. Atheists, skeptics, and quibblers of all sorts have in common the saying, We know nothing of the future world, since no traveler to that land has returned to tell us about ita speech which Scripture flatly opposes. John says he has looked in upon it; and Jesus came from that land, and in these words we have the witness of both Jesus and John, since it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ given to the Apostle John when he was in the Isle which is called Patinos. In the mouth of two such witnesses every word ought to be regarded as established. Let us look now into this Scripture that we may be taught its great truths.
Here
MANS IMMORTALITY IS MADE EVIDENT
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.
Then a man is better than a sheep. When his body dies and returns to dust, that is not the end. Longfellows lines are justified by Johns vision:
Life is real! Life is earnest!And the grave is not its goal.Dust thou art, to dust returnest Was not spoken of the soul.
Men intuitively believe in immortality. As long ago as Cicero, that philosopher and orator wrote: There is, I know not how, in the minds of men, a certain presage, as it were, of a future existence, and this takes the deepest root and is most discoverable in the greatest geniuses and most exalted souls.
Yes, even in Ciceros time this thought was old. The Book of Job is supposed to be one of the most hoary of volumes, and its author saidThough after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me (Job 19:26), John Watson insists that the hope of the future life has always nestled in the heart of the human race, and found wings upon occasion. When savages bury his weapons and utensils with the dead man in order that he may start with a full equipment, they believe that he is somewhere; and when the Athenians went out to Eleusis twice a year, in March as the life of the year springs, and in September as it fades, and held a solemn function, it was not only that they might live happily, but, as Cicero puts it, might die with a fairer hope.
The instinct of the fledgling tempts him to leave his nest, and commit his wings to the air, and he is not disappointed; the instinct of the water-fowl lures him to trust the drowning liquid, and lo, it bears him safely up; the instinct of all migratory things sends them southward with the first blast of autumn, and lo, their experience is what they expecteda continuous summer there. Shall the intuition of man, touching the future lifea sunnier clime, be disappointed? If God never planted in the heart of a sparrow a single hope to deceive it, shall He bring the noblest aspirations of His own children to naught? Alfred Tennyson, expressed in beautiful speech, a universal thought, when he scorned the notion that death is the end:
My own dim life should teach me this, That life shall live for evermore, Else earth is darkness at the core, And dust and ashes all that is:
This round of green, this orb of flame, Fantastic beauty; such as lurksIn some wild poet, when he works Without a conscience or an aim.
What then were God to such as I?Twere hardly worth my while to choose Of things all mortal, or to useA little patience ere I die;
Twere best at once to sink to peace, Like birds the charming serpent draws, To drop head foremost in the jawsOf vacant darkness, and to cease.
Science also affirms mans immortality. The cheap wit of the man who says, I have dissected many bodies and never found a soul, is obsolete in more learned circles. It is confessedly admitted that the soul is not to be uncovered by the scalpel; and yet to deny its existence on that account, is to publish ones ignorance. John Fiske, in his volume, The Destiny of Man says, The materialistic assumption that the life of the soul ends with the life of the body, is perhaps the most colossal instance of baseless reasoning that is known to the history of philosophy.
And John Fiske was no mean scientist. He concludes further, For my own part, I believe in the immortality of the soul. * * I feel the omnipresence of mystery in such wise as to make it far easier for me to adopt the view of Euripides that what we call death may be but the dawning of true knowledge and of true life.
And Science in its latest utterance, confirms Fiskes faith, for what is its latest utterance, if it be not the absolute indestructibility of all things.
You can convert wood and coal into gases, ashes and smoke, but you can not put one atom of it out of existence. The leaves that dropped from the trees last autumn are rotting, but in the years to come, they will return every one in blades of grass, blooming flowers, bark and branches. That is probably the consideration that led Prof. Pope to say, He who believes personal immortality unscientific, believes on insufficient evidence.
The argument, that because at least four of the physical senses know nothing of a soul and communicate to us no indications of immortality, we may not indulge such a hope, always reminds one of the reputed conversation between the young skeptic, a physician, and his Christian friend. This Christian friend had asked the physician if he was saved, to which the physician replied that he wasnt sure he had a soul, and further questioned the Christian, How do you know that you have a soul? Can you see it? No! Can you taste it? No! Can you smell it? No! Can you hear it? No! but I can feel it.
Ah, then; you are willing to take the testimony of one sense against four, are you?
Certainly, said the Christian.
Well, I am not, answered the skeptic.
Really, said his Christian friend, you are not? Do you believe in pain?
Certainly!
Did you ever see a pain? No.
Did you ever hear a pain? No.
Did you ever smell a pain?
No! Did you ever taste a pain?
No.
But you have felt a pain? Yes. And you took the testimony of one sense against four!
The result of that conversation must have been an admission of poor reasoning. John Fiske was wiser when he said:I believe in the immortality of the soul, not in the sense in which I believe in the demonstrable truths of science, but as a supreme act of faith in the reasonableness of Gods work. What intuition hints, and science suggests, the Sacred Scriptures boldly affirm. Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, calls the man who questions the resurrection a foolish fellow.
In speaking to the Romans the same Apostle says of the judgments of God that He will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life (Rom 2:6-7).
And again, to the Corinthians,
This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
No wonder Macauley thought that while Christianity had changed the face of Europe and won a thousand palms, its crowning glory was, that it had wiped the tears from eyes which had failed with wakefulness and sorrow, lent celestial visions to those dwelling under thatched roofs; and shed victorious tranquility upon those who have seen the shades of death closing around them.
But our text contains a second suggestion:
MANS JUDGMENT IS MADE GENERAL
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened * *.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
There is no class of men who will be absent when this hour is on. The great and the small will be there. Those who walk the earth and those who wake out of their graves. There will be at least three distinct, and separate classes present when that hour is on of which Paul wrote to the Romans in 14: 10, saying, We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ,
The subjects of the first resurrection will share in this judgment. That they will be present is evident from the very text itself. Small and great refers to all the dead.
That they will not come to be judged, is equally plain from many a passage. In Joh 5:24 we read, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life, Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth (Rom 10:4).
No wonder then, it is written into this same chapter, Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with Him a thousand years.
F. B. Meyer tells us how he visited Canterbury Cathedral, and the Verger took him to see the crypt, and when he got into the dark recesses of the vaults, into the cold, chill atmosphere, laden with the sodden smell of death, he wished he were out. But, clinging to an iron railing, and following the vergers voice, he went on into the tombs deeper and deeper, until they came to the bottom, where black vaults were on every side. Looking upward from that point, he could discern a dim light, which, as they approached it, grew more glorious, and finally led them out into the cloister gardens of the old Cathedral. There the glorious spring sunshine was bringing flowers into bloom, and in the midst was a beautiful fountain playing, and he felt as if he had come from the grave to be in the garden of God.
One thousand years before the scene of this text, those of us who die in Him, will have been delivered out of the darkness of earth, and out of the bondage of mortality, and our part in this hour will be to stand in the glorious presence of the great God Himself, and testify to His grace toward the living, and His perfect justice toward the dead.
The children of the Millennium will also be in this judgment. The twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew pictures their part in the same.
When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory:
And before Him shall be gathered all nations; and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
And He shalt set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in:
Naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.
Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, and fed Thee? or thirsty. and gave Thee drink?
When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee?
Or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.
Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in: naked, and ye clothed Me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not.
Then shall they also answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee?
Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal (Mat 25:31-46).
I long since grew tired of that fanciful interpretation of this part of the Scripture which sets a part of the judgment immediately at Christs Second Appearance; makes the Jews, Christs brethren; and consigns whole nations to hell, or calls them up to Heaven, according as they had been unkind or kind to the literal descendants of Abraham a thousand years in advance of this time; and pronounces judgment on the basis of good works, versus the exercise of faith in Christ.
But in this scene we have instead another report of the same transaction recorded in Rev 20:11-15, and there is a harmony between the Gospel and the Apocalypse. When God sits upon His throne for His last judgment, the Son of Man, in His glory, with all the holy angels shall sit upon that throne with Him. Then, and not until then, shall the sheep be divided from the goatsthe one taken to Heaven, and the other condemned to torment; and the children of the Millennium are the only people who can be justly judged on the basis of their works, since, having lived all their lives through, in the very presence of the Son of God, faith will have given place to sight, and works alone will remain to attest the true and to prove the false. (See my volume Evolution of the Kingdom, page 175)
Not every one then, who is in the Millennium, will share in the eventual glory, for at the close of it, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison for a little season and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle. Under his leadership they shall compass the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city, and contest the very throne itself, until fire from God out of Heaven shall devour them!
And these, Gods last opponents, will also come before Him in judgment, and be reminded of their treatment of the saintsChrists brethren. And the sentence of their judgment will be the necessity of dwelling forever with Satan whom they chose as their leader.
This judgment will also call from their graves the unregenerated dead. Phillips Brooks says, It is difficult for us to imagine that the last man great and small will be brought there. The very multitude of them bewilders the mind, and raises the question as to whether some of the smallest will not be overlooked, and some of the greatest of the unregenerate will not be excused. But, as has been well remarked, Gods omniscience will not allow the most insignificant to escape unobserved; and His omnipotence will cause the mightiest to obey the summons.
How this brings to mind the words of that heroic spirit, Hugh Latimer. Though living at a time when kings took off the heads of whom they would, that prophet of righteousness sat down and coolly wrote a letter to Henry the VIII., which he concluded in these words:Wherefore, gracious king, remember yourself: have pity upon your soul: and think that the day is even at hand when you shall give an account of your office, and of the blood that hath been shed by your sword, in the which day, that your grace may stand steadfastly, and not be ashamed, but be clear and ready in your reckoning, and to have (as they say) your quietus est sealed with the Blood of our Saviour Christ, which only serveth at that day, is my daily prayer to Him that suffered death for our sins, which also prayeth to His Father for grace to us continually, to whom be all honor and praise forever! Amen! The Spirit of God preserves your grace!
Yes; the small and the great!
By this hour, also,
MANS ESTATE WILL BE FOREVER SETTLED
The unregenerate will be judged by the books.
And the hooks were opened: * * and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their Works.
When the head-bookkeeper of a wealthy institution sins against his masters, and makes way with their wealth, the mightiest witness they can bring against him, when he shall be called into court, is the books. The cash book, the ledger, the journalhe must face them all. And it is a fact that there will be volume after volume to testify in the last day against the godless man.
There will be the volume of Divine entry, the records God Himself by His Recording Angel has made. For, as the Psalmist said, There is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether.
There will be the Book of the Law, For as many as are of the works of the Law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them. (Gal 3:10).
There will be the book of conscience, which bore them witness, and their thoughts, the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another; in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel (Rom 2:13; Rom 2:16).
And there will be the book of memory. The poor fellow, languishing for a drop of water to cool his parching tongue, heard from Abraham this sentence which opened this entire volume to him, Son, remember! And how much one may be able to remember in that hour, who can tell?
Dwight Hillis tells the story of a distinguished lawyer, who, when in the midst of a heated argument, and under great mental excitement, found stealing clearly into his memory every word of pages of a legal decision which he had read thirty years before. And men resuscitated from drowning or hanging have often testified that, in the last moment, the events of a whole life, marched like painted pagentry before the eye of memory. Oh, to so live that when the books are opened at last, our souls need not be filled with fear. How many remember in reading Hawthornes Scarlet Letter, that awful night when Arthur Dimmesdale, paying the penalty of his single transgression, made his way to the scaffold on which his companion in sin, had stood to receive the publication of her shame; and there, trying to aid his penitence in doing penance, waited until the mid-night had come, when, suddenly, the darkness in which he supposed himself hid, became as day. Hawthorne says, A light gleamed far and wide over all the muffled sky. It was doubtless caused by one of those meteors, which the night-watcher may so often observe burning out to waste, in the vacant regions of the atmosphere. So powerful was its radiance, that it thoroughly illuminated the dense medium of cloud betwixt the sky and earth. The great vault brightened, like the dome of an immense lamp. It showed the familiar scene of the street, with the distinctness of mid-day, but also with the awfulness that is always imparted to familiar objects by an unaccustomed light. * * And there stood the minister, with his hand over his heart; and Hester Prynne, with the embroidered letter glimmering on her bosom and little Pearl, herself a symbol and the connecting link between those two. They stood in the noon of that strange and solemn splendor, as if it were the light that is to reveal all secrets.
If those who are guilty of a single sin were put to such shame, and filled with such awful fear, in the lurid light of a meteor at mid-night, who shall stand in the brightness round about the throne, and listen while all the books, recording all his sins, shall bare their pages in eloquent testimony against him.
But, if the unregenerate are condemned by the books, the Christian escapes by the Book.
And, another Book was opened, which is the Book of Life,
To have ones name written in that Book is to be free from judgment, and know that Heavens gate is ajar for him, for is it not written of the holy city, There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lambs Book of Life (Rev 21:27).
They say that in China the courts keep two great bookswhen a man is tried and found guilty they write his name in the Book of Death ; but if innocent, then they set it down in the Book of Life.
Reader, in which Book is your name written? Frank M. Davis did well when he wrote,
Lord, I care not for riches, neither silver nor gold, I would make sure of Heaven; I would enter the fold.In the Book of Thy Kingdom, with its pages so fair, Tell me, Jesus my Saviour, is my name written there?
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
Strauss Comments
SECTION 68
Text Rev. 20:11-15
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were 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 every man according to their works. 14 And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire. 15 And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
Initial Questions Rev. 20:11-15
1.
Is it possible to escape Gods judgment Rev. 20:11?
2.
Does Rev. 20:12 show that there will be a resurrection of the dead, whether righteous or unrighteous?
3.
What does Rev. 20:12 say against the false denominational doctrine of Faith Only?
4.
What is the book of life Rev. 20:15?
5.
Is it important to have ones name written in this book Rev. 20:15?
Rev. 20:11
The final judgment scene is terrifying to the lost and causes the redeemed to give thanks to God in Christ. Evil dominates the hearts of the dwellers on the earth. This is clear from Johns descriptive imagery that the earth and the heaven fled; and no place was found for them. The whole earth was trying to escape the wrath of the Lamb, but no escape will be found.
Rev. 20:12
Who is called before God in the valley of judgment? John saw the dead, the great, the small, standing (hesttas perfect participle their stance was fixed before God) before the throne; and the scrolls (biblia is literally scrolls. Our English word book connotes something different than this word) were opened, and another scroll was opened, which is the scroll of life; the dead were judged on the basis of the things that God had recorded there. The record in the scrolls were according to their works. This passage is just another of many (in Romans, Galatians, James, etc.) which declare that the doctrine of Faith Only is foreign to biblical revelation. This passage of scripture categorically declares that we are all going to be judged according to our works. James, most appropriately compliments when he declares that faith without works is dead (Jas. 2:14 f.)
Rev. 20:13
No one will avoid the hour of the wrath of God merely because they have died. God will call the dead to life again! Death is here personified. The realm of the unseen (for brief statement on hades see Special Study on Major Themes in The Revelation) surrendered its dead. The cemetery will not be a safe place to hide from God on the day that He shall vindicate holiness, righteousness, and justice in His moral universe.
Rev. 20:14
The day God casts death and hades into the lake of fire will cause the skeptic, the scoffer, and the unrepentant to cry for the rocks and the mountains to hide them. But Gods sovereign sway encompasses even the realm of the dead.
Rev. 20:15
This is the final vs. of the great judgment scene. The curtain falls on the drama. The universe has acted out the will and purpose of its Creator. Now God stands before man, the marvel of His creative word either as judge or redeemer. If anyone was not found in the scroll of life, . . . he was cast into the lake of fire with the devil, the beast, and the false prophet and their cohorts of evil. This verse makes it very plain that Gods word has no countenance for a second chance, annihilationism, or for soul sleeping.
Discussion Questions
Chapter 20
1.
What two important factors are mentioned in Rev. 20:1?
2.
Discuss the binding of Satan Rev. 20:2.
3.
Does Rev. 20:3 imply that Satan will break his binding chains by his own might?
4.
What special type of persecution and death had those in Johns vision of Rev. 20:4 gone through?
5.
Discuss the characteristics of the martyrs Rev. 20:6?
6.
What three things does the 1000 years reign involve Rev. 20:6?
7.
Where can we find the names Gog and Magog in the O.T. Rev. 20:8?
8.
How is Faith and Works related according to Rev. 20:12?
9.
What does Rev. 20:15 have to say about the cultic and denominational doctrines of foul sleeping, annihilationism, second chancism?
Special Study
A Sketch of the History of Millennial Theories
With Chart and Bibliography
If we were attempting to provide a comprehensive survey of Millennial theories, it would be necessary to give extended attention to Old Testament and Intertestamental literature, and their doctrine of Last Things. The following works will provide a good basis for such a study. The old, but still very valuable work of Emil Schrer, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Scribner s and Son, New York, chapter 29 of volume two The Messianic Hope, pp. 126189; George Foot Moore, Judaism in the Age of the Tannaim (New Testament Period) volume two, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1950, part 7, The Hereafter, pp. 279395. This is the standard work in English; W.O.E. Oesterley, An Introduction to the Books of The Apocrypha, London, SPCK, 1953 printing, chapter 7 The Doctrinal Teaching of the Apocrypha, pp. 74110; and the now seriously dated, but valuable work for an initial encounter with the issues involved see D. F. Salmond, Christian Doctrine of Immortality, 4th edition, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1901, Books 2 through 5 for biblical Eschatology.
Chronological Method of Interpretation
Before we launch out into our brief survey we believe that it is important to point out that the chronological method of interpreting The Revelation must not be confused with the Millennial Theories under examination. There are four basic chronological interpretations, which are(1) The Historicist Perspective; (2) The Preterist Perspective; (3) The Futurist Perspective; and The Idealist Viewpoint. The first view maintains that The Revelation is a symbolic presentation of the entire history of The Church, from Pentecost to the consummation of The Kingdom of God. The second view asserts that The Revelation covers only the first century. This view repudiates predictive prophecy. This view is simply impossible, if we take the actual declarations of John seriously. The third view claims that Rev. 4:1 through the conclusion will be fulfilled sometime before and following the coming again of Jesus. The fourth view affirms that the symbolic imagery of The Revelation has no particular social or political milieu in mind. Each one of these chronological schemas fail to do justice to The Revelation in that their over emphasis on given issues does not enable them to consider features that are just as clear exegetically as the ones they arbitrarily choose to emphasize.
Eschatological Interpretations of the Revelation
The English word Millennium (1000 years) comes from two Latin words Mille a thousand and annum a year. Millennialism was derived from Jewish belief in the temporal kingdom of the Messiah. The New Testament is very clear that Jesus repudiated this crast, materialistic view of The Kingdom. (All The Revelation, chapter Rev. 20:1 ff.) This serious error found extensive dissemination in the early centuries of The Church. Augustine was largely responsible for destroying the impact of this form of Millennialism, when he interpreted Revelation 20 spiritually in The City of God, Book 20.
A CHART showing the relationship of Millennial Theories. (our English comes directly from the Latin word which means one thousand. The Greek word found in Rev. 20:3 is chilia or thousand) and is related to the coming again of Christ. The three general theories are: (1) Postmillennialism, which holds that Christ will come again at the close of the millennium. (2) Premillennialism holds that chapter 19 reveals the end of the present age, when Christ returns to overcome The Anti-Christ. The saints are supposed to reign with Christ for one thousand years on the earth (chapter Rev. 20:1-8). (3) Amillennialism maintains that Rev. 20:1-8 does not teach a literal thousand year period either before or after Christs coming again.
Each of the eschatological schemes mentioned above are post, pre, or a millennial with respect to the coming again of Christ.
CHART
Rev. 20:1-8 is the only place in the New Testament where the term tachila or the thousand years appears
3.
A-Millennialism Negates or denies that there is a literal Millennium, either before or after Christs coming again
Note: The following reasons are generally offered for claiming that the Millennium mentioned in verse four is literally a physical kingdom on earth through which God rules the world.
(1) The O.T. Kingdom promises cannot be fulfilled in The Church. Why not? If the Millennialists (and especially The Dispensationalists would study the N.T. interpretation of many of these O.T. kingdom prophecies, they would notice immediately that inspired N.T. authors do not interpret the O.T. prophecies in the literal manner in which they interpret them. (See the readable account of James Bales, a non-instrumental brother, listed in our bibliography.
(2) The O.T. teaches a period of universal peace (Isa. 2:4) and universal righteousness (Isa. 11:5). These inspired truths hardly prove the thesis of a literal Millennium. The ultimate fulfillment of the prophecies about peace and righteousness will become a reality only in the City of God.
(3) The early Church was pre-millennial. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Papias all held some form of a materialistic interpretation of the millennium. The fact that these early Church fathers held a pre-millennial theology in no wise proves that this is the N.T. doctrine. In these same patristic fathers we find the clear departure from N.T. teaching concerning the nature of grace, the nature of the ministry, etc.
We are most grateful to The William B. Eerdman Publishing Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan for granting us permission (free of all cost to us) to print chapter 22, pp. 267279, Krommingas work The Millennium in The Church, 1945. This is the best survey of millennial theories readily available in English today.
22
A HISTORICAL SUMMARY
Having now completed our more detailed historical sketch of the course of Christian chiliasm, we are in a position to bring the more important phenomena and representatives together in a birds eye view of the whole field. This will also afford us an opportunity to stress some of the more serious defects which have marred the course of Christian chiliasm. Reserving the critical remarks for the next chapter, we shall devote the present one to a catalogue of representative men and groups. We begin with a list of the chiliastic writers of the Ancient Church and some opponents.
1.
Barnabas is the oldest Amillennialist, though he worked with the idea of a world-sabbath and with Daniels ten kings. His antijudaism went to the length of denying the Covenant to the Jews ever since Sinai; a feature which puts him in touch with so modern a Premillenarian as Scofield. But Barnabas applies the promises to Israel unhesitatingly to the Christian Church.
2.
Justin Martyr is the first definitely premillenarian writer. He posits a restoration of Jerusalem and a thousand year reign of Christ with both the Old and New Testament believers on earth with that city as the capital; all on the basis of the chiliastic proof text of Revelation 20 and some other biblical material.
3.
Ireneus was both premillenarian and covenantal. To him, antichrist was the beast of the Apocalypse. His antignostic polemics threw the emphasis on the beginning of the millennium and neglected its close. He introduced extracanonical proof in the tradition of Papias concerning a future wonderful productivity of the earth. He tried to give rationality to the idea of the millennium, but found it in its significance for the resurrected saints rather than for continuing earthly society.
4.
Montanus combined with the idea of a future earthly reign of Christ the novel idea of a preparatory age of the Holy Spirit. This was a slighting of Pentecost and an exaltation of Montanist prophecy to the level of canonicity. His expectation of the New Jerusalem in Phrygia marks him as nonjudaistic and as confused on the relation between the millennium and the eternal state.
5.
Tertullian became an adherent of Montanism in spite of the fact that events had disproved the new prophecy. He reverted, however, to the traditional connection of the millennial Jerusalem with Palestine, saw a fulfilment of Montanist prediction in a natural phenomenon, and developed a theory of successive educational dispensations. In him and Montanus both a kind of trinitarian division of history appears.
6.
Nepos, an Egyptian opponent of Origen, was premillenarian, emphasized the physical to the obscuration of the spiritual, and was esteemed by his followers as practically on a level with, if not superior to, Scripture as to authoritativeness.
7.
Commodianus was a Premillenarian who held that Nero would return as antichrist and that the seven years of tribulation would be divided between him and Elias. He spoke of the whore Babylon and of a Latin conqueror who would pose as the Christ, and of a liberation of Jerusalem by Christ in His return. The New Jerusalem he placed before the thousand years, and the judgment after them. In the millennium the saints were to have offspring and to be served by the resurrected nobler pagans.
8.
Hippolytus, whether an Amillenarian or a Premillenarian, was explicit on the precursory signs of Christs second advent. The toes of Nebuchadnezzars image and the horns of Daniels fourth beast he identified with ten kings of the end-time belonging to the Roman Empire and with ten democracies. Antichrist he expected from the tribe of Dan, and the number 666 he found in the name Lateinos.
9.
Methodius, the opponent of Origen, spoke of two resurrections and of the resurrection of the righteous at the beginning of the Feast of the Ten Virgins. To him, the thousand years were at the same time the day of judgment; first of all, of professing Christians. Due to our lack of sources, his chiliasm remains somewhat obscure.
10.
Victorinus of Petau was premillenarian, seeing the true Sabbath in the millennium, when Christ and His saints shall reign. However, a commentary on the Apocalypse which goes by his name is Augustinian in its understanding of the millennium-passage and thus presents a puzzle.
11.
Lactantius was premillenarian. He accepted the creation-week-history-periods theory, expected two resurrections, and expected procreation to continue in the millennium, in which Christ will rule from Jerusalem and the living nations will be slave-laborers. The transition to it will be made when ten militaristic kings rule; three of them in Asia, whom the eleventh, the antichrist, will overthrow. The millennium will see some glorification of nature, and at its end the devil will be permitted to make war on the saints. The sixth millennium he expected to end in the near future.
12.
Apollinaris, who tried his hand at constructing a doctrine of the two natures of Christ, was a Premillenarian, according to the testimony of Jerome.
13.
Origen had opposed some crass chiliasm, but had explained the physical away from the eschatological hope. In his anti-materialism he was not followed by Augustine, but in his opposition to a carnal millennialism he was.
14.
Augustine changed from Premillennialism to Amillennialism, repulsed by the carnality of the premillenarian expectations that were then current. He would, however, not condemn a spiritual understanding of the millennium, which would see its joys in the fellowship with God. He became the father, at least in general thought, of the amillenarian exegesis of the millennium-passage of Revelation 20. The reign of the saints with Christ he distributed over the saints in heaven, the believers victory over lusts, and the rule of the millennium, the end of which he deemed to be near. Then would come the resurrection of the body, the first resurrection of Revelation 20 being the spiritual resurrection which consists in regeneration by the water of baptism.
Thus we see, that the Ancient Church witnessed the emergence of Amillennialism, of starters for Postmillenarianism, and of practically all the material with which historical Premillenarians work to this day. The fact that Premillenarianism subsided instead of winning out is connected with the three names of Origen, the father of Christian Gnosticism; Constantine, who changed the social and political status of the Christian religion; and Augustine, who furnished the interpretation of Revelation 20 which eliminates from it the conception of a distinct millennial period at the close of earthly history. This was the eschatological heritage which the Middle Ages took over; and we have to review next, what the Medieval Church made of it.
1.
While the continuing dominance of the Church in Western Europe assured the continued prevalence of the amillenarian position, the passing of the year 1000 A.D., made Augustines expectations as to the nearness of the end of history untenable. The date for the return of Christ was therefore shifted by some from the year 1000 after the birth of Christ to the year 1000 after His passion and, as a last possibility of thus stretching the period, to the year 1065, in which year Good Friday and the Day of the Annunciation coincided.
2.
Thereafter modifications of the Augustinian scheme became necessary for taking care of the years beyond the end of the first Christian millennium. This need stimulated the re-editing of the Sibylline Oracles, which Lactantius had already quoted to Constantine the Great in support of his premillenarian views. The new visions of those oracles predicted in various forms a universal Christian rule of some duration before the end. They manifest a tendency to transpose Gog and Magog from the end of the millennium to the place where antichrist appears before its beginning.
3.
A third step in this process of altering the Augustinian tradition was taken when such predictions lost their apocryphal character and came forward as undisguised contemporary prophecy in such persons as Hildegard of St. Ruperts near Bingen. In her they concentrated on the need of a reform of the Church in criticism of existing ecclesiastical conditions; and thenceforth the hope of a perfection of the Church overshadows the missionary and political hopes in the complex of Christian ideals for the earthly future.
4.
Joachim of Floris became the great formulator of this new millennial ideal of the Pure Church. The scriptural basis on which the hope rested was shifted from the millennium-passage to Christs promise of the Comforter after Montanist example, and Joachim constructed a scheme of periods in the history of redemption and revelation which utilized scriptural elements to arrive at the year 1260, A.D., as the date for the initiation of the Age of the Spirit, which Age was expected to bring a deeper understanding of Holy Writ under monastic guidance.
5.
Amalrich of Bena was a contemporary of Joachim, but his teachings fell under the suspicion of pantheism. Pantheistic chiliasm was further developed by David of Dinant, who taught a trinity of God, spirit, and matter; and by William the Goldsmith. The coming of the Spirit was interpreted in an antinomian sense as releasing believers from the obligations imposed by the New Testament. This dangerous heresy was quickly condemned by the hierarchy and was driven underground.
6.
Meanwhile, the Franciscan Spirituals came on the scene and in their conflict with the papacy they laid hold on Joachims chiliastic teachings in the person of Gerardino di Borgo San Donnino, who gave them a heretical twise by seeing the fulfilment of Joachims predictions in the Mendicant Orders, his own Order especially, and by elevating Joachims writings, as they promised Eternal Gospel of Rev. 14:6, to a rank equal with and superseding the Bible.
7.
This new heresy was attacked by William of St. Amour in an attempt to bar the Mendicants from teaching positions in the university of Paris and in general. He adopted, nevertheless, the idea of a final period of peace before the end. The defender of the Dominicans and the lax Franciscans was Thomas Aquinas, who expected a universal dominance of the Roman Catholic Church before the end.
8.
The Franciscan Spiritual understanding of Joachim was continued, in the face of its disproof by the events and of its condemnation by the Church, by Peter John Olivi, who identified the hierarchical Church with the apocalypic Babylon, and by Ubertino de Casale, who identified the papacy with the apocalyptic Beast. Also Segarelli and Dolcino are related to this tradition, who expected the reform of the Church to come about through the medium of some Perfect Pope.
9.
Roger Bacon shared in these postmillenarian expectations of a reform of the Church; but in him all the definiteness of the Franciscan Spiritual interpretation of the Joachite views and of these views themselves was stripped off.
10.
Arnaldus of Villanova, like Bacon interested in nature study and, as medic, in a study of the human body, expanded the chiliastic speculations so as to include social and physical changes. He saw the hoped-for reform predicted in the Apocalypse under the sixth seal, expected the reform to be accomplished by an angelic pope, and paved the way for the combination of chiliasm with theosophy. He also developed the suggestion of communism, which lies in the community of goods practiced at first by the Jerusalem Church, and the medieval ideal of apostolic poverty, in the communistic direction. John Pupper of Goch later echoed these notes.
11.
Peter Aureoli, a theologian, thought his age was the sixth age, the time of the first resurrection, of which he conceived as a renovation of the whole world, freeing it from error and atrocities, and which age had begun with the labors of Dominic and Francis.
12.
Milicz of Kremsier viewed heretics, Beghards, etc., as Gog and Magog, from whom the Church must and will be purged before the consummation. He also had a suspicion that the emperor might be antichrist.
While virtually all these medieval chiliasts were of the Pure Church and the postmillennial type, they expected or saw the appearance and overthrow of antichrist before the initiation of the millennium, and in so far they kept the millennium in its proper place as indicated in the order of Johns visions. It is only in modern Postmillennialism, as it seems, that the figure of antichrist is either toned down or else transposed from its position preceding the millennium to a position at its end. As in the case of Premillennialism and the Ancient Church, so in the case of Postmillennialism and the Medieval Church, the development of the central idea and ideal was rather complete, and the Modern Church fell heir to both, the ancient political ideal and the medieval ecclesiastical ideal. A brief review of what it did with these two ideals completes our short historical survey. Naturally the picture becomes far more complex than it ever was before. We follow the chronological order in listing the more prominent names.
1.
The early Anabaptists combined both premillenarian and postmillenarian elements. Hans Hut and Melchior Hoffmann were premillenarian, expecting the initiation of the millennial reign by Christ in His return. But at Muenster the revolutionary activism of Jan Mathijs and Jan Buckelsen, trying to establish the kingdom by force, implied postmillenarian assumptions. Their revolutionism goes back to Thomas Muenzer. The Huterian Brethren, who practiced community of goods, never shared it. The Muenster antinomianism was continued by David Joris and Henry Nicholas in a pantheistic sense. The early Anabaptists cherished both the Pure Church and the Kingdom ideal, since they viewed themselves as the former and tried to establish the latter by force.
2.
The English Congregationalists adopted and incorporated a postmillenarian article in their modification of the Westminster Confession, the Savoy Declaration, in 1658.
3.
At about the same time the Fifth Monarchy Men appeared in England, who were laboring for the establishment of the reign of Christ or the Fifth Monarchy of Daniel. A trifle later their insurrection under Venner compromised Independency with Charles II.
4.
Meanwhile, Valentine Weigel had made the combination of chiliasm with theosophy in continental Lutheranism. He conceived of the Age of the Spirit, which is Christs rule in us, as imminent and as bringing the end of commerce and of procreation.
5.
Jacob Boehme continued the combination of chiliasm with theosophy. On the one hand he extended salvation beyond the sphere of the knowledge of the Gospel to that of the Inner Light, but on the other his theosophy was dualistic, holding no hope for the final restitution of all creatures. The nature of the saved he expected to be androgynous.
6.
The Behmenists of England were monistic, teaching the restitution of all things, the devil included. Jane Leade and John Pordage were leaders among them. Pantheism and mysticism outweighed their Christianity. Jane Leade had visions of the divine virgin Sophia. They were contemporaries of the Fifth Monarchy Men.
7.
In the Netherlands, Jodocus van Lodensteyn thought of a monastic reform of the National Church, and Jean de Labadie took such a reform in hand, trying to establish the Pure Church of the Regenerate only.
8.
Johannes Cocceius became the father of dispensationalism, cutting the difference between the Mosaic and the New Testament dispensation so deep as to impair the unity of the Covenant of Grace, though he expected the reign of Christ and the conversion of Jews and Gentiles to come about swiftly at the end without a millennium.
9.
Philip Jacob Spener, the father of Lutheran Pietism, was chiliastic, expecting a period of the Pure Church, toward the end of which period there will be a lack of faith.
10.
J. W. Petersen, Lutheran superintendent, and his wife, E. von Merlau, passed from Pietism to chiliasm and from that to theosophy, receiving verification of the doctrine of the restitution of all things by direct revelation. He began the list of dispensations with a first one at the creation of the angels and closed the list with a last one for the salvation of the devil.
11.
Wm. A. Brakel placed a millennium between the antichrist and Gog and Magog, but expected no physical return of Christ for its initiation. He taught three New Testament periods preceding it: one of the apocalyptic seals, covering the period of the early persecutions of the Church by the pagan Roman Empire; one of the apocalyptic trumpets, covering the period from Constantine the Great till the close of the Reformation about 1560, during which time the antichrist became dominant; and one of the apocalyptic vials, covering the period after 1560 and bringing the judgment on antichrist and the gradual destruction of his rule. To Brakel the beast was antichrist in his political aspect and the false prophet was antichrist in his ecclesiastical aspect, and antichrist was the pope. Brakels millennium was of the Pure Church type but had also Reign-of-Christ elements.
12.
The sufferings of the Huguenots under Louis XIV gave rise to the French Prophets, who appeared first among the Camisards in the Cevennes, but spread to other countries in the flood of refugees. In England they made rather a stir for a short season, and in Germany they communicated prophetism indirectly to groups in the Wetterau.
13.
F. A. Lampe was postmillenarian and expected the destruction of the pope and the Turk at the beginning of the millennium and the final judgment at its end. He gave a great impulse to experientialism.
14.
Among the Reformed of Germany chiliasm became premillenarian in the person of Jung-Stilling, whose millennial expectations embraced both the Pure Church and the Reign of Christ.
15.
J. A. Bengel was the first Lutheran chiliast who succeeded in giving chiliasm scholarly dignity. On the basis of intricate calculations he expected the second advent of Christ to come in 1836.
16.
Among the followers of Bengel. F. C. Oetinger combined chiliasm with Swedenborgian speculations. He believed in communication with the dead; that is, spiritism; as did Swedenborg.
17.
Swedenborg himself interpreted the second coming of Christ as an inward experience which to his mind constituted the establishment of the Church of the New Jerusalem. He identified angels with dead men in happiness and devils with such in despair.
18.
F. Flattich, among continental Lutherans, identified the religiously indifferent civil governments of the time of the enlightenment with Babel.
19.
The Holy Alliance, entered into by Alexander I of Russia, Francis I of Austria, and Frederick William III of Prussia, had a post-millennarian coloring traceable to the influence of Madame de Kruedener, a pietistic friend of the Tzar. Its hollowness contributed to the antipathy of political liberals to Christianity.
20.
Among chiliastic organizations the Catholic Apostolic Church is prominent. It became fully organized with twelve modern apostles in 1835. It enjoyed, according to the brief of its members, the revival of the charismatic gifts of prophetism and the speaking in tongues. Its apostolate it conceived of as a restoration of Christs second apostolate, originally represented only by Paul and serving the conversion of the gentiles, and postponed because of corruption. But the corrupt Church, Babylon, is now ripe for judgment. The great tribulation will intervene between the resurrection and rapture of the saints and the overthrow of Satan. Then the millennial reign of Christ and His saints will come. For the escape of believers from the great tribulation they invented a ceremony of sealing.
21.
Of about the same time dates the other important chiliastic church organization, the Plymouth Brethren. They have no apostolate, but have the guidance of the Spirit. They distinguish an initial second coming of Christ to reward His people according to their conduct and a further coming of Christ with His people for the judgment of the living nations. While the Irvingians believed sealing was necessary for escape from the great tribulation, the Darbyites held that no Christian shall pass through it. The teachings of the Catholic Apostolic group and the Plymouth Brethren have greatly influenced recent Premillennialism.
22.
In America, Wm. Miller became the father of Second Adventism from 1831 onward. His date-setting failed and was abandoned, but his followers organized in several groups, including the Seventh-day Adventists.
23.
Sabbatarian were also the followers of Johanna Southcote.
24.
A number of chiliastic organizations arose which practised communism, and the United States became their refuge. In themselves too small to count for much, their oddities attract much attention and thus give occasion for much indirect influence of some of their ideas.
25.
Joseph Smith, the father of Mormonism, incorporated in his parody of Christianity chiliastic elements, as appears in the name of the Latter Day Saints.
26.
Christian Science is akin to theosophy, and the question may be asked, in how far modern theosophy has been fed by the theosophic strains which have appeared again and again in modern chiliasm.
27.
The followers of Charles Taze Russell and his successor, Judge Rutherford, recently posing as Jehovahs Witnesses, must be mentioned. Mathematical calculations connected with the measurements of the Great Pyramid of Gizeh are combined with superficial and misleading scriptural exegesis in support of views which include such heresies as the denial of the deity of our Lord.
28.
The Princeton theologian Dr. Charles Hodge must be mentioned as a Calvinistic Postmillenarian who expected the universal preaching of the Gospel to result in the conversion of Jews and gentiles and a final period of great prosperity of Christianity before the appearance of antichrist and his overthrow by the Lord.
This diversity and complexity of the modern chiliastic chart reflects the diversity and complexity of modern Christianity, from which all outward controls have effectually disappeared. This situation makes it difficult to put into a few words any further brief characterization of these views. It is, however, possible to disentangle certain definite strands from the web; such as communistic chiliasm, sectarian chiliasm, political chiliasm, theosophical chiliasm, and dispensational chiliasm. These strains run parallel to the old distinct types of premillenarian and postmillenarian chiliasm and combine with either the one or the other in varying measure, and they embody in a greater or lesser degree either one or both of the old ideals of the Pure Church and of the Reign of Christ. At the same time they furnish the categories into which our criticisms of the historical course of Christian chiliasm must fall.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Allis, O. T., Prophecy and The Church; The Presbyterian and Reformed Pub. Co., Philadelphia, 1945. Excellent answer to dispensationalists claims by brilliant Calvinistic, Old Testament scholar.
Bales, James D., New Testament Interpretations of Old Testament Prophecies of The Kingdom, The Harding College Press, Searcy, Arkansas, 1950. This is a very useful answer to Dispensationalism by a very able non-instrument brother. Dr. Bales shows that the New Testament does not interpret Old Testament Kingdom prophecies literally as does Dispensational Hermeneutics.
Boettner, Loraine, The Millennium, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1958. Very good introductory statement.
Feinberg, Charles L., Premillennialism or Amillennialism? Van Kampen Press, Wheaton, Illinois, 1954. This work by a Dispensationalist is an excellent outline of their system of hermeneutics, if one wants one volume which will provide him with the issues under scrutiny this one would.
Kromminga, D. H., The Millennium in The Church, Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., Grand Rapids, 1945. This is a very good historical survey by a conservative Calvinist.
Kromminga, D.H., The Millennium: Its Nature, Function, and Relation to the Consummation of the World.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(11) And I saw a great white throne . . .Or, And I saw a great white throne, and Him that was seated thereon, from whose face fled the earth and the heaven, and place was not found for them. The throne is described as great and white, to set it in strong contrast to other thrones mentioned in the book, e.g., Rev. 4:4; Rev. 20:4. It is a white throne, in token of the purity of the judgment which follows. He who sits upon it is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. It is asked, Who is He that is seated here? Throughout the book God is called Him that sitteth upon the throne (Rev. 4:3; Rev. 5:1); but we must not understand this as excluding the Son of God, who sits with His Father on His throne (Rev. 3:21), and who, as Son of Man, declared that He would sit upon the throne of His glory and divide all the nations as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats (Mat. 25:31-32; comp. also Rev. 6:16; Rev. 11:15-18). At the face of Him who sits upon the throne the heaven and earth flee. Hengstenberg interprets this of the putting out of the way all of the irrational creation which had been pressed into the service of sin. Gebhardt interprets it of the destruction of the whole present visible world. A comparison, however, of the imagery employed in Rev. 6:12-14; Rev. 16:19-20, should make us cautious of asserting that any great physical catastrophe is described here. Doubtless revolution must precede renewal (Rev. 21:1); but it is never safe to ground our expectations of the nature of such changes upon language which is confessedly poetical in form. Some physical revolutions do in all probability await our earth, but the eye of the prophet looks more to the moral and spiritual regeneration of the worldmore to the spiritual well-being of mankind, than to any physical changes which may synchronise with the culmination of the worlds moral history.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE FINAL JUDGMENT AND AWARDS, Rev 20:11 to Rev 22:5.
1. The throne, the resurrection, and vanishing earth, Rev 20:11-12.
As we approach the great finalities a change seems to be made in the mode of representation from the symbolical to the more exactly pictorial. Truths are exhibited less by representative images and more by literal presentation. But, 1. This is rather a difference of degree than of kind. A symbol is selected, usually, for some resemblance by which it suggests the symbolized object. A picture, therefore, is only a symbol with an increased amount of resemblance, even until it becomes an exact pictorial likeness of the object. 2. When we come to the last events, symbols grow difficult to comprehend, and direct picture becomes necessary. Even then the picture becomes the best representation of the fact for us, in our present earthly state. What obliges the interpreter to view this exhibition of last things as approaching so near to an exact likeness as to be essentially a literal description of supernal events and objects is the correspondence with other passages of Scripture, which are to be held literal, unless we would lose all certainty of interpretation. John’s pictures of the finality, while more symmetrically pictorial, agree with those of Christ, (Joh 5:25-29; Mat 25:31-46😉 Paul, (1Co 15:22-28; 2Th 1:7-10😉 Peter, (2Pe 3:7; 2Pe 3:10; 2Pe 3:12-13😉 John, (Rev 6:12-17😉 and James (Jas 5:3; Jas 5:7).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
11. I saw From what standpoint did the seer behold the throne? See note Rev 21:5.
Great white throne ”Great,” says Bishop Newton, “to show the largeness and extent, and white to show the justice and equity, of the judgment.”
Him that sat on it ”None other,” says Newton, “than the Son of God, for (Joh 5:22) the Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son.” And this entire passage is to be identified with Mat 25:31-46. The great white throne here, is the throne of his glory there. And each entire passage supplements the other. This excludes the great pre-millennial error of imagining Rev 19:11-21, to be the judgment-advent.
From whose face Homer’s image of Jupiter sitting upon his throne, nodding with his ambrosial curls, and shaking all Olympus with his nod, has been admired for its sublimity. But how small its imagery compared with this enthroned One, from before whose face creation flees!
Earth fled Hence, a new heaven and a new earth appears at Rev 21:1.
No place for them The apparent meaning is, not that the face of the earth is changed and renewed; but that the very solid globe itself vacates its place and disappears. This implies not annihilation, but removal and departure of the old, and substitution of the new. And this seems to coincide with 2Pe 3:10, “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise.” See note there.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vision 9 The Great White Throne and the New Jerusalem ( Rev 20:11 to Rev 21:8 ).
The Great White Throne ( Rev 20:11-15
‘And I saw a great white throne, and he who sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.’
Once again a vision brings us to the judgment day, but now it is prior to a description of everlasting blessing for the people of God. Previously events have led up to the judgment day, depicted in a number of ways. Now a vision commences with the judgment day and leads up to what lies beyond. This time, rather than being described in terms of earthquakes and great hail, it is described more in terminology similar to Mat 25:31-46 and Dan 7:26. The throne is great (it is the only throne described as great) because of Him Who sits on it, Whom we must see as Christ Himself, for God has committed all judgment to His Son (Joh 5:22; Act 17:31). The throne is white because of the purity and righteousness of the Judge. There are no thunders and lightnings and voices as previously, only a solemn silence before the great Judge. Yet we must recognise that all are but pictures. In the heavenly world there are no physical thrones and neither the Father nor the Son need to sit on one in order to judge. This grand and solemn scene is human to the core. But what it actually reveals is fully true, and far more solemn than the picture. It indicates that God will call all men into solemn judgment. Every man will have to give account of himself to God.
The same truth is pictured elsewhere by means of reapers, earthquakes, great hail and fear before the coming One. But all are saying the same thing. Man is called to account in one way or another and then suffers punishment from the wrath of God against sin.
‘There was found no place for them.’ Earth and heaven flee from His majesty (compare Mar 13:31; 2Pe 3:10). But this in itself should warn us that we must be careful about taking things too literally. Now there is no creation in which a throne can be set. Heaven and earth have fled at the presence of God. The point of course is that they not only flee in awe before Him but that they have completed the purpose for which they were created and are no longer required. This is apocalyptic language similar to Rev 6:13-14.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Great White Throne Judgment Rev 20:11-15 gives us details of the Great White Throne Judgment that will take place at the end of the Millennial Reign of Christ. This judgment focuses upon the dead, which are those sinners who did not accept Christ Jesus as their Saviour.
Rev 20:11 “And I saw a great white throne” Comments This is the only place in Scripture where the throne of God is describes as “white.”
Rev 20:11 “from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away” Comments This is a figurative way of saying that at this time God will destroy the present heavens and the earth. It will take place during the process of the Great White Throne Judgment. For after this event, Rev 21:1 tells us that John saw a new heavens and a new earth.
2Pe 3:12-14, “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”
Rev 20:12 “and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life” – Comments The Scriptures reveal that there are several books in Heaven. One book records man’s works, and another book lists those saints who have accepted Christ as their Saviour.
Rev 20:12 Comments For a description of the judgment of the saints, we can go to the epistle of First Corinthians.
1Co 3:10-15, “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
2Co 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
Rev 20:13 “and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them” Comments – A sinner first experiences death, then goes to hell.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The last judgment:
v. 11. And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
v. 12. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
v. 13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works.
v. 14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
v. 15. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. In a few bold strokes the prophet sketches the picture of the last Judgment: And I saw a great white throne and Him that sat upon it, from whose presence there fled the earth and the heaven, and a place was not found for them. This is the throne of Christ, to whom the Father committed the Judgment. It is a white and pure throne of everlasting innocence, holiness, and justice. He is, however, no longer the poor Son of Man in His state of humiliation, but the exalted King and almighty Judge, before the aspect of whose face the very earth and heaven itself turned away and fled, because they could not endure those flaming eyes with their awful portent of judgment. he heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, 2Pe 3:12.
The Judge being present, the last great trial may open; all men must appear before His judgment-seat: And I saw the dead, the great as well as the small, standing before the throne; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which was that of life. And the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hell gave up the dead that were in them; and they were judged, every one according to their works. No matter where men may have found death, whether on sea or on land; no matter where their souls may be on that day, whether in hell or in heaven, they must be reunited with their bodies to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. And then the record-books will be brought out and opened, the books of guilt and damnation, where the names of those are recorded that remained in unbelief and enmity until the end, as well as the Book of Life with the lists of those that were faithful unto death. Not one name will be omitted; every man’s name will be found in either the one or the other group. As their faith or their unbelief manifested itself in their works, so will the Lord render His sentence. And from that sentence there will be no appeal, that will decide the eternal fate of every person that ever lived in this world. It is the inevitable doom.
The bliss of the believers having been indicated above and a description following in the next chapter, the doom of the enemies of God is very briefly indicated: And death and hell were thrown into the lake of fire. These two great enemies of mankind, that have dogged its footsteps ever since the first sin, will be disposed of forever in a punishment which fits their crime: This is the second death, the lake of fire. From this death all children of God are free, since they are partakers of the first resurrection, since the second death, eternal damnation, has no power over them. But as for the unbelievers: And if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. In the Book of Life are recorded the names of all those that are in Christ Jesus. These not even death can separate from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The absence of any one’s name from this book, however, means that he is condemned forever to the place where their worm will not die, neither will their fire be quenched, and they will be an abhorrence to all flesh.
Summary
The seer describes the era of comparative quiet, during which the Church of Christ will be propagated, followed by the loosing of Satan, his subsequent attempt, with the aid of all antichristian forces, to overthrow the Church, and his condemnation to everlasting torment; the chapter closes with a brief description of the lest Judgment.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Rev 20:11. The course of these prophesies, after many important visions describing the state of the church and world in this present life, brings us at last to the great and final judgment, when the whole scene and mystery of Providence and Grace shall be finished. Then the great doctrine, which runs through the whole of these prophesies; will be fullyverified, that truth and righteousness shall surely prevail in the end against error and all iniquity; eternal happiness shall be the reward of the faithful, and everlasting destruction the punishment of the wicked.This is represented as a sixth period of Providence, after which there will be, in the seventh, an everlasting sabbath; a state of eternal rest and happiness for all the righteous, and of the most perfect worship of God in the praises and devotions of the heavenly church.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rev 20:11-15. I saw a great white throne, &c. Great, to shew the largeness and extent; white, to shew the justice and equity of the judgment; and one siting on it, that is, the Son of God; for the Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son,
Joh_5:22 . ‘The expression, that it was he from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, is inconceivably great; it is so plain, that it does not need, and so majestic and grand, that it exceeds commentary and paraphrase: it shews us, that this is properly the end of the world. The dead, both small and great, of all ranks and degrees, as well those who perished at sea, and were buried in the waters, as those who died at land, and were buried in graves, are all raised, and stand before the judgment seat of God, where they are judged every man according to their works, as exactly as if all their actions had been recorded in books; Rev 20:13. They who are found not worthy to be enrolled in the registers of heaven, are cast into the lake of fire; whither also were cast death and hell, or the grave, which are here personified, as they are likewise in other places of holy scripture. It may seem strange that death should be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death; Rev 20:14. But the meaning is, thattemporal death, which hitherto had exercised dominion over the race of men, shall be totally abolished, and, with respect to the wicked, be converted into eternal death. Then, as St. Paul says, shall be brought to pass that which is written, &c. 1Co 15:54-55 .
Inferences and REFLECTIONS.What a glorious time of light, liberty, love and peace, purity, joy and triumph, shall the church of true believers enjoy upon earth, after many years of darkness, trouble, and oppression! The Lord Jesus will bind and shut up Satan, that old serpent, the devil, as in prison: the cause of truth and holiness shall revive with great power, spirituality, and splendor: and they, who, with the constancy, patience, and spirit of martyrs, had courageously renounced all idolatry, wickedness, and error, and maintained a good profession of Christ and of his gospel in the worst of times, shall, together with their successors of the same spirit, live and reign with him, under his protection and smiles, for a thousand years upon the earth. And O with what honour and acceptance will they then appear, like royal priests to him, and to God the Father through him! But how vain would it be to expect an everlasting continuance of such a happy state on this earth! At the expiration of the thousand years, Satan will, in some measure, be let loose again for a little while, and be permitted to go forth, once more, to deceive the nations throughout the world, and gather all his numberless forces together from among them, who may be compared to Gog and Magog, those last enemies of Israel, to attack and disturb the saints, the beloved city of the Lord. But, blessed be God, this regained power and last effort will be very short, and certainly end in the utter destruction of the devil, and of all his adherents, who shall be consumed by fire from heaven, and cast into everlasting flames with him: for Christ will set his throne for judgment, and the present frame of the earth and aerial heaven shall be dissolved at his appearing. Then there shall be a general resurrection of the dead, wheresoever they were buried, in the earth or in the sea; and the final judgment of all mankind will, upon trial out of the books which shall be opened, publicly and unalterably determine the eternal state of every one of them for inexpressible happiness, or misery, according to their respective works, whether they be good or bad. Then all the ungodly, whose bodies were dead, and whose souls had been in a separate state, shall, according to the just sentence passed upon them for their evil deeds, be cast into everlasting burnings. But O the happiness of the righteous; as described in the following chapter!
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rev 20:11-15 . The judgment of the world. All the dead appear before the enthroned God as Judge. They who are not written in the book of life are cast together with Death and Hades into the lake of fire.
. Designation of a new vision. [4226]
. The greatness , as well as the whiteness , corresponding to the glory and holiness of the Judge sitting thereon, distinguishes this throne from that beheld previously (Rev 20:4 ).
. The one meant is not the Messiah, [4227] but God speaking (Rev 21:5-6 ), [4228] and designated at Rev 4:3 . [4229] Ew. ii. understands God and Christ. [4230]
, cf. Rev 16:20 . Beng. explains the visible representation excellently: “Not from one place to another, but so that it has no longer a place.” Cf. Rev 21:1 . , 2Pe 3:10 .
A new part of the vision proceeding still further ( , Rev 20:12 ), attests the view thereof, as all the dead [4231] stand before the throne, and receive their sentence.
The (Rev 20:12 ), in the connection of the whole, has a precisely similar relation to the description Rev 20:13 ( . , . . .), as in ch. 15 Rev 20:1 has to Rev 20:6 , since it is not reported more definitely (Rev 20:13 ) whence the dead who stand before the judgment-seat have come. [4232] Bengel improperly regards the (Rev 20:12 ) as those who live to see the day of the parousia , [4233] by understanding the figuratively, [4234] and distinguishing this from the resurrection of those actually dead (Rev 20:13 ).
. Cf. Dan 7:10 . In these books the are to be regarded as written, in accordance with which men are judged. [4235]
. This book, “the book of life,” is only one; it contains the names of all those who [4236] will be partakers of the eternal blessed life in the new Jerusalem. [4237] According to the ethical fundamental view, which is supported especially by the promises, ch. 2, 3, both kinds of books are to be received in their inner relation to one another, that always according to the works which stand indicated in the , the names of men are, or are not, found in the . [See Note XCII., p. 474.] As in Rev 20:12 the entire number of the dead was designated by a natural specification referring to their personality, so in Rev 20:13 this idea is presented by a specification of another sort; every place where there are any dead, gives them back. The more manifest this is as an exhaustive designation of all places of concealment of the dead, the more perverted appears the assertion of Hengstenberg and Ebrard, [4238] that the means not the actual sea, but only “the sea of nations;” [4239] but from the text ( . . , . . ., cf. Rev 20:14 ), it does not, therefore, follow that John seriously advocated the view according to which those contained in the sea had not reached Hades. [4240] John does not indeed refer to a wandering of souls in a watery grave, but simply represents those lying dead in the sea as coming forth from the same. Thus, in Rev 20:13 , that is described which, according to the analogy of Rev 20:5 , may be termed the second resurrection. Since Rev 20:5 is understood as applying to all believers, this is only the resurrection of those who are to be delivered (Rev 20:15 ) to the second death, i.e., to eternal torture in the lake of fire. But from this it does not follow that Rev 20:12 , in its clearly designated entirety of all the (risen, Rev 20:5 ; Rev 20:13 ) dead, does not comprise those saints; [4241] but in the general judgment of the world, that is expressly affirmed of those saints which was already guaranteed to them by the first resurrection and their thousand-years’ reign, [4242] because their names were found written in the book of life. [4243] But that the statement (Rev 20:15 ) expressly describes the fate only of the unbelieving, is natural for the reason that in this passage the entire judgment of condemnation is concluded, in connection with which, then, the description of the eternal glory of believers, to which the entire Apocalypse is directed, [4244] may be given the more fully for their consolation and encouragement.
, . . . Death and Hades, which (Rev 20:13 ) [4245] are locally represented here, [4246] appear personified as demoniacal powers, whose eternal removal [4247] is a presupposition to the eternal life of the glorified [4248] [See Note XCIII., p. 474.] . “This death is the second” (death). Thus the correct reading is to be translated. [4249] The apposition , construed according to sense, declares that the second death which is followed by no resurrection consists in the . . . . (Rev 21:8 ). The first death is easily understood as the end of the earthly life.
[4226] Rev 20:1 ; Rev 20:4 ; Rev 19:11 ; Rev 17:18 .
[4227] Mat 26:31 . Beng, Eichh., Ew. i., etc.
[4228] Cf. Rev 1:8 .
[4229] Cf. also Dan 7:9 . Zll., De Wette, Hengstenb.
[4230] “One of two in complete undividedness” (?).
[4231] Concerning the exhaustive specification . . , cf. Rev 11:18 , Rev 13:16 .
[4232] Zll., De Wette.
[4233] Cf. also Hengstenb.
[4234] Mat 8:22 .
[4235] Rev 20:12 b , Rev 20:13 . Cf. Rev 2:1 ; Rev 2:5 ; Rev 2:19 ; Rev 3:1 ; Rev 3:8 ; Rev 3:15 .
[4236] Rev 20:15 . Cf. Rev 3:5 .
[4237] Rev 21:1 sqq.
[4238] Cf. Augustine, etc.
[4239] Hengstenb.
[4240] Cf. Achilles, Tat., V. 313: , [“They say that those swallowed up in the waters do not entirely descend to Hades, but wander there about the water”]. Wetst., De Wette.
[4241] Against Hengstenb., etc.
[4242] Cf. Rev 20:6 with Rev 20:14 sq.
[4243] Cf. Rev 21:21 .
[4244] Rev 21:1 sqq.
[4245] Cf. Rev 1:18 .
[4246] Cf. Rev 6:8 .
[4247] Cf. Isa 25:8 ; 1Co 15:26 .
[4248] Cf. Rev 21:4 .
[4249] Cf. the Critical Notes. The gives: This is the second death.
NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR
XCII. Rev 20:12 .
As Hengstenberg notes, there is a contrast. No name can be both in the and the . When erased from the one, by the blood of the Lamb (1Jn 1:9 ; Rev 13:8 ), it is inserted in the other. Luthardt: “He whom God finds standing in life enters into eternal life.” Thus the idea of the is not restricted to future life, but comprehends that also which then is both present and past.
NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR
XCIII. Rev 20:14 . , . . .
Luthardt: “Death and the state of death that have hitherto prevailed have now an end, not judged, but annihilated (1Co 15:26 ), first for the Church, then for humanity; but for unbelieving humanity, to give place to eternal fire.” Gebhardt: “Death is not simply destroyed; but as a diabolical power, the auxiliary or instrument of the evil one (cf. Heb 2:14-15 ), it is abolished forever, made innocuous, condemned, and annihilated (cf. 1Co 15:26 ).”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
SECTION SEVENTH
The New Heaven and the New Earth. The Kingdom of Glory
Rev 20:11 to Rev 22:5
A.IDEAL HEAVENLY WORLD-PICTURE OF THE CONSUMMATIONABOUT TO CHANGE TO THE REAL WORLD-PICTURE OF THE NEW EARTH
Rev 20:11 to Rev 21:8
1. The End of the World; the Resurrection; the Judgment
11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on [the one sitting upon] it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away [om. away]; and there was found no place [place was not found] for them. 12And I saw the dead, small and great [the great and the small],14 stand [standing] before God [om. Godins. the throne];15 and the [om. the] books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those [the] things which were [om. which were] written in the books, according to their works. 13And the sea gave up [forth] the dead which were in it; and death and hell [hades] delivered up [gave forth] the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man [each] according to their works. 14And death and hell [hades] were cast into the lake of [ins. the] fire. This is the second death16 [ins., the lake of the fire].17 15And whosoever [if any one] was not found written in the book of life [ins. he] was cast into the lake of [ins. the] fire.
See Rev 21:1 ff for the analysis on Rev 20:11 ff.
Footnotes:
[8]Rev 20:6. [Tisch. (8th Ed.) inserts the article in accordance with . B*.; Alf. brackets it; Lach. and Tisch. (1859) omit with A.E. R. C.]
[9]Rev 20:8. , according to Codd. A. B*., et al.
[10][The G. V. reads here (Eze 38:15): Thou shalt come out of thy place, namely, from the ends against the north.Tr.]
[11][The LXX. has , but neither the Vulgate, nor the German, nor the English Version, gives it.E. R. C.]
[12]Rev 20:9. is supported by Codd. . B*., et al., but is not firmly established. [Treg. inserts; Lach., Alf., Tisch., omit with A.E. R. C.]
[13]Rev 20:10. [Tischendorf (8th Ed.) inserts this article with .; Lach., Tisch. (1859), Treg., Alford, omit with A. B*. P., et al.E. R. C.]
[14]Rev 20:12. The Recepta inverts the order, giving small and great.
[15]Rev 20:12. Codd. A. B*., et al., give ; the Rec. gives .
[16]Rev 20:14. A. B*., et al., give .
[17]Rev 20:14. This clause is omitted by the Rec. [Crit. Eds. insert it in acc. with . A. B*. P.E. R. C.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
SPECIAL DOCTRINO-ETHICAL AND HOMILETICAL NOTES (ADDENDUM)
Section Twentieth
The New Heaven and the New Earth. The Kingdom of glory a. Heavenly World-picture of the Consummation. (Rev 20:11 to Rev 21:8)
General.We here refer to our detailed treatment of the subject in the Exeget. Notes (p. 358 sqq.).
Special.The end of the old world, the natal hour of the new world. This truth is (1) prefigured by life in nature (out of death, life); (2) grounded in the antithesis between the old and the new life of the Christian (the dying of the old man, the rising of the new man); (3) mediated, in its realization, by the verbal prophecies of Scripture and the real prophecies of the development of the Kingdom of God (every apparent down-going, the condition of a glorious resurrection).The end of the world, a presentiment of all creature-life.The new world, an object of the aspiration of all the pious.[Rev 20:11-15.] Individual features of the end of the world: The Judge; the down-going [of the old world]; the resurrection; the judgment; the Book of Life; the lake of fire.[ch. 20 sqq.] The new world: A consummate reality; anew Heaven and a new earth; the new Jerusalem; the new habitation of God (Rev 20:3); the new existence (Rev 20:4); the new creation (Rev 20:5).The Word of God, the foundation of the first world (Joh 1:1[3]);in the explication (and world-historic operation) of His words, the foundation of the second world.Certainty of the new world, (1) in respect of its Founder (Rev 20:6); (2) in respect of the heritage which it shall afford to the conquerors [Rev 20:7]; (3) in respect of the certainty of its antithesis [the lake of fire, Rev 20:8].The second death? Infinitely mysterious in its nature. On the other hand, exceedingly clear as the final consequence, and hence the final punishment, of consistent sin. The second death, the last consistent result of the first beginnings of evil.The contradiction immanent in the figure of the lake of fire, in perfect accordance with the essence of godlessness: 1. Extreme agitation and motion; 2. In perfect aimlessness; 3. Hence ethical self-consumption on the basis of physical indissolubleness.Significant character-portrait of the lost under the superscription of the fearful. True heroic courage in the light of eternity; and its aim.
Starke: There are two lines of opinion as to the vision set forth in chs. 21 and 22. Some consider that whilst it presents, chiefly, the condition of the Church on earth during the thousand years, a picture of the glorious state of the Church in Heaven is commingled with the former view; others hold that the contents of these two chapters refer particularly to the glorious state of the Church Triumphant in Heaven.Quesnel: (Comp. Rev 21:4 and Joh 16:20.) O precious tears of penitence and grief shed by the righteous and accounted worthy to be wiped away by the hand of God Himself. (Rev 21:6.) God will yet manifest Himself to His Church as Alpha and Omega, and prove that the promise which He gave in the beginning, He will emphatically fulfill in the end.Quesnel [Rev 21:8]: There is a, fearfulness which can condemn us equally with any misdoings.
Claus Harms, Die Offenb. Joh. gepredigt (Kiel, 1844; p. 183): The New Jerusalem. I. It has its name and form from that Jerusalem in Israel. II. But the glory of the new is far greater than the glory of the old. III. Greater, even, than anything the Prophets have predicted in regard to it. IV. Yes, the new Jerusalem surpasses even Heaven and eternal blessedness. V. Christians, have we this glorious city before our eyes? VI. And in our hearts?
Haken, Kosmische Bilder, Riga, 1862 (p. 190): The new Heaven and the new Earth. Psa 102:25-26; Heb 1:10. In both passages the terms pass away [perish] and change are promiscuously employed; the Heavens pass away only so far as they are changed.
[From M. Henry: Rev 20:11-15. Observe, 1. The throne and tribunal of judgment, great and white, very glorious, and perfectly just and righteous. 2. The Judges 3. The persons to be judged. 4. The rule of judgment settled; the books were opened. The book of Gods omniscience, and the book of the sinners conscience; and another book shall be openedthe book of the scriptures, the statute-book of heaven, the rule of life. This book determines matters of right; the other books give evidence of matters of fact. 5. The cause to be tried; the works of men, what they have done, and whether it be good or evil. 6. The issue of the trial and judgment; and that will be according to the evidence of fact, and rule of judgment.Rev 21:3. The presence of God with His people in heaven will not be interrupted as it is on earth, but He will dwell with them continually.The covenant interest and relation that there are now between God and His people will be filled up and perfected in heaven. They shall be his people; their souls shall be assimilated to Him, filled with all the love, honor and delight in God that their relation requires; this shall be their perfect holiness, and He will be their God; His immediate presence with them, His love fully manifested to them, and His glory put upon them, will be their perfect happiness.
Rev 21:4. Note, 1. All the effects of former trouble shall be done away. God Himself, as their tender Father, with His kind hand, shall wipe away the tears of His children; and they would not have been without those tears when God shall come and wipe them away. 2. All the causes of future sorrow shall be forever removed; There shall be neither death nor pain; and therefore no sorrow nor crying; these are things incident to that state in which they were before, but now all former things are passed away.
Rev 21:5-6. We may and ought to take Gods promise as present payment; if He has said, He makes all things new, it is done.Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. As it was His glory, that He gave the rise and beginning to the world, and to His Church, it will be His glory to finish the work begun, and not to leave it imperfect.The desires of His people toward this blessed state [Rev 21:1-4] are another evidence of the truth and certainty of it; they thirst after a state of sinless perfection, and the uninterrupted enjoyment of God; and God has wrought in them these longing desires which cannot be satisfied with anything else, and therefore would be the torment of the soul if they were disappointed; but it would be inconsistent with Gods goodness and His love to His people to create in them holy and heavenly desires, and then deny them their proper satisfaction; and therefore they may be assured when they have overcome their present difficulties, He will give them of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Rev 21:6-8. The greatness of this future felicity is declared and illustrated, 1. By the freeness of it. 2. The fullness of it; inherit all things. 3. By the tenure and title by which Gods people enjoy this blessedness; by right of inheritance, as the sons of God. 4. By the vastly different state of the wicked.
Rev 21:8. Observe, 1. The sins of those who perish. The fearful lead the van in this black list; they durst not encounter the difficulties of religion, and their slavish fear proceeded from their unbelief. They, however, were yet so desperate as to run into all manner of abominable wickedness. 2. Their punishment. This misery will be their proper part and portion, and what they have prepared themselves for by their sins.From The Comprehensive Commentary. Rev 21:8. There is then a fearfulness which alone is sufficient to cause our condemnation, as well as the other crimes here mentioned. It is not only that fear which causes us to deny and abandon the faith; but that also which causes us to be wanting to important and essential duties, through fear of hurting our fortunes, our ease, and even our temporal and spiritual interests, and of creating ourselves enemies. True courage is, to fear nothing but God and displeasing Him. Real cowardice is, not to have courage to overcome self, nor renounce the creature, through the hope of enjoying the Creator. (Quesnel.)From Vaughan: Rev 21:3. To have God with us is to be perfectly safe: to have God for our God is to be perfectly happy.
Rev 21:8. The fearful. O terrible end! O fatal compromise carried on too long and too far with sinners and with sin ! O spirit of oversensitiveness, of dislike to trouble, of dread of isolation, of inability to judge decisively and to act courageously, which has brought you, by slow stages, by easy descents, to a level so vile, and a companionship so horrible !From Bonar: Rev 20:12. Books are openedbooks probably containing Gods history of the sinners life, His record of the sinners deeds. The Divine version of human history how unlike all earthly annals ! Most of the leading facts the same, yet how differently told and interpreted. Alongside of these is another book, called the book of lifethe register of those whose portion is life eternal.
Rev 21:13. Judged every man according to his works. God keeps His diary of every souls doings and sayings and thinkings.
Rev 21:14. Of the old prediction in Hosea (Rev 13:14): O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction, John here records the awful (and glorious) fulfillment.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
DISCOURSE: 2528
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT
Rev 20:11-15. I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
WE are not to imagine that the mysterious parts of Scripture are unworthy of our most attentive perusal: for though we should not succeed in our endeavours to comprehend all that is contained in them, we shall find much that is plain, intelligible, and important. The chapter before us speaks of a resurrection of all the martyred saints to reign with Christ on earth a thousand years: it informs us also that, at the expiration of that period, Satan shall be loosed from his confinement, and prevail against them, deceiving many, and destroying many. It tells us moreover, that God, determining to execute vengeance on that deceiver of the nations, and on such ministers as have been his instruments, and upon all those who have been deceived by them, will then come to judge the world in righteousness.
We apprehend this reign of Christ on earth, though not improbably attended with occasional manifestations of himself as on Mount Tabor, will be chiefly figurative: but, without dwelling on the points that are of difficult interpretation, and which events alone will with certainty explain, let us attend to the instruction here given us respecting that in which we are all so deeply interested, the solemnities of the day of judgment. In these we may notice,
I.
The appearance of the Judge
[Christ is the person who shall judge the world [Note: Act 17:31. Joh 5:22.]: and he is here, as elsewhere on the very same occasion [Note: Rom 14:10-12.], declared to be God, as well as man, Emmanuel, God with us. His being seated on a throne denotes, that from his decisions there will be no appeal, but that, sanctioned as they will be by the authority of the King of kings, they will be final and irreversible. Nor is it without design that the throne is described as white, seeing that it will exceed the meridian sun in brightness, nor ever be sullied by the smallest instance of partiality or error.
The idea of earth and the heavens that surround it, fleeing from before his face, and no place being found for them, is calculated to impress our minds with the most awful sense of his majesty and glory. This guilty globe was once the place of his residence, till its impious inhabitants rose up against him with one consent, and put him to death. But in that day, as though it was conscious of its own desert, it will flee from his presence; nor will any place be found for this theatre of sin to exist any longer in its present polluted state [Note: 2Pe 3:10.].]
II.
The persons that shall be summoned to his tribunal
[Not only at the deluge, when the whole world was drowned, but since that time, millions, who, for mercantile or hostile purposes, have traversed the mighty waters, have found their graves in the bosom of the ocean. But at the last day, the sea shall give them up; death also shall surrender up the bodies that have long since mouldered into dust, and hades, or the invisible world, shall deliver up the souls that have long abode in happiness or misery. All who have ever lived upon the earth, whether small or great, shall stand before the tribunal of their God. The God that formed them out of nothing will collect with ease their scattered atoms, and reunite them to their kindred souls. Every one shall appear in his own proper body, nor shall he be able either to withstand the summons, or elude the search. The king and the beggar, the sage philosopher and the child that died ere it saw the light, shall be no otherwise distinguished, than as they are classed with the righteous or the wicked.]
III.
The rule of judgment
[Various books shall then be opened to serve as grounds of the Divine procedure [Note: Dan 7:9-10.]. The book of Gods law, originally inscribed on the hearts of our First Parents, and still not wholly effaced even from the minds of heathens, will be the rule by which they shall be judged, who never saw the light of revelation [Note: Rom 2:14-15.]. The book of the Gospel, wherein the mysteries of redemption are unfolded to our view, will be the touchstone by which our faith and practice shall be tried. The book of conscience too, which now omits many things, or grossly misrepresents them, will then give a juster testimony to our conduct: for then it will be a perfect transcript of another book that shall be opened, namely, the book of Gods remembrance. In this, every action, word, and thought, was faithfully recorded by the unerring hand of God himself: and every purpose, desire, or motive, shall have an influence on his decision to enhance our happiness or augment our misery [Note: 1Co 4:5.].
There is yet another book, particularly specified in the text, the book of life. This is none other than the book of Gods decrees, wherein were written from the foundation of the world the names of his elect. And as the other books will be opened in order to vindicate the equity of his decisions, so will this, in order to display the sovereignty of his grace. Twice is this book mentioned in the text; but twice also is it declared, that all shall be judged according to their works: while therefore we honour Gods electing love, we must carefully dismiss every thought that may disparage his remunerative justice. Though to Gods election the saints will be indebted for their salvation; the wicked will never perish through any influence of reprobation: their happiness men will owe to him; their misery to themselves alone.]
IV.
The sentence that shall be executed
[Nothing is expressly mentioned in the text respecting the sentence of the righteous; though it is evidently implied, that they, having their names written in the book of life, shall have a very different end from that of the ungodly. Yes; to them there is no condemnation; they shall never perish, but shall have eternal life [Note: Rom 8:1. Joh 10:27-28.]. If indeed God should judge them by the strict tenour of his law, they must perish: but he views them as clothed in the Redeemers righteousness; and accepts, for his sake, not their persons only, but their services, treasuring up their tears in his vial, and noticing their very desires in order to a future recompence [Note: Mal 3:16-17.].
As for those whose names are not written in the book of life, their state will be inexpressibly awful. They, together with death and hell, the present receptacles of the damned, shall be cast into the lake of fire; in order that, except in that place, there may not remain any vestige of sin or misery in the whole creation. This is emphatically called the second death. The pangs of dissolution are often great, and the consequent separation of soul and body very distressing: but the anguish attendant upon these is a very faint emblem of the torments that shall be endured in that state of separation from God, in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.
Nor will the ungodly have any just reason to complain that their names were not written in the book of life, since they never desired to be there registered, nor ever regarded the Lamb of God, who alone could inscribe their names therein.]
Infer
1.
How needful is it to secure an interest in Christ!
[We all are hastening to his judgment-seat; nor will and thing avail us there but an interest in his blood and righteousness By the law we are all condemned; but by the Gospel we may all have life Let us then not waste all our time in seeking the things that perish with the using; but rather secure an inheritance that shall never fade, and that shall continue when all earthly things shall be dissolved.]
2.
How carefully should the professors of religion take heed to their ways!
[All must be judged according to their works, the quantity of which as well as the quality, will make an essential difference in our state [Note: Gal 6:8. 2Co 9:6.]. Every hour, as it passes, wings its way to heaven, and records the manner in which it was spent. We are, in fact, dictating daily our own sentence, and determining the measure of our own happiness or misery. Let us then frequently ask ourselves, what the last hour has recorded respecting us; and whether we shall be glad to see the transactions of it brought forth as evidences at the bar of judgment? God help us to bear this in mind; and so to pass our few remaining hours, as we shall wish we had passed them, when we shall be standing naked before his tribunal!]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
(11) And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. (12) And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (13) And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. (14) And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (15) And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Here we arrive to that great day of God, so long, so faithfully foretold, and now so solemnly introduced, with everything that may strike the mind in the contemplation of it. First, it begins with the sight of a great white throne. it is a great throne, for the Lord Jesus, the judge of quick and dead, who sits on it, is the great and only Potentate, King of kings, and Lord of lords. And it is a white throne, to intimate, perhaps, the justice and equity of his administration. And, oh! how great and glorious, and holy, and pure must he be that sits on it, before whom, the earth and the heaven fled away; for the heavens are not clean in his sight.
John proceeds. And I saw the dead small and great stand before God. Reader! think how solemn the moment, how interesting the event, involved in that day’s decision! These must be the dead spoken of before, who lived not during the thousand years of Christ’s reign (Rev 20:5 ). Not the dead now or then, dead in trespasses and sins only, but the twice dead, dead in soul, and dead in body, and now raised up to judgment. The books opened, is spoken of after the manner of men. But the sense is, it should seem, that of the wretched dead, who died out of Christ, who trusted to equity and not grace, these books, meaning God’s knowledge and their own consciences, could not fail of bringing them in guilty before God.
Sea, death, and hell giving up their dead, evidently proclaims the side on which those characters all stand. And their being all judged according to their works, most plainly show the same. The salvation of God’s people is not noticed in this judgment; and consequently, the dead in Christ, in sea or land, are not here spoken of. For all that are noticed, are those whose names are not written in the Book of Life. This record is the only security, and a blessed and sure one indeed it is of the Lord’s people.
I beg the Reader to notice with me, that nothing is said of the trial of the faithful. Indeed their trial hath taken place long before, when passing under the sentence of a broken law, they fled for refuge to the hope that was before them in Christ. It is said, indeed, and blessedly said, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, 2Co 5:10 . But this not for trial, but for the Lord’s blessing. There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, Rom 8:1 . And if there be no condemnation now, there will be no trial then. If the law be answered, as it hath been answered by Jesus our surety here, nothing can be brought forth to criminate there.
Reader! pause over this statement, and look at it every way, and examine whether it be strictly scriptural.
It is a grand, a momentous concern! If a child of God be truly and savingly called, is awakened, regenerated, justified in Christ Jesus, and made one with Christ, can there be any doubt or suspense as to the state in which he will appear before God? Will not Christ and his salvation be the same in death as they are in life; and will not his acceptance in the Beloved, be as sure in heaven, as it is here on earth. Could Paul, could Peter, could all the saints of God in the Old Testament and the New, talk with so much assurance of everlasting happiness in Christ, and by Christ, had a doubt remained of their interest in Christ, and their union with Christ? I pray the Reader, if his ground work of assurance be not founded on the same bottom, to see to it on what other footing his faith rests. If the prospect of that day of God be blessed, and the hope of it a joy unspeakable and full of glory, here is the strength of it in Jesus. And the assurance of our acceptance in Christ now must remove the possibility of failure then. Sweetly doth the Apostle sing to this note, when he saith for whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. And if so, what shall separate from the love of Christ.
Reader! beg of God the Spirit to be your Teacher! Bring this subject daily before the Lord. See to it, that nothing satisfieth your mind, until the Lord himself hath given you an answer of peace. And let every day find some portion or other of it, engaged in your soul’s desire in looking for, and hasting unto this great day of God. And, oh! the unspeakable mercy, to be always on the lookout for Jesus, without suspense, without doubt, without fear, but in a fulness of joy, having redemption in his blood, waiting his coming, when Christ will own you before the congregated world, as his own, and present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
XX
THE SECOND ADVENT OF OUR LORD; THE GENERAL RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD; AND THE GENERAL AND FINAL JUDGMENT
Rev 20:11-15
The passages we will study are as follows:
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and the books were opened; and another book was opened which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. 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 every man according to their works. And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire. And if any man was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake. Rev 20:11-15 .
I will reserve the seriatim and verbatim explanation of this passage, sentence by sentence, for the next chapter. The object of the present study is to lead up to it in a way that you will never again misunderstand, for the theme of this lesson is the second advent of our Lord, the general resurrection of the dead, and the general and final judgment. I will put this chapter before you in a catechetical form:
1. Why was the first advent necessary?
ANSWER. (1) To set up a visible kingdom here upon the earth, which would absorb all other kingdoms, and to appoint the executive bodies, the churches, in that kingdom, with ministers and ordinances. (2) To make expiation for the sin of the world, to come as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. (3) To destroy the works of the devil. Now, those are the three great reasons of his first advent; you could put in a number of others, but I ask you to notice particularly the object to set up here on this earth a visible kingdom.
2. What the sign of that first advent?
ANSWER. The angels who announced to the shepherds that a Prince and Saviour was born unto Israel, said unto them: “This shall be a sign unto you, you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.” He prepared that lowly sign for his first coming because he stooped to come, emptied himself of his glory, and took upon him the form of a servant. The sign of his first advent was to be a baby in a horse trough.
3. When was that first advent? was the date of it fixed?
ANSWER. Paul says, in Gal 4:4 , that in the fulness of time God sent forth his own Son, made of a woman. The time had to be ripe. That was four thousand years since the devil usurped the kingdom of this world by the fall of man, and how many people wore out their eyes watching for that coming! Eve thought when Cain was born that the promise was fulfilled. She said: “I have gotten the man from Jehovah” i.e., the promised seed. And every mother in Israel had the hope that she would be the one through whom the promise would be fulfilled; and as the ages passed away in waiting, prophecies became clearer, more definite, until, the world being prepared, Christ came.
4. How long did he remain?
ANSWER. About thirty-three years.
5. What office did he complete in that time?
ANSWER. The office of sacrifice. His offices are Prophet, Sacrifice, Priest, King, and Judge. But while he was on earth the first time, he absolutely and forever fulfilled and completed the office of sacrifice, as we will learn in Hebrews 9-10, that he made one offering for sin, once for all, never to be repeated. That office work was finished.
6. What office work was partly completed? The office of prophet. As prophet he is the teacher, the revelator, and a great part of his teaching is revelation given in his lifetime.
7. What part of his high-priest office was completed between his death and his resurrection? Just as soon as his body died his spirit went to the Father: “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.” According to Lev 16 on the great day of atonement, it was necessary for the high priest to take the sacrificial blood, while it was fresh and hot and smoking, and carry it into the most holy place, and offer it at the mercy seat, and on the basis of it to make atonement. There could be no delay. Now, we learn from Hebrews 9-10, that he did, through the veil of his flesh, the rent veil of his flesh, pass up into the true holy of holies, and by the sprinkling of his blood sanctified that pattern of earth’s most holy place.
8. Where, when, and why does his soul return to earth? Hebrews I tells us that his soul that had made the offering in the most holy of holies, returned for his body, “when he again bringeth in the firstborn into the world,” referring to his resurrection as the reason.
9. Where is he now?
ANSWER. I will not quote all the passages, but I want you to have a scriptural foundation for every thought. Act 1:2 : “Until the day in which he was received up, after that he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit unto the apostles whom he had chosen”; and again in Rev 20:11 : “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye here looking into the heavens? This Jesus who was received up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him going into heaven.” And as Paul, in Timothy Rev 3:16 , gives a summary of the truth as follows: “First, God was manifest in the flesh, and so manifested he was justified by the Spirit; so manifested, he was recognized by the angels; so manifested, he was preached unto the nations; he was believed on where preached; and finally, he was received up into glory.” So one of the fundamental articles of the truth is that our Lord Jesus Christ, having finished the work of his first advent, has now been received into glory. I want to give you some Old Testament passages on it, on his reception into heaven. I read from Psa 24:9 : “Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory will come in. Who is the King of glory? Jehovah, strong and mighty; Jehovah, mighty in battle.” Notice this passage from Dan 7 ; Daniel tells us (Dan 2 ) that in the days of the Roman kings God himself would set up a visible kingdom which would become a mountain and fill the world. He tells where he went after setting up his kingdom, and when:
And I saw in the night visions; and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven, one like unto the Son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before them, and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Dan 7:13-14 .
You see there one of the objects of his being received up into glory when he had established his earthly kingdom, for enthronement and coronation.
I now quote a part of Psa 2 , which Peter quotes in direct connection:
Why do the heathen nations rage, and the peoples meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel against Jehovah, and against his anointed, saying: Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh; the Lord will have them in derision. Then will he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure: Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
I say, Peter quotes that very message, showing how Pontius Pilate and Herod conspired together; but that God set Jesus upon the throne of Zion, and gave to him all the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession.
Now, Act 7:55 : “But Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into the heavens and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said: Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
10. For what purpose is he so received into glory?
ANSWER. If you do not know that, you stand little chance to become a theologian. (1) He went up there to be crowned king over the kingdom he had set up here upon earth, and indeed to be the King of kings and the Lord of lords. In Act 2:36 , Peter, on the day of Pentecost, says’ to the Jews: “You killed the Prince of life, but God hath made him both Lord and Christ.” In Act 5:31 , he repeats again that the one whom they rejected and betrayed, God had made king. In Phi 2:9-11 , Paul tells us what the meritorious ground of his being made king. He said: “Because he had emptied himself of his glory, and taken upon himself the form of a servant, therefore God had rightly exalted him and had given him a name which is above every other name, that before him every knee should bow and every tongue confess him.” So that is one reason he is there: he is there to reign, using all authority in heaven and on earth to spread the kingdom which he established, to aid the churches and the preachers, and through the Holy Spirit to empower them to make the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord. That is one reason he is there. To this end, when he was made king, he sent down the other Paraclete, his vicar, his vicegerent, his alter ego, the Holy Spirit, to be with his church and in his church, and to accredit that church. And so, on the day of Pentecost, the church was baptized in the Holy Spirit and in power.
(2) He is there to complete the office of prophet. After he ascended to heaven he called Paul and gave him his gospel, and here in this book that we are studying, Revelation, he completes his prophetic office. There will not be anything more of his prophetic work; you cannot add to what he has taught; you cannot take anything from it. When he comes back next time, he does not come in a teaching capacity.
Last, he is there to complete the high priest office. I told you that one part of his priestly office was completed between his death and resurrection. The other part of it is to ever live to make intercession for his people. So Jesus is there reigning, making all things work together for good to them that love God, using every power of heaven and earth to help the churches that are carrying out his missions here on earth. He is there to intercede and offering the prayers that earth sends up. When he comes away the high priest office is ended, because he vacates the holy of holies. And concerning the New Jerusalem of the next chapter it is said: “I saw no temple therein,” that is, no place to offer sacrifices, no place for priestly manifestations. That work is ended.
11. How long will he remain up there? We know that some people insist that from the day he left he might come back any minute; that his second coming is always imminent. Imminent means liable to happen any moment. Now, we come to the question: How long will he remain up there? I give you some scriptures on it: First, the testimony of David, which Christ himself quoted and applied to himself, Psa 110 : “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool”; he must stay there in heaven until his enemies have been conquered. Taking Paul as a witness (1Co 15:26 ) : “He must reign until all of his enemies are put under his feet.” We do not see everything put under his feet, says Paul, but his reign must last until this is accomplished. Now, take Peter as a witness (Act 3:19 ): “Repent ye and turn, so that your sins may be blotted out, and so that refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and so that he may send Jesus whom the heavens must receive until the time of the restoration of all things.” You cannot get the force of that unless you understand “the restoration of all things”; he says: “which all of the prophets from the beginning of the world have spoken,” not a thing in any Old Testament prophecy foretold as preceding his advent but must be fulfilled before he comes, and particularly is that true of the restoration of the Jews. Now, when we come to the New Testament prophecies we will find the same thing, whom the heavens must receive until every antecedent thing the New Testament prophecies have foretold is fulfilled. I want to get that idea of imminency out of your mind. The first witness is the Lord himself, and I quote from his great prophecy. There the question is propounded to Jesus: “When will Jerusalem be destroyed, and what is the sign of it, and what is the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?” these are the questions he is answering. Now, listen at him talk on that: “Take heed that no man lead you astray; many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and shall lead many astray. Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled, for these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Nations shall rise against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms, and there shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places.” Then he goes on to state: “Jerusalem shall be trodden under foot until the time of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled, and that after the long Jewish tribulation has ended by their salvation, then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven.” I heard one man say that he looked for him every day. I heard a premillennialist say that when he got up every morning he looked out of the window to see his Lord coming. I asked him what right he had to expect that; if the times of the Gentiles had been fulfilled; if he saw indication that the fulness of the Gentiles had come. They are yet sweeping the earth with the power of the gospel, and the Jew’s salvation has not come yet. Kingdoms have fallen, pestilences have come, but this is not the sign: “the end is not yet.”
Now suppose we take Paul as a witness (2Th 2 ): “Do not be deceived; do not let any man lead you astray, either as reporting what I have said, or as quoting a letter purporting to come from me to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. That day cannot come until there first be the great apostasy; it cannot come until the man of sin be revealed”; and he will be living when Christ comes. Suppose we take Peter as a witness: In 2Pe 3:10-13 he tells us that “The delay in the coming of the Lord will be so great that men will be saying: Where is the promise of his coming? Ever since the fathers fell asleep everything continues just as it was since the days of our Lord.” That is the testimony of Peter.
12. What is the testimony of John?
ANSWER. We have just been over it in this book. He shows you four synchronous views of things that must happen before the final advent, whom the heavens must receive until everything spoken of by the ancient prophets has been fulfilled: until everything spoken by the New Testament prophets has been fulfilled. I once asked a man this question: “Do you suppose Peter expected the Lord Jesus Christ to come in his lifetime?” He says: “Certainly he did.” “Why, then, did he write that the Lord had shown him how he was to die?” He knew he would not live until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is why Christ, and Paul, and Peter, and John, all hedge so carefully, take so many pains, to prevent a delusion upon this subject.
13. Will it be a long time till he comes?
ANSWER. I will read you what he himself says; it is at the beginning of the parable of the talents, as given in Mat 25:14 : “As when a man going into another country, calls in his servants and delivers unto them his goods. Now, after a long time, the lord of these servants cometh and reckoning with them” after a long time. Why, then, is it said He is “coming quickly”? “Behold, I come quickly.” In God’s sight a thousand years are as a day, or a watch in the night, but to man it will not be too quickly, not to the human race.
14. Then, is it liable to happen at any moment?
ANSWER. Nineteen hundred years have passed away, and in the march of events some of the prophesied things have taken place: The Roman Empire has passed away; the Holy Roman Empire has passed away, and the counterfeit church is badly shattered, though on its feet yet. But you know it is not liable to happen just at any moment
15. Why, then, does our Lord say, “Because ye know not the hour when he cometh, and as he cometh like a thief in the night, watch, be ye ready: what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch, be ready”? How do you explain that?
ANSWER. I can make it so plain to you that a Sunday school child can see it. There is NOT a long time between YOU as an individual and the second coming of Christ. The only time between YOU and the second coming of Christ is the time between the present and your death. I mean to say that just as soon as you die you strike eternity; you are out of time, and your only time to watch and make yourself ready is while you are living. John’s time to get ready was while he was living; when he died he went into eternity, and in eternity there is no measurement of time. We have to prepare for that advent while we are still living. If we put it off until the historical event of the advent, then we never will be ready.
16. What construction, then, do we put on the long time between his ascension into heaven and his second coming?
ANSWER. Peter explains it in 2Pe 3:9 : “We must construe that the long-suffering of God meaneth salvation”; “not wishing that any should perish,” but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth and be repentant. Look at that. “Lord, why do you stay away so long?” “Because I want everybody to repent.”
17. What doctrine is involved in that?
ANSWER. That after he comes nobody can repent. Let me prove it to you; I will let him prove it to you: Here in substance is Mat 25:1-14 : “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like unto ten virgins: five wise and five foolish; and while they wait for the bridegroom they slept. Five of them had oil in their lamps, and five did not.” At last the cry is heard: “Behold the bridegroom; come ye forth to meet him.” And the five foolish ones said, “Give us of your oil let me borrow.” You cannot borrow. “And while they were gone off to get it, he came. And they came up and knocked and said, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he said, Depart from me, I never knew you,” as our song has it: “Too late! Too late I You cannot enter now.” No one who awaits until Christ comes can make any preparation. He comes as a thief in the night, and as suddenly as the flood came in the days of Noah, and while they were eating and drinking and giving in marriage, like a clap of thunder from a cloudless sky, the Messiah is come, and those who are ready go in, and those who are not ready stay out forever.
18. Now, why is that true?
ANSWER. Because the High Priest has left the place of intercession; because the kingly government is at an end. (1Co 15:25 .) When he comes he comes to turn over the kingdom to the Father, and that is the end; and some people who are looking for him to establish his kingdom after he comes, will Just see him giving up the kingdom, for the kingdom will be over.
The Spirit dispensation is over. The Spirit is his vicar while he is absent; when Christ comes back the Spirit work stops, tiie church work stops, and the time institution is become the bride in glory, and the bride, the elect, is complete; there is no more to be added. The memorial of the church ends. “Ye show forth his death until he comes; ye memorialize his burial and resurrection in baptism until he comes,” but when he comes those ordinances stop; every office of Jesus Christ ends, but one, and I will tell you what that is in a minute.
19. Now, then, what are the purposes of his final coming? What does he come for? Why did he come the first time? And after ascending, why does he stay up yonder, and when he comes back, what is he to do?
ANSWER. First, in general terms, to wind up the affairs of time and this world, to raise the dead, and to render his final judgment. Not another thing has he before him when he comes; the Lord who has gone into another country for a long time comes back to reckon with his servants.
20. Is that day fixed?
ANSWER. Some people who want it to happen any minute would have it a sliding scale, maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week. Let us ask Paul (Act 17:31 ): God “hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained: wherefore he hath given assurance unto all men) in that he hath raised him from the dead.” It is as unalterably fixed as was the day of his first advent. I do not know the day nor the hour, nor do you, but God does; the day is appointed.
21. What the sign of this second advent?
ANSWER. Now, I told you the sign of his first advent: “You shall see a babe in swaddling clothes lying in a manger”; that is, Christ comes in his humiliation. Now, the next time, he is to come in his glory, and you must expect a sign just as far away from the manger as possible. What is that sign? He says: “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, he shall sit upon the throne of his glory.” “And I saw a great white throne”: there is the sign. At the first coming I saw a babe in a manger; at the second coming, from the manger to the throne, “I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it,” and the sign will be visible in the deepest darkness that ever fell upon the earth. He says so himself. He says that after the tribulation of the Jews and their salvation, the sun shall lose its light immediately, not immediately after the tribulation, but lose it suddenly, instantly, and the moon shall lose her light, and the stars their light, and every light in the world goes out, and against that background of total pitch darkness we see a white throne coming, the white against the blackness. Nobody will make a mistake in that; I tell you, whoever enters into that darkness and whoever sees that white throne coming, a throne, not of a king, but of a judge, the throne of final judgment, he will not make any mistake about Christ’s coming.
Now, to make it clearer to you, Paul says in 1Th 4:16 : “He will come with a great sound of the trumpet.” The earth never heard that trumpet sound but once before, when the law was given on Mount Sinai. Then there was heard the sound of a trumpet that waxed louder and louder, until the people were terrified for their very lives. Do not adopt Negro theology, which says that this is the trumpet of Gabriel to wake the dead. It is the trumpet of Michael to summon the angels when the son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him. That trumpet blast in that blackness, heralding that white throne, will be the loudest thing the earth ever heard; ten thousand times ten thousand claps of thunder will not equal the roll and reverberation of that last trumpet sound. To keep you from being mistaken further, be says that “he will come with a great shout,” and we know exactly what the shout is, for he tells us; we know the very words of it: “Behold the bridegroom, come ye forth to meet him.” Can you mistake that?
Now, notice, please, what I tell you about anybody being saved after his second advent: “Two men shall be working in the field, and one shall be taken and the other left; two women shall be grinding at the mill, one shall be taken and the other left. Two groups of virgins, five in each, shall be waiting, one group shall be taken and the other left.” Just imagine those men out in the field plowing, and all at once darkness hides the horses and the plow handles, and then that white throne comes, and then that trumpet sounds, and then that great shout, and in a moment an angel swoops down and grabs one of the men plowing and takes him home; the other is left.
The questions are embodied in the text of this chapter.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
XXI
OUR LORD’S FINAL ADVENT CONTINUED;
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD; THE GENERAL JUDGMENT
Rev 20:11-15
We present this study in the form of a catechism:
1. Cite two distinct promises of the second advent.
ANSWER. In Mat 16:27 , our Saviour says: “The Son of man shall come in the glory of his father with his angels, and then shall he render to every man according to his deeds.” You see that is not only the promise, but it expresses the purpose. The second promise is in Act 1:11 : “As they were looking steadfastly into heaven as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said: Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? This Jesus who was received up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.”
2. Cite three general passages on the resurrection.
ANSWER. Dan 12:2 : “Many of them that slept in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to eternal life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Daniel puts the resurrection of both classes together. Next, Joh 5:28-29 , which I quote: “Marvel not at this, for the hour cometh which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.” And you see John puts them together. The third passage is in Act 24:15 : “Having hope toward God, which these also themselves look for, that there shall be a resurrection both of the-just and the unjust.” The third passage also puts them together.
3. Now comes an exceedingly important question: Cite three striking passages apart from our present lesson to show that the resurrection and the judgment of both the righteous and the wicked are simultaneous, and not a thousand years apart.
ANSWER. (1) Mat 12:41-42 :
The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
The men of Nineveh repented and were saved. It is distinctly declared that they shall rise up, there’s their resurrection, at the judgment, showing that the resurrection and the judgment come together; they shall rise up at the judgment with this generation, the wicked people, the impenitent people, whom Christ was addressing, are to stand, there’s their resurrection from the dead, in the judgment with those ancient people of Nineveh and the queen of the south; there you have the two clashes, the penitent and the impenitent, the resurrection, the judgment, the general judgment.
(2) Mat 25:31-46 , and as you read I want you to ask yourselves these questions: Are these crowds together? Are their resurrection and judgment simultaneous, or is there a great interval of time between them?
But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all the nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separated the sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then, shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. . . . Then shall he say also to them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels. . . . And these shall go away into eternal life.
I once asked a premillennialist what he did with that passage, and he said, “That is simply the judgment of the nations.” No, sir I think that is an individual judgment, and nations, as nations, are not sent into eternal fire, only individuals are.
(3) The other general passage, which is more conclusive than these others, 2Th 1:6-10 :
If so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you, and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of his might.
When are these wicked punished with everlasting destruction? The next verse tells us: “When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believe [because our testimony among you was believed] in that day.”
I sat on the train once with a premillennialist and read that passage to him, and asked him if he would hold the book and answer questions according to the testimony. He said he would. I said: “According to that passage, when does Jesus recompense affliction to those who have afflicted his people?” He had to read: “At the time he recompenses his rest to those who were afflicted.” I then asked him when the wicked would be punished with everlasting destruction; and he had to read: “When he comes to be glorified in his saints.” Now, these are literal passages. I could cite a great many more, but these are absolutely conclusive that the resurrection and the judgment of both the good and the bad will be simultaneous.
4. Cite three parables from our Lord to the same effect.
ANSWER. (1) The parable of the tares, found in Mat 13:24-30 , and expounded by our Lord in Mat 13:36-42 . Let us read it and see:
The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away. But when the blade sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. And the servants of the household came and said unto him: Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? Whence then hath it tares? And he said unto them, An enemy hath done this. And the servants say unto him: Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said: Nay, lest haply while ye gather up the tares ye root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, gather up first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
The disciples wanted that expounded to them, and here is the exposition:
Explain unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, he that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be at the end of the world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father.
Now, that expresses the fact that the good and the evil people are to grow up together in this world until the end of the world, and then when the end of the world comes, the angels will separate the good from the bad.
(2) The parable of the dragnet, Mat 13:47-50 :
Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew to the shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So it shall be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
(3) The parable of the talents, Mat 25:14-30 :
For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man traveling in a far country, who called his own servants and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability, and straightway took his journey. . . . After a long time the lord of these servants cometh, and reckoneth with them . . . [and then he goes on with the reckoning until he gets to the one with only one talent] . . . His lord said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knowest I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strewed: thou oughtest, therefore, have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming J would have received mine own with usury. Take, therefore, the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away, even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Now, there are the three great parables. I could mention others, but these three are sufficient to put beside the three passages which show the simultaneousness of the resurrection of the dead and the separation of the righteous from the wicked, and the final judgment.
5. Cite and expound two great passages on the resurrection of the righteous dead, and the glorification of the righteous living.
ANSWER. In 1Co 15:42-55 , is described the meaning of the resurrection of the righteous dead: “It was sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; it was sown in dishonour, it is raised in honour; it was sown a mortal body and raised an immortal body; it was sown a mortal body and raised a spiritual body.” Then in the same connections he tells of the change that takes place in the righteous who are living at the time when Christ comes: “I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep.” That is, we shall not all die; some men will be living when Christ comes, and then in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, they shall be changed without ever dying, and glorification takes place. That is the meaning of all those words I quoted you a while ago about honor, dishonor, etc.
Now, the second passage is in 1Th 4:13 , the closing paragraph:
Brethren, I would not have you ignorant concerning them who are asleep, that ye sorrow now, even as the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that have fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. . . . And the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up into the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
6. What erroneous views were held concerning the resurrection of the body, and the objections thereto?
First, the Sadducees, who were materialists, and denied all future life, whether of the soul or the body, and of course denied the resurrection of the body. In Mat 22 ; Mar 12 ; Luk 20 , we have an account of the Sadducees coming to the Lord with the question: Where a man married and died, and according to the Mosaic law his brother took his widow; and he died, and the second brother took her, and so on until seven brothers had her. Now who will be the husband of this woman in the resurrection, for they all had her? They thought they had sprung an insuperable difficulty in the way of the resurrection of the dead. He replied to them: “In the state of the resurrection of the dead there is no marrying, nor giving in marriage, but all are as the angels of heaven,” that is, the multiplying and replenishing of the earth which so dominated men here on the earth, does not apply in heaven.
In Corinth some church members denied the resurrection of the body, and based their objections on scientific deductions. In 1Co 15:12-35 , he says: “How say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead, and you ask: With what bodies shall they rise?” presenting that as an insuperable difficulty, and all of that chapter is devoted to a discussion of the certainty of the resurrection of the body. There were certain heretics at Ephesus who held that regeneration was the resurrection, and hence it was past already. Paul mentions the names of two of these heretics, Hymeneus and Philetus, in 2Ti 2:17-18 . They held that the resurrection took place when a man was converted; that it was past already. Paul counts them heretics, and says that their teaching is exceedingly hurtful to many.
Then there are people (though I do not find this in the Bible, but in history) who hold that the resurrection is simply the escape of the soul from the limitations of the body at death, and they compare it with the emergence of the butterfly from the chrysalis state, never having any more use for that empty shell, and living in another element, or air instead of upon the ground. A great many people believe that; it is different from the Sadducees. The Sadducees did not believe in any future life, nor in angels, nor in spirits of any kind, as you learn from Act 23:8 ; they were utter materialists; they believed that this life is all; that when a man dies, all of him dies, that he has no dual life now, and that there is no such thing as a spiritual existence, good or bad.
7. If the righteous who are living when Christ comes are changed without death, what becomes of the living wicked?
ANSWER. My answer is that they perish, or die, in the great worldwide fire that accompanies the coming of the Lord. Malachi gives a glowing description of it in Mal 4:1-3 :
For behold, the day cometh, it burneth like a furnace, and all the proud and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healings in its wings; and ye shall go forth and gambol as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Now read a passage from Peter:
And in the last days men will say: Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they wilfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God, by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished; but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word, have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men’. . . . But the day of the Lord will come as a thief, in the which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with a fervent heat, and the earth and the works therein shall be burned up. Seeing that these things are all thus to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat?
No wicked man can escape physical death; there never has been one that escaped. Elijah and Enoch did; they were good men. And all the saints living at the coming of Christ will, but the wicked living when Christ comes will burn up in the fire, just as now when one living in a house which catches on fire is burned up before he can escape. That world fire will be as quick as a lightning flash; there is no element of time in it; in one moment the atmosphere shall become an ocean of fire, and the ocean itself, by one elemental change, shall become an ocean of fire, and the fire will sweep from mountain to mountain, and from continent to continent, until the whole world is afire. And in that fire every living wicked person dies, and it happens in a moment, and their resurrection immediately follows. They are so close together that one may call them simultaneous.
8. What the ground of their resurrection? Why should the wicked be raised at all?
ANSWER. The normal man, as God created him, was a dual being soul and body. The death of the body, or rather the separation of the soul from the body, is the result of sin. The soul in a disembodied state is unclothed, and hence Hades, as a state, gains a victory so long as it holds a disembodied spirit. But when God raises the bodies of the dead, good and bad, then shall be brought to pass the saying: O death, where is thy sting; O Hades, where is thy victory? You had a victory so long as you could hold one soul in a disembodied state. Hence this book (Rev 6:8 ) says that Hades followed after death. Death came, and the soul went into a disembodied state. Moreover, the only deeds of which the final judgment takes cognizance are the deeds done in the body. A man who died when Christ died, in eternity ever since, will never be judged for anything that he does in eternity; the judgment takes cognizance of only the deeds done in the body. Therefore, the whole man, soul and body, must be present at the judgment, and if condemned must be punished in both body and soul.
It is not enough that the rich man, at his death, should be tormented as to his soul. “He lifted up his eyes in hell [or Hades], being in torment.” That is not enough. But, as our Lord says, “Be ye not afraid of them which kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [Gehenna].”
9. In what capacity, or office, did our Lord appear in his first advent, and contrast it with his office in his second advent?
ANSWER. Paul says in the letter to the Hebrews: “Inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment; so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from a sin offering, to them that wait for him, unto salvation” (Heb 9:27-28 ). Which means that his second advent is not to offer a sacrifice that is all ended but as judge, to bring his people into the fruition of salvation, and the salvation of fruition, which, as Peter says, is ready to be revealed at the last time (1Pe 1:4-5 ).
Now we will take up the study word by word:
10. “And I saw a great white throne” (Rev 20:11 ). What is the distinction between this throne and the one in Rev 4:2-7 ?
ANSWER. That was the throne of grace, the mediatorial throne, Christ reigning as king and interceding as priest. This is the white throne of final judgment. That throne at Rev 4:2 , might be approached by prayer, as we learned in Heb 4:16 : “Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and find grace to help us in time of need.” And as we learned in Rev 8 of this book: the prayers of the saints, mingled with incense, came up to that throne. But no prayers are offered at this white throne; praying days are over forever. This our Lord himself describes in his great prophecy, which I quote: (Mat 24:29-31 ):
The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heavens, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Mat 24:29-31 .
Our Lord said at the conclusion of that prophecy: “But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory” (Mat 25:31 ). Or, as this book expresses it, when he came to the sixth seal:
And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the whole moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs, and the heaven was removed as a scroll when rolled up, and every mountain and island removed out of their place, and the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the chief captains, and the rich and strong, and every bondman and freeman, hid themselves in the caves and the rocks of the mountains; and they say to the mountains and to the rocks: Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath is come, and who is able to stand? Rev 6:12-17 .
11. Who is the judge, and what is his suitableness?
ANSWER. In Joh 5:22-27 , it is said: “The Father hath given all judgment unto the Son . . .” and he goes on to say that he is given this judgment because he is also the Son of man. He is suitable, for he is God, and knows all the holiness of God’s law; he is suitable because he is man, and as man was tempted as we are, and with an infinite knowledge of our infirmities, and our failings, and our environment. Even for the devil, he is the best judge.
12. We read on in Revelation: “And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.” What does it mean by the disappearance of the heaven and the earth?
ANSWER. Annihilation is not meant; the flood that swept the earth did not annihilate it; neither does this fire, but it purges it. Peter describes it (2Pe 3:7 ; 2Pe 3:10-12 ). That fire will come, and in that fire heaven and earth scenes will disappear, but he says that we will have a new heaven and a new earth.
13. We read again in the study: “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. . . . And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them.” What is meant by the sea and death giving up the dead in them?
ANSWER. It means the resurrection of the bodies of all the dead, whether buried on land or in the sea, just as our Lord said: “The hour cometh when all that are in the tomb shall hear his voice and shall come forth,” or as Daniel put it: “They that sleep in the dust of the earth, some to eternal life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
14. What is meant by Hades giving up the dead that are in it?
ANSWER. It means the coming forth of all the disembodied souls, reunited to their raised bodies. “Hades” means the spirit world. David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said: “Moreover, my flesh shall rest in hope, for thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades.” The flesh is raised when the time is come for Hades to give up its dead, and the soul and body shall be reunited.
15. While Hades, as a state of being disembodied, applies equally to all souls, is there not some distinction of place and condition?
ANSWER. Yes, the souls of both the rich man and Lazarus went into Hades, but between the places in Hades where they were is a great gulf fixed, so that one may not cross to the other. Lazarus, starved on earth, is feasting at the banquet of God with Abraham, while the rich man, faring sumptuously on earth, is starving and parching with the thirst in the flames. The Greeks held that in Hades there were two widely separate compartments, one of joy and one of woe, the first called “paradise,” and the second called “Tartarus,” and New Testament writers accept this distinction. Jesus said to the dying robber on the cross: “Today thou shalt be with me in paradise.” The man left his body behind, but his soul went with the soul of Jesus into paradise. Paul says: “I was caught up into the third heaven, into the paradise of God.” Peter says: “God spared not the angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to a pit of darkness to be reserved unto the judgment” (2Pe 2:4 ). In some respects the Greek word hades is like the Hebrew word sheol, the underworld or abode of disembodied spirits. The souls of both good and bad went into Sheol, but not the same place or condition of Sheol. Isaiah, in his own sublime imagery, compares the king of Babylon to Lucifer, cast down to Sheol, the torment part of the pit, and represents all Sheol, from underneath, as moved to meet him at his coming; it stirs up its dead for him. The soul of the king of Babylon is entering Sheol, the part where the wicked are, and here is what they say to him: “Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like us? . . . Is this the man that made the earth tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof; that let not loose his prisoners to their homes?” (Isa 14:9-17 ). This is a sublime conception of the greeting to the lost soul on entering Tartarus. Just imagine that rich man in hell, who said: “Tell Lazarus to go and tell my brothers who live in yonder world not to come here where I am,” but when he sees his brothers coming he will say: “Are you become as weak as I am?”
The paradise part of Hades is just the same as heaven itself, as appears from Heb 12:22-24 , where “the spirits of the just made perfect are with the Father, with Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, with the angels on the heavenly Mount Zion, in the heavenly Jerusalem.” And it also appears from what Paul says to the Corinthians (2Co 5:1-2 ; 2Co 12:2-3 ) : “For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved [this body], we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens,” and goes on to say that as long as I am in this body I am absent from the Lord, and when I am out of this body I am present with the Lord.
In 1Th 4:14 , it is said: “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” Now, in the same way, Tartarus is equal to what we call hell, the place of eternal fire and torment, the only difference being the absence of the body until the resurrection. Tartarus is hell now, just the same hell it will be when a lake of fire, but the body is not in it yet. When the saint’s body is raised, the whole man, soul and body, goes back to paradise, where his soul has been since death (see Rev 22:1-2 ; Rev 22:14 ) ; they re-enter the paradise of God. When the wicked man’s body is raised, the whole man, soul and body, goes back into the same Tartarus where his soul had been. It is now called Gehenna, or in this lesson it is called a lake of fire.
16. If paradise be heaven) and Tartarus be hell, except for the absence of the body, why are the righteous, in their souls, already enjoying heaven, to which they went at death, and why are the wicked, already tormented in the flames of hell, to which their souls went at death, brought from those conditions to be judged, seeing that they are already enjoying or suffering the final verdict or sentence?
ANSWER. (1) The day of judgment is not so much a day of actual trial, but as Paul describes it, it is a day of the revelation of the righteous judgments of God, judgments already rendered. The unbeliever is already condemned, says John; he does not wait to come to the judgment to be condemned; he is already condemned for not believing on Jesus Christ. The book of life, which determines the case of both classes, is not a docket for trial that day, but it is a register of judicial decisions already rendered. The object of the general judgment is to make all who have been previously condemned or acquitted, see, understand, and approve the past verdict which acquits or condemns. The acquitted up to that day never fully understood the grounds of their acquittal (see Mat 25:37-40 ) : “Lord, when did we see thee naked and clothed thee, or sick and visited thee, or a stranger and entertained thee?” They do not understand, and the same chapter shows that the wicked do not understand. The rich man in hell did not understand, but when the revelation of the judgment which put him there comes in white light and illumines, he will then understand and confess the righteousness of the judgment of God that sent him to that place of torment. Now, when the records of past judgments are opened, both classes comprehend and recognize the righteousness of the past judgment which sent the soul of one to heaven and the soul of the other to hell. They now approve and acquiesce in God’s judgment, though it had gone against them. “Therefore,” says Paul, “before Jesus, the Judge, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess his name” the lost as well as the saved.
(2) Not only does each man at the judgment see the justice of the verdict in his own case, but also in the cases of the others. He will be as much surprised and enlightened on this point as any other: some will be first that he counted last, and some will be last that he counted first.
17. Is it largely on this account that all angels, good and bad, and the human race, are all brought together in one great assembly?
ANSWER. Yes; the contrast of the cases constitutes much of the light. The penitent men of Nineveh, saved by hearing only one sermon, and the vision-seeking queen of Sheba, at the judgment will throw their brilliant cross light on the wicked generation of Christ’s day, who had much more light and did not act on it. “Sodom and Gomorrah,” says our Lord, “Tyre and Sidon, shall suffer a more tolerable judgment than the cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida,” and this cross light will furnish abundant lessons.
18. Why could not this light have been given sooner to the sinner?
ANSWER. The revelation is put off until the last day because the influence of human thought, desire, and deeds does not cease until they strike the shores of eternity. The influence of Tom Paine’s Age of Reason and Ingersoll’s speeches will go on until the final harvest, and it will not be known how much evil each one has done until we come to the end of the influence. And so Abel, though dead, yet speaketh. All our lives will throw light or shadows on the pathway of others until the end of the world. John Bunyan’s Pilgrim will go marching on till Jesus comes; Keith’s great hymn, “How Firm a Foundation,” and Cowper’s sweet hymn, “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” have not yet reached their final harvest. Edgar Allan Poe brings out the thought in his flight with an angel, who shows him a volcanic island, barren and desolate, and said: “That is an idle, evil word, spoken once and then forgot; but it went on sounding until the end of time, and God crystallized it into the volcanic island.” Again the angel showed him another island of springs and fountains, green with the verdure of grass and the foliage of fruit-bearing trees, in whose boughs a choir of singing birds were praising God. “This,” said the angel, “is a good word you spoke once, and forgot, but it went on in power until it struck the shores of eternity, and God crystallized it into this blessed island.”
19. What are the books out of which men are judged?
ANSWER. We may not name them all, but these are some of them:
(1) The book of remembrance; you will find the account of it in Mal 3:16-18 . In a time of great spiritual tribulations some of the good people will get together and deplore the absence of a revival, and God will command the Recording Angel to put down in the book of remembrance what they said.
(2) The book of curses:
“Then again I lifted up mine eyes and saw, and behold a flying roll, and he said unto me. What seeth thou? and I answered: I see a flying roll, the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth ten cubits. Then he said unto me: This is the curse that goeth forth over the whole land, for every one that stealeth shall be cut off on the one side according to it and every one that sweareth shall be cut off on the other side according to it. I will cause it to go forth, saith Jehovah of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by name, and it shall abide in the midst of his house, and shall consume the timber thereof and the stones thereof. Zec 5:1-2 .
(3) Then there is a book of tears: “Put thou my tears into thy bottle; are they not in thy book?” (Psa 61:8 ) I tell you that will be a marvelous book at the judgment; when on the judgment throne a book is opened, with nothing but splotches on it where tears fell: Who made the widow weep? who made the orphan cry? who brought sorrow into the house of the sick? I tell you that God keeps every tear that falls from a sufferer’s eye, and at the judgment that book will be opened. There will be the tears that Jesus wept over Jerusalem. It will be an awful book.
(4) Then there is the book of the covenant. You remember when the covenant was made with Moses, the book was put in the ark, to be held as an everlasting witness. At the day of judgment the Lord will say: “I need not judge you; Moses will judge you. Just bring out that covenant and read it to him. Did you abide by it?”
(5) Finally, there is the book of life: “Another book was opened, which is the book of life.”
20. What is this book of life?
ANSWER. It is a register of judicial decisions. Whenever a man is converted, justified, or acquitted, his name is written in that book. It holds the record of all the saved from the beginning to the end of time.
21. Which is the decisive book?
ANSWER. That book of life, because this lesson shows that whosoever is not found written in that book shall be cast into the lake of fire. You remember that Baptist song: “When thou my righteous judge shall come to take thy ransomed people home, shall I among them stand; shall I, who sometimes am afraid to die, be found at thy right hand? O can I bear the piercing thought: what if my name should be left out?” Whosoever is not found written in that book well, that is all you need.
I will suppose there is a man Mr. A , say in Fort Worth, County of Tarrant, State of Texas, United States of America, living in such a period; open the book of life to that name. Do you see his name there? No. That is sufficient; pass him into the lake of fire. Do you see his name on the book of remembrance? No. Do you see his name in the book of curses? Yes.
22. What is the great principle of this judgment?
ANSWER. Each man is judged according to his light, privileges, opportunities, and environment.
23. What is the only thing of which this judgment takes cognizance?
ANSWER. One’s attitude toward Christ in his gospel, his cause and his people. The bad angels will have to say: We opposed; the good angels will say: We ministered unto the heirs of salvation. The wicked will say: Salvation came right to my door, the stream of life lapped against my doorsill, and I said no, no.
24. Apply this to good angels, and show what advantage it is to them.
ANSWER. They did not sin before, and now they have stood for Christ’s cause and his people, and they will become confirmed, for after the judgment no angel can ever fall.
25. What proof have we that on that day the acquitted participate with Christ in judging the world and the angels?
ANSWER. “Ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Mat 14:28 ). “Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world is judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that the saints shall judge the angels?” It will be fine poetic justice when Job and Peter pass judgment on the devil, who tried them so much; it will be a great sight to see Agrippa, Festus, and Nero judged by Paul; they judged him on earth; he will judge them in eternity. It will be a fine thing to see those who are despised in this world, sit with Christ on his throne, passing judgment upon demons and the wicked lost.
26. On what score are the saints judged that day, and the proof, and the reasons?
ANSWER. The saints are not put on trial for their lives that day; all that was ended when they were justified: they will not have to come into the judgment on that score; they have passed out of death into eternal life, and none can bring a charge against God’s elect, but they are judged on their fidelity, on their lives as Christians, and shall receive the last reward. The salvation of all the saved is the same, but the rewards of the saints are different. They all get into salvation alike, through one door, Christ; but their rank and position in heaven is determined by their Christian fidelty.
27. Are there also degrees in hell? Jesus said: “It shall be more tolerable in the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than the cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida.”
28. What do you understand by the lake of fire?
ANSWER. First, it is a place; all finite things must be posited. Second, it is a prepared place, originally prepared for the devil and his demons, but there is room enough in it for those who follow the devil. It is a prison; Peter says: “The spirits in prison”; Jude says: “The demons cast down in chains and bondage.” It is a place of torment, weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. It is a place of companionship without friendship: you will have the company of liars, thieves, murderers, idolaters; you will have the company of the devil and his demons, but it will not be a happy crowd. It is a place of conscience, memory, and despair; the mind does not quit thinking, the conscience does not quit aching, but hope never comes. It is eternal: “These shall go away into everlasting fire” that is the same word used when it says everlasting life thus when you shorten hell you shorten heaven; the same word applies to both. Pollok, in the “Course of Time,” vainly tried to describe hell. He says: “Wide was the place, and deep as wide, and ruinous as deep, while overhead and all around winds war with winds, and thunders roll, and lightnings, forked lightnings, flash.” God pity the man who dares come into the pulpit and preach against his eternal judgment.
The questions are embodied in the text of this chapter, it being presented in the form of a catechism.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Ver. 11. And I saw a great white throne ] A lively description of the last judgment, to show that henceforth, since the last great battle, the New Jerusalem should have no disturbance till Christ comes to judgment. His throne is said to be white, for like reason as he is said to sit upon a white cloud and a white horse, Rev 14:14 ; Rev 19:11 . He shall give most just and uncorrupt judgment.
From whose face the earth, &c. ] To show either his terribleness or their renovation,2Pe 3:122Pe 3:12 ; Rom 8:21 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
11 15 .] The general judgment . And I saw a great white throne (great, in distinction from the thrones before mentioned, Rev 20:4 ; white, as seen in purest light, and symbolizing the most blameless justice), and Him that sitteth on it (viz. God: the Father: see ch. Rev 4:3 , Rev 21:5 . It is necessary to keep to the well-known formula of the book in interpreting , even though some expressions and sayings seem better to belong to the Son. Be it also remembered that it is the Father who giveth all judgment to the Son: and though He Himself judgeth no man, yet He is ever described as present in the judgment, and mankind as judged before Him. We need not find in this view any difficulty, or discrepancy with such passages as Mat 25:31 , seeing that our Lord Himself says in ch. Rev 3:21 , . . Nor need we be surprised at the sayings of our Lord, such as that in ch. Rev 21:6 b, being uttered by Him that sitteth on the throne. That throne is now the throne of God and of the Lamb, ch. Rev 22:1 . Cf. also ch. Rev 21:22 ), from whose face the earth and the heaven fled, and place was not found for them (these words again seem to indicate the presence of One who has not hitherto appeared: whereas Christ in glory has been long present on earth. This fleeing away of heaven and earth is elsewhere described as their consumption by fire, 2Pe 3:10-12 . Both descriptions indicate the passing away of their present corruptible state and change to a state glorious and incorruptible). And I saw the dead (viz. the of Rev 20:5 ; those who rose as described below, Rev 20:13 ), the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened (see ref. Dan.), and another book was opened, which is ( the book ) of life (Dsterd. remarks that the order of proceedings indicated seems to be that the contents of the books in which were written the works of men indicated whether they were to be found in the book of life. But this could hardly be: for in that case, what need for the book of life at all? Rather should we say that those books and the book of life bore independent witness to the fact of men being or not being among the saved: the one by inference from the works recorded: the other by inscription or non-inscription of the name in the list. So the ‘books’ would be as it were the vouchers for the book of life): and the dead were judged out of the things written in the books according to their works (reff.: and 2Co 5:10 ). And the sea gave forth the dead that were in her (the citation in Wetst. from Achilles Tatius, v. p. 313 B, , , is no illustration of this passage, which simply imports that the dead contained in the sea shall rise), and Death and Hades (see ch. Rev 1:18 , Rev 6:8 ) gave forth the dead which were in them (i. e. all the dead, buried and unburied, rose again), and they were judged each according to their (his) works. And Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire (Death and Hades are regarded as two dmons, enemies of God. So in 1Co 15:26 , : and in Isa 25:8 , Heb. and E. V., not LXX, “He will swallow up death in victory,” cf. 1Co 15:54 . Hades, as in ch. Rev 6:8 , is Death’s follower and the receiver of his prey. The punishment of sin is inflicted on both, because both are the offspring of and bound up with sin). This is the second death, the lake of fire (thus then our Lord’s saying, ch. Rev 2:11 , and that of the Apostle in our Rev 20:6 , are explained. As there is a second and higher life, so there is also a second and deeper death. And as after that life there is no more death (ch. Rev 21:4 ), so after that death there is no more life, Rev 20:10 ; Mat 25:41 ). And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire (there was no intermediate state).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
The moral dignity and reticence with which this sublime vision of the last assize is drawn, show how the primitive Christian conscience could rise above its inheritance from Jewish eschatology. The latter spoke more definitely upon the beginning of the end than upon the end itself ( cf. Harnack’s History of Dogma , i. 174).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
John hints where Isaiah is explicit (Rev 6:1 ). Nothing is said about the uselessness of intercession; cf. 4 Ezra 7 :[102 115] 33: “and the Most High shall be revealed upon the judgment-seat, and compassion shall pass away, long-suffering shall be withdrawn”. Enoch xc. 20 sets up the throne near Jerusalem, and most apocalypses are spoiled by similarly puerile details. Compare with 11 b the tradition in Asc. Isa. iv. 18 where the voice of the Beloved ( i.e. , messiah) at the close of the millennium rebukes in wrath heaven and earth, the hills and cities, the angels of the sun and moon, “and all things wherein Beliar manifested himself and acted openly in this world”. John’s Apocalypse, however, follows (yet cf. Rev 22:12 ) that tradition of Judaism which reserved the judgment for God and not for the messiah (Est 4:1-10Est 4:1-10 ; 2Es 7:33 f. anti-Christian polemic?) although another conception (En. xlv. 3, lix. 27 etc.; Ap. Bar. 72:2 6) assigning it to the messiah had naturally found greater favour in certain Christian circles.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev 20:11-15
11Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Rev 20:11 “Then I saw a great white throne” This is an allusion to Dan 7:9. The great white throne seems to be a parallel to Mat 25:31-46, but if this is only the judgment of the lost, it cannot be parallel to Matthew 25 because there the sheep (saved) and the goats (lost) are addressed together.
“and Him who sat upon it” This is an allusion to Dan 7:9. In the NT God has made Christ the Judge (cf. Joh 5:22; Joh 5:27; Joh 9:39; Act 10:42; Act 17:31; 2Co 5:10; 2Ti 4:1 and 1Pe 4:5). However, in some passages, Christ said that He did not come to judge (cf. Joh 3:17-21; Joh 12:47-48). Christ did not come to judge, but to save, however, the fact that humans reject Him brings judgment on themselves. So, who sits on this throne? Is it Jesus? This is possible because of Mat 25:31-46 and particularly Joh 5:22 and 2Co 5:10, however, most of the time in the NT and especially in the book of the Revelation, God the Father is the One who is seated on the throne (cf. Rom 14:10; Rev 5:1; Rev 5:7; Rev 5:13; Rev 6:16; Rev 7:10; Rev 7:15; Rev 19:4; Rev 21:5).
“from whose presence earth and heaven fled away” Some see this as the removal of the curse which was put on physical creation when Adam and Eve rebelled and fell (cf. Gen 3:17-19 and Rom 8:19-22). Others see this as a metaphor for the complete destruction of the current physical order as described in 2Pe 3:10; 2Pe 3:12 (cf. Act 3:21; Rom 8:21).
This is OT language signifying: (1) the coming of God to His creation, cf. Psa 114:3-6; Isa 13:10; Isa 24:19-20; Isa 24:23; Joe 2:10; Joe 2:30-31; Joe 3:15; Zec 14:6) or (2) God does not need His two eternal witnesses anymore, cf. Num 35:30; Deu 17:6; Deu 19:15. He reigns!
Heaven in this context does not refer to God’s throne, but to the atmosphere above the earth as in Gen 1:1.
Rev 20:12 “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne” The exact makeup of this large group is uncertain and is usually based on one’s presupposition, as are most interpretations of the details of the visions in the book of the Revelation.
The phrase “the great and small” can refer to (1) believers (cf. Psa 115:13; Rev 11:18; Rev 19:5) or (2) unbelievers (cf. Rev 13:16; Rev 19:18). In this context it is parallel to “sheep and goats” of Mat 25:31-46 or “those in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth” of Php 2:10-11.
“and books were opened” This is an allusion to Dan 7:10. There are two books mentioned: the book of deeds or remembrances and the book of life (cf. Rev 3:5; and Rev 13:8). The book of life is described in Exo 32:32-33; Psa 69:28; Isa 4:3; Dan 12:1; Luk 10:20; Php 4:3; Heb 12:23; Rev 3:5; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8; Rev 20:15; Rev 21:27. The book of deeds or remembrances is described in Psa 56:8; Psa 139:16; Isa 65:6; Mal 3:16 and Rev 20:12-13. These are metaphors for God’s memory. God will deal fairly with His creation; humans are responsible for their actions and motives and are accountable to God (cf. Gal 6:7). There is only one judgment.
“and the dead were judged from the things written in the books, according to their deeds” Judgment is based on mankind’s lifestyle choices (cf. Mat 25:31-46). We reap what we sow (cf. Gal 6:7). The theological truth that all humans are judged by their works can be seen in Jer 17:10; Mat 16:27; 2Co 5:10; Rev 2:23; Rev 20:13. For a full list of references see note at Rev 2:23.
Rev 20:13 “the sea. . . and death. . . and Hades gave up the dead which were in them” This does not refer to the fact that the dead are kept in three different places; the parallel metaphors assert that all of the dead stood before God (cf. Php 2:10-11).
Rev 20:14 “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire” These were referred to earlier in Rev 6:8. Death, mankind’s great enemy (cf. Heb 2:14-15), has been defeated and removed (cf. 1Co 15:26; 1Co 15:54-55; 2Ti 1:10; Rev 1:18; Rev 21:4).
“the second death” The Bible speaks of three stages of death:
1. spiritual death, cf. Genesis 3; Isa 59:2; Rom 5:12-21; Romans 7; Romans 10-11; Eph 2:1; Eph 2:5; Col 2:13; Jas 1:15
2. physical death, cf. Genesis 5
3. eternal death called “the second death” in Rev 2:11; Rev 20:6; Rev 20:14; Rev 21:8, which refers to Hell
Rev 20:15 “if anyone’s name” This sentence is a first class conditional which assumes that there will be those who are not written in the book of life (a metaphor for those who have not trusted Christ).
“the book of life” See note at Rev 13:8.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
great. That in Rev 4:2-6 was seen by John in heaven; this on earth.
white. Indicating holiness and righteousness. No adjuncts mentioned. Only one throne and one Judge.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
11-15.] The general judgment. And I saw a great white throne (great, in distinction from the thrones before mentioned, Rev 20:4; white, as seen in purest light, and symbolizing the most blameless justice), and Him that sitteth on it (viz. God: the Father: see ch. Rev 4:3, Rev 21:5. It is necessary to keep to the well-known formula of the book in interpreting , even though some expressions and sayings seem better to belong to the Son. Be it also remembered that it is the Father who giveth all judgment to the Son: and though He Himself judgeth no man, yet He is ever described as present in the judgment, and mankind as judged before Him. We need not find in this view any difficulty, or discrepancy with such passages as Mat 25:31, seeing that our Lord Himself says in ch. Rev 3:21, . . Nor need we be surprised at the sayings of our Lord, such as that in ch. Rev 21:6 b, being uttered by Him that sitteth on the throne. That throne is now the throne of God and of the Lamb, ch. Rev 22:1. Cf. also ch. Rev 21:22), from whose face the earth and the heaven fled, and place was not found for them (these words again seem to indicate the presence of One who has not hitherto appeared: whereas Christ in glory has been long present on earth. This fleeing away of heaven and earth is elsewhere described as their consumption by fire, 2Pe 3:10-12. Both descriptions indicate the passing away of their present corruptible state and change to a state glorious and incorruptible). And I saw the dead (viz. the of Rev 20:5; those who rose as described below, Rev 20:13), the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened (see ref. Dan.), and another book was opened, which is (the book) of life (Dsterd. remarks that the order of proceedings indicated seems to be that the contents of the books in which were written the works of men indicated whether they were to be found in the book of life. But this could hardly be: for in that case, what need for the book of life at all? Rather should we say that those books and the book of life bore independent witness to the fact of men being or not being among the saved: the one by inference from the works recorded: the other by inscription or non-inscription of the name in the list. So the books would be as it were the vouchers for the book of life): and the dead were judged out of the things written in the books according to their works (reff.: and 2Co 5:10). And the sea gave forth the dead that were in her (the citation in Wetst. from Achilles Tatius, v. p. 313 B, , , is no illustration of this passage, which simply imports that the dead contained in the sea shall rise), and Death and Hades (see ch. Rev 1:18, Rev 6:8) gave forth the dead which were in them (i. e. all the dead, buried and unburied, rose again), and they were judged each according to their (his) works. And Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire (Death and Hades are regarded as two dmons, enemies of God. So in 1Co 15:26, : and in Isa 25:8, Heb. and E. V., not LXX, He will swallow up death in victory, cf. 1Co 15:54. Hades, as in ch. Rev 6:8, is Deaths follower and the receiver of his prey. The punishment of sin is inflicted on both, because both are the offspring of and bound up with sin). This is the second death, the lake of fire (thus then our Lords saying, ch. Rev 2:11, and that of the Apostle in our Rev 20:6, are explained. As there is a second and higher life, so there is also a second and deeper death. And as after that life there is no more death (ch. Rev 21:4), so after that death there is no more life, Rev 20:10; Mat 25:41). And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire (there was no intermediate state).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Driven, like chaff before the wind, from the face of him who sat upon the throne.
Rev 20:12-15. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Rev 21:1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
This exposition consisted of readings from Mat 26:57-68. Rev 6:12-17, Rev 19:11-16, Rev 20:11-15, Rev 21:1.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Rev 20:11. , and) Up to this time there has been a description of the events which are to be accomplished between the day of Johns vision and the last day. It is therefore proper to insert here a Synopsis of the times, which are comprised in the prophecy.
A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE CONTENTS OF THE APOCALYPSE.
3940.Commencement of
3943. The first year of the era of Dionysius.
a.d.
30. Jesus Christ suffers; dies; rises again: affords Apocalyptic strictures, Joh 21:22-23; Act 1:7 : and ascends into heaven.
96. The Apocalypse is given: the coming of the Lord is announced to the seven churches in Asia, and to their angels, Apoc. 1. 2. and 3.
97, 98. The seven seals are opened, and under the fifth the Chronus [Rev 6:11, period or season; not as Engl. little season] is proclaimed, ch. 4-6. Seven trumpets are given to the seven angels, ch. 7. 8.
Century 2, 3, 4, 5. The trumpet of 1James , 2 d, 3d, 4th angel – Revelation 8
a. 510-589. The first woe,
589-634. The interval after the first woe.
634-840. The second woe,
800-1836. The Non-Chronus; many kings, Revelation 10; Revelation 11
840-947. The interval after the second woe, Rev 11:14.
864-1521. The 1260 days of the woman, after she had brought forth the man-child, Rev 12:6.
947-1836. The third woe, Rev 12:12.
1058-1836. The time, times, and half a time: and within that period, the beast, and his 42 months, and his number 666, Rev 12:14; Rev 13:5.
1209. War with the saints, end of the Chronus, Rev 13:7.
1614. The everlasting Gospel [published], Rev 14:6.
1810. End of the 42 months of the beast; upon the completion of which, and the pouring out of the seven vials, he is not, and Babylon sits as a Queen, Revelation 15. etc.
1832. The beast out of the bottomless pit, Revelation 17; Revelation 18
1836. End of the Non-Chronus, and of the many kings: the fulfilling of the words of God, and of the mystery of God: repentance of those who are left in the great city. End of the short time (space), and of the 3 times. The destruction of the beast, the imprisonment of Satan, Revelation 19; Revelation 20
Afterwards: The loosing of Satan for a little Chronus: commencement of the 1000 years reign of the saints: end of the little Chronus, Revelation 20
End of the world: all things new, Revelation 20-22
I declare throughout, by what condition I wish it to be thought that the years in this table are defined. Therefore I beg, that no one will suppose anything to be advanced by me which is opposed to true sobriety, but that all will favourably receive that which is suitably offered. In the meantime, according to the guidance of the Apocalypse, you may not inappropriately distinguish the centuries from the time of John in Patmos to our own age by the following characteristics:The birth of Jesus Christ.
Cent. 2. The Destruction of Judaism,
3. The Inroad of the Barbarians, Revelation 8.
4. The Arian age: the Arian bitterness, Revelation 10.
5. Overthrow of the Empire of Rome, Revelation 12.
6. The Jewish Synagogue tormented, Rev 9:1.
7. The Saracen cavalry, Revelation 13.
8. The Iconoclastic age: many Kings, Rev 10:11.
9. The age of Photius: the Ruler of the nations also born, Rev 12:5.
10. The Disastrous age: the third woe, Revelation 12.
11. The age of Hildebrand: the rising of the beast out of the sea, Rev 13:1.
12. The Waldensian age: Power given to the beast, Revelation 5.
13. The Scholastic age: War with the saints, Revelation 7.
14. The age of Wicliff: the middle of the third woe.
15. The age of Synods: the beast in the midst of his strength.
16. The age of the Reformation: the woman in the wilderness better fed.
17. The everlasting Gospel [published],
18. The Worship of the beast, and his image, Revelation 9.
– , fled) This is the day, that day, the great day, Heb 10:25, in which the earth and heaven flee away; and moreover the last day, the day of the resurrection and the judgment, Rev 20:12, etc.; Joh 6:39; Joh 12:48. All judgment is given to the Son: Joh 5:27.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rev 20:11-15
4. THE UNIVERSAL JUDGMENT
Rev 20:11-15
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it,—-In this paragraph John describes the great judgment scene, closing with the final disposition to be made of the wicked. The word “throne” means authority to exercise power of some kind. It may indicate either reign or judgment; here the latter is certainly indicated. This is the same throne mentioned by Jesus in Mat 25:31 in describing the final judgment; it is there called the “throne of his glory.” From the language there we know it will be Jesus himself who will sit upon the judgment throne. it is called the judgment seat of God in Rom 14:10, and the judgment seat of Christ in 2Co 5:10. This is not a contradiction, for God and Christ are one in the purpose of saving men. Then the Father bath committed judgment to the Son (Joh 5:22), and Christ’s judgment is, therefore, the judgment of the Father also.
from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.–The disappearing of the heaven and the earth is what John saw in the picture; and their disappearance was final. Whether this is to be understood symbolically to indicate a complete change of religious systems or the final change in the material world, as described in 2Pe 3:7; 2Pe 3:10-12, is an immaterial matter; for the judgment will bring a radical change in both. The old system in both will disappear forever–their purposes will have been accomplished.
12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; –Jesus said there would be gathered before him all nations. In the emblem John sees the scenes enacted as predicted. “The great and the small” is a general expression that includes all, both evil and good. This is in perfect agreement with plain statements in nonfigurative language. Jesus said “all nations” would appear before his throne; Paul says we shall “all” stand before the judgment seat; and that “each one” may receive the things done in the body. This makes it universal
and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life:–Both Old and New Testaments use the figure of man’s name and deeds being recorded in a book. The following passages give clear proof of that fact: Exo 32:32; Mal 3:16; Php 4:3; Rev 3:5; Rev 13:8; Rev 18:8; Rev 21:27. The thought is that God’s infinite memory will enable him to reward properly both bad and good just as if a written record had been kept. His knowledge of men’s acts is just as accurate as a perfect writing. Some commentators interpret the “books” to mean the record God keeps of men’s conduct, and the “books of life” to be the roll or record of the names of the righteous. But since we are to be judged by the words of Jesus (Joh 12:48), it seems more probable that one of the books, at least, should represent the Bible which contains the law by which mankind shall be judged. The other two could be the record of man’s deeds and a register of the names of the saved. Whatever distinction we make in the application of the books, it is certain that men are to be judged in harmony with God’s law and according to their deeds. A failure to have our names on God’s record, or to have them rubbed out because of our sins, will be fatal to us. That is the important thing to remember.
and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.–This is a plain statement of what is already implied in the text. The “dead” is an unlimited term that means all the dead, unless the context or language limits it to some special class of the dead. The language here has no such limitation, but on the other hand the implied contrast between the saved and lost runs through the entire paragraph. Why say “according to their works” if only the wicked dead were in view? In that case it would have been necessary only to say that the dead were raised to be punished.
13 And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them:–The Bible definitely shows that it is the body that dies, in the common use of the word die; death can be affirmed of the soul or spirit only in a moral or figurative sense. That leaves the soul alive in the natural sense of the term “live.” James says “the body apart from the spirit is dead” (Jas 2:26), but no inspired writer anywhere says the spirit apart from the body is dead. Luk 16:22-25 and Act 2:27 are final proofs that the souls in the Hadean world are not dead in the sense that the body is dead. Since the judgment is the door through which the final state is entered, of course a resurrection must precede. Hence, Hades must give up all souls, and the tombs be opened for the resurrection of bodies. But as the sea has claimed a large share of dead bodies, it must give up those in it. The resurrection must be complete and final. The language here forces the word “sea” to have its literal meaning; the word “earth” is implied in the resurrection of those buried in tombs.
and they were judged every man according to their works, –Once more the universal nature of the resurrection is indicated by the expression “every man.” Doubtless repeated for emphasis.
14 And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire.–The language means that both death and Hades will cease to exist at the judgment. The abolishment of death will render it impossible to have dead bodies for tombs in either earth or sea. If there will be no bodies for the tombs, there will be no disembodied spirits for Hades. No longer needed, naturally they will cease to exist. Personified, as if human beings, their final end is represented as in the lake of fire, called the second death. This is a forceful way of saying they are eternally banished, and the saved will no longer have reason to fear what does not exist.
15 And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.–Returning to the destiny of men, John says anyone not written in God’s book will be cast into the lake of fire. While this is the last act in the career of the wicked, the implication is evident that those whose names are in the book of life will escape the second death. This event, of course, is still future, yet John said “was” cast into the lake of fire. As John was permitted to see the judgment in a pictorial representation, the whole matter appeared done; hence, symbolically it was finished, but in reality was then, and yet is, future. This judgment scene pictures what Jesus revealed would take place when he comes again. (Mat 25:31-46.)
At this point the curtain drops upon the earthly drama in which mankind has played its several parts. The acts will not be repeated; the stage and all furnishings will give place to that which will be suitable to the eternal nature of man in his final abode. The curtain will never rise again upon the lost; their doom is left to our imagination from the pictures already drawn. Not so with the redeemed; for with the most entrancing visions and the sweetest and most alluring promises John lays before his readers Revelation’s last words concerning the mansions Jesus has gone to prepare for his own
Commentary on Rev 20:11-15 by Foy E. Wallace
(5) The tribunal of the great white throne.
The progress of the apocalypse from the opening vision of chapter four surrounded Christ, the Rider and Conqueror; and the church, his Bride; in conflict with multiple opposing powers. But in the scene of Rev 20:11-15 the visions turned to the judgment throne of God, as the dead both small and great stand before God,
The picture in these verses was but the continuation of the contrast between the causes of righteousness and wickedness, truth and error, Christianity and heathenism; and their standing respectively before the great throne of divine judgment. The issues had been joined in the fierce conflict between the church on one hand, and all the forces of Judaism, Romanism and paganism on the other. Now the participants stood before the bar of divine decision, where the issues were settled. The cause of righteousness was acquitted, and the cause of wickedness was convicted, and forever condemned.
A continuation of the textual analysis will add precept upon precept that the apocalypse was limited to the period of the struggle and triumph of the church with opposing powers in the first century of its existence.
1. The great white throne. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them-Rev 20:11.
This visional tribunal was the bar of divine justice to be meted to the criminals of war against Christ and the church.
The description of the great white throne adds awe to the vision, as it also symbolized the character of pure and unmingled justice from the magnificent seat of judgment dispensed by the righteous Judge of the small and great. The Psalmist put it to verse in Psa 89:14 : Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. From before the face of God the earth and the heaven fled away: and there was found no place for them. This was not flight from one locality to another–the phrase fled away indicated complete disappearance.
The earth, as in other visions, referred to the inhabitants of the land of Palestine; and the heaven signified the authorities and governments.
After complete defeat there was no place for their activities of persecution and opposition, and they disappeared from their visional positions before the face of the great God of judgment.
2. The dead small and great. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works”-Rev 20:12.
These dead were the class of Rev 20:5, and of Rev 19:18. They were the rest of the dead, the persecutors of the church, small and great–from the lowest to the highest officials of the imperial beast–all of them together stood before the tribunal of retribution. Comparison again with Isaiahs vision of the demise of the wicked lords who had exercised evil dominion over Israel in Isa 26:13-14 will lend force to this application of the judgment throne vision. These dead were held in contrast with the blessed of verse six, and there was no blessing for any of these dead, small and great–they stood before the throne of the great God, as culprits called to account for their crimes.
When the books were opened that contained the record of their works they were judged accordingly. In the same symbolism, the beasts of Daniels vision, Dan 7:10, were judged by the books which were opened. These books symbolized the record of evil deeds, a book of remembrance.
But the reference to another book . . . which is the book of life symbolized the registry of the approved, which are written in heaven. The names of these dead included in the rest of the dead were not in it. The distinction was made between the books, and the book of life. The names of the dead, small and great, referred to the judgment of the evil persecutors and opposers of the church; they were judged out of those things which were written in the books–not the book. These things were the record of their own evil works.
The whole vision, of course, was figurative, and must be applied in the sense of the visions which represented the deadly struggle of the church with the persecuting powers.
3. The sea gave up the dead which were in it. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works”-Rev 20:13.
The symbolism continued, the reference was not to the literal sea nor to physical death. Although the principles may be applied generally, the language belongs visionally to this apocalypse, and has direct reference to the judgment of the persecuting rulers and their subjects. The use of the word sea applied to the heathen society, consistent with the employment of the symbol elsewhere in the apocalypse; as mentioned in the classification of symbols in the first chapter. There was no reference to the bodily resurrection of the dead at the general judgment. This surrender by the sea of its dead was as figurative as the first resurrection of Rev 20:6. The realm of death and hell (hades) in like figure were also said to deliver up the dead which were in them.
The words death and hades were used as a synecdoche–a figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole; the genus for the species, the name of the substance for thething. So death and hades were used here for the subjects of the diabolical and infernal powers.
In the same symbolism that the first resurrection of Rev 20:6 was described as a resurrection to a state of victory–the resurrection of a cause; the rest of the dead were envisioned in a resurrection of retribution–of judgment on the evil rulers and their wicked subjects who had persecuted the cause of the Lamb of God.
4. Death and hades cast into the lake of fire. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death:–Rev 20:14.
These were the figurative representatives of the realms of opposition to the cause of the saints, and they were consigned to the same figurative oblivion with the beast. The symbolism meant that the period of martyrdom had ended, and there was surcease from persecution.
This judgment on the evil instigators of the persecutions and martyrdom of the saints of God and Christ was specifically named the second death, which again was as visional and metaphorical as the first resurrection. It denoted in symbolic language the destruction of the evil forces which had moved against the church to destroy it.
5. The names not written in the book of life. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire-Rev 20:15.
The book of life was the registry of the approved of God. The names not found in it were not a part of Gods called and chosen people–they belonged to the society opposed to the church.
The same reference in Rev 13:8 mentioned the names not written in the book of life from the foundation of the earth, which affirms the great truth that in all nations and ages the only people who belong to God in the true sense of the people of God were and are the people who have lived and now live in obedience to His divine will.
Let it be impressed on the minds of the readers of Revelation, that these visions of resurrection; of second death and judgment; were all extraordinary and of special character. They were not intended for future and general application. They belonged to the apocalypse, and the apocalypse belonged to that period. The depiction of the first resurrection and the second death were not meant for expositions of the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead and the future eternal punishment of the wicked, abundantly taught elsewhere in numerous scriptures. Though the imagery has basis in these fundamental doctrinal truths, the visions of Revelation were limited in application to the pageantry of apocalyptic description of the fortunes of the early church and the divine judgments on its enemies.
Commentary of Rev 20:11-15 by Walter Scott
THE JUDGMENT OF THE DEAD
THE THRONE AND THE JUDGE.
Rev 20:11. – And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the Heaven fled, and place was not found for them. This verse constitutes a distinct vision of itself. The words I saw occur again in Rev 20:12. There are two separate visions: first, the throne and the Judge; second, the dead and their judgment. The millennium opens and closes each with an act of sessional judgment, and in both the Lord in Person is the Judge. The living are the subjects in the former case; the dead are on their trial in the latter. The throne of glory set up in Mat 25:31 is totally distinct from the great white throne of our chapter. The times of the respective judgments: the one before, and the other after the millennial reign; the parties judged, the living in the one case, the dead in the other; nations, too, in the former; individuals in the latter; these and other essential differences between the two thrones mark them off as fundamentally distinct. It is impossible to regard them as one and the same.
There are three great thrones: (1) in Heaven (Rev 4:2),from whence the universe is governed; (2) on earth (Mat 25:31), for the judgment of the nations in respect to their treatment of the preachers of the Gospel of the kingdom (vv. 40-45); (3) the great white throne, for the judgment of the dead (Rev 20:11).
Rev 20:11. – A great white throne. (Not the throne of the Sovereign, but that of the Judge, not regal but judicial. Neither is it permanently set up, but temporally, and for a special purpose.) There is but one such. We are about to view the greatest as size ever held. The august dignity of the Judge, the greatness of the occasion, the vastness of the scene, and the eternal consequences involved fitly demand the epithet great. The judgment is not governmental, but is one according to the nature of God Himself, Who is light, and that gives its own true and proper character to the throne. Greatness and purity characterize it.
Rev 20:11. – Him that sat on it. Here the pronoun alone is used; the name of the Judge is withheld. But we learn from the Lord Himself who it is that judges. The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son (Joh 5:22); and, further, that the Son executes His own judgment (v. 27). It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the despised Nazarene and crucified Lord, who shall judge the quick and the dead (2Ti 4:1). The quick, or living, Hehas already judged (Mat 25:31). Now He is about to judge the dead. The Son of Man it is Who sits on the throne. We gather that the name is withheld because the judgment and attendant circumstances are in moral keeping with the divine nature, not so prominently with His manhood as the title Son of Man would suggest.
Rev 20:11 – From whose face the earth and the Heaven fled. One could readily imagine that the present scene, so marred and wrecked, would at once disappear before the glory and majesty of such a One, but that is not what is seen here. It is the earth and the Heaven constituted by the Lord Himself as spheres to display His glory and righteousness that cannot abide the glory of His face. The millennial scene, both in its higher and lower departments, is at the best an imperfect condition. The earth and Heaven fled – not passed out of existence, not annihilated. The next clause carefully guards against any such unscriptural deduction – place was not found for them. It does not intimate the complete disappearance of the millennial earth and Heaven. Consequent upon the removal of these, new heavens and a new earth fitted, furnished, and constituted for eternity take their place – are made, not created (Making supposes pre-existing material. Matter has been created once. Creation is the production of material, or matter, which never before existed. Isa 65:17-18 is millennial, and intimates a complete moral change.) (Isa 66:22; 2Pe 3:13). Between the passing away of the millennial scene and the introduction of the eternal worlds, material in both cases, the great white throne is set up. (The removal of the present material heavens and earth, as beheld by the Seer and foretold by Peter (2Pe 3:10), is in order that the new Heaven and new earth may take their place (Rev 21:1). But the question has been raised: What about the millennial saints on earth? How will they be preserved during the burning and dissolving of which Peter speaks? On this Scripture is silent. Without doubt God will care for and preserve His own during the great change. The bodies of the saints on earth will be constituted for the new conditions of life, for an earth destined never to pass away. Yet the everlasting distinction will be observed between the heavenly and earthly peoples, however close the connection may be.) This consideration imparts profound solemnity to the scene before us. For the throne is not set on the earth, nor in relation to its dispensations and times. It is a scene outside human history entirely. We have passed out of time into eternity. The judgment therefore of the throne is final, and in its very nature eternal. We are in Gods eternity. There can be no measures of time nor limitations bounded by the globe, for that by which all is measured and limited has passed away. The judgment is of persons in their individual relation to God, and is consequently final and eternal.
THE SPIRITUALLY DEAD BEFORE THE THRONE.
Rev 20:12. – And I saw the dead, the great and the small,standing before the throne (R.V.). A new vision. The term dead here has a twofold signification. First, it refers to those who had actually died, and only such are viewed in the passage. Second, all in this judgment are spiritually dead. John sees them as raised not in a separate state. Verse 13 states facts prior to verse 12, and accounts for the dead standing before the throne. There is a resurrection of the just and of the unjust (Act 24:15). But the resurrection of the former is special, both as to time and character. There is really no ground for the prevalent notion of a general resurrection and a general judgment. The former is negated by the statement in Rev 20:5, The rest of the dead did not live till the thousand years had been completed. A general judgment is as destitute of divine authority as that of a common resurrection, for here the dead alone are judged, whilst in Mat 25:1-46 and Rev 19:1-21 the living only are in view a thousand years before.
Rev 20:12 – The great and the small. This Biblical phrase, of frequent occurrence in the Old Testament, is found five times in the Apocalypse (Rev 11:18; Rev 13:16;Rev 19:5; Rev 19:18; Rev 20:12). In the first four of these references the order of the words is reversed from that in our text: small and great. The exception is due to the greatness and majesty of the occasion. The article before the adjectives would intimate that special classes of the great and the small are there, from all ranks of men in the Church and inthe world. The highest and most responsible, down to the least, are congregated and gathered round the throne.
Rev 20:12 – Standing before the throne. How real and present the vision was to the Seer! On what do they stand? Not on earth, for that has disappeared. The dead are maintained before the throne of omnipotent power. The throne beheld by the grandest of the prophets (Isa 6:1-13) had an altar of sacrifice beside it; hence the righteous claim of the throne was met and answered by the altar. The throne in the innermost room of the tabernacle of old had blood – the witness of death – sprinkled upon it. But the throne before us is great and white, and there is neither altar nor blood. Oh, the horror, the despair, the agony of standing in ones sins, searched by the blaze of divine light! Caves, rocks, caverns, there are none in which the guilty soul may hide, for these have fled, and each sinner is now face to face with God, from Whom there is no escape and no shelter.
DIVINE RECORDS OF HUMAN HISTORY.
Rev 20:12 – 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. Books were opened. Every responsible soul on earth has his life and history written above. Nothing is forgotten, nothing is too trivial, all are unerringly set down in the records of God. Infants and idiots are alone excepted. The ground of judgment is that of works, of deeds. Men are responsible for what they have done, not for what they are as born into the world. The existence of an evil nature in each one of the human race (Psa 51:5) is not the ground of judgment, and hence infants and irresponsible persons are not contemplated, and do not come in for judgment at all. We cannot help, nor are we responsible for, the existence of the evil nature in us, but we are responsible for its activity. The root in you you cannot help, but the fruit you can, and for this provision has been made in the sacrifice of Christ. Judgment is according to because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience (Eph 5:6).
Literal books, or rolls, are, of course, out of question. Their awful signification is enough to appall the stoutest heart, and make the most hardened conscience quail. The ungodly dead shall be confronted withal they have thought, done, and said, from the moment of responsibility till its close. If judgment proceeds on the ground of works there can be but one result, one issue of the fair and impartial trial: condemnation, final and eternal. Twice it is said that the judgment is according to their works. Memory, too, will be stirred in that awful moment, and add its solemn Amen, as the record of each ones life is read over amidst the profoundest silence and awe inspired by such a scene.
But the book of life is next opened and carefully scanned, with the result that not one name of the ungodly is found in its pages. Their names might have been written in that book, but mercy was despised, grace rejected, and now judgment and its execution must take their course. It is the book of life referred to in Rev 13:8 and Rev 17:8, but not that of Rev 3:5. This latter is the book of Christian profession, true and false; the former is the record of all true believers.
COMING UP OF THE DEAD
Rev 20:13. – And the sea gave up the dead which (were)in it, and death and hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, each according to their works. Literally, the sea, the sepulchre of buried nations, shall have to yield up its dead. Thevoice of the Son of God, for all the dead shall hear it (Joh 5:28; Joh 5:29), will fathom the lowest depths of the deepest sea, and the angry billows and waves shall answer to the voice of their Creator, and yield up their dead, every one. Death, too, which claimed the body, and hades the soul – the Lord has the keys of both – shall give up their dead, every one. The emperor and peasant, the high and low, the rich and poor, have been humbled to one dead level. Now all come forth at that voice of irresistible power and majesty, and each one is judged according to their works.
DESTRUCTION OF DEATH AND HADES
Rev 20:14. – And death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death (even), the lake of fire. All do not enter into death and hades. It is appointed unto men once to die (Heb 9:27), not unto all men, as the text is generally, but erroneously, read. Enoch and Elijah were caught up, and those alive at the Coming shall be changed, they will not die. When the first resurrection is completed, then death and hades are done with for saints, their work in holding respectively the body and soul is at an end. But they still continue to hold the ungodly dead in their terrible grip. Strong they are, but Christ is their Master (Rev 1:18). Now that their work is over they are cast into the lake of fire; they were brought into existence, so to speak, by sin, and as the lake of fire is the eternal depository of all contrary to God as light and love they are cast into it.
This is the second death, that is, the lake of fire. The bodies of the wicked will be constituted to last through eternal ages; they will never die, but eternally exist in the second death. It is not extinction of existence, not annihilation, but it is torment during the lifetime of the Almighty and Eternal God. Nor will there be apportioned to each the same amount, measure, and degree of punishment. The place is common to all, but many stripes and few stripes (Luk 12:47-48) indicate the infliction of various degreesof punishment.
CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE.
Rev 20:15. – And if any one was not found written in the book of life he was cast into the lake of fire. Such then is the eternal doom of the wicked. The dragon, the Beast, the False Prophet, and now all the unbelieving from the days of Cain find themselves in one horror of horrors, in one place where memory will give point and sting to the agony of eternal separation from God, from light and happiness. May God solemnize our spirits as we ponder these realities soon to be the awful lot and portion of many.
Commentary on Rev 20:11-15 by E.M. Zerr
Rev 20:11. Great white throne signifiespurity and justice. From whose face . . . fled away . . . no place for them. This agrees with the next chapter that will tell us of the new heaven and earth.
Rev 20:12. Small and great. In God’s eyes there are no “big I and little you,” so the phrase is used only to denote that all human beings will be brought before the judgment. This conclusion also agrees with the literal statements of scripture in other passages (2Co 5:10). Books occurs twice in this verse and it is stated that the judgment will be rendered according to the works that are written in the books. Hence the books means God’s books of remembrance. (See Psa 56:8; Mal 3:16.) God does not literally need the mechanical use of books, but the words are used symbolically to impress us with the truth that none of the things we do will escape His knowledge. The other book is described as the book of life. It is referred to in the last verse as containing the names of the faithful servants of the Lord. This same thought is expressed in chapter 21:27; Luk 10:20; Php 4:3. Upon the basis of this information we may conclude that the books were the records of men’s actions, and the book of life contained a list of those whose conduct had caused their names to be written in this book, and whose continued good deeds had prevented their names from being blotted out (Rev 3:5).
Rev 20:13. The preceding verse makes a general statement of the persons to be summoned before the judgment. “Small and great” would virtually include all human beings that ever lived. The present verse gives particulars, doubtless to impress us with the completeness of the resurrection of all persons regardless of where their bodies and spirits had been, even including the sea with its millions of ravenous creatures to feed upon the bodies of the dead. Death refers to the dead bodies and hell (from HADES), is the place where the spirits had been. Both will be reunited and brought before the judgment.
Rev 20:14. Death (of the body) and hell (HADES), will not be needed any longer, hence they will be consigned to the lake of fire. Not all men, of course, but the ones who will be designated in the next verse.
Rev 20:15. This explains who is meant in the preceding verse to be cast into the lake of fire. In order to avoid such a doom it behooves us all to get our names written in the book of life, then live so that they will not be blotted out.
Sermon on Rev 20:1-15
The Milennial Kingdom
Brent Kercheville
Revelation 19 concluded with the judgment of the great prostitute (Rev 19:2), the beast (Rev 19:20), and the false prophet (Rev 19:20). Rome and her empire, along with all the rulers and provinces associated with the empire, have been brought under judgment. Revelation 20 reveals what happens next.
The Dragon and The Abyss (Rev 20:1-3)
John sees an angel coming down from heaven. In his hand is the key to the abyss (bottomless pit) and a great chain. We read about the abyss in Rev 9:1 where we saw Abaddon/Apollyon (Satan) open the abyss and release locusts. Those locusts represented Satan unleashing the Roman Empire as the destroyer of the Jewish nation. The angel seizes the dragon and binds him for 1000 years. We are reminded that the dragon is Satan. Satan is thrown into the abyss, shut it, and sealed it for the 1000 years. It is important to read the meaning of this binding. The binding means that Satan might not deceive the nations any longer. It is important to consider that the angel does not say that Satan is no longer deceiving people. Satan is the great deceiver and will continue to tempt people to sin until Christ returns (1Pe 5:8). The angel is pointing to something different when we are told that Satan can no longer deceive the nations. What has Satan been doing in the book of Revelation that he will no longer be able to do for the 1000 years? It seems evident from our study that the dragon has lifted up a world power to make war on those who follow Jesus (Rev 12:17) and deceive the world to worship it rather than God (Rev 13:13-15). This is what the dragon has been causing in the second half of the book of Revelation. As Daniel prophesied in Dan 2:44 the kingdoms of the earth have been brought to an end by the kingdom of God that shall never be destroyed. The deception of the nations by the dragon will be expanded on toward the end of this chapter.
We also need to examine the 1000 year period. As we have noted throughout our study, we are taking these numbers as symbols unless something in the text demands otherwise. There is nothing here to suggest that the 1000 years are a literal 1000 years. Further, the 1000 years seems to be in contrast to what will happen after the 1000 years. Satan will be released for a little while. Satan is going to be sealed in the abyss for a significant duration of time while his release will be for a very short amount of time. We will be given more details about the 1000 years in the next few verses.
New Testament scholar, G.K. Beale argues for the 1000 years to be understood figuratively. The events in Rev 20:1-3 and Rev 20:4-6 occur during the same period, which is referred to as 1000 years. That this is not a literal chronological number is apparent from: (1) the consistently figurative use of numbers elsewhere in the book, (2) the figurative nature of much of the immediate context (chain, abyss, dragon, serpent, locked, sealed, beast), (3) the predominantly figurative tone of the entire book (so Rev 1:1), (4) the figurative use of 1000 in the O.T. and (5) the use in Jewish and early Christian writings of 1000 years as a figure for the eternal blessing of the redeemed. The overall analysis of Rev 20:1-6 supports a figurative meaning. 1000 is the third power of ten, and if figurative here, might represent a long era and, at least, would signify an ideal epoch (Beale, New International Greek New Testament, 995).
Reigning With Christ (Rev 20:4-6)
John sees thrones and those seated on the thrones who were given authority to judge. We will speak more about this image in a moment. John sees the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and the word of God. These are the ones who had not received the mark of the beast and did not worship the image of the beast. These are also the souls that we saw under the altar in Rev 6:9. Remember that the souls under the altar were told that more servants of God would be killed before their blood was avenged (Rev 6:11). We have seen that truth occur as those who did not worship the beast are also killed. Their victory is again depicted as they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Judicial vindication occurs on behalf of the slain servants of God. They are reigning with Christ.
It does not seem to fit that this is speaking about a bodily resurrection. Rather, a contrast is being drawn. The saints were previously seen as under the altar. They are killed for the cause of Christ either by their testimony of Jesus or for not worshiping the beast. They are now pictured as seated on thrones and reigning with Christ. I think this makes the most sense of who is seated on these thrones. Osborne points out that Rev 20:4 could be seen as epexegetical, And I saw thrones and those sitting on themnamely, the souls (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 704). The description in the rest of Rev 20:4 is Johns explanation as to who are those seated on thrones. Further, there are places in scriptures where resurrection is not speaking about a bodily resurrection. In Eze 37:12-14 we see resurrection describing the restoration of the nation. In Isa 26:19 the prophet says, Your dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! Isaiah was not prophesying that those killed in the Babylonian invasion would experience a bodily resurrection. Rather, this is an image of victorious resurrection. Life will be given to the true people of God. It is an Old Testament picture of triumph over the world nations. They are the victorious saints who have overcome. Yes, they died, but they are alive and are not lost. They share in the victory and are not permanently dead. Because of this, they will not experience the second death, which is referred to in Rev 20:14-15, a spiritual death.
This is the picture in Rev 20:4-6. Notice that this is the fulfillment of what Jesus promised to the seven churches of Asia. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death (Rev 2:10-11). The faithful will not be hurt by the second death. Rev 20:6 makes that very point. These faithful martyrs are sharing in the victory of life and reigning with Christ for 1000 years. This is a simple image of triumph for the people who have gone through this ordeal. Those who have died for the cause of Christ are not left out or left behind, but are reigning with Christ. Also notice that there are places in the New Testament where within the same context the writer shifts between speaking about spiritual life, death, and resurrection and physical life, death, and resurrection. Paul switched between such language in Rom 6:4-13 and Jesus did similarly in Joh 5:24-29. Therefore, we should not bothered by Rev 20:4-6 teaching that those who suffered physical death for the cause of Christ will avoid spiritual death. Those who did not suffer physical death for Christ will suffer spiritual death. The first resurrection refers to those killed for Christ being given victorious life in Christ, reigning with him. The second resurrection will deal with the rest and their outcome will be determined at the white throne scene in Rev 20:11-15.
The thousand years are the time of the reign of Christ (Rev 20:4; Rev 20:6). The scriptures teach that the reign of Christ began when he rose from the dead.
according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Eph 1:19-23 ESV) Paul taught the same point in 1Co 15:25 concerning Christ reigning after his resurrection. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1Co 15:25-26 ESV)
The 1000 year reign of Christ began when he rose from the dead. He must continue to reign until all the enemies are put under his feet and death is the last enemy. Therefore, the 1000 year period is not 1000 earthly years, but a symbol for the complete time of Christs rule. Another way to describe the 1000 year period is the church age (Beale, NIGTC, 992). Beale states, Satans binding was climactically put in motion immediately after Christs resurrection, and it lasts throughout most of the age between Christs first and second comings (Beale, NIGTC, 985).
After The 1000 Years (Rev 20:7-10)
Now we come to some disturbing words in this prophecy. When the thousand years are ended, Satan is going to be released from his prison in the abyss and will come out to deceive the nations again. We noted at the beginning of this lesson that Satan being prevented from deceiving the nations meant that a world empire would not be able to persecute the Christians nor deceive the world into worshiping it rather than God. Rev 20:8 indicates that Satan will unleash one more effort as he did during the days of the Roman Empire. Satan is going to use a world power to persecute Christians and sway the world away from worshiping the true God.
Futurists have given much attention to Gog and Magog. Many have tried to identify Gog and Magog as the Soviet Union, communist China, and other evil regimes. However, Rev 20:8 identifies Gog and Magog as the nations that are at the four corners of the earth. Gog and Magog appear in Ezekiel 38-39.
In speaking about Gog, God said, Thus says the Lord GOD: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I would bring you against them? (Eze 38:17 ESV) God said Gog had been prophesied of in former days by Gods servants the prophets. Yet we only read of Gog and Magog right here. So what is Gog and Magog? Gog and Magog represent the heathen enemies against Gods people. These are the nations of the world that fight against Gods people. The devil is going to exert his power over the nations of the world again to gather for battle. The devil will have the power to deceive the nations again just as he deceived those during the days of the Roman Empire, igniting persecution and false worship.
Rev 20:9 is reminiscent of when the kings of the earth and the beast gathered for battle against Christ (Rev 19:19; Rev 16:14-16). Satan is going to try to destroy the people of God yet again. This is the meaning of the symbolism of nations of the earth marching against the camp of the saints and the beloved city. The TNIV and HCSB are right to translate the Greek as explaining the camp of the saints as the beloved city of God. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of Gods people, the city he loves. (Rev 20:9 TNIV) Just as the nations gathered to try to destroy Gods people before but were destroyed by Christ, so it will happen again. Christ will destroy the enemies of Gods people, described as fire coming down from heaven and consuming the enemies.
Satan is finally cast into the lake of fire at the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ, the place where the beast and false prophet were already cast in Revelation chapter 19. There they all are tormented day and night forever and ever. God brings his judgment against Satan and he will endure eternal punishment. Jesus made the same point about the fate of Satan.
Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’ (Mat 25:41 ESV) Eternal torment in hell was prepared for the devil and his angels. Satan is now cast into the punishment he deserves.
The Great White Throne (Rev 20:11-15)
The final scene of this chapter is of a great white throne. This is the scene of final judgment. Earth and sky are no longer needed. The time for this world is over. This imagery fits New Testament teaching. Heb_110-12 says, And, You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end. (Heb 1:10-12 ESV) Also 2Pe 3:10 says, But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2Pe 3:10 ESV)
All the dead are standing before the throne. As the apostle Paul said, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (2Co 5:10 ESV) The books of our deeds are opened in preparation for judgment. The dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. The sea giving up its dead and Death and Hades giving up its dead further emphasizes the point that this is the final judgment that no one will escape. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This shows that there is no more death at this point and there is no more Hades. Hades is the resting place of the souls who died. There is no more need for Hades because their is no more death and no more earth (Rev 20:11).
Rev 20:15 contains the critical message concerning our future. And if anyones name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:15 ESV) The book of life represents the roll of citizens who are in Gods kingdom by faithfulness to the Lamb. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. (Rev 3:5 ESV) Those not written in the book of life will experience the lake of fire, which is the second death. This reminds us that separation from God is the ultimate eternal punishment. We do not understand how awful it is to live in a world where the hand of God is not involved. We have no grasp of how terrible it would be and that is why the scriptures use images like being tormented day and night forever and ever to communicate this reality to us. There will be great suffering in eternal punishment for those who are not written in the book of life. It is worth noting that there is nothing that suggests our punishment, nor the punishment of Satan, is annihilation. Torment day and night forever and ever points us not to annihilation but eternal suffering because our souls will be in full separation from God. We must live our lives striving to remain faithful to the Lord so that our names will be found in the Lambs book of life on the day of judgment.
Commentary on Rev 20:11-15 by Burton Coffman
Rev 20:11
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
And I saw a great white throne … Is this God, or Christ? We should probably read it as Christ, to correspond with Mat 25:31-46, and also with the truth that God has committed judgment unto the Son of man (Joh 5:22).
From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away … Note that very similar things were written in Rev 6:14; Rev 16:20; Rev 18:21; Rev 19:20, making it emphatic that this is the same occasion as the one in view in those passages also.
It is merely an idle quibble to dispute whether God, or Christ, is on the throne. Paul said, “God will judge” (Act 17:31), and also that, “Christ will judge” (2Ti 4:1). “The unity of the Father and the Son is such that there is no difficulty in ascribing the action of one to the other.”[51]
The removal of earth and heaven at the final judgment are indicated here, and this harmonizes with the New Testament throughout. See 2Pe 3:6-13; Mat 5:17; Heb 12:27, etc. The destruction of the earth is an event scheduled for the occasion of the Second Advent of Christ.
ENDNOTE:
[51] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 195.
Rev 20:12
And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne … The general resurrection of all people is assumed to have already occurred at this point in the vision. The dead are there before the throne, standing and waiting for their sentence. The hour has struck which Jesus promised in Joh 5:28-29. There are no absentees; all are present. “This is the only bodily resurrection that the Scriptures know.”[52] The entirety of all people will be there, even the living, who will be “changed” for the occasion (1Co 15:51).
“And the books were opened”? What are these? We may not presume to give any complete answer, but the Scriptures do give some clues.
AND THE BOOKS WERE OPENED
One of Alexander Campbell’s great sermons was based upon this text, the books he mentioned being:
I. The Book of Nature.
A. “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalms 19).
B. “His everlasting power and divinity are perceived through the things that are made” (Rom 1:20).
C. “He left not himself without witness … he did good, gave rains and fruitful seasons, etc.” (Act 14:17).
D. But there is no such thing as forgiveness in nature. The book of nature does not reveal Christ.
II. The Book of Remembrance.
A. “A book of remembrance was written before him” (Mal 3:16).
B. “Note it in a book that it may be for the time to come” (Isa 30:8-9).
C. “The Lord will bring to light the hidden things” (1Co 4:5).
D. “Nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest” (Luk 8:17; Rom 2:16).
Note: There are some things that God will not remember (Jer 31:31-35). What the record books contain is determined by what God decides to remember and what he decides to forget.[53]
III. The Old Testament.
The great, continuing witness of all ages is the Bible. The Old Testament continues to be the most impressive witness of the deity and Godhead of Christ in that it establishes his credentials historically for ages prior to the Incarnation.
A. “Search the Scriptures … for these are they that testify of me” (Joh 5:34).
B. “All things must needs be fulfilled” (Luk 24:44).
C. “And the Scriptures cannot be broken” (Joh 10:35).
D. “O, ye fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken” (Luk 24:25; Mat 22:29).
IV. The New Testament
A. “These sayings of mine” (Mat 7:24; Mat 7:26).
B. “Whatsoever I commanded you” (Mat 28:18-20).
C. “My word shall judge him in the last day” (Joh 12:48).
D. “The word of the Lord (the gospel) endureth forever” (1Pe 1:25; Mat 24:35; Heb 2:3; 2Pe 3:2; Joh 6:68).
V. The Record of Every Man’s Works.
All of the sacred writers make it clear that people shall be judged according to their works. Modern theology is very uncomfortable in the light of this truth; but the record of every person’s deeds will surely enter into the judgment which he shall receive.
A. Jesus taught this (Joh 5:29; Mat 25:31-46; Luk 6:46-49; Mat 12:27, etc.).
B. Paul taught this (Rom 2:6 ff; 2Co 5:10; Php 2:12; 2Co 6:1, etc.).
C. Peter taught this (Act 10:35; 1Pe 2:12; 1Pe 3:8-11; 2Pe 1:10).
D. James taught this (Rev 2:14; Rev 2:20; Rev 2:24; Rev 2:26, etc.).
E. The apostle John taught this (1Jn 2:4-5; 1Jn 3:7-8; 1Jn 3:22-24, etc.).
F. This prophecy teaches this (Rev 2:5; Rev 3:15; Rev 20:13; Rev 14:13, etc.).
VI. The Book of Life.
A. Php 4:3.
B. Rev 3:15; Rev 13:8.
C. Rev 20:12; Rev 20:15.
D. Rev 21:27.
[52] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 604.
[53] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 259.
Rev 20:13
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 every man according to their works.
The sea gave up the dead … Perhaps this is included “to show the universality of the resurrection.”[54] Some explain it otherwise, but this appears to be the best view of it. This general resurrection of all mankind is the only literal resurrection mentioned in the word of God; and the thought that both the wicked and the just shall rise simultaneously is too often expressed in Scripture for any student of the Bible to be deceived into believing that there are to be two resurrections separated by a thousand years, or seven resurrections, as in Scofield Bible, or any other “multiple” resurrections.
And death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them … “Hades” here means “the grave”; and “death and Hades” are therefore synonymous, being personified in this passage, as indicated by Rev 20:14.
ENDNOTE:
[54] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 474.
Rev 20:14
And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire.
And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire … “Death and Hades, though abstractions, are here personified.”[55] This still casts no light upon exactly what the lake of fire is; because no literal fire could burn up the grave, personified. The first resurrection is the rising to spiritual life in conversion to Christ, and the second resurrection is the final, physical resurrection of all who ever lived on earth. Ryrie thought that, “Only the wicked are raised here”;[56] but such a thought is nullified by the next verse: “Death is the last enemy that shall be destroyed, as in Paul’s theology” (1Co 15:26; 1Co 15:54),[57] leaving no further obstacle to the eternal joy of the saints of God.
Cast into the lake of fire … “This is not annihilation, but separation forever from God and all good.”[58] Repugnant as this doctrine is for many, a believer may not deny it. There is nothing illogical about it. Let two prior facts be accepted, that the soul is imperishable, and that God cannot finally accommodate to evil, and the logical necessity of such a place as this is evident. The revelation of it should always be understood in the light of the truth that it was never meant for people (Mat 25:41), and that Jesus our Lord suffered the agonies of the Cross for the one purpose of saving every man from it. Then, it is clear that the existence of it in no way denies the love and goodness of God.
[55] @@
[56] Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Revelation (Chicago: Moody Press, 1968), p. 117.
[57] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 260.
[58] Ralph Earle, op. cit., p. 614.
Rev 20:15
And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
And if any was not found written in the book of life … The mention of the righteous in this shows that both the good and the evil participate in the resurrection of the final day, those whose names were written there, and those whose names were not written there. Otherwise, there could have been no reason for using “if” in this verse. Here it is evident that the New Testament contains no promise of any second chance after death.
In this series of commentaries, the book of life has often been mentioned; and here the absolute necessity of every man’s being inscribed in it in order to be saved is dogmatically stated. Therefore, out of regard to all men, we shall declare how one may so be written.
In Mat 10:32, Jesus promised that all who confess him will themselves be confessed by Jesus in heaven “before God and the angels.” In Mat 16:16, is the record of the first man ever to confess Christ; and significantly, Jesus then and there upon that occasion, confessed that man, Peter, using exactly the same formula Peter had used in his confession of Christ. From this we have concluded that the writing of one’s name in the book of life occurs upon the occasion of his confessing Christ and being baptized into him. Certainly, Christians have their names written there during their sojourn as Christians upon the earth (Php 4:3); and it is most logical to believe that it is written at the very beginning of that Christian life. Once inscribed in the book of life, one’s name will remain there eternally, except in the case of his apostasy, in which event it will be “blotted out” (Rev 3:5).
“This verse is a solemn reiteration of what has been asserted twice before in Rev 20:12-13.”[59]
John, having carried his readers through seven successive periods, each culminating in the final judgment, his purpose must have been clear to all. He was giving in each vision a view of the church’s life between the two Advents, each scene being a recapitulation of one and the same chronological event.
1. In scene I, the church struggled against wars, famine and disease.
2. In scene II, the struggle was against natural disasters and false doctrine.
3. In scene III, there was the struggle against the dragon, the sea-beast and the land-beast.
4. In scene IV, the struggle with the harlot is given.
5. In scene V, the struggle with the harlot is given in greater detail.
6. In scene VI, the struggle with the scarlet beast in the phase of his ten horns, or the eighth head, is seen.
7. And in scene VII, the final victory over the devil himself is depicted
This type of pageantry cannot indicate that consecutive historical events are depicted in order. All of the church’s enemies are in all of the visions. Although the focus changes, being first upon one, then upon another, etc., yet the dragon, the godless city, the sea-beast, the land-beast, the great harlot, the ten kings, the false prophet, etc., all continue to the end of time. No one of them is ever completely out of the total picture. Their operations are coextensive and simultaneous with the entire Christian dispensation; and all are thrown into the “lake of fire” at the same time “alive.”
But despite all this, the victory is glorious and complete. John never allows us to forget it even for a moment. Almost every terrible scene is either begun, concluded or interrupted with a marvelous vision of the rejoicing saints in glory, these recurring scenes being injected proleptically to keep up the faith and the patience of the saved. In some ways, this is the most glorious book in the Bible.
All of the struggles having been recounted, John will devote the final two chapters to a discussion of heaven, the eternal home of the redeemed. There is absolutely nothing like these final two chapters in the entire record of human thought. The scholars, some of them, have vainly tried to find Revelation in pagan myth or folklore; but it is not there. Only the word of God could have given us this prophecy.
ENDNOTE:
[59] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 475.
Commentary Rev 20:11-15 by Manly Luscombe
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. All that remains is the final judgment. John sees a great white throne. The power and majesty of Christ is so strong that all look away. Because of the brilliance, Christians cannot look. Because of their sins, the world does not want to look. They are looking for a place to hide. The world has been destroyed. There are no rocks to hide under. There is no place to run.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. All the dead appear before God. All the dead will appear before the judgment seat of Christ – small and great, good and bad, rich and poor. Paul adds that the living and the dead will stand before God. (2Ti 4:1) Jesus said, All nations shall appear before him. (Mat 25:31). The books were opened. We will be judged according to what is written in these books. There can be little doubt that the books referred to here are the books of the law of God. For the nation of Israel before the cross, the Law of Moses, and for the world after the cross, the New Testament. In a broader sense, the entire Bible represents the books by which we will be judged. Another book (singular) is called the Book of Life. God keeps a record of those who are His. When one becomes a Christian, God writes their name in the Book of Life. (Php 4:3) Jesus promises that if we will remain faithful our name will not be blotted out of the book of life. (3:5)
13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Some have devised theories of as many as seven different resurrections. God only discusses one bodily, physical resurrection. We have already discussed the spiritual resurrection by baptism. Jesus taught one general resurrection of saved and lost. (Joh 5:28-29). All who died, no matter where or how their body decayed, will be raised. Some have died at sea. Others died and were buried in protected vaults and caskets. Still others have been mummified. And still others have died in fire, explosion, war and other situations were there was not body to be found. None of these things matter to God. God created us from dust the first time. He can resurrect us from the dust of the earth.
Judgment will be personal and individual. We will not be judged as a nation, state, city or local congregation. We will be judged each one by our own deeds. Some have questioned the reason for judgment. It is argued that if, when we die, we go to torments or paradise, then we know our destiny. Since there is a great gulf between the two, no one can cross from one side to the other. The problem is this: We often think of judgment as the time we are adjudged guilty or innocent. Guilt or innocence is determined at death. The judgment of God is not for the purpose of holding hearings on our guilt or innocence. The purpose in judgment is to pronounce sentence. In our legal system, when a person is pronounced guilty of a crime, the judge will say, On this date, sentence will be pronounced. Here is a man who knows he is guilty. He is in jail. What he does not fully understand is the full punishment to be inflicted on him. Judgment Day will be the time when God announces the sentence on the wicked and the reward for the righteous.
14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. The ultimate end of all things is here. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. (1Co 15:26) All have been raised from the dead. Death ends. All have been raised to eternal life or eternal separation from God. Hades (the temporary abode of the departed spirits) has been emptied. Hades ends. God has finished with them and they are thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Death means separation. Spiritual death is separation from God. (2Th 1:7-9). Christians do not have to fear this second death. We have already died twice. We died to sin in baptism. Then we died to this physical body. There is no fear of the second death for faithful Christians.
15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
A. Gods record is accurate. Is your name written there?
B. All not written in the Book of Life are thrown into the lake of fire.
Summary of Rev 1:1-20; Rev 2:1-29; Rev 3:1-22; Rev 4:1-11; Rev 5:1-14; Rev 6:1-17; Rev 7:1-17; Rev 8:1-13; Rev 9:1-21; Rev 10:1-11; Rev 11:1-19; Rev 12:1-17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-20; Rev 15:1-8; Rev 16:1-21; Rev 17:1-18; Rev 18:1-24; Rev 19:1-21; Rev 20:1-15
We have now seen the end of all things.
1. The material world
2. Death
3. Hades
4. Immorality (Babylon, mother of harlots)
5. Persecuting civil governments
6. False prophets and false religions
7. Pain, suffering, persecution, hardship
All that remains now is to follow the righteous to the glorious abode of our God and the Lamb.
LESSON 24.
THE THOUSAND YEARS AND THE FINAL JUDGMENT
Read Revelation 20
1. Who was seen coming down out of heaven? Ans. Rev 20:1.
2. What did the angel have in his hand? Ans. Rev 20:1.
3. Whom did he bind and for how long? Ans. Rev 20:2.
4. Where was Satan confined and for how long? Ans. Rev 20:3.
5. What would Satan not be able to do and for how long? Ans. Rev 20:3.
6. For how long would Satan be loosed after the thousand years were finished? Ans. Rev 20:3.
7. What was given to those who sat on the thrones? Ans. Rev 20:4.
8. Whose “souls” did John see? Ans. Rev 20:4.
9. What did these “souls” do for a thousand years? Ans. Rev 20:4.
10. What of the rest of the dead? Ans. Rev 20:5.
11. What is the “first resurrection?” or, what is the antecedent of “this” in the sentence, “This is the first resurrection?” Ans. See the last clause in Rev 20:4.
12. What blessings and privileges are bestowed on the “souls” that have a part in the first resurrection? Ans. Rev 20:6.
13. What shall Satan do when the thousand years are finished? Ans. Rev 20:7-8.
14. Against whom were Satan and his hosts planning to make war? Ans. Rev 20:9.
15. How was this prevented? Ans. Rev 20:9.
16. What is Satan’s final destiny? Ans. Rev_2010.
17. How long shall the devil, the beast, and the false prophet be tormented in the lake of fire and brimstone? Ans. Rev 20:10.
18. From whose face did the heaven and the earth flee away? Ans. Rev 20:11.
19. Who was seen standing before the throne? Ans. Rev 20:12.
20. Out of what, and according to what, were the dead judged? Ans. Rev 20:12.
21. Name three things that gave up their dead. Ans. Rev 20:13.
22. Into what were death and Hades cast? Ans. Rev 20:14.
23. What is the “second death?” Ans. Rev 20:14.
24. Who else was cast into the “lake of fire?” Ans. Rev 20:15.
FOR CLASS DISCUSSION
I. Is there anything in this chapter that teaches that the “souls” who lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years were on earth while reigning?
II. Is there anything that teaches that these “souls” were in resurrected bodies while reigning a thousand years?
III. Discuss the danger of reading into this chapter what is not there.
E.M. Zerr
Questions on Revelation
Revelation Chapter Twenty
1. Who was seen coming down from heaven?
2. What did he have?
3. Upon whom did he lay hold?
4. For what period was he bound?
5. Into what place was he cast?
6. What was set upon him?
7. Whose deception was to be thus cut off?
8. For how long was the cutting off to continue?
9. After that what will be done?
10. What did John Bee next?
11. Were they occupied?
12. What was given unto them?
13. Tell what souls John saw.
14. What had they refused to do?
15. With whom did they live?
16. What else did they do?
17. When did the rest of the dead live?
18. State what resurrection iB considered?
19. Who are said to be blessed?
20. They shall escape what death?
21. Will be in what relation to God and Christ?
22. What about their reign?
23. After this reign what will be done with Satan?
24. Whom will he then deceive?
25. Where are these to be found?
26. For what purpose will they be gathered?
27. Describe their number.
28. To what place did they go up?
29. What camp did they surround?
30. And what city did they encompass?
31. From where did fire come?
32. Tell what it did.
33. What had the devil done?
34. Tell where he was cast.
35. Who else are to be tbere?
36. What will be done to them in this place?
37. What did John see next?
38. Describe the one who sat thereon.
39. What became of the place of heaven and earth?
40. How many of the dead were seen?
41. Where did they stand?
42. What were first opened?
43. Name the “other book”.
44. Tell what use was made of these books?
45. According to what was this done?
46. What did the sea do?
47. And what did death and hell do?
48. What was done with theae persons then?
49. Then what happened to death and hell?
50. What does this happening constitute?
51. Who else will be cast into this lake?
Revelation Chapter Twenty
Ralph Starling
An angel appears with the key to the bottomless pit,
And a great chain he held in his fist.
He bound the old serpent, the devil,
And cast him in the bottomless pit for he was evil.
A 1000 yrs. he was sentenced for deceiving the nations.
Shut up, sealed up for God had lost His patience,
But after a 1000 yrs. to be loosed for a season,
To show God’s longsuffering a possibe reason.
Then souls were seen reignin with Christ 1000 yrs.
For refusing to worship the beast though even with fear.
Rest of the dead waited until the 1000 yrs. were finished
While blessed were those who were being replinished.
Those of the first resurrection would have no fear.
For they would reign with Christ a 1000 years.
Then would the devil be released from his prison,
And would return to deceive the nations.
in the war of Gog and Magog, four quarters of the earth
The devil woul lose again but what would be worse?
he would be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone
More permanent than his first prison home.
The lesson and warning is clear, one must agree
In God’s “Book of Life” one’s name must be,
For in that last judgment day
The “Book of Life” will have the last say.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Chapter 51
Christ and the great white throne judgment
‘And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them’
Rev 20:11-15
When will the day of judgment be? Who will be judged? Who will be the judge? Will there be one judgment or two? Will there be one judgment for believers and another for unbelievers? Will we be judged first by Christ for our sins and second for our works as believers? These are questions about which there is much needless confusion. A careful study of the teachings of the Word of God about the day of judgment will help to clarify our thinking about that great day. No text in the Bible more clearly teaches us what will happen on that day than Rev 20:11-15. Read that passage carefully. This is the throne of judgment before which we all must appear in the last day. It is called ‘a great white throne’, to set forth the power, holiness, and sovereignty of the One who sits upon it. It is called ‘great’ because it is the throne of the omnipotent God. It is called ‘white’ because it is pure, spotless, righteous, and just. Nothing proceeds from this throne but justice and truth. It is called a ‘throne’ because the Judge who sits upon it, before whom we all must stand, is the holy, sovereign Lord God. In the last day, when time shall be no more, we all must appear before the august, great, white throne to be judged of God, to be judged according to the strict and exact righteousness and justice of the thrice holy God!
However, while the Word of God constantly warns the wicked of the terror of divine judgment and the everlasting wrath of God, the day of judgment is never described as a terror to believers, or even a thing to be dreaded by us. Rather, for the believer the day of judgment is always set forth as a matter of anticipated joy and glory. On this earth God’s saints are constantly misjudged. His servants are maligned and slandered by reprobate men. But in that last great day, God almighty will vindicate his people and he will vindicate his servants (1Co 4:3-5). In the Word of God, we do not find Gods saints dreading that day, but looking forward to it, even anticipating it, with peace. If, as believers, as sinners saved by God’s free and sovereign grace, through the sin-atoning blood and imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, we understand what the Bible says about that great day, we will look forward to it, too. With those things in mind, let’s see what the Bible teaches about the great white throne judgment. I do not claim to be an expert on prophetic matters. But I do know that there are five things clearly revealed in the Word of God about things to come.
1. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming again
Do not concern yourself about the signs of the times and those things which men imagine are indications of the last days. There is very little, if anything, of spiritual value to be gained by studying all the books ever written on prophetic issues. They all have to be rewritten as soon as the predicted events have failed to come to pass! We are never commanded to look for signs of our Lord’s coming.
We are commanded to be looking for him to come! Get this one blessed fact fixed in your mind – Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior, the Son of God, is coming again! The Son of God is personally coming again to this earth ( Act 1:9-11).That very same God-man who was born at Bethlehem, who lived as our Representative, and died as our sin-atoning Substitute on the cross is coming to this earth again. He said, ‘I will come again’ (Joh 14:3). The Apostle Paul wrote, ‘The Lord himself shall descend from heaven’ (1Th 4:16). He said, ‘The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven’ (2Th 1:7;. Job 19:25-27). He came once in weakness. He is coming again in power. He came once in humiliation. He is coming again in glory. He came once to be despised. He is coming again to be admired. He came once to suffer. He is coming again to conquer.
The second coming of Christ will be sudden, unannounced, unexpected, and climatic. Christ will come as a thief in the night, without warning (1Th 5:2). He said, ‘I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee’ (Rev 3:3). The Lord does not tell us to look for the tribulation, or the regathering of Israel, or the rebuilding of a Jewish temple. He tells us to look for him! If you look for signs, and times, and seasons, you will be shocked when Christ comes. The only thing mentioned in the Word of God that will announce the Lord’s coming will be ‘a shout, the voice of the archangel and the trump of God’ (1Th 4:16). No man knows the day or hour of our Lord’s coming; and that is best (Mat 24:36; Mar 13:32; Act 1:7).
If we knew the day or hour, we would become irresponsible and negligent with regard to our daily duties. Do not seek to know when Christ is coming. Be content with his promise, and wait for his appearing. Yet, we must always look for our Lord Jesus to appear at any moment. ‘Behold, he cometh’ (Rev 1:7) Look for him upon the tiptoe of faith and expectation. All will be taken by surprise except those who are expecting him to appear. Like those Thessalonians who believed God, we must constantly ‘wait for his Son from heaven’ (1Th 1:10). Faith is ever ‘looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ’ (Tit 2:13). Christ is coming now. Soon he shall appear. And when the Son of God appears he will bring with him a crown of righteousness, immortality, and life for all who love him and look for his appearing (2Ti 4:8; Jas 1:12).
2. When Christ comes, there will be a great, general resurrection of all who have ever lived upon the earth (Rev 20:13; Joh 5:28-29)
First, all who have died in faith shall be raised from the grave. All will be raised. But the saints of God will have distinct priority in the resurrection. ‘The dead in Christ shall rise first.’ The bodies of God’s saints shall be raised from their graves and reunited with their souls (1Th 4:13-18). All the Old Testament saints and all the saints and martyrs of this age, all who sleep in Jesus, shall be raised from their graves! Then, immediately after the sleeping saints rise, all believers living upon the earth shall be changed and caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1Co 15:51-58). As our Lord descends in the brilliant glory of his second coming, we shall go out to meet him and return with him, as he comes with all his saints to burn up the earth, destroy the wicked, and make all things new. What a day that will be! After that, after the Son of God has gathered all the ransomed bodies of his elect from the earth, after he has destroyed all the wicked with the brightness of his coming, all the wicked shall be raised. There is a resurrection for the wicked, too. But, for those who believe not, there is no music in the resurrection. The Lord himself shall issue a summons they cannot resist. They shall stand in terror before him whose grace they have despised and against whom they have sinned! The body and soul now united in sin shall be united in horror to be judged of God and suffer his wrath forever in hell!
3. Immediately after the resurrection, we must all be judged by God according to the record of our works (Rev 20:12-13)
‘It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment’ (Heb 9:27). The Judge before whom we must stand is the God-man, whom we have crucified (Joh 5:22; Act 17:31; 2Co 5:10). We will be judged out of the books, according to the record of God’s strict justice. When the books are opened, what shocks of terror will seize the hearts and souls of those who have no righteousness and no atonement before the holy Lord God! With the opening of the books, every crime, every offense, every sin they have ever committed, in mind, in heart, and in deed shall be exposed! ‘Judgment was set; and the books were opened’ (Dan 7:10). I realize that this is figurative language. God does not need books to remember man’s sins. However, as John Gill wrote, ‘this judgment out of the books, and according to works, is designed to show with what accuracy and exactness, with what justice and equity, it will be executed, in allusion to statute-books in courts of judicature.’ In the Scriptures God is often represented as writing and keeping books. And according to these books we all shall be judged. What are the books?…The Book of Divine Omniscience (Mal 3:5)…The Book of Divine Remembrance (Mal 3:16)…The Book of Creation (Rom 1:18-20)…The Book of God’s Providence (Rom 2:4-5)…The Book of Conscience (Rom 2:15)…The Book of God’s Holy Law (Rom 2:12) {This book of the law has two tables. The first table contains all the sins of men against God (Exo 20:3-11). The second table contains all the sins of men against one another (Exo 20:12-17).}…And the Book of the Gospel (Rom 2:16).
But there are some against whom no crimes, no sins, no offenses can be found, not even by the omniscient eye of God himself! ‘In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve’ (Jer 50:20) Their names are found in another book, a book which God himself wrote and sealed before the worlds were made. It is called, ‘The Book of Life.’ In this book there is a record of divine election, the name of Christ our divine Surety, a record of perfect righteousness (Jer 23:6; cf. Jer 33:16), a record of complete satisfaction, and the promise of eternal life. The question is often raised, ‘Will God judge his elect for their sins and failures, committed after they were saved, and expose them in the day of judgment?’ The only reason that question is ever raised is because many retain a remnant of the Roman doctrine of purgatory, by which they hope to hold over God’s saints the whip and terror of the law. There is absolutely no sense in which those who trust Christ shall ever be made to pay for their sins! Our sins were imputed to Christ and shall never be imputed to us again (Rom 4:8). Christ paid our debt to God’s law and justice; and God will never require us to pay. God who has blotted out our transgressions will never write them again. He who covered our sins will never uncover them! The perfect righteousness of Christ has been imputed to us. On the day of judgment, God’s elect are never represented as having done any evil, but only good (Mat 25:31-40). The day of judgment will be a day of glory and bliss for Christ and his people, not a day of mourning and sorrow. It will be a marriage supper. Christ will glory in his Church. God will display the glory of his grace in us. And we will glory in our God.
4. Those who are found perfectly righteous, righteous according to the records of God himself, shall enter into eternal life and inherit everlasting glory with Christ
They that have done good, nothing but good, perfect good, without any spot of sin, wrinkle of iniquity, or trace of transgression, shall enter into everlasting life. (Rev 22:11). Who are these perfectly righteous ones? They are all who are saved by Gods free and sovereign grace in Christ (1Co 6:9-11; Rom 8:1; Rom 8:32-34). Though there shall be degrees of punishment for the wicked in hell, because there are degrees of wickedness, there shall be no degrees of reward and glory among the saints in heaven, because there are no degrees of redemption and righteousness. Heaven was earned and purchased for all God’s elect by Christ. We were predestined to obtained our inheritance from eternity (Eph 1:11). Christ has taken possession of heaven’s glory as our forerunner (Heb 6:20). We are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ (Rom 8:17). Our Savior gave all the glory he earned as our Mediator to all his elect (Joh 17:5; Joh 17:20). And in Christ every believer is worthy of heaven’s glory (Col 1:12). Glorification is but the consummation of salvation; and salvation is by grace alone! That means no part of heaven’s bliss and glory is the reward of our works, but all the reward of God’s free grace in Christ! All spiritual blessings are ours from eternity in Christ (Eph 1:3).
5. All who are found guilty of sin in that great and terrible day of judgment shall be cast into the lake of fire and there be made to suffer the unmitigated wrath of almighty God forever
One by one, God will call the wicked before his throne and judge them. As he says, ‘Depart ye cursed,’ he will say to his holy angels, ‘Take him! Bind him! Cast him into outer darkness!’ In that day there will be no mercy, no pity, no sorrow, no hope, and no end for the wicked! To hell they deserve to go! To hell they must go! To hell they will go! Let all who read these lines beware. Unless you flee to Christ and take refuge in him, in that great day the wrath of God shall seize you and destroy you forever! I beseech you now, by the mercies of God, be reconciled to God by trusting his darling Son!: In that great and terrible day let us be found in Christ, not having our own righteousness, but the righteousness of God in Christ.
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
And I saw
great white throne
The expressions, “the judgment,” or, “day of judgment,” as the passages and their context show, refer to the final judgment of Rev 20:11-15.
there was found no place for him
The “day of destruction” is that aspect of the day of Jehovah Isa 2:12. (See Scofield “Rev 19:19”) (Summary) which visits final and eternal judgment upon the wicked. Three such “days” are included in the “day” of Jehovah, and are described in the references beginning with Isa 34:1-9. See Scofield “Mat 25:32”.
And I saw (See Scofield “Rev 20:12”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
I saw: Rev 20:2, Rev 19:11, Gen 18:25, Psa 9:7, Psa 9:8, Psa 14:6, Psa 14:7, Psa 47:8, Psa 89:14, Psa 97:2, Mat 25:31, Act 17:30, Act 17:31, Rom 2:5
from: Rev 6:14, Rev 16:20, Rev 21:1, Jer 4:23-26, Dan 2:35, Mat 24:35, 2Pe 3:7, 2Pe 3:10-12
and there: Rev 12:8, Job 9:6
Reciprocal: 1Sa 2:10 – judge 1Ki 10:18 – a great throne 1Ki 19:11 – and a great 2Ch 9:17 – General Job 14:12 – till the heavens Job 14:18 – the mountain Job 26:11 – pillars Psa 9:3 – they shall Psa 18:9 – He bowed Psa 29:6 – Lebanon Psa 46:6 – earth Psa 50:6 – God Psa 77:18 – earth Psa 78:69 – earth Psa 99:1 – earth Psa 102:26 – They shall Psa 104:5 – that it Psa 104:32 – looketh Psa 114:4 – General Ecc 3:17 – God Ecc 12:14 – General Isa 2:19 – when he Isa 5:25 – the hills Isa 13:13 – the earth Isa 24:19 – General Isa 34:4 – all the Isa 40:10 – his arm Isa 40:12 – measured Isa 42:15 – General Isa 51:6 – the heavens Isa 64:1 – that the Jer 10:10 – at Eze 1:26 – the likeness of a Dan 7:10 – the judgment Dan 7:26 – General Joe 2:10 – earth Amo 9:5 – toucheth Mic 1:4 – the mountains Nah 1:5 – mountains Hab 3:10 – mountains Zec 6:3 – white Zec 14:5 – the Lord Mat 5:18 – Till Mat 17:2 – his face Mat 19:28 – when Mat 20:8 – when Mat 22:44 – till Mat 26:64 – Hereafter Mar 9:2 – transfigured Mar 13:24 – General Mar 13:31 – Heaven Mar 14:62 – the Son Luk 2:9 – and they Luk 6:48 – the flood Luk 9:26 – when Luk 9:29 – General Luk 12:2 – General Luk 16:17 – it Luk 21:25 – signs Luk 21:33 – General Joh 5:22 – General Joh 16:11 – judgment Act 10:42 – that it Act 17:24 – seeing Act 24:25 – judgment Rom 2:16 – God Rom 8:11 – he that raised Rom 14:10 – for 1Co 11:26 – till 2Co 5:10 – we Phi 3:21 – the working 2Th 1:7 – when 2Th 1:9 – the glory 2Ti 4:1 – who Heb 1:11 – shall perish Heb 4:13 – with Heb 9:27 – but 1Pe 5:4 – appear Rev 4:2 – a throne Rev 6:16 – the face Rev 14:14 – behold Rev 18:21 – and shall Rev 20:12 – I saw Rev 21:5 – that sat
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE JUDGMENT
And I saw a great white throne. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:11-12
The great white throne! If you study carefully this wonderful book in the Bible you will see that these words are really the culminating point of the whole book; that it all leads up to the Day of Judgment; that you have a series of picturesbright pictures, growing brighter, and dark pictures, growing more and more lurid and dark, until there is the direct intervention of God at the Last Day. There is the judgment, and then there is nothing but brightness; there is all that wonderful vision of the heavenly city and joy and blessing.
We have to think of the judgment.
I. The judgment is a fact which cannot be escaped.
II. The judgment is a fact based on the most minute accuracy.
III. The judgment is a fact based upon the most unerring justice.
IV. How are we going to treat this fact?Dramatically? emotionally? or practically? As a practical matter, think
(a) How it deepens the sense of the responsibility of life.
(b) It creates the grace of humility.
(c) It is an absolute stay to the harsh voice of criticism.
(d) It is an incentive to courage.
(e) It is the spring of Christian hope.
Rev. G. F. Holden.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Rev 20:11. Great white throne signifies purity and justice. From whose face . . . fled away . . . no place for them. This agrees with the next chapter that will tell us of the new heaven and earth.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 11.
(5) The tribunal of the great white throne.
The progress of the apocalypse from the opening vision of chapter four surrounded Christ, the Rider and Conqueror; and the church, his Bride; in conflict with multiple opposing powers. But in the scene of verses eleven to fifteen the visions turned to the judgment throne of God, as “the dead both small and great stand before God,”
The picture in these verses was but the continuation of the contrast between the causes of righteousness and wickedness, truth and error, Christianity and heathenism; and their standing respectively before the great throne of divine judgment. The issues had been joined in the fierce conflict between the church on one hand, and all the forces of Judaism, Romanism and paganism on the other. Now the participants stood before the bar of divine decision, where the issues were settled. The cause of righteousness was acquitted, and the cause of wickedness was convicted, and forever condemned.
A continuation of the textual analysis will add “precept upon precept” that the apocalypse was limited to the period of the struggle and triumph of the church with opposing powers in the first century of its existence.
1. The great white throne. “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them”–Rev 20:11.
This visional tribunal was the bar of divine justice to be meted to the criminals of war against Christ and the church.
The description of the great white throne adds awe to the vision, as it also symbolized the character of pure and unmingled justice from the magnificent seat of judgment dispensed by the righteous Judge of the small and great. The Psalmist put it to verse in Psalms 84:14 : “Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.” From before the face of God the earth and the heaven fled away: and there w a s found no place for them. This was not flight from one locality to another–the phrase fled away indicated complete disappearance.
The earth, as in other visions, referred to the inhabitants of the land of Palestine; and the heaven signified the authorities and governments.
After complete defeat there was no place for their activities of persecution and opposition, and they disappeared from their visional positions before the face of the great God of judgment.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 20:11. And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. The throne that is seen is great, not so much in contrast with the thrones of Rev 20:4, as in correspondence with the Great Being who sits upon it. It is also white, emblematic of His perfect purity and righteousness. He that sits upon it is Christ, not God, although we may remember that Christ is the revelation of God, and the Doer of the Fathers will. From before His face the earth and the heavens flee away, 1e, they are completely removed, time aid earth and all that belongs to them coming to an end. Similar descriptions, although not so complete, have already met us at chaps. Rev 6:14 and Rev 16:20.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here is another vision which St. John saw, namely, a lively representation of the great day of judgment, when all, both good and bad, that ever lived, shall be raised and sentenced according to their works: the state of the wicked is set forth in this chapter, and the happy condition of the righteous in heaven gloriously described in the two next chapters.
Observe here, 1. The judge described as sitting upon a throne, or seat of judgment; a throne, to denote that this judge is a king; and a white throne, to denote the purity and righteousness of this judge; and a great white throne, because erected for a great Judge, and for a great service, namely, the judging of the whole world.
Observe, 2. The dreadful majesty and glorious power of this judge declared, that neither heaven nor earth are able to abide his presence, but are said to flee away, and that there was no place found for them.
Observe, 3. The persons judged are here described, and that,
1. By their condition and qualification, all the dead, both small and great; all that ever lived, and all that shall then be found alive.
2. By their posture, they stand before the judge, whilst he sits to show his authority.
3. By the manner of proceeding, which is represented as being after the form of well-ordered judicatories here on earth; wherein the books are produced, namely, the book of God’s omniscience, and the book of conscience, the book of the law, and the book of the gospel. They that had not the written law, shall be judged by the law of nature; they that had the written law are to be judged by that; and they that had the gospel, to be judged by that; and every one according to their works.
Observe, 4. The execution of the sentence of this great judge upon the wicked and impenitent world; they are cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death.
From the whole learn, 1. That it is certain that there shall, and necessary that there should, be a day of judgment.
2. That in that day there will be no exemption of any persons from the examination of the judge. I saw all the dead, small and great, stand before God.
3. That Jesus Christ, called here God, (which clearly proves his deity,) shall come in the clouds to judge the world; and will then be found such a judge as the riches of the wealthiest cannot bribe; such a judge as the power of the mightiest cannot daunt; such a judge as the subtilty of the wisest cannot elude; such a judge as there is no appealing from, no repealing of, his sentence.
Learn, 4. That as the same person shall be judged, who formerly lived, so in the same bodies that died, and were either buried in the earth, or consumed in the sea. The sea gave up her dead; by which understand all places, though attended with never so many improbable circumstances of a resurrection, shall yet give up the dead. Death and hell, that is death and the grave, gave up the dead which were in them; that is by the power of God were made to restore them.
Learn, 3. That the sentence denounced will be according to every man’s work at the great day; according to the nature and quality of the wicked man’s works shall his judgment and punishment be; according to the sincerity, not according to the imperfection, of the righteous man’s works, shall his reward be.
God grant that the consideration of this may so far influence us, that no profit may tempt us, no pleasure entice us, no power embolden us, no privacy encourage us, to do that thing, of which we cannot give a good account in the day of judgment.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Jesus came forth to judge and make war ( Rev 19:11 ), so we assume he is the one of the throne. ( Mat 25:31 ; 2Co 5:10 ; Act 17:31 ; 2Ti 4:1 ) Heaven and earth will disappear when Christ comes in judgment. ( Heb 1:10-12 ; 2Pe 3:10 )
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Rev 20:11. The course of these prophecies, after many important visions describing the state of the church and world in this present life, brings us at last to the great and final judgment, when the whole scene and mystery of Providence shall be finished. Then the great doctrine which runs through the whole of these prophecies will be fully verified, namely, that truth and righteousness shall surely prevail in the end, against error and all iniquity; eternal happiness shall be the reward of the faithful, and everlasting destruction the punishment of the wicked. This is represented as a sixth period of Providence, after which there will be in the seventh period an everlasting sabbath; a state of eternal rest and happiness for all the righteous, and of the most perfect worship of God, in the praises and devotions of the heavenly church. Lowman. And I saw A representation of the great day of the Lord; a great white throne How great who can say? White With the glory of God, and to show the holiness, justice, and equity of him that sits on it, the Lord Jesus. The apostle does not attempt to describe him here; he only adds that circumstance, far above all description; from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away At least the aerial, if not also the starry heaven; and there was found no place for them But they were wholly dissolved; the very elements melting with fervent heat. It is not said they were thrown into great commotions, but they fell into dissolution; not they removed to a distant place, but there was found no place for them: at least as to their present state; they ceased to exist, they were no more. See on 2Pe 3:7-13. And all this, not at the strict command of the Lord Jesus, not at his awful presence, or before his fiery indignation, but at the bare presence of his Majesty, sitting with severe, but adorable dignity, on his throne.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Rev 20:11-15. The General Resurrection.
Rev 20:11. great white throne: in contrast to the thrones of Rev 20:4. In the final judgment there is but one throne, since there is but one judge (Swete); white symbolises the purity of the judgment.fled away: cf. Rev 16:20.
Rev 20:12. the dead: i.e. the rest of the dead who did not share in the first resurrection.books . . . book: the books contained the record of the acts and deeds of men, the book of life contained the names of the redeemed.
Rev 20:13. Hades: the abode of the dead, not the place of their punishment.
Rev 20:14. death and Hades are here personified and regarded as two demonic powers.the second death: the wicked after the resurrection are condemned to a second, an eternal death, in the lake of fire (cf. Rev 21:8).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Verse 11
From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; a sublime image of power and majesty.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
20:11 {19} And I saw a great {20} white throne, and him that sat on it, {21} from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
(19) The second part of this chapter, in which the judge is described in this verse, and the last judgment in the verse following.
(20) That is, a tribunal seat most princelike and glorious: for so does the Greek word signify.
(21) That is, Christ, before whom when he comes to judgment, heaven and earth shall perish for the greatness of his majesty; 2Pe 3:7; 2Pe 3:10 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
4. The judgment of the wicked 20:11-15
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
This "And I saw" introduces something else John saw in this vision (cf. Rev 19:11; Rev 19:17; Rev 19:19; Rev 20:1; Rev 20:4; Rev 20:12; Rev 21:1-2). The continuation of chronological progression seems clear from the continued use of "And" to introduce new information. Almost every verse in this chapter begins with "And."
The "great white throne" John saw seems to be different from the thrones he referred to earlier in this chapter (Rev 20:4). It is evidently God’s throne in heaven (cf. Rev 4:2; Rev 5:7; Dan 7:9; Eze 1:26-28). It is great because it is God’s throne and because it is the seat of this last judgment. Its whiteness suggests that the verdicts that proceed from it are pure, holy, and righteous (cf. Psa 97:2; Dan 7:9). The judgment described here is the last in a number of future judgments (cf. Rev 20:4-5; Mat 25:31-46; 2Co 5:10).
The one sitting on this throne is God. This is probably a general reference to the Father and Jesus Christ since both will judge finally (cf. Rev 3:21; Rev 4:2-3; Rev 4:9; Rev 5:1; Rev 5:7; Rev 5:13; Rev 6:16; Rev 7:10; Rev 7:15; Rev 19:4; Rev 21:5; Rev 22:1; Rev 22:3; Rev 22:12; Dan 7:9-10; Joh 5:22-23; Joh 5:26-27; Joh 8:16; Joh 10:30; Heb 1:3).
John saw earth and heaven flee from God’s presence (cf. Psa 114:3; Psa 114:7). This seems to indicate that we have come to the end of His dealings with this earth as we know it (cf. 2Pe 3:7; 2Pe 3:10-12). The flight of the present earth and heaven from God’s presence strengthens the description of Him as the ultimate Judge.