Abomination And The Great White Throne Judgment

Rev 20:12-15

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.

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.

14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

The Old Testament laws shows a difference in severity of sin. For instance, the law shows a difference between murder (intentionally and premeditatedly killing someone) and manslaughter (unintentionally killing someone Numbers 35:9-34). Numbers 35 does support capital punishment, contrary to the teachings of some churches:

Num 35:33 So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. NKJV

Also, at the Great White Throne Judgment, which is the judgment of the unsaved at the end of the millennial kingdom (Revelation 20), we can see that people are judged by their works (see today’s key Scripture).

First we see, in verses 12 and 15, that the Lamb’s Book of Life is opened and if your name is not there, you are cast into the lake of fire.

Second, though, we see that people are judged, each one, by their works. The word for judged here does not mean "guilty or not" but instead, according to Zodiates, "To separate, distinguish, discriminate between good and evil, select, choose out the good. In the NT, it means to judge, to form or give an opinion after separating and considering the particulars of a case." Basically then, the Great White Throne Judgment is determining just destination but also determining a person’s just deserts--they will have an eternal punishment in hell that will be a level of punishment that is perfectly just. Hitler will suffer in the greatest degree, while the moral Mormon will suffer but not as greatly.

Again, some sins demand and deserve a greater punishment than others, and at the top of the list of sins that will be punished are those called abominations. An abomination is defined, in part, as a sin that is "foul smelling to a righteous and holy God". An example of abomination sins are found in the following passage:

Prov 6:16-19 These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. NKJV

Sure does make you think about how grave sin is, and how we often are worse than we thought, huh? Sin is sin, but some sins are worse than others.