THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGEMENT CONSIDERED IN DETAIL – PART 4 OF 4
We move to the final part of the great white throne judgement, looking at this event. It will be a literal happening that occurs after the end of the Millennium and immediately before the creation of the new heaven and earth – {{Revelation 20:15 “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 21:1 “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea,”}}
The whole universe has been cleansed with this last Throne judgement and sin has been eradicated forever and all is purity then for all eternity. Let us draw this to a close.
[O]. THE FINAL JUDGEMENT –
{{Revelation 20:13-15 “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, and death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. THIS IS THE SECOND DEATH, the lake of fire. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into THE LAKE OF FIRE.”}}
The judgment is concluded; the sentences have been passed; the condemned stand forlornly because nothing remains for them except for an eternal separation from all that is good, yea, from God Himself. Then we progress to the ultimate act of eternal death, the verdict of punishment when all those standing there, and death itself, along with Hades (the grave/Hell) are cast into the lake of fire. This is eternal, but can we comprehend eternity; can we grasp eternal death, or for that matter, can mortal human beings even grasp the concept of eternal life? We are mortals in time and space, and heirs of eternity, but our destiny is concluded in time.
[P]. THE SECOND DEATH
The lake of fire is the second death. We will consider a few points here.
[1]. WHY IS THERE A LAKE OF FIRE? This place of torment and judgement was not made for human beings but came into being for Satan and his angels, the demons. The only reason why people will end there is because they belong to Satan. The clear line of demarcation is drawn in the two ways, the way of life and the way of death which means one follows either God or Satan. The destiny will be the lake of fire or The New Jerusalem. There is no middle region.
I do have trouble writing on this. It is not an academic examination piece. It is reality and the destiny of people we know. If only we could force them into God’s way but it does not work that way.
[2]. WHO FIRST ENTERED THE LAKE OF FIRE? This verse will answer that question – {{Revelation 19:20 “and THE BEAST was seized, and with him THE FALSE PROPHET who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. THESE TWO WERE THROWN ALIVE INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE which burns with brimstone.”}}. The Antichrist and the False Prophet are the first who enter the lake of fire. Just before the great white throne, Satan enters the lake of fire – {{Revelation 20:10 “and THE DEVIL who deceived them WAS THROWN INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”}} Those three are the first. The beast (Antichrist) and the false prophet are/were human beings and Satan is a spirit, but all three will know the torments of the lake of fire.
[3]. WHAT IS THE FIRST DEATH? The first death some might think is when a person dies in the physical sense and passes out of this life. There could be some credence to that, but I always like to examine origins and a scriptural principle called “first mention/s”. For that we go back to the beginning. {{Genesis 2:17 “but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for IN THE DAY that you eat from it YOU SHALL SURELY DIE.”}}. That was contradicted by Satan – {{Genesis 3:4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely shall not die!”}} but the fact remained.
Adam and Eve disobeyed and they died as God said. Firstly they died spiritually to God for the vital link of communion and sinless fellowship was then broken. That happened straight away. Secondly they died physically. The seeds of death were then sown and so physical death has passed to every person for all have sinned. It may have taken Adam hundreds of years to die finally but the seed was sown that day when disobedience occurred.
[4]. HOW COULD THE SEA GIVE UP THE DEAD? Earlier I mentioned that I did not know if these souls who stood before the great white throne were spirits or if they have a physical body. Those who died at sea had souls and spirits that went to heaven or hell and their bodies decayed into nothing. For the sea to give up the dead, it must mean that there will be some physical body in the resurrection of the wicked dead. I don’t want to go further into that because of this uncertainty. “Death gave up all the bodies of men, and hades their souls, to be united to their bodies.” (Benson). “This is the second death; it is the final separation of sinners from God.” (Matthew Henry).
Quote from Alfred Barnes – [[“All that had been buried in the depths of ocean. This number in the aggregate will be great. If we include all who were swept off by the flood, and all who have perished by shipwreck, and all who have been killed in naval battles and buried in the sea, and all who have been swept away by inundations of the ocean, and all who have peacefully died at sea, as sailors, or in the pursuits of commerce or benevolence, the number in the aggregate will be immense - a number so vast that it was proper to notice them particularly in the account of the general resurrection and the last judgment.”]]
Also I might add, all that great number who perished at the time of Noah, possibly millions?
[5]. AGAIN THE BOOK OF LIFE. Revelation 20:15 – {{“If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into THE LAKE OF FIRE.”}}. This is the second mention of the book of life in this account. I know we have the essential factor of deeds but the book of life is the pivotal item in the decision of the great white throne. Finality stand or falls on THE BOOK OF LIFE.
[Q]. WHAT IS THE LAKE OF FIRE? –
But what is the lake of fire and what is its purpose? We shall answer the second part first. This place and term are only contained in Revelation though the idea is known to Isaiah. The first usage is {{Revelation 19:20 where the world leader/Antichrist (beast) and the false prophet were seized and thrown alive into the lake of fire. The next in Revelation 20:10, is where Satan is thrown in there to join the duo of evil already there. Maybe these three are the only ones at that stage in this lake. I believe that to be the case. The other references to the lake of fire are in the remainder of chapter 20 applying to the great white throne judgment.
When you think into it, this Antichrist and False prophet will be the only sentient human beings ever, not to appear before either the Judgment Seat of Christ or the Great White Throne.
There is one thing to note. Hell is temporary. We can say that confidently because, as we saw earlier, death and hell are thrown into the lake of fire. We have many shortened references to the lake of fire in the gospels (without using the terms) and even in the Old Testament such as “eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:46), “forever and forever” (Revelation 14:11), “the eternal fire” Matthew 18:8) “the furnace of fire” (Matthew 13:42), “unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43), Mark speaks of it in a statement – “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). Isaiah used this term – {{Isaiah 66:24 “Then they shall go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me, for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all mankind.”}}
The purpose of the lake of fire is clear from this verse – {{Matthew 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire WHICH HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS.”}}. It was God’s eternal intention that the lake of fire was to be the abode of Satan and the fallen angels and that is why it was created. The outcome of that is that those who follow Satan will share that place also. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should repent, but failure to do so means eternity will be spent in the same abode as Satan. It is hard (meaning very sad) to contemplate that fate for human beings, especially those who have been good intentioned while on earth, though unconverted.
To answer the next thought, “What is the lake of fire?” is more difficult. The lake is not hell, is not Hades. We know it is literal and horrible, has a purpose and is eternal. The biblical descriptions of it are all similar and use words such as these – “burning, fire and brimstone, eternal, smoke, furnace.” I would leave it at that and would not get entangled about that most sombre matter. “Depart from Me.” It is not pleasing to write on this subject because of the seriousness of it. It is so sad.
One last thing to say on the lake of fire. The Greek for this term is Gehenna, and Gehenna is derived from the Hebrew Ge-Hinnom, meaning Valley of Hinnom. This valley, just outside Jerusalem, had a terrible reputation in biblical history: it was the site of child sacrifices to false gods in Old Testament times, making it a cursed place (2 Chronicles 28:3, Jeremiah 19:2-6). By the time of Jesus, it was reportedly used as a garbage dump where fires burned continually to consume waste. Thus Gehenna carried connotations of fire, filth, and horror. Jesus picked up this vivid imagery.
This is the Jehovah Witnesses take on the lake of fire – “That symbolic lake represents eternal punishment in the form of permanent destruction.” They deny the literalness of it, as do others. Sadly that is where they will end because they are Christ deniers. Seventh Day Adventism believes in “soul sleep” where there is no punishment in either hell or the lake of fire. The wicked just pass into oblivion.
The deeds and record of sins recorded against the one who became a Christian, have been abolished. The handwriting of ordinances against us is cancelled out. No longer is there a book recording the sinful deeds of the Christian before conversion. Jesus Christ dealt with these at the cross, sins past, present and future. That is no way gives us the licence to sin because of our freedom in Christ, and Romans 6 is most emphatic on that matter.
[R]. CLOSING REMARKS
The great white throne I believe will see the greatest gathering of souls/spirits/people in all recorded history and it will never be repeated. Firstly the One on the throne from whom heaven and earth fled away, is the Lord Jesus Christ in His capacity of Judge. Secondly His redeemed and exalted Church, the Bride will be there and that is the entire gathering of righteous souls in the whole history of the world. Thirdly, I believe the angels will be in attendance. The bible does not say so one way or the other, so none of this is a point of argument. There are ones here and there who like argumentation and confrontation. Where scripture is certain so must we be, but if scripture is silent or uncertain we must be careful.
Fourthly there will be the entire body of the unsaved to hear the fate that awaits them from a fair and just Judge. That is the essential reason for the great white throne and it is so sad. The holiness of a righteous Godhead can not allow wickedness to continue and it must be judged and expunged.
There is only one exception to the white throne gathering and that is those living on the earth in righteousness, and that includes the righteous nations having come through the Tribulation in Matthew 25 as the sheep nations, and through the Millennium, and of course the Lord’s own earthly people, the Jews in Restored Israel. You deniers who discount Israel’s future blessing because your denomination told you that, go and read seriously and study all the Old Testament prophets and there are hundreds upon hundreds of references to what restored Israel will be like under their Messiah. THIS IS NOT THE CHURCH, SO WRONGLY TAUGHT.
THIS MUST BE SAID – IT IS IMPORTANT
Before I give the words to a song, I want to speak to anyone who hears this, about your salvation. There is no greater relationship for eternity than to be saved or lost. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to salvation. {{1 Timothy 2:4 “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”}}. Jesus is the Truth and no one can be saved except through His death and resurrection.
Place your life at the Lord’s feet. Come to Him in repentance for your sins because they will condemn you to finish at the great white throne. Confess your sins and accept the Lord Jesus into your life as your personal Saviour. Then you will have a brand new destiny, an eternal one with the Lord who loved you and died for you.
God loved you so much – He loves His creation – that He made it possible for you not to end in the lake of fire. Heaven gave its best that you might be brought into eternal joy and peace through faith and acceptance of the free gift available to you. Behold, today is the day of salvation; do not delay.
I will leave you with a poem – a song actually – from author Bert Shadduck (1894). The title is normally given as “THE GREAT JUDGMENT MORNING”. Poets can take poetic license sometimes and tackle their material from different perspectives. Only the critical want to pull a poem apart and be judgmental about the writer’s intentions. Just take this one for the picture it paints. The poem and song are in Public Domain.
I dream'd that the great judgment morning
Had dawn'd, and the trumpet had blown;
I dream'd that the nations had gathered
To judgment before the white throne.
From the throne came a bright shining angel
And stood on the land and the sea,
And swore with his hand rais'd to heaven,
That time was no longer to be.
CHORUS:
And O, what a weeping and wailing,
As the lost were told of their fate;
They cried for the rocks and the mountains,
They pray'd, but their pray'r was too late.
=================================
The rich man was there, but his money
Had melted and vanished away;
A pauper he stood in the judgment,
His debts were too heavy to pay.
The great man was there, but his greatness
When death came, was left far behind;
The angel that opened the records,
Not a trace of his greatness could find. [CHORUS]
=================================
The widow was there and the orphans,
God heard and remembered their cries;
No sorrow in heaven forever,
God wiped all the tears from their eyes.
The gambler was there and the drunkard,
And the man who had sold them the drink,
With people who gave him the license--
Together in hell they did sink. [CHORUS]
=================================
The moral man came to judgment,
But self-righteous rags would not do;
The men who had crucified Jesus
Had passed off as moral men too.
The souls that had put off salvation--
"Not to-night; I'll get saved by and by;
No time now to think of religion!"
At last they had found time to die. [CHORUS]
