The Great White Throne Judgment in Revelation 20
The Great White Throne Judgment in Revelation 20 is one of the Bible’s most serious texts. What happens this judgment? Who will be judged? And is there hope for people who have never heard the gospel? In this article, we will consider what the Bible says about the Great White Throne, the Book of Life, and the new heaven and earth.
The Apostle Paul’s encounter with the philosophers at Areopagus stands as a model for communication and a model for Christian apologetics – defense of the faith. Starting from their longing for God and the altar with the inscription “To an unknown God,” he proclaims the God who is Lord of heaven and earth. He who made all nations and made them dwell in all the earth. “In Him is what we live and move and exist.”
When Paul preaches to Jews, he quotes the prophets. When he preaches to the Greeks, he quotes the poets: “As some of your own poets have also said; For we are His offspring.”
Paul and the message of judgment
He tells of God’s gracious forbearance in previous generations, and that he now commands that all people everywhere should repent. He concludes by proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus and the Final Judgment. Here there was no compromise or knee-jerk reaction to the intellectual elite of the time.
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead, Acts 17:30-31.
When Paul touches on the resurrection, it becomes too much for them. “We want to hear you talk about this another time.” But some come to believe. Among them one of the judges of the Areopagus, Dionysius and a woman named Damaris. And some others, we read.
The reason why I start at Athens was to make a point of this powerful phrase from Paul’s speech: “For He has appointed a day when He will judge the world with righteousness by the Man whom He has appointed.” He has set a day. He will judge the world. In righteousness. By the Man he has appointed.
What Does “God Has Overlooked” Mean?
In Revelation 20 and the judgment at the Great White Throne, a pressing question arises: “What about all the generations who have lived before the cross, are they saved, and if so, how? And what about everyone after the cross who has never heard the gospel? Will they have a new opportunity to hear the gospel? Is people be saved at the Great White Throne, or is it only judgment and eternal damnation?”
I have taught a lot at Bible schools in the third world. I particularly remember an experience from the island of Samar in the Philippines. I taught about the end times and had come to Revelation 20. One of the students, a girl from a remote village, was the first in her family to have heard the gospel and accepted Jesus. When she heard my teaching about “doomsday,” she asked. “What about my grandmother and grandfather? They died before the gospel came to our village. They lived a good life. Will they perish forever?”
I gave her this answer: “The only thing I know is that God is a just God and that He will judge the world with righteousness.” Nothing more can be said, for this is part of what God in his wisdom has not fully revealed to us.
What does it mean that “God has overlooked the times of ignorance?” Several times Paul touches on this theme. In his speech to the people of Lystra, he says in Acts 14:16-17, who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
In Acts 17, Paul describes God’s care for all people in this way: And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us, (26-27).
Are people saved who have not heard the gospel?
God showed His kindness to them so that they would not lack testimony of Him. Thus, God also held them responsible for their actions, as we read in Romans 1:19-20 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
In Romans 2:11-16, Paul writes about those who have the law and those who do not have the law, the Jews and the Gentiles. He concludes that it is not those who hear the law who become righteous before God, but those who live according to the law. He goes on to say that the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do what the law teaches, thus showing that the work of the law is written in their hearts. At the last day, their conscience will testify with their thoughts and either accuse or excuse them – “in the day when God will judge the secret things of men according to my gospel through Jesus Christ.”
This cannot possibly mean that Paul is preaching salvation by works. In Romans 2:12 he says , “For all who have sinned without law will also perish without law, and all who have sinned in the law will be judged by the law.” Neither for Jews nor Gentiles is the Law a we unto salvation. It is emphatically stated in Galatians 3:21: “‘Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. ‘
Paul addresses the Jew and says that they have no advantage just because they have heard the Law. Even the Gentiles who have not heard the law preached have the works of the law written in their hearts. But there is no saving knowledge. There is also no fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:33 where the prophet describes the New Covenant and the law written in our minds and our hearts. It is a statement that the pagans know by nature what is right and wrong.
When people hear the gospel preached, the times of ignorance are over. Now they are being put up for election. If they reject the Good News and do not repent, they are facing eternal punishment.
We asked the question how the generations before Calvary’s cross were saved, and all who lived afterwards and have never heard the gospel. If there is any salvation at all for these. The only answer we can give with certainty is that God is just and that He will judge the world with righteousness.
As far as I have light on Scripture, the following is clear: (1) God is no respecter of persons. (2) No one is saved by works! (3) A righteous judgment presupposes that one is not judged for more than what God has shown to mankind by his self-testimony through progressive revelation. (4) At all times, people are justified by grace through faith. The fixed point of faith in all ages has been God, but the content of faith has varied in the different dispensations. (5) The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ stand at the center of history, and the Atonement applies both to sins previously committed and sins subsequently committed.
The blood that cleansed David from his sin is the same blood that cleanses our sins today, the blood of the Lamb. The blood of the sacrificial animals of the Old Covenant could not take away sin. It only gave a ceremonial purity. God forgave the sins that had been committed before Christ, for the triune God had the plan ready for the salvation of the whole world.
It is as if we can hear the echo of Abraham as he and Isaac walk towards the land of Moriah: “God himself will choose the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”
When Adam and Eve looked at the clothes God had made for them after the fall, they did not see what we as believers today see, we who live in the light of Calvary’s cross. They only understood that God had covered their sin and shame. None of all those who lived before Christ saw what we see today fully, but they received a good testimony of their faith from the revelation they had (Hebrews 11). In heaven we will sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. It is the song of salvation and deliverance.
The Judgment at the Great White Throne in Revelation 20
In Revelation 20:11-15 we read: 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. 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. 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. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
John saw a large white throne and one seated on it. Who is on the throne? If this is a parallel to what is described by Daniel in chapter 7 from verse 10, it is the Ancient of Days, God the Father who sits on the throne. In John 5:22 we read: The Father judges no one, but He has delivered all judgment to the Son.
God the Father has left it to the Son to judge the living and the dead, as Peter says to Cornelius and his household: He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is He who is appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead, Acts 10:42.
The triune God sits on the throne, and the Son is the judge. “The Man whom God has appointed”, as Paul said at Areopagus.
The judgment takes place after the Millennium. The earth and the heavens fled before him who sat on the throne, and no place was found for them.
From this, it may appear that the judgment at the Great White Throne takes place somewhere between heaven and earth
Who, then, will be judged at the Great White Throne? Those who stand before this throne are those mentioned in Revelation 20:5: But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. The first resurrection, the resurrection of life, has already taken place. Christ, the firstfruits, rose on Easter morning. He is the guarantor of our resurrection when He comes to the cloud for His bride. The last part of the resurrection of life takes place after the great tribulation, in connection with the Second Coming of Christ.
What is the second death?
Now it is the resurrection of judgment that is taking place. Those over whom the second death has power.
The Bible says that all people will one day be resurrected. Both righteous and unjust. Jesus says in John 5:28-29, Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
When the Bible says that the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hades as well, I understand that they are resurrected with bodies. Verse 15 says that those who were not found inscribed in the Book of Life were thrown into the lake of fire, which is the second death. The Bible describes the realm of the dead as a place of eternal torment. If the lost do not rise with bodies, the perdition will only be a mental torment. The lake of fire is a place, not a state.
The judgment at the Great White Throne is not to decide whether those who stand there will be saved or not. All the saved are already in glory. It happened before the Millennium, in the resurrection of life.
At this throne the deeds of the unsaved are judged. “The dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their works.” There are degrees of punishment at the Great White Throne. But all will be condemned to the second death. The first death is the physical death that came into the world at the fall. The second death is the lake of fire. The final consequence of the Fall. An eternal separation from God.
The Book of Life is opened. I believe this is done to confirm the verdict, not because someone will be declared righteous at this court. For no one is justified by works.
The New Heaven and the New Earth
Revelation 21 begins with John writing: Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
In the Old Testament, the Messianic kingdom is the prophetic climax. In the prophetic perspective of the New Testament, the New World is this highlight.
God creates a new heaven and a new earth out of a world on fire: But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (2 Pet. 3:7)
Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:13)
It will be a qualitatively new reality. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. (1 Corinthians 13:10) For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)
God’s dwelling place is with mankind (21:3). When John writes they shall be His people (21:3), he uses the plural form of people, to emphasize that this applies to all peoples. Tears, death, grief and pain are over. Everything is new.
For the third time, John heard the cry: It has happened! (21:6) The first time was when he stood at the cross and heard Jesus cry out: It is finished! (John 19:30) The second time was when the angel emptied the seventh bowl of wrath: […] and a loud voice came out of the temple in heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” (Rev. 16:17) All who thirst can drink from the fountain of living water. Everyone here is saved by grace.
The New Jerusalem
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” 10And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, (Rev. 21:9-10).
The Bible describes two Jerusalem, the earthly Jerusalem and the heavenly Jerusalem. In Hebrew, Yerushalayim Shel Matta – Jerusalem the lower, and Yerushalayim Shel Ma’alah – Jerusalem the upper. Now is the time for this Yerushalayim Shel Ma’alah – Jerusalem the upper, the heavenly Jerusalem to come down to earth. This is what heavenly Jerusalem Abraham was looking forward to: For he was waiting for the city, the one that has the foundations, the city that has God as its builder and creator, (Heb. 11:10). And this is the Jerusalem to which we as a people of faith, in a spiritual sense, have already come: “But you have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God.”
What will life be like in the New World?
It is not easy to describe “what eye has not seen, nor the ear has heard, the things that have not entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him,” as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:9. But the Bible makes us understand that it will be a wonderful place.
A life in fellowship with Jesus:
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is, (1 John 3:2).
A life at rest:
Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them”, (Rev. 14:13).
A life of joy:
When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory, (Col 3:4).
A Life of Worship:
After this, I heard a powerful voice of a great crowd in heaven saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and honor and praise and power belong to the Lord our God.” (Rev. 19:1).
“The blessing and the honor and the prize and the power belong to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb for all eternity!” (Rev. 5:13).