Revelation Chapter 20 Verses 11-15

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it; from his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; 15 and if any one’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

We see in these verses a great judgment scene. Is this the final judgment? It is certainly true that the Roman persecutors and the faithless Christians will one day face a literal final judgment that will be very similar to what is described here. But similarity of language does not prove identity of subject! The time frame of the book suggests that this is not the final judgment. The context of these verses suggests that this is not the final judgment. Let’s try to avoid the temptation to suddenly jump ahead in time thousands of years!

Yes, I know that countless sermons have used these final chapters of Revelation to describe Heaven and the final judgment, but I also know that for many the book of Revelation is just a large cafeteria in which you move down the line picking what you want and leaving the rest. Could this language be used to describe the final judgment and the church in Heaven after the end of time? Yes. Is that what is being described? I don’t think so. And if we have two possible explanations — one occurring shortly after the book was written and one that has yet to occur — shouldn’t we prefer the one that occurred shortly after the book was written in light of the time frame given in this book?   

Although the world will end with a literal judgment, there are many other judgment scenes in the Bible. The picture of God sitting in judgment is a common one in the Bible and often refers to events that are not the end of the world. In Psalm 9:4-7 the Psalmist uses a judgment scene to describe God’s past judgments against the enemies of his people:

For thou hast maintained my just cause; thou hast sat on the throne giving righteous judgment. Thou hast rebuked the nations, thou hast destroyed the wicked; thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever. The enemy have vanished in everlasting ruins; their cities thou hast rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.

Notice the past tense in those verses. Daniel 7 is another example. Recall that the fourth beast in Daniel 7 refers to the Roman empire, and read in Daniel 7:9-11 what precedes the destruction of that fourth beast:

I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened. I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame.

Does that sound familiar? Read Revelation 20:11-15 again! They are describing the same event. In both we have a throne. In both we have an occupant of that throne. In both we have books opened. In both we have fire. In both we have Rome. The parallels are inescapable — and Daniel gives us the time of the judgment — the days of the Roman empire.

Who is judged here? The dead that are raised in verse 13 are the ones who are judged here. Who are they? They are the “rest of the dead” from verse 5 — that is, they are the people who died in opposition to Christ and in the service of Rome. These are the ones who were killed by the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls.

These verses show the great contrast between those who stood with Christ and those who stood with Rome. Those who stood with Christ experience a complete and total victory symbolized by a 1000 year reign with Christ. Those who stood with Rome experience a complete and total defeat symbolized by death in a lake of fire.

But what about the book of life in verse 15? Why is it mentioned? That book is brought out to justify this sentence. We also know from Chapters 2-3 that there were some in this group who saw only a blotted out spot where their name had once been in that great book. Can you imagine anything worse than seeing a blank spot in that book and knowing that your name was once there? If there is anything more horrible to contemplate than seeing erasure marks where your name once appeared in the book of life I’m not sure what it could be.

What about in verse 14 where it says that death and hades are defeated? That has to be the end of the world, right? Why? If I moved that event in any direction I would not move it later in time! Instead, I would move it toward the cross. That was when death and hades were defeated! Yes, it is certainly true that on that great last day when we are literally raised incorruptible it will come to pass that “death is swallowed up in victory,” (1 Corinthians 15:54), but it is equally true that death was defeated at the cross and at Christ’s resurrection from the dead. As Romans 6:8-9 tells us, “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.” The defeat of death is a past event now, and it was a past event when Revelation was written. As 2 Timothy 1:10 tells us, Jesus “has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” Past tense!

Why then are death and hades shown as being defeated here? Because Rome’s power of death had been removed. Death is personified in Revelation and nowhere is that clearer than in verse 13 where Death gives up its dead! Rome’s defeat was Satan’s defeat, and Satan’s defeat was Death’s defeat. Rome had used death as a terrible weapon, and that was all over.

What is left in this book? Chapters 21 and 22 conclude the book with a beautiful description of the triumphant and victorious church. In fact, nowhere will you find a more beautiful description of the church than in these final chapters of the Bible. The Old Testament ends with a curse. Let’s see how the New Testament ends.

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