seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
This is from amazingdiscoveries.org.
The Great White Throne Judgment: After the wicked surround the City of God, but before they are destroyed, God opens the books of Heaven and shows each one of the lost the record of his life of rebellion against God. They also see the love of God in the effort He has expended to affect their salvation, and in the blood of the Son of God poured out on their behalf.
The record books of heaven portray its unmistakeable detail their selfishness, cruelty, and every particular of their rejection of God’s authority. They will see clearly why their names are not in the Book of Life. Revelation 13:8; Exodus 32:32, 33; Revelation 3:5.
All the wicked will be fully convinced of God’s justice in the sentence of eternal death pronounced against them. All of God’s judgments are seen to be fair and honest. The entire host of the lost will bow down and confess that God is just. Romans 14:11. Even Satan will knee’ before God and admit that he has been wrong in his rebellion Then the wicked receive their punishment in the lake of fire with Satan and his angels.
The record books of heaven portray its unmistakeable detail their selfishness, cruelty, and every particular of their rejection of God’s authority. They will see clearly why their names are not in the Book of Life. Revelation 13:8; Exodus 32:32, 33; Revelation 3:5.
All the wicked will be fully convinced of God’s justice in the sentence of eternal death pronounced against them. All of God’s judgments are seen to be fair and honest. The entire host of the lost will bow down and confess that God is just. Romans 14:11. Even Satan will knee’ before God and admit that he has been wrong in his rebellion Then the wicked receive their punishment in the lake of fire with Satan and his angels.
Here's something interesting from revelationcommentary.org.
1) And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and (2) books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and (3) the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
1. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne = introduces the seventh vision report of the vision sequence begun back in Revelation 19. John indicates that the dead are "standing before the throne." The reason John calls these individuals the dead is to tie verse 12 back to Revelation 20:5. "The dead" not raised at the beginning of the 1000-year kingdom are now raised to be judged.
It should not escape the reader’s attention that "the living" is not mentioned here. This supports the conclusion that their glorification must have occurred soon after the destruction of the wicked or will follow God’s final disposition of the wicked.
2. Books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life = appears to indicate two separate groups of books.
3. The dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds = indicates the purpose of the books. The books (excluding the book of life) record the deeds of the dead. The phrase according to their deeds must refer to the wicked deeds of the dead.
It should not escape the reader’s attention that "the living" is not mentioned here. This supports the conclusion that their glorification must have occurred soon after the destruction of the wicked or will follow God’s final disposition of the wicked.
2. Books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life = appears to indicate two separate groups of books.
3. The dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds = indicates the purpose of the books. The books (excluding the book of life) record the deeds of the dead. The phrase according to their deeds must refer to the wicked deeds of the dead.
OK... these are all the dead that had already been given so many chances....
Let me ask you this... do all the wicked deeds of the dead need to be wicked? Suppose one of the dead had been a preacher at some point... who delivered that particularly moving altar call that led a young woman to publicly proclaim her acceptance of Christ as her savior..... in spite of working as a preacher, convincingly.... he never accepted Christ himself.... and he made it through the horror... and to the millenium.... does he go into the lake?
IMHO...Yep... the key is.... he never NEVER [see it] accepted Christ as his Savior... so he [by refusing] chose satan.... and gets to spend the rest of time with satan.... he knew better.
There are a lot of people who are fooling everyone. They are wonderful people... always charitable... always caring... always well mannered.... always busy..... always taking care of others.... but they never accepted Christ..... they were given lots of opportunity.... but they just didn't get around to the decision... and then they had been busy for so long.... everyone just supposed they had made the decision.... and they would be so shocked... couldn't let that happen... it would be embarrassing.... or they just didn't believe this whole Bible bit. What about that wonderful stubborn stupid human....Heaven or a lake or fire????
In one of the churches I went to .... I can remember the saying "Every time someone makes a profession of faith, there's a party in Heaven". It's a signing party!!!! When someone makes a profession of faith.... their name is inscribed in the book.... then no matter what happens.... no matter how fortunate or unfortunate your lot may be.... if you make it to this point... they check the book.... and there's your name... in the book of life.... and where your name had been... over in the book of "Oh I'm a good person".... it's whited out.... if you happen to make to this point.... your name is not in the book of dirty deeds done dirt cheap.....
So.... everyone is judged.... everyone is imprisoned forever [not just for life].... the dragon... the beasts.... the stubborn, stupid humans who thought they had some kind of special rights..... or that they knew more than God.... they are all gone.... Court is adjourned....
