“Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Revelation 20:7-10.
After Satan is cast into the lake of fire the next verse indicates that shortly afterward Judgment Day begins.
“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.” Revelation 20:11.
The description of the throne tells us that the justice given out will be in accordance with holiness and righteousness. No one will be unjustly condemned.
The identity of Him who sat upon the throne is given to us in John chapter five.
“For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son [Jesus Christ], that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” John 5:22-23.
“For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.” John 5:26-27.
Jesus is not just the One seated on the throne of judgment; He is also the One from whom the earth and the heavens fled away and there was found no place for them.
“But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word [the word of God], are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men [Judgment Day].” 2 Peter 3:7.
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:10.
“For by Him [Jesus Christ] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist [are held together].” Colossians 1:16-17.
Jesus Christ, the One seated on the great white throne of judgment holds all things together, and when He releases His hand, the earth and the heavens dissolve with a fervent heat, as they will do on Judgment Day.
This is certainly a terror which will come as a thief in the night, to those who inhabit hell. These godless men and women will suddenly be ejected from hell and find themselves standing before the God of the universe.
Everyone who stands before Christ is guilty, this is not a hearing to determine guilt or innocence; it is a sentencing hearing. There are no innocent people in hell; they are all guilty of rejecting God’s plan for their lives.
Have you ever made a wish? Did you know that God made a wish? Did you know that God’s wish did not come true? It was made for Israel, but it is for all mankind truly because He gave His only begotten Son Jesus for the sins of all mankind.
“Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” Deuteronomy 5:29.
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
So, where will the seat of Judgment Day be located? Certainly not heaven for the godless have no portion in heaven, and having rejected it are not worthy to see such a place.
Earth is gone, so that leaves us with one other place, the space where earth once was. This and the following are all educated speculation so there is really no way to defend it in Scripture. It is only meant to make you consider the majesty and the terror of this day.
What I see is an immense expanse of glass. In the middle of this expanse the great white throne of judgment sits upon it.
Jesus is seated and His followers stand to His right and to His left, and behind, as far as the eye can see, billions upon billions of saints who put their trust in God and in Christ’s shed blood.
Among these billions there will be many born incompetent, never reaching an age when they could consciously reject Christ as their Savior.
There will be children also who were murdered, or died from accidents or diseases, babies who died in childbirth or soon after, and many millions who were aborted throughout the world and through history.
All these will be there with Jesus because they had not reached an age of accountability when they could rationally reject Christ as Savior. For this reason their names were not erased from the Book of Life.
All of mankind, babies on up, depended upon Jesus giving His life for man’s rebellion against God; because the curse of sin came upon all mankind.
The Judge is seated the saints who will be witnesses, and angels are gathered, and the ungodly dead having been ripped from hell and given eternal but not glorified bodies stand before the Judge.
Many of those taken from hell will have been there thousands of years. Taken from a dark, abysmal place of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, and brought into this place of quiet, eerie beauty.
These men and women see over them, a vault of stars shining with a clarity which no man on earth has ever seen. Under their feet, more stars; but this is nothing like what is before them.
Seated before them they will see, the risen glorified Christ whom they rejected in their lifetime. To the right and to the left of Him they will see multitudes of glorified saints glowing with the light of God with a brightness that one could almost feel.
Yet in this beautiful place, they will be gripped with a foreboding that beggars any nightmare you or I have ever had.
Before we begin, there is one last formality.
“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11.
Judgment Day will be a level playing field; the mass murderer will stand alongside the business tycoon, the Muslim will stand alongside the liberal pastor. The atheists and the pseudo-Christians will all stand together. And true justice will finally be meted out.
“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.” Revelation 20:12-13.
The souls in hell will be rejoined with their bodies, whether from the grave or those lost at sea. These will be eternal bodies incorruptible, and indestructible, not like the ones we have now.
Every person will stand before the judge, and his sins will be read out from the books before him, perhaps each saint that this person wronged in some way will stand next to the Lord as a witness. Whether this witness speaks or not is unknown. But they will see justice done to the ones who sinned against them.
To everyone who has been brutalized, do not reject Christ out of spite and wind up standing among the damned. Rather, accept Him as your Savior and see justice done before you.
Many of these condemned folks will look over and see a loved one, mother, wife, or father and realize that they will never again hear a loving word out their mouths; never again will they feel their mother or grandmother caress their face and kiss their cheek. Yes, eternally lost to all things of comfort and beauty.
And they will pay for every sin written in the books. The last book to check will be the Book of Life to confirm that the sinner’s name is not in it. This is a formality; their name would have been erased before their death.
“And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15.
Your civil rights end at death.
“Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power…” Revelation 20:6a.
“Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” Revelation 20:14.
The first death is physical death; the second death is eternal separation from God. There will be no music in the lake of fire, no love, no beauty, no color, no cool breezes, cool water, or a loving hand to caress them.
There will be only the roaring of the fire, the stench of death, the searing screams of their own consciences eternally dredging up the things which now give them nothing but a feeling of eternal shame; twice dead.
Death and Hades are cast in as a symbol that they will no longer exist for eternity, which will be a comfort to the saints.
“And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15.
For more on the Book of Life see Exodus 32:32, Daniel 12:1, and Psalm 69:28.
“Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.” Psalm 69:28.
The Book of Life has everyone’s name from the beginning of time written in it, when and if a person rejects Christ for the last time, they will be blotted out of the Book of Life. This is why their names are not found in the Book of Life on Judgment Day.
When all of these things are completed, time is no more, and we enter the eternal state wherein there is a new heaven and a new earth.
“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. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’” Revelation 21:1-5a.
Time’s End, Part B taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 4-29-16, updated on 8-3-21.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.