And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is [that] of life. And the dead were judged out of the things written in the books according to their works.
Revelation 20:12 shows the last scene of human history. Heaven and earth are gone, and the dead stand before a throne. Everything turns on two kinds of books: the record of what people did, and the book of life.
This scene is not Christ's return to earth. It comes after the present heaven and earth are gone.
There they stand (verse 12), the great and the small, before the throne; but where is it? Just before, in verse 11, we are told the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. Then we see, not thrones, but "a great white throne," and the dead stand before it to be judged... At the end of the thousand years Christ does not come. Instead the heaven and the earth that now are depart.
The verse names one group only: "the dead." Commentators read this as the unsaved, not a mixed crowd of everyone who ever lived.
This is clearly not a judgment of living people, like the one in Matthew 25, where people are separated as sheep from goats. No — the passage says clearly that it is "the dead, great and small," who are found here. It is the dead out of Christ, the unsaved dead, and only they... this is not a throne of grace, or sprinkled blood to meet the sinner's need, but of stern unbending judgment and nothing but judgment.
Some take "great and small" as proof that the righteous must be there too. Trotter tests that reading against the same phrase elsewhere in Revelation.
At the sounding of the seventh trumpet, Revelation 11:18 says, "your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants... and those who fear your name, both small and great." Do the objectors themselves take that phrase to include everyone of every age who fears God's name? Of course they do not.
The books hold deeds, not natures — and that distinction decides who is even in view.
Every responsible soul on earth has his life and history written above. Nothing is forgotten, nothing is too small; God records it all, and never gets it wrong. Infants and those without understanding are the only exceptions. Judgment goes by works, by deeds. People are responsible for what they have done, not for what they are by birth... We cannot help the existence of the evil nature in us, but we are responsible for its activity.
One book keeps people out of judgment; the other holds the record of their sins.
"The book of life" is opened; but there is no judgment for those whose names are written in it by the hand of God's choosing, redeeming love. "The books" are opened too — those dreadful records written in letters deep, broad, and black. They are the terrible lists of the sins of every man, woman, and child, from the beginning to the end of time. There will be no hiding in the crowd. Each one will stand there alone, as a single person, in that appalling moment.
Two kinds of evidence come out at that throne.
Deeds long since forgotten, and sins that people thought too small to matter and have dropped out of memory — all of them will be brought out as the ground of condemnation. And more than that: the book of life will be opened, and if the names of those brought before this solemn court are not found in it, the sentence is passed... So there are two kinds of evidence, positive and negative. Both condemn, and both shut out every ground of appeal.
A missing name has a history behind it.
The book of life is opened next and searched closely. Not one name of the ungodly is found in its pages. Their names could have been written in that book, but they despised mercy and refused grace, so now judgment and its carrying out must take their course.
If judgment goes by works, the result is settled before the trial starts. So the gospel does not wait for that day.
People speak as though men were on probation, and the day of judgment would prove how it will turn out with them, whether they will be saved or lost. This is all wrong... the gospel comes to man and addresses him as one already lost, and needing salvation. Men do not have to wait until the judgment to know how it will turn out... Judgment is for my work (Revelation 20:12), and on that ground all are already lost. But salvation is of grace, and is God's work.
- Setting. Heaven and earth are gone. The dead stand before the throne, not before a returning Christ.
- Company. Only "the dead" stand there, those out of Christ. "Great and small" marks the range inside that group; it does not bring in the righteous.
- Evidence. The books hold a full record of deeds. Judgment rests on what people did, and each one stands alone with his own page.
- Verdict. The book of life supplies the second, silent proof — no name there, no claim to life, no appeal.
- Escape. Works can only condemn, so the one way out of that court is grace received now, before the books are ever opened.
And 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 each according to their works
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
and death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, [even] the lake of fire.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And if any one was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20 ends with one sentence that decides the eternity of everyone standing at the great white throne. What settles it is not a record of deeds but a name in a register. Two kinds of books lie open, and this verse tells us which one settles the matter.
God judges the dead by their works, yet the works are not what seals the outcome. One writer explains why the book of life also lies open at this throne — to show what is missing from it:
This is the "resurrection of judgment" that our Lord speaks of in the gospel of John. It will include all the unsaved, and the unsaved alone. The book of life is there, but there is no sign of any saints to be judged. It is opened to show that the names of those to be judged were not there. So they are condemned on both negative and positive grounds. Their names were not written in the book of life, and their works declared them liable to righteous judgment. So they fall without hope under the everlasting sentence of the lake of fire, which is the second death — a sentence from which there is no appeal and no escape.
Could any name at that throne actually be in the book? One writer answers no, and gives the reason:
Then the book of life is mentioned — but note, not to write anyone's name in it. Could any of their names have been in that book? No. None of those whose names God Himself has written in the book of life appear at this throne. God had raised these saved ones from their graves long before. They had shared with Christ in His reign of a thousand years. So they do not appear at the great white throne at all.
Another writer draws the same conclusion from the wording, which leaves no room for an exception:
The names of the condemned were not there. So it is not a bare statement, but one of awful emphasis, that he adds, "And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." Not a hint of anyone who was found written there. The book of life matched the books of deeds exactly. Their works called for God's final punishment, and to grace they had been indifferent or actively opposed.
If everything hangs on the register, the practical question is how anyone comes to be in it. The answer given is that nothing a person produces can put it there:
To be written in the "book of life" means to have life in Christ. Not our works, not our character, not our religiousness, not our tears, our prayers or our service can put our names in the "book of life." Grace alone can do it, and grace does it, as we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Reader, is your name written there?
Human records get revised. This one, as writers describe it, belongs to God's own purpose and stands:
The Lamb's book of life contains names written there before the founding of the world. This is the book of God's counsels and purposes. He knows the end from the beginning. Before human responsibility began its course, He wrote in it the names of all who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. These are true, born-again believers in Christ. He calls them, justifies them, and glorifies them. He works in their hearts by His Holy Spirit, who has sealed them and marked them off as His own forever. The Lamb's book of life is the record of reality, and out of that book no name is blotted out.
These people have already died once. The sentence here is described as a second and far deeper thing:
Death and Hades delivered up the dead that were in them: and they were judged each according to their works. And their works condemn them. Not a word is said about them in the book of life, and they are cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. They are raised from their first death to be cast for ever into that place of torment, from which there is no escape.
For those whose names are in the book, this warning turns into praise. One writer rests that confidence on a promise from Jesus:
We may well send up a hymn of heartfelt praise to God that we whose names are written in that book of life can never come into that judgment. And rejoice in these good words of the Lord: "Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24).
- The book decides. Works are read out at the throne, but the sentence turns on one thing: whether the name is in the book of life.
- The book is grace. No effort, character, religion, tears or service writes a name there. Believing on the Lord Jesus is how grace does it.
- The book is permanent. It holds names written before the world began, and no name is blotted out of it.
- The book explains the silence. No one at that throne is found in the book. God raised those who are in it long before, and they never come to that throne.
- The book is open now. Whoever hears Christ's word and believes has already passed from death to life. That person never comes into judgment.