Who are the great and small in Revelation 20:12?

Rev. 20:12. — “And I saw the dead, the great and the small,‎ standing before the throne” (R.V.). A new vision.‎ The term dead here has a twofold signification. First, it refers to those who had actually died, and only such are viewed in the passage. Second, all in this judgment are spiritually dead. John sees them as raised not in a separate state. Verse 13 states facts prior to verse 12, and accounts for the dead standing before the throne. There is a resurrection of the just and of the unjust (Acts 24:15). But the resurrection of the former is special, both as to time and character. There is really no ground for the prevalent notion of a general resurrection and a general judgment.‎ The former is negatived by the statement in verse 5 of our chapter, “The rest of the dead did not live till the thousand years had been completed.” A general judgment‎ is as destitute of divine authority as that of a common resurrection, for here the dead alone are judged, whilst in Matthew 25 and Revelation 19 the living only are in view a thousand years before.‎ ‎

— “The great and the small.” This Biblical phrase, of frequent occurrence in the Old Testament, is found five times in the Apocalypse (Rev. 11:18; Rev. 13:16;‎ ‎Rev. 19:5, 18; Rev. 20:12). In the first four of these references the order of the words is reversed from that in our text: “small and great.” The exception is due to the greatness and majesty of the occasion. The article before the adjectives would intimate that special classes of the great and the small are there, from all ranks of men in the Church and in‎ the world. The highest and most responsible, down to the least, are congregated and gathered round the throne.‎ ‎

Rev. 20:11-15 is the judgment of "the dead," or what our Lord terms in John 5:29, "the resurrection of judgment." There is not a word in the passage of any but "the dead." "I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God." "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works." "The rest of the dead," who "lived not again till the thousand years were finished," doubtless form the vast majority in this wondrous scene. Any who may in the course of the thousand years be cut off for sin, as well as the rebels of the little season which succeeds, will also be among the number. There are those who urge the expression "small and great" as at least so far expressive of universality as to indicate that all the dead, both righteous and wicked, will be included in this judgment. No argument could be more unfortunate. Where it is said in Rev. 11:18, on the sounding of the seventh trumpet, that "thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto them that fear thy name, small and great," do the objectors themselves regard the phrase as including all of all ages who fear God's name? Of course they do not; for they are obliged to acknowledge that the whole Millennium succeeds the epoch to which these words refer. So in Rev. 13:16, are we to understand by "all, both small and great," that literally every person on the face of the globe will receive the mark of the beast in his right hand, or in his forehead? Or, again, in Rev. 19:18, does "the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great," intimate that not one of the human race will survive the carnage? How, then, should these words in Rev. 20:12 prove that all the dead, of all generations, righteous as well as wicked, are to stand before the great white throne? All who are dead when the throne is set will doubtless be raised to stand before it; but the righteous dead will have been raised more than a thousand years before; and as to the righteous during the Millennium, there is no scripture proof that they will die, but strong presumptive evidence to the contrary. In any case, to identify a passage which treats only of the judgment of the dead, with another which treats as exclusively of a judgment on living nations, death and resurrection not being mentioned in it at all, is a remarkable instance of confounding things which essentially differ, and affords but little support to the doctrine sought to be based thereon — that of the simultaneous judgment of the whole human race at the coming of Christ.

But what then of Rev. 20:11-15, which is supposed to express clearly the absolute universality of the Last Judgment? (p. 99.) Can reasoning be feebler? As in Rev. 11:18, and 19:5, "the small and the great" include none beyond those that are named, the God-fearing, so in the passage questioned "the great and the small," do not go beyond the dead that now stand before the throne for judgment, after the blessed and holy we saw raised 1000 years before to reign with Christ. Dr. B.'s argument really upsets his own conclusion. "The great and the small," as well as the mention of the sea, death, and Hades, do solemnly mark the universality of the dead left by the first resurrection; but to seek, as is sought, to include those already raised in "the dead," who now so long after stand before the throne to be judged, seems as opposed to all just interpretation of the chapter and to all scripture, as it is to all sound reasoning. It can only be accounted for by the darkening influence of error, πρῶτον ψεῦδος.

There they stand (verse 12), the great and the small, before the throne (which is the true reading); but where is it? Just before (verse 11) we were told the earth and the heaven fled, and no place was found for them; after which is seen, not thrones, but "a great white throne," before which the dead stand to be judged. Does the Lord appear at this point? On the contrary, it is the disappearing of the whole system of things to which He could come; and therefore, if the Lord wait for that epoch to come, it is impossible that He could be said in any just sense to come into this world (οἰκουμένην). For the earth and the heaven are expressly said to flee at that time; and this, with an additional statement which shows how complete was the dissolution — "no place was found for them." They do not reappear till after the judgment of the dead is closed. Christ's coming to the world is really described in chapter 19, before the millennium. At the end of the millennium there is no coming of Christ, but rather a departure, if you will, of the heaven and the earth that now are. Then we find the dead standing before the throne, books opened, with another book, the book of life, and the dead judged out of the things written in the books, according to their works. How comes this? Why are these, without exception, said to be judged according to their works; for it is solemnly repeated, in verse 13, they were judged every man (or each) according to their works? Because they are all unbelievers.

The originator of sin and his two chief lieutenants being disposed of, the great mass of sinful mankind, who have fallen a prey to his deceits, now appear at the final assize. The language is deeply solemn and impressive. John sees the throne of judgment, which he describes as great and white. The second resurrection, that of damnation, has taken place, and the earth has fled away. This earth is but a tiny spot in God's great universe and all the limitations which it would impose upon this scene are gone. In result, "the dead, small and great, stand before God." They have been raised and reclothed in bodies, as verse 13 clearly indicates, but they are still the dead in a spiritual sense — dead towards God.

Who will appear at this throne? Clearly it is not a judgment of living people such as we find in Matt. 25, where they are separated as sheep from goats, etc. No! the passage plainly states 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. At this throne everything is done in perfect righteousness and justice, and the judgment is according to works. We must all be before God either in Christ, in all the worth and value of what He has done; or we must have to do with God as unsaved, standing on our own merits. Now to appear in our own merits involves certain condemnation, for our works could not stand the searching light of that day. Moreover, 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. The day of grace will have passed away for ever, and the issue for every soul will be final, according to the demands of the righteousness and glory of God. Against the sentence there given there can be no opposition, and from it there is no appeal.

As to the argument for universality, based on the phrase, “the dead, small and great,” it will not stand a moment's investigation; because the wicked are the only dead left. In immediate juxtaposition with the account in v. 4 of the various classes who share in the first resurrection, it is said, “the rest of the dead lived not.” But now, when the thousand years are over, when the last fruitless rebellion of the nations, led on by Satan and dealt with summarily by divine judgment, has added a countless throng to the mass of the dead, all are summoned up from their graves to stand before the throne. Here there is neither need nor room for describing them as “the rest of the dead,” because of the interval which separates them from the first resurrection. Nay, more; “the rest of the dead,” in v. 12, would have been a misleading and improper phrase, because it might naturally have been restricted to the same body of whom v. 5 had spoken: whereas in fact it includes ALL the dead, except those already disposed of in the first resurrection; not those only who were dead when the millennial reign began, but such as had died during its course, and the vast multitude whom fire from God devoured at its close. Nothing can be plainer. A blessed resurrection is first described of those who reign with Christ, and with this is expressly conjoined the statement that the rest of the dead lived not till a certain long period terminated. During this period we know, from Isa. 65—66, that, at least, the wicked die; and at the end of it, we know, from Rev. 20:7-9, that the living wicked are destroyed without remedy. Most appropriately, therefore, on our view, scripture speaks of those called up afterwards for the judgment-resurrection as “the dead, small and great,” — the largest and most precise possible terms, so as to embrace all that remain, who are necessarily all wicked. The righteous had been long since raised. After that, no righteous are ever intimated as dying. No matter how comprehensive, then, may be the phraseology employed, it can only apply to the wicked, because they only, at that epoch, are “the dead.” The minute specification of the sea, death, and hades, is most solemn. No hiding-place could longer detain the wretched victims of sin. The deepest gulfs of the sea and unseen worlds deliver up their prisoners to stand before the Judge. And as to the production of “the book of life,” and “the books,” it is quite simple. Here is a figure (for, indeed, the description of the second death is just as symbolical as that of the first resurrection), — a figure taken from human tribunals and from two sides of an account. The books prove that their works were evil. The book of life discloses that their names were not written therein; for not a hint is given of even one who was. Both agree that they should be cast into the lake of fire.

At the Judgment of the Great White Throne, there is no separation at all, for all alike have died in sin, been buried in sin, and, raised again unrepentant and unforgiven, are alike cast into the lake of fire — solemn thought!

In the fifth verse we read, "The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." The eleventh and following verses give us the details of the last resurrection. We read, "I saw a great white throne, and Him that 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, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." This is what our Lord calls the resurrection of damnation, or judgment. Every dead sinner will be there — those who have died without Christ, who were dead in trespasses and sins. These are the dead, small and great. Those who have received Christ as their Saviour will have been raised before. But you find here the dead without exception. I cannot see that there is a single saved person standing before our Lord in this resurrection of judgment: they are called the dead. They have died without Christ, and therefore they will all be judged, and judged too according to their works.

There is one thing more, which closes the reign of Christ; it is the judgment of the wicked dead. Every one, from the first person who died in his sins, will then be judged; the dead must then hear the voice of the Son of God, and come forth. So particular is the instruction, that they are called "the dead, small and great." If they should be at the bottom of the sea, they must come up; wherever they are, in the grasp of death and hell (or hades), they must be delivered up. If they have fallen, and perished in some secret place, without a human eye to see them in the article of death; if they have fallen into a ravine, or perished in the desert, or their burial-place never have been known to man, it matters not; death and hades (the place of departed spirits) must give them up at the command of Jesus. These dead — meaning all unsaved people, dead in trespasses and sins will be brought up at the resurrection of judgment; they will be judged, each person, small and great, according to their works. They will stand before God. The books will be opened. One book — the book of remembrance, I doubt not — is to show the judged ones at a glance their own history: "I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes." Another book will be there, which, I believe, is the Bible. Jesus said, "The word that I speak unto you shall judge you in that day." There will be a third book — the Book of Life — to show them that their names are not written therein, to convict them that they never received Christ for eternal life; for there could not be written in the Book of Life the names of any who are without Christ. Christ is "the life," and those who are in Christ have their names written in that book. These three witnesses the book of remembrance, the Bible, and the Lamb's Book of Life — will silence for ever those who stand before that throne; and with deepest anguish and remorse will they hear the Lord's "Depart," and be cast away for ever from His presence; for "whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire." Then death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed. The last act in the reign of Christ will be to cast death and hades into the lake of fire. They will no more be wanted. The last enemy is thus destroyed; the victory of Christ is now complete.