Before we get the New Heaven and New Earth, there is one more big event that must take place – the Great White Throne Judgment.
In my last article, “Satan is Let Loose One More Time,” you saw that Satan will end up in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone forever and ever – never to bother, harm, or tempt humans ever again! Now what happens to the rest of unsaved humanity?
They will all come before the Lord in what is called the Great White Throne Judgment. This event has to be the most disturbing and bothersome event in all of Scripture.
Before this event happens, the Bible tells us that all of the unsaved people are kept in a place called Hades (Hell) until the Millennium Kingdom is over. Hades (Hell) is a temporary place of torment that these souls are kept in until they have to appear before God in this final judgment, which will then determine their eternal fate once and for all.
The New King James Version calls this place Hades. However, the Original King James Version calls this place Hell. Either way, Hell or Hades is a temporary place of torment where all unbelievers go to before this final judgment comes to pass.
Here is the verse that will give us the details on what will be happening to all of the unsaved in this final judgment.
“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. 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. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-14)
Remarks
1. The above verse refers to a second death. The first death is when all the unsaved are thrown into Hades (Hell) after they physically die and then they are kept there until the Millennium Kingdom is over. The second death refers to when the unsaved are then cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone where they will then remain for all of eternity.
Notice that the above verse definitely establishes that these unsaved people are kept in Hades until this judgment comes forth. The verse says that “Hades delivered up the dead who were in them.”
2. After this final judgment is pronounced, not only are the unsaved cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, but Hades (Hell) itself is also cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. This would thus be a merger of Hades and the Lake of Fire and Brimstone.
Not only is God going to merge His heaven with our earth when we get the new heaven and new earth, but God is also going to merge Hades (Hell) with the Lake of Fire and Brimstone when everything all is said and done. This will be God’s final and ultimate end for the saved and the unsaved.
The Bible does not give us the specific details of the nature of the torment they will be undergoing once they are thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone for all of eternity. And God may never tell any of us, even when we get into the New Heaven and New Earth.
It may be something that He may never really want us to know about and we may be better off not knowing the full details.
However, just the thought that a certain percentage of humanity will not make it into the New Heaven and New Earth, and will have to spend the rest of their eternal lives in this horrible place of torment just blows the human mind!
Some people ask how could a loving and merciful God create such a horrible place of torment for people to end up in if they choose for whatever reason not to accept Him. I believe there is only one answer to this question.
I believe God has everything set up on a “all or nothing” principle. There is only maximum life or maximum death. If you choose God and Jesus, then you will end up with maximum life in the New Heaven and New Earth.
If you do not choose God and Jesus, then you will end up with maximum death – which will be the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. There are no middle or neutral grounds! It’s all or nothing. It’s either God or the Devil, heaven or hell, or maximum life or maximum death. It’s really all black and white.
God the Father is a God of maximum intensity. He is not playing games. There is only one God and one Savior – Jesus Christ! There is only one way to live this life – and that is to choose Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and then follow all of God’s ways and commandments as best you can.
Here is the Scripture verse that perfectly spells all of this out for us:
“… I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days …” (Deuteronomy 30:19)
I do not think God could make things any more clear than by the way He has worded this specific verse. This verse is about as black and white as you can possibly get.
You will notice that God says absolutely nothing about any type of middle or neutral areas.
However, the actual choice is up to each person. God will not force Himself or His ways on anyone. Each person has to freely choose God and His ways with their own free wills. If they do not, for whatever reason, the final consequence will be maximum death in the most horrible place imaginable.
The other thing to try and understand why God would create such a horrible place of torment is to just look at some of the people who commit pure evil in this life – the serial killers, the rapists, the murderers, and the leaders of nations who enslave and torture their own people. Just look at the nature of Satan himself and all of the horrors and evil he has caused throughout the history of our world.
Some of these fallen angels and evil human beings really deserve nothing less than maximum death, which really does line up with their evil natures and personalities.
The real sad part about all of this is why a certain percentage of the angelic and human race have chosen with their own free wills to live their lives on the dark side, and to allow themselves to deteriorate to the lower levels of the dark side where they themselves have now become nothing pure evil, giving God no other alternative but to throw them into this lake of fire for the rest of their eternal lives.
None of these angels and humans were born or created pure evil. They all became pure evil over the course of their lives and they freely chose to do so with their own free wills.
To fully understand why these humans and fallen angels have chosen to live this life on the dark side, when they also had every chance to choose God and all of His righteous and holy ways will probably always remain a mystery.
But for those of you who have chosen Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, and have chosen to follow God and all of His holy ways, you will not have to go through the Great White Throne Judgment. Your final reward is going to be maximum life – and this reward is going to be the New Heaven and the New Earth. I will discuss what the Bible has to say about this new paradise in the next article.
I disagree when you say “…you will not have to go through the Great White Throne Judgment.” Everybody will be go through the Great White Throne Judgment and not only evil doers. Judgment doesn’t necessarily mean punishment only! It can also mean rewards…
Have a nice day and keep up the good work!
the Judgment Seat of Christ (BEMA) is when believers receive their rewards after life, this judgment is only for believers in Christ but the Great White Throne judgment is when Christ will judge all people from all generation who are sinners
and they will receive punishment which will be second death in the lake of fire.
At my church, we were taught that Jesus never hated but, always loved and that the pastor said that the Great White Throne Judgement will be Jesus Christ cleaning up the earth in a way that is confortable and clean! That is what our church pastor said and every congregant likes it that way which makes good mercantile sense when you think about it!
Were to God this was an accurate account of the Great White Throne; but unless we read the entire Scriptures, we KNOW that God is a God of LOVE. “The Lord is longsuffering toward us, He is not willing that any should perish, but that ALL come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9). The Lord sent His prophets and Messengers through the ages to spell out that Love to us (through the Scriptures), when mankind did NOT heed the message of repentance, He came down Himself for mankind. And EVEN that is not enough for man., Many will dishonor Him, disown Him, despise Him, and disrespect HIM. And yet. He still waits… and waits… until that day when Grace is no longer, and He takes up His Church (His People) those who have been washed in the blood, and then deals with Sin one last time. Even there, there will be people who will not acknowledge Him., Thus…. the wrath, the Judment at the Great White Throne; and “whosoever was not written in the book of life shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, this is the SECOND DEATH” Rev. 20:14-15. So no, please tell your Pastor that Jesus already has completed what He came to do; the rest is our decisions and we will be held accountable for those decisions; and it won’t be comfortable and clean for those who rejected Him. I pray that you and your congregants will be raptured at the time Jesus comes to get His Church/His Bride…
@Dr MZ Zakhary, You are confusing the Great White Throne judgement with the Judgement Seat of Christ. The Judgement Seat of Christ (Bema) is the judgement of believers who will receive reward for their work on earth or lack there of. The Bema Seat Judgement is thought to occur at or after the Rapture of the Church age believers when they are taken to be with the Lord prior to the Tribulation (70th week of Daniel).
In reply to Dr. Zakhary,
You are right about all of us being judged and some receiving rewards. However, the rewards judgement is called the “Bema seat of Judgement” or the “Judgment Seat of Christ” and in biblical times it has happened at the rapture of the church which was before the second coming of Christ.At the marriage supper of the Lamb Rev.19:7-10 Therefore, because the rewards have been given and the righteous have been judged. That was the 1st resurrection Rev. 20:6 The dead in Christ, those in Hades and Unsaved, will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgement Rev. 20:5. After the millenium. And then comes the New Jerusalem(Zion) in which no unclean thing could enter Revelation 21:27 But, now in ending my commend the most important time is now….
“But as many as received him,to them gave he power to become the sons of God,even to them that believe on his name:” John 1:12
The Lord’s invitation Luke 14:16-24
Sincerely,
CTR
You have not answered the question that was raised
Why is the book of life at the great white throne judgement?
I believe it is to prove that their names were never recorded there. Perhaps to say, ” If your name is here, show us, tell us the day you received Christ.” And the person being judged will know in his own heart that it is true, his name was never written there, he rejected Christ’s offer of eternal life.
What is the purpose of the White Throne Judgement since all the unsaved will still be thrown into the Lake of Fire. If the books are going to be opened, is God giving the unsaved another opportunity to be born again?
The purpose of the great white throne judgement is to evaluate our works here on earth during our stay. Additional rewards for those who are in Christ aside from eternal life. Additional punishments for those who are evil aside from eternal death.We are judged by this time according to our works.
Remember millions are saved during the great tribulation and millions live and have children during the 1000 years, The Church will already be changed forever with our new glorified bodies and rule and reign with Christ for 1000 years.
If you are a born again Christian you will no partake in the Great White throne Judgement. The only judgement the Church has is after the rapture called the Judgement seat of Christ, THIS IS NOT to judge our Sins and the Great white throne is! Our Sins are totally PAID IN FULL by the blood of Jesus when he took upon himself ALL of our Sins and All the the wrath of God that we deserved HE Bore FOR US!That is For All Who would believe in Jesus and Confess he is Lord accepting the Free gift of Salvation by Grace we are saved. So The judgement seat is not about sins but about works, the motives of All of our hearts will be exposed and whatever is NOT of Christ and the Holy Spirit while we were in the body will be burned off in the refining fire and have no reward. only things we did in the Spirit will remain. We are the bride
of Christ that will rule and reign with Jesus . The next thing to happen is the rapture, then the Great tribulation and the Anti Christ for 7 years, then the 2nd coming of Christ with the saints (us and all other believers who died in Christ) Jesus defeats Satan, casts the Beast and the demons and fallen angels into the lake of fire and also All men and women who received the mark of the beast. But the rest of the dead are not raised til the end of the 1000 years, some to eternal life some to Hell. those saved during the Tribulation and those saved during the Millenial who do not get deceived by Satan when he is loosed again at the end of the 1000 years are in the book of life, those who choose evil and unbelief are judged and go to the lake of fire,
Question: the believers in Christ will return with Christ. Do you believe the redeemed will see the unsaved cast into hell at the Great White Throne judgment? And then all tears will be wiped away?
Small point, but at the end you seem to reference those saved in the Tribulation as being part of the ones resurrected and entering life at White Throne. But aren’t we told that they are part of the First Resurrection phase who are brought back to life after the Tribulation and enter the Millennial Kingdom to rule and reign with Christ 1000 yrs?
Steve, he is giving them their first chance. Jesus opened the books: Revelation 20:11-15: And the Books were opened, including the Book of Life…. (One of these books is the bible, the unsaved that did not hear the truth, will now hear the truth and then they will be judged at this time.) Isaiah 2:3- Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. 3-And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4-And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.…
I have heard that believers will have to testify against the lost as a witness for god that they were told about salvation. Does the Bible teach this and where at if it does. I have a hard time believing God would require us To leave our peace and witness against family or friends.
The Bible does not teach so. If it does, let someone provide the verses. It is better for us to let people who tell us provide the verses otherwise we may be told lies from the devil.
Rev. 20:15 does not clearly say that all the Dead that were raised from the sea, hades, and death, were all thrown in the lake of fire.
“Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown in the Lake of Fire.”
You should study, carefully, the SOUND DOCTRINES as revealed in God’s WORD and put forward in the Confession of 1689; the Old London Confession; and yes, also referred to by the nickname of TULIP. For, if our Lord, God and SAVIOR did not deliver you supernaturally from Satan’s house of bondage, setting you free and creating (regenerating) a NEW, good and honest HEART in you by the Holy Spirit of TRUTH, which will readily receive the incorruptible seed of the WORD of GOD, and bring forth the fruits of faith, repentance, love and obedience to God’s good news (gospel), you or anyone else, born into this world “spiritually stillborn” would never CHOOSE to respond to God rightly! A corrupt tree (depraved person) CANNOT and WILL NOT bring forth the good fruit of obedient faith and repentance towards God! YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN to even “see” the Kingdom of YHWH!
Love, Mercy, Grace, Peace, Joy, TRUTH, TULIP,
paul
Very,Very,Very good scritural information of ‘The Great White Throne Judgement’ artical… (My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge)
My people perish for lack of knowledge. 66 books and 66 seeds. Praise the Lord.
judgement seat of christ termed by paul, great white throne judgement termed by john, and the sheep and goat judgement termed by jesus christ, are one and the same judgement, no opportunity for them to collaborate on how they should have titled it due to their circumstances. nowhere in revelation 19 and 20 does it said that the saints were judged or were given rewards, they were given only authority to judge, and reigned with christ as the royal priesthood only, not yet as kings. they will become kings in the new heaven and new earth in revelation 21 after they received their crowns, only then at the white throne judgement (rev. 11:18).
Rev. 8:1 is the Millennium, the thousand years of peace on earth and the half hour silence in heaven.
Rev. 9:1-12 is Satan and his fallen angels were set loose from the prison in the abyss after a thousand years.
Rev. 9:13-16 is the Gog and Magog of Rev. 20, the 200 million man army, whose NUMBER were as many as the sand in the sea shore, John heard their NUMBER.
Rev. 10:6-7 is where it mentioned that time is no longer, the end of the age, the millennium is about to end, and the Mystery of God which is Christ is about to be completed in the White Throne Judgement.
God’s plan of salvation and judgement to His creation will be accomplished through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Acts 4:12, Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”
Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,… I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:22, 24 NIV)
This authority which Jesus claims is both complete and all-encompassing:
Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me'” (Mat. 28:18 NIV);
The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.” (John 3:35 NIV)
Where does it say ” and all will be made white”
John said he saw the dead raised. Christ has brought us from death to life. He said he who believes in me shall never see death and finally, Jesus said that God is the God of the living not the dead.
When John saw the dead raised, he saw the unsaved raised to face judgment. Remember, Christ has already raised those who died in Him but the rest remained until the 1000 years are finished.
We are the blind leading the blind as we hold up one scripture or another that we believe makes our argument. But what is never addressed is the plight of those cannot be saved in this life by belief in Christ because they have no knowledge of Christ. The usual answer to this question is that we all deserve the lake of fire as we are all sinners and being forgiven and saved by Christ is an act of grace that we allows us to avoid what we earned. So, the argument goes, the unbelievers who don’t know who Christ is are no better than those who REJECTED Christ, regardless of the life the unknowing lived. That not knowing is the ultimate sin. We believers are fogiven and will be in Heaven even if we were not active in the great commission, but those whom we did not tell of Christ are condemned for our failure. Christ will judge as Christ will judge, but I believe he will be more understanding than all of these postings indicate with the finite lines as if all unbelievers made a choice.
That’s not true… Our ALMIGHTY GOD in Heaven says that which may be known of GOD is manifest IN us (including the GODHEAD (Father/Sin/Holy Spirit). GOD has REVEALED/SHOWED this to EVERYONE. Only, people hold the TRUTH in UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. So we have NO EXCUSE (not to believe in GOD or receive JESUS/salvation). People don’t accept JESUS because if THEIR PRIDE & THEIR LOVE of SIN & not because they have NO KNOWLEDGE of GOD/JESUS.
(Rom 1:18-20)
KJV
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Furthermore, the Word/Truth of GOD also tells us this…
(Matthew 24:14)
KJV
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Does the Devil get to claim all of the natural born individuals that was born during the 1000 year reign? The assumption is that after the 1000 year reign there will only be the Great White Throne Judgement and NO SAVED person will appear there. If that is the case then every person born during the 1000 year reign will go to hell. This always gets overlooked for some reason. The Bible says concerning that “whosoever was not written in the book of life shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, this is the SECOND DEATH”. The name will be looked for and IF it’s not found then yes he will go to the lake of fire. However IF his name IS FOUND then he will be saved and make Heaven his home. It seems really to narrow just to say that ONLY the lost will be at the GWTJ. After living say hundreds of years under Christ’s reign and observing and knowing Jesus all that time, it would be really odd that the Devil deceives ALL to destruction and NONE of the natural born people during the millennium are saved. If there is NOT another judgement after the 1000 year reign ends, then the saved and unsaved will be judged at the same Great White Throne Judgement. This is contrary to almost every Bible commentator because they are not taking this final group of saved/unsaved people into account.
Wonder what the Roman Church believes when it comes to their purgatory and the Great White Throne Justament. Maybe there will not be enough time for cleansing between ones death and resurrection.
Am fascinated about the explanation given concerning the Great White Throne Judgement and would like to seek clarity on the questions below:-
1.When will the Millenial Rule of Jesus Christ start on this earth?
2.Now that we know that during the Great White Judgement,it is the Unsaved and Unbelievers from ALL generations who are held up in HELL or HADES that will be judged,why again are books OPENED?Does it mean that we will have some pardoned,since the bible says,those whose names are not found in the book of life(meaning we will have some with their names in the book of life) are the ones to be sent to the lake of fire?
3.The bible says,we the saved believers will judge the dead.Will we also be a part of the judging panel or will it be Christ alone?
4.Where will this Great White Throne Judgement take place?Is it in Heaven,Earth or Hell because the bible clearly states that the earth and the heavens will flee from the presence of Christ never to be seen.
5.Where will be the saints during that Judgement time?