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41 Then He will say to those at His left hand, Begone from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!

42 For I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink,

43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome Me and entertain Me, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me with help and ministering care.

44 Then they also [in their turn] will answer, Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?

45 And He will reply to them, Solemnly I declare to you, in so far as you failed to do it for the least [in the estimation of men] of these, you failed to do it for Me. [Proverbs 14:31; 17:5.]

46 Then they will go away into eternal punishment, but those who are just and upright and in right standing with God into eternal life. [Daniel 12:2.] AMP


Joel 3:2

2 I will gather all nations and will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and there will I deal with and execute judgment upon them for [their treatment of] My people and of My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations and [because] they have divided My land. AMP


Both passages say that these Gentiles will be judged for their treatment of Israel during the Tribulation period. Christ is the Judge; the Gentiles are being judged; by all rapture schemes the church has already been raptured to heaven; the "brethren," the treatment of whom becomes the basis for the judgment, can only refer to Christ's natural brethren, other Jewish people (Romans 9:3). For a Gentile to treat any Jewish person with kindness during the Tribulation will place his life in jeopardy. No one will do this merely out of a beneficent attitude, but only out of a redeemed heart. Therefore, this is not a judgment of works, but of genuine faith that produced such selfless works (or the lack of it which produced no such works).

Romans 9:3

3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off and banished from Christ for the sake of my brethren and instead of them, my natural kinsmen and my fellow countrymen. [Exodus 32:32.] AMP

V. Judgment of Gentile Survivors of the Tribulation

For a Gentile to treat any Jewish person with kindness during the Tribulation will place his life in jeopardy. No one will do this merely out of a beneficent attitude, but only out of a redeemed heart. Therefore, this is not a judgment of works, but of genuine faith that produced such selfless works (or the lack of it which produced no such works).

Those who lack saving faith and demonstrate that lack by not doing good works will be sent to the lake of fire. Those whose good deeds prove the presence of saving faith will enter the kingdom. Like the Jewish survivors of the preceding judgment, they will enter in earthly bodies and become parents of the first millennial Gentile babies.

You will notice that I have understood this judgment to concern individual Gentiles, and not, as some translations imply, national groups of people. The word used in the passage is translated in the New Testament by "people" two times, "heathen" five times, "nation" sixty-four times, and "Gentiles" ninety-three times. Other references to a judgment at the second advent of Christ depict a judgment of individuals (Matthew 13:30,47-50).

Matthew 13:30

30 Let them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will say to the reapers, Gather the darnel first and bind it in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my granary. AMP

Matthew 13:47-50

47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet which was cast into the sea and gathered in fish of every sort.

48 When it was full, men dragged it up on the beach, and sat down and sorted out the good fish into baskets, but the worthless ones they threw away.

49 So it will be at the close and consummation of the age. The angels will go forth and separate the wicked from the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with God)

50 And cast them [the wicked] into the furnace of fire; there will be weeping and wailing and grinding of teeth. AMP

VI. JUDGMENT OF SATAN AND FALLEN ANGELS

Satan and his angels will also be judged, evidently at the conclusion of the millennial kingdom. To be sure, Satan has had other sentences passed on him, but this will be his final one that confines him forever in the lake of fire (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10). The angels who are judged at this time also will experience the same fate (Jude 6-7). Believers will apparently be associated with the Lord in judging (1 Corinthians 6:3).



Matthew 25:41

41 Then He will say to those at His left hand, Begone from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels! AMP

Revelation 20:10

10 Then the devil who had led them astray [deceiving and seducing them] was hurled into the fiery lake of burning brimstone, where the beast and false prophet were; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (through the ages of the ages). AMP

Jude 6-7

6 And angels who did not keep (care for, guard, and hold to) their own first place of power but abandoned their proper dwelling place — these He has reserved in custody in eternal chains (bonds) under the thick gloom of utter darkness until the judgment and doom of the great day.

7[The wicked are sentenced to suffer] just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the adjacent towns — which likewise gave themselves over to impurity and indulged in unnatural vice and sensual perversity — are laid out [in plain sight] as an exhibit of perpetual punishment [to warn] of everlasting fire. [Genesis 19.] AMP

1 Corinthians 6:3

3 Do you not know also that we [Christians] are to judge the [very] angels and pronounce opinion between right and wrong [for them]? How much more then [as to] matters pertaining to this world and of this life only! AMP

VII. JUDGMENT OF THE UNSAVED DEAD

At the conclusion of the millennial reign of Christ, unbelievers of all time will be raised and judged. Their resurrection is the resurrection of judgment spoken of by the Lord in John 5:29. Their judgment will take place before a Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11-15). Their Judge is the Lord Christ (see John 5:22,27).

Revelation 20:11-15

11 Then I saw a great white throne and the One Who was seated upon it, from Whose presence and from the sight of Whose face earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.

12 I [also] saw the dead, great and small; they stood before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is [the Book] of Life. And the dead were judged (sentenced) by what they had done [their whole way of feeling and acting, their aims and endeavors] in accordance with what was recorded in the books.

13 And the sea delivered up the dead who were in it, death and Hades ( the state of death or disembodied existence) surrendered the dead in them, and all were tried and their cases determined by what they had done [according to their motives, aims, and works].

14 Then death and Hades ( the state of death or disembodied existence) were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

15 And if anyone's [name] was not found recorded in the Book of Life, he was hurled into the lake of fire. AMP

John 5:22-27

22 Even the Father judges no one, for He has given all judgment (the last judgment and the whole business of judging) entirely into the hands of the Son,

23 So that all men may give honor (reverence, homage) to the Son just as they give honor to the Father. [In fact] whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, Who has sent Him.

24 I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the person whose ears are open to My words [who listens to My message] and believes and trusts in and clings to and relies on Him Who sent Me has (possesses now) eternal life. And he does not come into judgment [does not incur sentence of judgment, will not come under condemnation], but he has already passed over out of death into life.

25 Believe Me when I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the time is coming and is here now when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear it shall live.

26 For even as the Father has life in Himself and is self-existent, so He has given to the Son to have life in Himself and be self-existent.

27 And He has given Him authority and granted Him power to execute (exercise, practice) judgment because He is a Son of man [very man]. AMP


Those judged are simply called "the dead"-unbelievers (in contrast to "the dead in Christ," which refers to believers). This judgment will not separate believers from unbelievers, for all who will experience it will have made the choice during their lifetimes to reject God. The Book of Life that will be opened at the Great White Throne judgment will not contain the name of anyone who will be in that judgment. The books of works that will also be opened will prove that all who are being judged deserve eternal condemnation (and may be used to determine degrees of punishment). It is not that all their works were evil, but all were dead works, done by spiritually dead people. It is as if the Judge will say, "I will show you by the record of your own deeds that you deserve condemnation." So everyone who will appear in this judgment will be cast into the lake of fire forever.

THE JUDGMENT OF THE GREAT WHITE THRONE (20:11-15)

1. THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT OF THE WICKED DEAD (20:11-13)



20:11. The final five verses of chapter 20 introduce the judgment at the end of human history and the beginning of the eternal state. John wrote, I saw a great white throne. The events here described clearly follow the thousand years of verses 1-6. The great white throne apparently differs from the throne mentioned more than 30 times in Revelation beginning with 4:2. It apparently is located neither in heaven nor earth but in space, as suggested by the statement, Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. It is not indicated who sits on this throne, but probably it is Christ Himself as in 3:21 (cf. Matthew 19:28; 25:31; John 5:22; 2 Corinthians 5:10 - though the throne in these references is not necessarily the same throne as in Revelation 20:11 ). While Christ is now seated on the throne in heaven and will be seated on the Davidic throne on earth in the Millennium (Matthew 25:31), this white throne judgment is a special situation.

The question has been raised as to whether the earth and the starry heavens as they are today will be destroyed at this point in the future or will be simply restored to a new state of purity. Many references in the Bible suggest that the earth and the heavens, as now known, will be destroyed (cf. Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 16:17; 21:33; 2 Peter 3:10-13). This is confirmed by the opening statement of Revelation 21, "the first heaven and the first earth had passed away."

The present universe was created like a gigantic clock which is running down, and if left to itself, would ultimately come to a state of complete inactivity. Inasmuch as God created the universe and set it in motion for the purpose of enacting the drama of sin and redemption, it would seem proper to begin anew with a new heaven and a new earth