“The Great White Throne Judgment” (Revelation 20:7-15)

What this episode covers

Great White Throne Judgment Great White Throne Judgment Brad Mills / General Revelation / Eschatology: Last Judgment / Revelation 20:7–15 Think of a time in your life where you greatly offended your parents and received some form of discipline. I realize the spectrum of responses may span from one of neglect and indifference to (unfortunately) even physical abuse. For some of you, the punishment might have been so harsh it overshadowed the offense so that you can’t even remember what you did wrong. Discipline is one of the most difficult tasks for parents to do well. If you have children, surely you can think of a time when you disciplined out of anger. Maybe you overreacted to a relatively minor offense. Or maybe you failed to take the time to explain yourself. Or maybe you refused to follow up with your child for reconciliation. As we begin to think about the final judgment, it is important to begin with this: God’s judgment is fully just. He always disciplines his children in love (Heb 12:5-11). At Christ’s return everyone will stand before him to face a judgment according what they have done. We have been looking at the sixth of seven cycles in the Book of Revelation: 1. Seven Churches (1:1-3:22) 2. Seven Seals (4:1-8:1) 3. Seven Trumpets (8:2-11:19) 4. Spiritual Conflict (12:1-14:20) 5. Seven Bowls (15:1-16:21) 6. Final Judgment (17:1-20:15) 7. Final Reward (21:1-22:21) How ought we live in light of Christ’s return to judge the world? Read Revelation 20:7-15. At the end of this cycle we now have the fullest display of the final judgment. › But before the final judgment of humans, we see… I. The Final Defeat of Satan (7-10) At the end of the thousand years (this present age), Satan will be released from his bondage (7). He will immediately begin to do the very thing that he was prevented from doing (3), namely, deceiving the nations and gathering them together for the final battle (8). These nations, called “Gog and Magog,” make up a vast army that is like the sand of the sea. There is no small number of opposition to God at this time. If this battle is taking place after Christ’s second coming and earthly millennial reign, as Premillennialism suggests, then it’s hard to understand where all these unbelievers have come from. If Satan was bound throughout the millennial reign, and only believers entered the millennial reign, then there was an awful lot of apostasy taking place during Christ’s triumphant reign. The names “Gog and Magog” refer to a land and people mentioned in Ezekiel 38-39. Over the years people have speculated that this is a reference to the Goths, Muslims, Turks, and more recently Russia. Hal Lindsey popularized the idea that “Meshech and Tubal” mentioned in Ezekiel 38:2-3 are a hidden reference to the cities, Moscow and Tobolsk. The mention of “Rosh” in these same verses added weight to his argument that it must be Russia. For someone writing to anxious Americans during the height of the Cold War, these arguments sounded convincing. However, “rosh” is simply the Hebrew word for “prince” and Meshech and Tubal were actual cities north of Assyria at the time of Ezekiel’s prophecy. The suggestion that the names of these ancient towns point to cities that would not come into existence for one thousand years (Moscow) and fifteen hundred years (Tobolsk) based solely upon similar sounding names is—to say the least—hard to swallow. What hope did any saint, who lived prior to the Cold War, have of interpreting this passage rightly? In reality, we know from ancient Jewish literature that “Gog and Magog” were proverbial names for evil nations. John’s original audience would have understood that Satan will gather every rebellious nation from all directions (“the four corners of the earth”). Gog and Magog are the nations represented by “the kings of the whole world” who assemble at Armageddon, the location of the final battle (Re 16:16). In John’s vision, this great army surrounded the camp of the saints and their

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