This great and important event takes place immediately after the destruction of heaven and earth. We will comment on it verse by verse from Revelation 20:11 to 20:15.
Verse 11. After John saw (in his vision) the devil being thrown into the lake of fire, he then immediately saw the vision of a great white throne and Him (God) sitting upon it. And the Scripture text here is written as if this throne with God upon it was all there was. That is, the earth and heaven had fled away, or we could say that it disappeared or gone into non-existence. It seems here as if John missed the great explosion of heaven and earth. His eyes saw the great white throne, and then he realized that heaven and earth were gone.
Verse 12. Then next John saw the dead (those who had died) standing (now alive) before the throne. And John here is careful to make clear that all the dead are here: great and small, which means the young and old; the rich and the poor; the big ones and the short ones, etc. And the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to what was written about them in the books—all their deeds (everything they ever did, good or bad, was recorded in these books).
Verse 13. God here seems to circle back to make certain that no dead is left out, even those who died at sea, or that were thrown into the sea; these were included in the number of dead. And all the places of death and hell turned in or released their dead ones to go and sand before the throne of God. Apparently, these dead beings are given new bodies suited for hell.
Verse 14. At first glance this verse was difficult to me. But when I looked back at 1 Corinthians 15:26 the meaning was made clear. At this point, that is, at the great white throne, death and hell will be abolished forever—cast into the lake of fire. And this is the second death. The first death was only physical death, but this second death is spiritual and eternal.
Take note also that this second death is only for unbelievers. It will have no power over believers. They will reign with Christ for a thousand years and then on into eternity (Rev. 20:6; 22:5).
Verse 15. Here it is made clear who will be judged. It is all those whose names are not written in the book of life.
After the devil is cast into the lake of fire (v. 10), John the apostle saw (in his vision) “a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them” (v. 11). Regarding this last phrase, John Macarthur commented, “John saw the contaminated universe go out of existence…The universe is ‘uncreated’ going into non-existence.”8
This destruction of the universe is also mentioned in 2 Peter 3:10, 12 as the “day of the Lord.”
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
Then also we will look at Matthew 24:35: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”
There is much we could say from these verses to back up the claim that heaven and earth will indeed be destroyed, or go out of existence. Let’s examine these terms.
“Earth and heaven fled away” (Rev. 20:11). This seems to indicate that they do go out of existence.
“Heaven and earth will pass away” (Matt. 24:35). It seems that “pass away’ and “fled away” is the same thing.
“The heavens will pass away with a roar…” (2 Pt. 3:10). This sounds much like an atomic reaction.
“And the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up” (2 Pt. 3:10, 12). The elements could be atomic components from which matter is composed and held together.
Total destruction of the universe seems to be the meaning of these verses; however, many scholars look at it differently. They see just the surface of the earth being renewed by fire, or made new by fire. We will discuss both interpretations later.
8 John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible (Thomas Nelson, 2006), John MacArthur’s notes of Revelation 20:11.
This is the next event after the one-thousand-year reign of Christ—a great battle between Satan and Christ and His saints. We have this event recorded for us in Revelation twenty, verses seven through ten.
When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. 9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
The result of this battle, as you may surmise, gives us the result of the final test for man, as we have just written above—that they will not be able to save themselves apart from God’s help and the redeeming blood of Christ. But let us fill in the details as much as we can from just these four verses.
Verse 7.This verse tells us clearly that when the thousand years are completed God will release Satan from his prison. And some may ask why. Why would God do that? The answer is obvious. It is to test, or to reveal, the character of the rebellious ones who are on the earth and to bring them to judgment.
Verse 8. Here we see that Satan immediately does what he has planned to do all along if given a chance; he does what is natural for him, to deceive. And he will deceive not just a few. This time he will go out with his demons and deceive all those in the world that are here referred to as Gog and Magog. This term is a title (used also in the Ezekiel war, Ezek. 38, 39) to refer to rebels who are enemies of God. And they are evil people that are spread out all over the earth—many of them, probably millions of them. The devil and his demons will deceive them into coming together with him to war against Christ.
Verse 9. Here we are told that they (the rebels) “came upon the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.” Most commentators will interpret this to say that they came and spread over all the land up to the city. But I think we can be more detailed than that. The “broad plain” I think may refer to how the land around Jerusalem will be. In Zechariah 14:10 it tells us that all the land for miles around Jerusalem will be changed; it will be converted into a great plain with the city rising above the plain. This change will be part of the early millennial land renewal project, probably for the growing of gardens and crops.
Nonetheless, they will come on this broad plain, which will probably hold millions of the rebels; and then, just as they will be intending to storm the saints and up into Jerusalem where Christ reigns, God will send fire from heaven to devour them.
Verse 10. The devil, apparently not hurt by the fire, was captured alive and thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where he will meet his old friends the beast and the false prophet—having been there for a thousand years. They, all three of them, with the demons, will suffer there day and night forever and ever. We are not told anything about the millions of rebels that were fighting with Satan, but I imagine that their bodies will be incinerated by the fire and their souls will be sent to hell. Then, it will happen very soon that their bodies also will be resurrected, judged at the Great White Throne, and then cast into the lake of fire.
I will be quite brief on this subject, but if you want to dig deeper I invite you to read my book, The Coming Millennial Kingdom.6
After the disastrous effect of the seven-year Tribulation and an urgent need for renewal (although, the Tribulation fires may be a part of the renewal process), I imagine that the first thing on the agenda for the millennial kingdom will be the setup. The very first on the list will be to lock up Satan and his demons (Rev. 20:1-3). After the old dragon is put away, the next on the list—though there is no way we can know the exact order of things—may be to establish a new and righteous government with new rulers (Isa. 9:6-7). Next, I suppose, is to enlarge the borders of Israel (where the new administration will be located); and also, to redistribute the land according to how it has already been planned (Ezek. 48). Then they will begin building the new temple with a new system of worship (read Ezekiel 40-44). And a new glorious city of Jerusalem will also be built (Ezek. 48:30-35). But this is not the heavenly city spoken of in Revelation 21.
After those thing are set up, a restoration process on the earth will begin—if it hasn’t already begun. Some things, like the removal of the earth’s curse (on the ground, the atmosphere, and the animals) will be taken care of immediately through God’s miracle wonders. But most other changes will be affected gradually.
Because of His strong government and His crack down on crime, idol worship, and false teaching, the earth will begin to experience peace and justice, joy and gladness, protection and comfort.
In addition to the ruling of Christ from His throne, His brilliant teachings will be heard everywhere. As Isaiah tells us, “The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:9).
Now besides the renewal process, there are three more important purposes for the millennial kingdom that we will now mention briefly.
1. To fulfill God’s eternal covenants with Israel. What we are talking about is the Abrahamic covenant and its tributary covenants: the Palestinian covenant, the Davidic covenant, and the New covenant. These carry the promise of land, the promise of descendants, and the promise of salvation and blessing. And they have certainly have been partially fulfilled, showing the literal nature of the covenants. But in the Millennium they will be completely fulfilled. Here in five points is a picture of this fulfilment.
Israel (the Jews) will possess all the land that was promised to themaccording to the covenant in Genesis 15:18-21.
Israel’s possession of the land will be a permanent possession.In both Genesis 13:15 and in Genesis 17:8, Abraham’s descendants were promised the land as an everlasting possession.
Abraham’s descendants will forever be blessed with physical and spiritual blessings (Gen. 12:2; 22:17).
Israel will be a blessing to all nations.As a result of God blessing the Jews with His wisdom and knowledge, all the world will be more prosperous and will live well.
All nations will bless Israel. In the millennial kingdom, as never before, when God blesses Israel, and as Israel blesses others, they will in turn bless Israel (Gen. 12:3; 27:29).7
2. To display the character and glory of Christ. It is altogether proper for every person in the Millennium to lift up Jesus Christ for His works and for all He is. And the kingdom will in fact display His character and glory. He is the one who will bring renewal to the earth by His mighty miracles and by His government and teaching. And all will see His glory on His throne as Prophet, Priest, and King. We will see Him as Priest in His governorship; we will be mesmerized by Him as Yahweh; and we will glorify Him as the Good Shepherd, as our Savior and Redeemer, and as Jesus Christ the anointed One or Messiah.
3. To provide a final test for man. Let me begin this section by telling you, first of all, that the test is not for the redeemed, but only for those who choose not to believe. Secondly, we already know the result of this test according to what the book of Revelation reveals. And here is the result of the test. We will find that those that are unregenerate, even under the most ideal circumstance will not be able to save themselves and to make themselves fit for the eternal kingdom—and in the end will be deceived by Satan and choose to rebel (with Satan and his demons) against God. Hence, we will see that man always needs God and the redeeming blood of Christ to save Him from his sins.
It is likely that on the very day that all the evil nations come against Jerusalem and Judah to destroy them (Zech. 12:2-4), that that will be the day when Jesus Christ will come in the clouds of glory. He will come to rescue all of His believers (Jews and Gentiles) and to bring judgment on all unbelievers. Yes, He will come triumphantly in the clouds of glory (possibly the Shekina glory), riding on a white horse with heavenly armies and angels following Him on white horses.
And when He appears in the sky every eye will see Him; and most people will mourn with guilt over their sins—without repentance. But those of the house of David (the Jews), they will also mourn, but with repentance (Zech. 12:10-14); and so, they will be saved. And He will fight for all Israel, both for those in the wilderness and also for those who are yet alive in Jerusalem.
His purpose for coming is clear. He comes to judge and destroy all evil. He will cast the beast and the false prophet into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20); He will kill the rest of the unbelievers at Armageddon with the sword; and later He will gather all nations together (all gentiles that are still alive), and judge them for how they treated His people (Matt. 25:31-46).
His purpose is also to set up His throne on earth—the throne of David. And He will rule on His throne and over His kingdom with His saints. And in His kingdom He will determine that His covenant program with Israel be fulfilled.
After the Rapture of the church and all of the things that will follow it (such as the setting up of a global government and a global religion, and the failed Gog and Magog invasion) begin to happen; and as soon as a very popular leader (soon to be the Antichrist) will begin talking of world peace and of making a peace plan with Israel, and eventually puts that plan is in place, that is when the seven-year Tribulation officially begins.
We won’t at this time spell out in any detail the events of the Tribulation; but we will highlight the source, purpose, and nature of the Tribulation. It’s source is God’s wrath against evil, dished out in two ways: 1) by Satan and the Antichrist, and 2) through natural means such as earthquakes and storms.
Its purpose is two-fold: 1) primarily to prepare Israel for her Messiah, and 2) to punish the world of sin for its evil.
The nature of the Tribulation is tied to God’s wrath. We may see it as a day of destructionand disaster, a day of trouble and distress, a day of vengeance and wrath, and a day of fear and terror.
All these descriptions of His wrath will come to the earth in three different sets of seven intensifying judgments. They are labeled in Scripture as seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls—all intended to punish the world for its evil, but also to bring the nation of Israel, and any other sinners, to repentance and salvation.
We should also mention the very important last things of the Tribulation. Over all, there will be what is known as the war of Armageddon. Within this war time is, first, the fall of Babylon—which is the destruction by God of Antichrist’s evil empire. Then, immediately after that is the fall of Jerusalem (but take note that about three years earlier about a third of Israel will escape into the mountains for safety). So, these remaining ones are those who will be killed or captured (Zech. 12:2-4; 14:1-2).
The climax of Armageddon and the Tribulation is the visible return of Jesus Christ.
In this article we are interested in the marriage between Christ (the Lamb) and the church, which takes place in heaven after the bema seat. And since this marriage is patterned after a typical ancient Jewish wedding, we will present it as such. First we will show all the events of a typical Jewish wedding; then we will describe those same events in theological terms showing our marriage with Christ the Lamb.
The marriage of a typical Jewish wedding.It all begins by an arrangement of a betrothal period and payment of the wedding by the father of the groom. When these arrangements are made and the price is paid, the marriage covenant is established and is binding.
After the marriage covenant is made the groom returns to the father’s house. During this time of separation, the groom is busy preparing a place for his betrothed, and she is also preparing herself for him.
After a period of time known only by the groom and his father, the groom comes unexpectantly to get his bride. But he will warn her with a shout, something like, “Behold the bridegroom comes!”
Within four days of the wedding, the bride and sometimes the groom will undergo a ritual bath called the mikuah—which is for both outer and inner cleansing.
Each Jewish wedding ceremony has been different, but the most basic practice has been the exchange of rings symbolizing purity and honesty in the relationship.
After the wedding ceremony the happy couple retires to the bridal chamber to consummate the wedding. Shortly after there will be a big celebration of the couple’s first union.
The last event is the marriage feast, which usually lasts for an entire week.
Our marriage with Christ the Lamb.Just as with a Jewish betrothal period, our marriage with Christ begins with His Father loving us and paying the price of His own Son’s death. If we chose to believe in Him we enter into an eternal marriage covenant with Him.
After Christ died on the cross for our sins, He left this earth and is now preparing a place for us in heaven (Jn. 14:23). And we, His betrothed should be preparing ourselves for Him.
Just as the groom comes unexpectantly to get the bride in the Jewish wedding, Jesus will come from heaven to get us and bring us to His Father’s house in heaven. He will resurrect the dead believers first, and then rapture the living ones (Jn. 14:2-3; 1 Thess. 4:17).
The next event after we arrive in heaven is the cleansing. In the Jewish wedding the cleansing was by a ritual bath, but in our marriage to Christ it will be a cleansing by fire—the bema judgment, where all our hidden motives will be revealed (1 Cor. 4:4-5).
Both the wedding ceremony and the consummation of the marriage will be very private and sacred. Since our bodies will be transformed, our relationship and communion with Him will be very different—very good but very different.
The marriage feast in a Jewish wedding was for one week. But our marriage with Christ will last for one-thousand years, all during the millennial kingdom—after which the new bride (the church) and groom (Jesus) will enjoy each other in heavenly bliss forever.
Stephen Nielsen 