| Subject: The Resurrections Post #10 |
Author:
Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 17:03:18 04/24/10 Sat
Resurrection #7
Revelation 20:11-15 And 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. 12 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. 13 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. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
The final resurrection coincides with the final judgment. In verse 13 we see the sea and then death and hell giving up their dead to be judged. The judgement is one of works and not based on the finished work of Jesus Christ. It is similar to the judgement those under the law faced.
Death and hell giving up their dead should present no problem as it is almost universally accepted that the lost will be judged one day. A peculiar thing about those resurrected is there is no mention of the earth giving up it's dead. One would expect the earth to contain more dead than the sea. Only two groups are shown according to the Bible and we are left to wonder at the division. One solution is the possibility the reference to the sea is not a body of water on earth. Notice it says sea and not seas.
It is almost universally taught that only the lost are raised and appear at this judgment but that excludes some verses which suggest there will be some saved at this judgment. Notice the qualification found in verse 15: "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life---". This leaves the door open for there to be those whose names are found in the book of life. Notice this "Kingdom" verse: Isaiah 65:20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. The "child" is distinguished from the sinner!. This "child" is a full grown person with the full maturity of 100 years of age. The death of this "child" would take place during the millennium and thus he would be raised at the last resurrection and White Throne Judgement. Matthew 18:2-4 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. The reference to the child dying at an hundred years old could easily be a reference to a child of God. Jesus many times called his disciples children. One ;morning after the resurrection Peter had said "I go a fishing" and the other disciples went with him. While they were out in their boats Jesus appeared and cried out to them "children have ye any meat?"(Jn. 21:3-5)
This leaves us to wonder about the "sea" that is mentioned and those in the sea. When John gets to heaven in Revelation chapter 4 his eyes feast on the magnificent sights that greet him there. The first thing his eyes are drawn to is the throne and the one sitting on the throne. (vs. 4). He does not describe the throne because his attention is drawn to the glorious God on the throne and then to the other beings surrounding the throne and then to the lighting, thunderings, voices and the Spirits of God who appear as burning lamps. John then notices the area surrounding the throne. Revelation 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. The word used for glass here in verse 6 comes from the word "hualinos" whose root word means rain. The word itself points more to transparency than to what we normally would think of as glass as in "pane of glass". There is another reference to this sea in Revelation 15:1-4 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. 2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. 3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. This event takes place before the resurrection of Rev. 20: 4-5 so I assume they are souls that had not received their bodies as yet i.e. not resurrected at that time. They are found on "the sea of glass".
These that John sees on this sea of glass are redeemed from the tribulation. They have gotten victory over the beast. They refused to take his mark and number. They are most likely the martyrs found in Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. John first sees "the souls of them that were beheaded" and then in the last clause of verse 4 he says "and they lived". Evidently while John was there they received their resurrection bodies and then "lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years".
Is it not possible that this is the same sea that is being referred to as giving up it's dead? All that would be found here would be those who had their names written in the Book of Life. Why would we want to automatically think that it was the oceans on earth giving up it's dead when there is no mention of the earth giving up it's dead. There would be far more in the earth than in the water. If the sea is contrasted to hell and there are those who's names are not in the Book of Life then it follows that those who's names are in the Book of Life are on or in that sea before the throne. We readily accept that the souls of the dead before the crucifixion were in the earth awaiting release after the atonement so why would we have trouble accepting a "holding place" in heaven for all the redeemed after the resurrection?
We will break here and look into greater detail about this sea in the next post.
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