Revelation 20:11 – 15

The Great White Throne Judgment

11 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. 12 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. 13 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. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

The great white throne shows a ruler who is pure and fair.

This ruler is such that at the judgment day, the physical aspects of earth and its surrounding will disappear, there will be no earth, no atmosphere, and no outer space, it will all be consumed by the fire of fervent heat. (2 Peter 3:10; But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.)

Every person who ever lived on this earth will stand before God to receive their sentence. Their sentence will be based on what is written about them in the books. We will be judged and sentenced based on how we have lived our lives while on this earth.

(2 Corinthians 5:10;  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.)

The books mentioned are God's memory of our actions. (Psalm 56:8; You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? ) (Malachi 3:16; Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, And the Lord listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the Lord And who meditate on His name. ) Book of Life has the names of God's faithful listed in it. (Revelation 21:27; But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. ) (Luke 10:20; Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but [f]rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” ) (Philippians 4:3;And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.) The books contain the deeds we do or do not do, the book of Life contains a list of those whose conduct caused their names to be written there, and then their continued good actions kept their names from being blotted out. (Revelation 3: 5; He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.)

Verse 13 tells us it doesn't matter how we die, or where we die, whether our bodies are torn apart, or evaporated, our bodies and souls will be united for the judgment.

Those who are dead spiritually and those who are waiting in Hades are consigned to the lake of fire. And the last verse shows if a person's name is not found in the book of Life then they also are consigned to the lake of fire, the second death.