LYRICS FOR TODAY'S SONGS
CCLI License # 1613304

Sermon Notes
Revelation 20:11-21:8 ISG

Literary Analysis
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.
From his presence, earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
- And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne,
-- and books were opened.
-- Then another book was opened, which is the book of life.
- And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to - what they had done.
And the sea gave up the dead who were in it,

Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them,
and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the second death, the lake of fire.
And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life,
he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
- And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from
- God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
- And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling
- place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his
- people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away
- every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there
- be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have
- passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
- And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
- beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the
- water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this
- heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the
- cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually
- immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake
- that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

How to Interpret Revelation
The visionary level of interpretation (what John actually saw) and the symbolic level (what the items in the vision connote biblically above and beyond any specific historical reference) must not be confused with the third, historical level (the particular historical identification of the resurrected people and the other objects seen in the vision). Literal interpreters of the book (those seeing a one-to-one correspondence between the book’s images and only a physical reality) acknowledge these distinctions, but at critical points, including 20:1-6, they too often neglect the visionary and symbolic levels of communication by collapsing them into the referential, historical level.

A simple and fairly undebatable example of these three hermeneutical levels is the vision in 1:12, 20. This is clearly a vision (“I saw”) in which John sees “seven golden lampstands” (the visionary level). The “lampstands” are identified with the seven churches on the historical level, but there is no one-to-one physical correspondence between the lampstands and the churches (the churches are not physical lampstands!). The symbolic level of the vision is that the churches are pictured as lampstands. But why? One must try to determine why the churches are figuratively likened to lampstands to discover the symbolic meaning (at least part of the symbolic meaning is that, since lampstands were part of the old temple and light-giving in the OT, so the church is part of a new temple and gives the light of God’s revelation to others). Something similar is going on in 20:1-8.

Excerpt From: G. K. Beale,David Campbell. “Revelation.” Apple Books.

Great White Throne Judgment
“On God’s character and His judgment. How do the holiness and justice of God compel Him to judgment? What is the meaning of the statement in the commentary that God judges both to punish the rebellious and to vindicate His people? Does a lack of understanding of God’s holiness and justice lie behind our modern tendency to downplay the reality of the everlasting conscious punishment set in motion by the great white throne judgment?”

Excerpt From: G. K. Beale,David Campbell. “Revelation.” Apple Books.

Sheol/Hades
“One of the contrasts between the Old Testament and the New Testament is their understanding of the afterlife. In contrast to the centrality of resurrection in the New Testament (and late Second Temple Judaism), the Old Testament does not typically place any significant hope in life after death.3 The closest the Old Testament gets to the idea of an afterlife is in its references to Sheol as the place of the dead. As Psalm 89:48 puts it, “Who can live and never see death? / Who can escape the power of Sheol?” While the numerous Old Testament references to Sheol, the grave, or the pit present a somewhat inchoate picture of a shadowy or diminished existence in the underworld (similar to the Greek notion of Hades), one thing is clear: there is no access to God after death.”

Excerpt From: J. Richard Middleton. “A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology.” Apple Books.

Great White throne
“We read in 20:11, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.” We know what a throne is, but it is difficult for us to imagine the earth and sky fleeing. Their flight has been promised in texts that prophesied that the Lord would once more shake heavens and earth, sea and dry land (Haggai 2:6; Hebrews 12:26–28), and the removal of the skies, mountains, and islands has been anticipated in 6:14 and 16:20. They will be replaced with the new heaven and new earth in 21:1.10 I am not sure where the throne is to be envisioned with earth and sky having fled, but God takes his seat, and heavens and earth flee.”

Excerpt From: James M. Hamilton Jr. “Revelation (PTW).” Apple Books.


Online Supplement Resources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omsdHZDS29w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy2AQlK6C5k

ISG Material

Study & Reflection Guide
1. Revelation 20:11-13. What is the general imagery represented in the passage? What role does God play in the judgment? What is the basis of his judgment for those whose names were not written in the book of life?

2. Revelation 20:14-15. What is the final image of all that represents anything but the “very good” God created in the beginning? What are the implications of a world without death?

3. Revelation 21:1-5.How is this “new heaven and earth” related to the heaven and earth God created in Genesis 1? What is the need for a new heaven and earth? (Genesis 3:17-19; Romans 8:18-25)

4. Revelation 21:6. In the context of the new heaven and earth, what is the relevance of God’s title, “Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.”?

5. Revelation 21:7. With the story of the Samaritan woman and the imagery of Psalm 23, what impression does it give you about the spring of living water that is offered for free?

6. Revelation 21:8. What is the second death? And what does “fiery lake of fire” imagery do? (19:20; 20:10, 14-15)