This is fascinating that you agree that the judgment of all the dead (both the righteous and wicked) will occur at the same time (right after the thousand years and Satan's little season are completed) as described in Rev 20:11-15. I have never seen a premil say this before.
Anyway, with that in mind, how can you not see Matthew 25:31-46, which occurs when Christ comes in all His glory with His angels, as referring to the same event? I believe the similarities between Matt 25:31-46 and Rev 20:11-21:4 are obvious. I'll quote both of them to show the similarities (I'll leave out a few verses from the first passage to save space).
Matthew 25:31 “
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32
All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you,
whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left
, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you,
whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “
Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Revelation 20:10 And
the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown.
They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 11
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them
. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and
each person was judged according to what they had done.
14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
21:1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
I can't see any way, apart from doctrinal bias, that these passages could possibly be speaking of 2 separate judgment events. And the Matthew 25 passage place it at the time when Christ comes with His angels rather than 1000+ years after that. Note the similarities which I color coded in each passage.
- Both speak of someone sitting on a throne to judge (Matt 25 specifies that it is Jesus).
- Both give the impression that all people, saved and lost, will be there to be judged/rewarded according to what they had done during their lives.
- Both refer to an eternal reward for believers and eternal punishment for unbelievers.
- Both indicate that the place unbelievers are sent to is the same place as the devil.
Are believers going to inherit eternal life in God's kingdom more than once? Are unbelievers going to be cast into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels more than once? Are all people going to be judged more than once for what they've done? The answer to these questions should obviously be no.
Since the judgment takes place when Jesus comes with His angels and takes place after the thousand years then we can only conclude that He will come
after the figurative thousand years and then proceed to judge all people by what they've done at that time.
The doctrinal bias is produced by failure to recognise that all these scriptures imply more than one judgment - the Lord's destruction of the beast on one hand, and the GWT on the other - and if you read carefully, you will see why:-
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Mat 25:41 "Then he will say to those on his left
, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."
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(i) Take note that
the second death only takes place
after the destruction of Satan in the lake of fire:
(ii) Take note that those who are Christ's at His coming,
will not be part of the second death:
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Mat 25:46 “
Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
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Here's the eternal punishment - the second death:
The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and
each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:13-14 )
The lake of fire is the second death.
15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Here's the fate of the righteous who belong to Christ:
"And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast nor his image, nor had received his mark on their foreheads, nor in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over these, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years." Rev 20:4-6
Note:
1. Second death is mentioned twice in the Revelation - and it only takes place after death and hades
have delivered the souls in them.
2. The righteous souls of those who had died in Christ
are not delivered from death at that point.
Why?
It's because
the second death has no power over them - they were already resurrected at the appearance of Christ:
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive.
23 But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruit,
and afterward they who are Christ's at His coming;
24 then is the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He makes to cease all rule and all authority and power.
25 for it is right for Him to reign until He has put all the enemies under His feet.
26
The last enemy made to cease is death.
27 For He put all things under His feet. But when He says that all things have been put under His feet, it is plain that it excepts Him who has put all things under Him.
28 But when all things are subjected to Him,
then the Son Himself also will be subject to Him who has subjected things to Him, so that God may be all things in all. (1 Cor 15:22-28)
What we agree on:
Judgment - the final judgment - will take place at the close of the millennium.
Those who died
in Christ, will not be delivered up by death and hades at the time of the second death, and therefore will not be among those being judged at the GWT - because their souls will already have been resurrected at the appearance of Christ.
The second death has no power of them.
So there is a time-lapse between the appearance of Christ and the second death. How long is this time lapse?
The Revelation of Jesus tells us it's a one-thousand year period.
"And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over these, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years." (Rev 20:4-6)