The Final Woe

(Daniel 12:2; Matthew 25:32-34, 40; Revelation 20:11-14; 21:8)

The apostle John warned of three great woes. The third and greatest woe is the judgment.

When the last trumpet sounds, every eye will see Him, and every tribe of the earth will mourn, in expectation of judgment. On that day, Jesus will judge the nations as one who separates the sheep from the goats. The sheep will inherit the kingdom that has been prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and the goats will be sent to the eternal fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels.1Matt 25:32-34

Daniel said, “Everyone who is found written in the book, and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth, shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to everlasting shame and contempt.”2Dan 12:2 In Revelation 20, we see the dead appear before the throne of judgment. Seated on a great white throne is One “from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.”3Rev 20:11 No one will be righteous before Him.

John described the judgment of the living and the dead, saying, “The books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life, and the dead were judged from the things that were written in the books, according to their deeds4Rev 20:12 …. And the sea gave up the dead—and death and Hades gave up the dead.”5Rev 20:13

The sea represents salvation, and Hades represents the place of the unsaved.

If anyone’s name is not written in the Book of Life, he will be thrown into the lake of fire. As for “the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”6Rev 21:8 For “death and Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire.”7Rev 20:14

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