Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 20:12-13

"And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works." — Revelation 20:12-13 (ASV)

And I saw the dead, small and great . . .—Or rather, And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before (not “God,” as in the text, but) the throne, and books (or, rolls) were opened; and another book (or, roll) was opened, which is (the book) of life; and the dead were judged out of the things which had been written in the books (or, rolls) according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them; and they were judged each according to their works.

The latter of these verses is added to assure us that the dead, from every quarter, must appear before the judgment throne. Death and Hades—“the grave world,” and “the great watery grave”—the sea, “the universal hidden region of the dead,” give up their prey; for there is One who sits upon the throne who has the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:18).

It has been said by some that the dead spoken of here as coming out of the grave are not all the dead, but only “the rest of the dead” mentioned in Revelation 20:5. Those who believe that the first resurrection mentioned there is a literal physical resurrection are compelled to limit the resurrection here to only the resurrection of the remainder of the dead. But the verses before us suggest no limitation, and the language strongly suggests the idea that saints and faithful servants of God take part in this later resurrection.

If all the saints and righteous men of old are raised prior to the millennium, and take no part in this last judgment scene, then only the faithless and wicked are left to be judged before the great white throne. And since none of these can be found written in the book of life, the bringing out of that book becomes meaningless. This is one result of unsound literalism in interpretations. The real significance of the scene lies in the vivid picturing of that great and solemn truth that we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and that before Him there is nothing hidden which shall not be revealed (Matthew 10:26; compare 1 Corinthians 4:5).

Then every human life will appear in its true light, stripped of all the deceptive adornments that have given a fictitious respectability to ingenious fraud, and a fatal popularity to adroit wickedness and splendid vice. Then people will be judged, not by rank, or success, or achievement, but according to their works, as it is twice stated here, and according to whether they have any life towards God. The works and the life towards God must be combined. A person may have, from the activities of their Christian works, a name to live and yet be dead: the life-book and the work-book combine to mark the real servant of Christ. If such a person labors more abundantly than all, it is Christ who works in them, for their life is a life by the faith of the Son of God (1 Corinthians 15:10; James 2:14–26).