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The Jurisprudence of the Great White Throne, final

The divine law sometimes must rule on cases that do not demand restitution. In such cases, there are no clear victims who need restitution. The judgment for misdemeanors may demand a flogging, in which case the upper limit is 40 lashes (Deuteronomy 25:3). The judgment for felonies in which restitution is not possible, the law demands the death penalty.

For example, in cases of first degree murder, where it is not possible for the murderer to repay two lives for the one deliberately stolen, the death penalty is prescribed in Exodus 21:12,

¹² He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.

The law, however, is careful to distinguish between premeditated and accidental homicide. Likewise, a man has the right to defend himself and his household, particularly when his house is burglarized at night, when it may be difficult to know if the thief is armed or not (Exodus 22:2).

A biblical judge sits in place of God and therefore is required to mete out a sentence in accordance with God’s law. A governmentally appointed judge is thus an arm of God and is authorized to sentence sinners without incurring guilt upon himself. Hence, it is not murder to sentence a murderer to death.

The same is true with the military, where it may be required to kill an enemy. The main requirement is that the war be a just war, an extension of God’s own declaration of war and conducted according to the laws of war in Deuteronomy 20. The laws of war must also conform to New Covenant methods.

It is not our purpose here to discuss a full list of crimes that call for the death penalty. Our focus in this study is to relate it to the jurisprudence of the great White Throne.

Deferring Judgment to the High Court

To understand the death penalty, one must understand the principle that justice is not done until all victims of injustice have been recompensed fully. The death penalty in no way accomplishes this. The family of the victim still suffers loss and has not been recompensed. Earthly courts have no way of delivering justice, due to their natural limitations. Hence, the death penalty is their way of deferring judgment to the great White Throne, where God is capable of bringing justice.

The death penalty is therefore the appointed way of appealing to the great White Throne. The Old Testament type is where Moses tells the judges under him, “The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it” (Deuteronomy 1:17). This acknowledges the fact that some cases are too difficult for earthly judges to adjudicate. Moses was a type of Christ, and Christ Himself has been appointed the Judge of the whole earth (John 5:22).

Hence, cases calling for the death penalty should be viewed, not as justice being done, but as justice being deferred to the final Day of Judgment. Perhaps the judgment for murder might be based on the number of years that the victim lost from his lifetime. Perhaps the murderer might have to make up those years (x 2) by working for him during the Age of Judgment. It is difficult to know precisely how Christ might judge such sin, because our understanding too is limited.

It is somewhat easier to know how a believer might be judged. If a murderer repents before he is executed, he would have grounds for greater mercy at the White Throne, because he could plead the blood of Jesus in his case. Jesus took the death penalty upon Himself on the cross, paying the debt for every sin. While this applies to the sin of the entire world (John 3:16; 1 John 2:2), sinners are treated differently according to how they will plead their case.

Believers can point to their faith in Christ’s death as the penalty for their sin, while unbelievers will not have that right. Unbelievers will thus have to pay the debt for their own sin, and because their debt is unpayable, they will have to await the Creation Jubilee to be set free. The Jubilee limits all liability for sin and cancels all remaining debt by grace alone.

God does it this way in order to teach sinners righteousness by their labor and by submitting to the authority of those called to “reign” during the Age of Judgment. The sinners will certainly become believers when facing the great Judge. Every knee will bow to Him (Philippians 2:10), and every tongue will profess Christ “to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11).

Yet as new believers, they will yet be babes in Christ and will need to be taught by tutors and guardians (Galatians 4:1, 2), even as natural children must be taught the ways of God. The Age of Judgment, then, will treat condemned sinners with the basic respect due to them as future children of God. The lake of fire will not be a torture pit but a school to learn the mind of Christ, even as we today study to show ourselves approved unto God (2 Timothy 2:15).

The discipline that God exercises over believers today is not much different from the discipline of the new believers in the Age of Judgment. It will not be a time of extreme pain, but a time of spiritual growth and even joy—once the pain and disappointment subsides over discovering how sinners lost a great opportunity of being given life at the great judgment (John 5:28, 29).

The Sword of His Mouth

Why is Christ pictured with a sword from His mouth? Because judges rule by their words. The sword is not merely destructive, it is judicial. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word divides, exposes, and reveals motives. Revelation 19:15 says that the sword proceeds from His mouth.

Then Revelation 20:12 says that the books are opened. His Word first exposes; then His court judges according to His laws.

Exodus 23:7 says, “I will not justify the wicked.” Proverbs 17:15 says, “He who justifies the wicked... is an abomination.” Therefore the Great White Throne cannot simply dismiss guilt. Justice requires lawful satisfaction. This becomes the legal necessity for Christ's work as Redeemer.

Nearly every divine judgment creates debt. Sin creates liability. The law requires restitution. Where restitution cannot immediately be made, the sinner becomes indebted, and in certain cases the judge must refer the case to the White Throne in the future. The great White Throne therefore is not merely punitive; it establishes lawful remedies.

This explains why Scripture speaks of paying the last cent and imprisonment until payment is complete (limited, as always by the law of Jubilee). In Matthew 18:34 Jesus’ parable concludes,

³⁴ And his lord moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.

The Greek word translated “torturers” is βασανισταῖς (basanistais), the plural of βασανιστής (basanistēs). The noun comes from the verb βασανίζω (basanizō), “to torture, torment, examine by torture, afflict.”

Originally, the root βάσανος (basanos) referred to a touchstone used to test the purity of gold. From the idea of “testing” came the judicial practice of testing the truthfulness of a prisoner by torture. Thus the word in the Greek and Romans world developed the meanings: examiner, interrogator, jailer who inflicted punishment, and even a torturer.

Yet in God’s judicial court, as seen in Jesus’ parable above, the goal is payment of debt, not extracting information through torture. Hence, Jesus used the term in its original meaning—to test the purity of gold. Gold represents the divine nature in Scripture. Men are said to be refined as gold and silver. Proverbs 17:3 says,

³ The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests hearts.

Isaiah 48:10 says,

¹⁰ Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

Zechariah 13:9 says,

⁹ And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them.

Malachi 3:2, 3 says,

² For He is like a refiner's fire... ³ He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.

The purpose is priestly purification—through godly discipline, not necessarily torture, and certainly not everlasting torture. Jesus’ parable in Matthew 18 was an answer to Peter’s question in verse 21 about forgiveness. Jesus turned it into a parable about the Jubilee—or more specifically, a cycle of 10 Jubilees (49 x 10). The lesson is that believers who lack the ability to forgive will be treated according to their own standard of measure. This is part of the judgment process, whereby they are “saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15). In spite of God’s grace in saving all, the judgment always fits the crime. Exodus 21:24, 25 says,

²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

Hence, if a bishop burns someone at the stake just for believing differently, he may face the same penalty at the White Throne. Nonetheless, terrible as this sin is, the burning does not continue forever. It is meted out in equal proportion to the crime itself. Hence, the promise of universal salvation does not eliminate judgment for sin; rather, judgment is God’s way of saving them “as through fire.”

It is better, of course, to repent now in this present lifetime and to submit to God’s discipline, rather than have it deferred to the White Throne.

The great White Throne is not the suspension of law but its highest expression. It is the moment when every hidden work is exposed, every claim is examined, every debt is calculated, every witness is heard, and every judgment conforms perfectly to the righteous character of God. No innocent person is condemned, no guilty person is acquitted unlawfully, and no sentence exceeds the demands of justice.

Seen in this light, Revelation 20 is not merely the conclusion of history but the supreme demonstration of divine jurisprudence. The same law that once governed Israel's earthly courts governs the highest court of heaven. The Judge of all the earth does exactly what Abraham declared He must do: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” (Gen. 18:25).

Every verdict at the Great White Throne vindicates that principle, revealing a court in which justice and mercy meet without compromising either, until God’s righteous purpose for creation has been fully accomplished.