20:11 fled away. When the fire from heaven falls on the hosts of Gog and Magog, it will apparently burn up the earth and its atmospheric heaven as well, fulfilling the prophecy of II Peter 3:10. It will purge from the earth all the age-long effects of God’s curse (e.g., the fossil remains of billions of dead creatures that had perished in the great Flood and other subsequent terrestrial catastrophes). In their place will appear God’s awful throne of final judgment. See also Matthew 24:35.

20:12 the dead. The “dead” here are the unsaved dead, their bodies having been raised in the second resurrection in order to stand before God in judgment. Whether those believers who are still living in the millennial earth at this time will also be raised—along with any believers who may have died during the thousand years—is not stated, but this would be a reasonable assumption, since they also would have perished in the final holocaust if not before. In any case, their names would indeed have been “written in the book of life,” so they would not be judged with the others “according to their works.”

20:12 according to their works. When the dead are judged according to their works, they must all be sent to hell, for “there is none righteous, no, not one” and “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight” (Romans 3:10,20). Since they have rejected or ignored God’s infinite grace and Christ’s infinite love in dying for their sins, “there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26-27). Even though “God is not willing that any should perish,” His justice demands it when they intractably have refused throughout their lives to “come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9) and to personal faith in Christ.

20:13 death and hell. “Death” is often taken as synonymous with “the grave” (e.g., I Corinthians 15:55), where dead bodies are confined, whereas “hell” (Greek hades) is the place where the souls of the dead are confined. Multitudes of dead bodies are in the sea, rather than in the earth, of course, especially the great numbers of people who perished in the Noahic Flood. The ashes of those bodies that have been cremated have found their way either to the earth or to the sea, and so are also included among either the dead in the sea or those in the ground. In any case, the dead bodies of the unsaved will all be raised, presumably in their old natural condition, and reunited with their souls from Hades, to go before God in judgment.

20:14 cast in to the lake of fire. All who will have been confined in death and Hades will be cast into everlasting fire, along with the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41), who are already there, and with the beast and the false prophet.

20:14 second death. These will all have died physically, then been resurrected. They will die again physically (or possibly will continue in an eternal state of dying physically—note Mark 9:43–48). This can appropriately be called “the second death.”

20:15 book of life. Assuming that the names of all who begin physical life are initially inscribed in the book of life, their retention there depends on whether they accept Christ as personal Savior after they become conscious and accountable sinners and before they die. Otherwise their names will be blotted out of the book of life (see on Revelation 3:5; 22:19).

20:15 lake of fire. The lake of fire is obviously not located on this present earth, for this present earth will have burned up and “fled away” (Revelation 20:11) by this time; yet the lake of fire will have been burning continuously for more than a thousand years (Revelation 19:20). Neither will it be on the new earth, for that will be the home of “the Lord God Almighty” (Revelation 21:22), whereas “[they] that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (II Thessalonians 1:8-9).

The word “destruction” does not mean annihilation, but “ruin.” Thus, the unsaved will be moved far, far away from the presence of the Lord, and there they will remain forever. They may well be translated to a far distant dark star, for a star is itself a lake of fire, and the lost are said to be like “wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever” (Jude 13). There they must continue in their sinful state, hating God, never resting, without light, without love, without peace, without anything that speaks of the presence or power of God, forever.

Lest anyone think this fate too severe, there are several factors to remember. In the first place, those who have rejected God’s presence in their lives while they were on earth will be less miserable in hell than if they were forced to be in His presence in heaven forever. Secondly, only infinite punishment is fitting for those who have rejected or ignored the infinite love and infinite suffering of the Son of God for them. Finally, they must exist forever somewhere, since they had been created in God’s image, which by definition is eternal.