1I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2He seized the dragon, the old serpent, who is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years, 3and cast him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time.
4I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and such as didn’t worship the beast nor his image, and didn’t receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5The rest of the dead didn’t live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him one thousand years.
7And after the thousand years, Satan will be released from his prison 8and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9They went up over the width of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God and devoured them. 10The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them. 12I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. 14Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
The final judgment of all men will occur before the great White Throne and result in all whose names are not recorded in the book of life being cast into the lake of fire along with death and Hades. Following his normal pattern, John notes the throne before he speaks of its occupant. The judgment seat of God is called “the great white throne.” We can know it is Jesus sitting on the throne based on what He said in John 5:22-23, that the Father has given all judgment to Jesus.
The face that heaven and earth flee from is that of Jesus. Their fleeing and there being “no place for them” is a figurative way of describing the dissolution of the material universe, prophesied in 2 Peter 3:10. Peter tells us there that the heavens will “pass away” with “fervent heat” that “burns up” the earth. Thus, heaven and earth fleeing refers to the universe being undone prior to Jesus recreating it as the new heavens and new earth.
The resurrected dead are described as standing before the throne, indicating they are waiting to be judged by Jesus. The “books” may be literal records of each person’s life or symbolic of those accounts of their life. The most significant book was the “Book of Life,” which recorded the names of those destined for heaven. When their name was not found in it, then the other books were opened, and their deeds were evaluated by Jesus. One’s destiny is determined by their faith in Christ or rejection of Him, not by their works. However, just as rewards await the saints for their faith and obedience, so, too, punishment awaits the unregenerate based on their works.
To be “cast into the lake of fire” means to be imprisoned there. Jesus now reveals through John that the lake of fire is “the second death” that everyone should want to avoid. “Death and Hades” refers to realms of existence that will also be “thrown” into the lake of fire, literally. Hades, or Hell, is a literal place where the unregenerate dead experience conscious existence and suffering while they await their trial at the Great White Throne. This is the place the rich man and Lazarus visited in John 11. It will be relegated to the lake of fire because it will have no further usefulness.
Everybody exists forever. However, where they will spend eternity existing is determined by their faith in or rejection of Jesus. Eternal death, the Second Death, the lake of fire, is a literal place where people will exist eternally, suffering. The new heavens and new earth, likewise, are literal places that will exist forever and where the saints will exist forever. They will be eternally alive in the presence of God, who is life. Eternal life is life with God. Eternal death, the Second Death, is eternal separation from God.