2. The dead small and great. “ And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works"-- 20: 12. These dead were the class of verse five, and of chapter 19:18. They were the “ rest of the dead,” the persecutors of the church, small and great--from the lowest to the highest officials of the imperial beast--all of them together stood before the tribunal of retribution. Comparison again with Isaiah’ s vision of the demise of the wicked lords who had exercised evil dominion over Israel in Isaiah 26:13-14 will lend force to this application of the judgment throne vision. These dead were held in contrast with the blessed of verse six, and there was no blessing for any of these dead, small and great--they stood before the throne of the great God, as culprits called to account for their crimes. When the books were opened that contained the record of their works they were judged accordingly. In the same symbolism, the beasts of Daniel’ s vision, chapter 7:10, were judged by the books which were opened. These books symbolized the record of evil deeds, a book of remembrance. But the reference to another book . . . which is the book of life symbolized the registry of the approved, which are written in heaven. The names of these dead included in the rest of the dead were not in it. The distinction was made between the books, and the book of life. The names of the dead, small and great, referred to the judgment of the evil persecutors and opposers of the church; they were judged out of those things which were written in the books--not the book. These things were the record of their own evil works. The whole vision, of course, was figurative, and must be applied in the sense of the visions which represented the deadly struggle of the church with the persecuting powers.