“I SAW THRONES ON WHICH WERE SEATED THOSE WHO HAD BEEN GIVEN AUTHORITY TO JUDGE. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God.…THEY CAME TO LIFE AND REIGNED WITH CHRIST A THOUSAND YEARS.”
—Revelation 20:4.

During the 1,000 years, the righteous will review the cases of wicked human beings and fallen angels, including their leader, Satan. How fitting for the martyrs, the overcomers, and the battle-scarred adherents of the gospel to examine and understand God’s judgment of the wicked.

God has graciously given redeemed human beings the chance to evaluate His dealings with the wicked. We know what it’s like to struggle in a sinful world; we’ve rubbed shoulders with these people day after day. We may have a lot of questions, like: “Why isn’t my neighbor here? He seemed like such a good person.” Or, “Why didn’t my aunt make it?” All our questions will be answered in this phase of the judgment. When we go over the records and judge the dead “according to what they had done as recorded in the books” (Revelation 20:12), we will see for ourselves that in all His dealings with human beings, God has been just and fair with everyone.

A seminary professor once surprised his students with the question, “Did you know that there will be tears shed in heaven?” The students weren’t so sure about that. But the professor explained that the righteous will judge their lost friends and loved ones during the 1,000 years in heaven. It will be a sad experience; we’ll understand just how individuals turned away from God’s heroic attempts to save them. We’ll see how the Holy Spirit offered people chance after chance to yield to God. The fairness of each sentence will become plain. There will be a time of grieving. But we can have the assurance that, after coming to terms with these tragedies, God “will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 21:4).