Revelation 20:11; From Whose Face the Earth and Heaven Fled Away

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Revelation 20:11 (KJV)  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

This passage has no reference to the Son, but John elsewhere indicates His involvement in judgment (Revelation 22:12).

Revelation 22:12 (KJV)  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

The resolution of the two lines of teaching regarding the person of the judge lies in the oneness of the Father and the Son (John 10:30 cf. John 8:16) (Swete, Beasley-Murray). What one does, the other does also.

The Great White Throne is located somewhere in limitless space (Charles) and outside human history (Scott) as the words – from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. The verbs “fled” and “was found” predict the departure of the old creation. “Fled” pictures a sudden and violent termination of the physical universe (Kiddle) and offers another perspective of the event spoken of in 2 Peter 3:7, 10-12 where fire is the instrument for consuming heaven and earth (Alford).

2 Peter 3:7 (KJV)  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 

2 Peter 3:10-12 (KJV)  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 

This departure may be only a change of the external order of the world, not of its substance or material (Romans 8:19-23; 2 Corinthians 5:7; James 1:10; 2 Peter 3:10, 13) (Swete, Scott, Smith), or it may be a dissolving of the old, a vanishing into nothingness, followed by an entirely new creation, (Charles, Walvoord).

Romans 8:19-23 (KJV)  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 

2 Corinthians 5:7 (KJV)  (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 

James 1:10 (KJV)  But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. 

2 Peter 3:10 (KJV)  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 

2 Peter 3:13 (KJV)  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 

Fleeing from the face of God leaves nowhere to go because God is everywhere (Psalm 139:7) (Mounce).

Psalm 139:7 (KJV)  Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody 1995, 429]