In this life we experience distinctions between people in the sense that the “great” (rulers, the rich, the strong) seem to find a way to escape the scrutiny of the law in a way that the “small” (the ruled, the poor, the weak) are not able to find. In the present case, however, no one can escape this Judge. Deadness in sin afflicts everyone irrespective of social or economic status and so all must appear before this “great white throne.”
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.