Revelation Study Week 10: Chapter 3:7-13

Revelation 3:7-13

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens:8 “I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but are lying—I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. 11 I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Literal Meaning

Vs. 7: “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens

“words of the holy one” by saying this Jesus is in essence calling himself God. In the OT “the Holy One” is a reference to God or Yahweh. As we know Holy means separate, set apart. the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was not like all the other false gods, he was the living God and Jesus is saying he is also this same God.

“the true one” This has a very distinct mean in the Greek. It is not true as opposed to a lie but true as oppose to unreal or imperfect.

This same word true is used when Jesus is described as the “true bread” (John 6:32) “true vine” ( John 15:1) “true light” ( (John 1:9, 1 John 2:8)

“Key of David” is most likely a reference to Isaiah 22:20-22. In Isaiah the keys to the house of David was simply the access to the kin and his palace. In this letter it is access to the Davidic Messiah and the kingdom of God.

The Christians in Philadelphia had probably been excommunicated from the synagogue, but only the exalted Christ has the authority to declare who belongs to God’s people. In actuality it is the Jewish persecutors who are excommunicated.

Grant R. Osborne, Revelation: Verse by Verse, Osborne New Testament Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), 75–76.Universal Understanding

Only Jesus can determine who has access to God’s Kingdom.

Vs. 8“I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

You have little strength could seem like a condemnation like “you are weak” but because it also say “and yet” infers the idea of “even though yo are weak.” though weak, they have kept his word and not denied his name.

Little strength could be seen as influence or size.

Vs. 9 I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but are lying—I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.

There are those who say they are jews, but in reality they are part of Satan’s work.

Romans 2:28-29. They say they are Jews because of what they do or their birthright, but in reality they are liers.

In the OT context, the Gentiles will be forced by Yahweh to pay homage to the Jews...(Isa 14:2; 49:23; Ezek 36:23). That idea is turned on it’s head in that these “false Jews” will pay homage to the “true Israel.”

The phrase “because I have loved you.” can be a tricky one. Simply because didn’t Jesus love everyone unconditionally how can he now say that he had loved you?

How do you know someone loves you? Because how they display that love. These false Jews will know God has loved his true church because of how he will treat them.

Vs. 10Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

Their patient endurance has given them an out the the hour of trial that will face the whole world a test for it’s inhabitants. A direct reference the “Great Tribulation” Rev. 7:14.

Vs. 11 I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.

There is still an important warning that someone may take their crown. What is happening at Pergamum and Thyatira could happen in Philadelphia. Since the “crown” is an athletic metaphor (see on 2:10), the picture is of another athlete stealing the victory in a race, leading to forfeiting the reward or being disqualified from the race. These faithful believers are winning through to victory, but they must be all the more vigilant so that they can go all the way with Christ.

Grant R. Osborne, Revelation: Verse by Verse, Osborne New Testament Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), 79.

vs. 12-13 I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name

I will make a pillar can be in reference to 2 Chron. 3:17. it also could be a contrast between the immovableness of the Christian’s future position and the liability of the pillars in the Philadelphian temples to succumb to the effects of the frequent earthquakes that took place there.

God’s writing his name on them is seen in Rev. 22:4 and Rev. 9:4.

the name of the city of my God simply means they will be it’s inhabitants.

And my own name is a name that noone can understand, Rev. 19:12.

Universal Understanding

With Jesus, size is not what’s important, but what you do with what you have is!

Prophetic Nature

The Peace of Westphalia began a great missionary work, the greatest since that of the apostles.

Personal Application

So what are some personal applications you can take away from this study?