7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘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. Behold, 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 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, 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 about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
The sixth of Jesus’ letters to the churches is addressed to the believers in the city of Philadelphia. The city was established in the 2nd c. B.C. and received its name, which means “brotherly love,” from the king of Pergamum who built the city for his brother. The city was an outpost of Hellenistic (Greek) culture in the midst of Asia Minor and its influence led to Greek becoming the dominant language within the region. The portion of Asia Minor in which the city was situated was prone to earthquakes and the city was destroyed by just such an event in 17 A.D. It was rebuilt using money given by the Roman emperor and changed its name to “Neocaesarea.” Over the next several centuries the city was renamed on at least three different occasions.
As Jesus begins His letter, He presents Himself to the church as “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.” These words convey Jesus’ identity as Messiah, “the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24, Luke 4:34, John 6:69). They also, however, convey the authority over God’s household which He possess as Messiah through an allusion to a prophecy in Isa. 22:20-22. In this OT passage Eliakim is given authority over the household of the David that he might steward it. This OT imagery applied to Christ shows His authority to either grant access to the Kingdom of God or to shut its gates. He alone is the one who possesses this authority because it has been granted to Him by His Father. The believers in Philadelphia must be reminded of these things in light of the circumstances in which they find themselves.
As the letter continues, Christ reminds them that He knows their works, specifically that they have kept His Word and not denied His name. They have done this in spite of their seeming lack of power an despite the persecution that they have experienced at the hands of Jews within the city. The Lord declares to them that He has set before them an “open door” which can be understood in the present as an opportunity for ministry, but in the future as a promise that they will inherit the fullness of Christ’s Kingdom.
The importance of Jesus’ Messianic title becomes apparent when Christ references the Jews who belong to the “synagogue of Satan” in 3:9. These Jews would have declared Christians to be heretics and Jesus to be a false messiah. They believed that because of their ethnic heritage alone they would inherit the promised kingdom. Ironically, however, they have rejected the Jesus, the “true one,” and will therefore be denied access to the Kingdom. On top of that, they will one day be forced to bow before these believers because they will be forced to bow before Christ (Phil. 2:9-10) whose authority believers will one day share (Rev. 2:26-27).
Because these Christians have endured persecution faithfully, Jesus makes to them another great promise. They will be taken out from “the hour of trial that is coming upon the whole world.” The universal scope of this trial leads us to conclude that Jesus is here referring to the period of God’s judgment upon the unbelieving world (the “earth dwellers”) which will occur just before He returns to set up His Kingdom in its fullness. This promise to the church is in line with the words of Paul in 1 Thess. 4:13-18 which refer to the “rapture” of the church. Believers can be assured that just as God has delivered His people from His special judgment in the past (Noah and his family, the remnant deported to Babylon, etc.) so He will come for the church before the judgments of Rev. 4-19 are unfolded upon the earth. Believers must hold fast to this hope as they endure patiently under trial.
Finally, the Lord promises the one who conquers that he will be made a pillar in God’s temple and that he will have the names of God the Father, the New Jerusalem, and Jesus’ own new name written upon him. All of this imagery is intended to remind believers that what awaits them in the New Creation is the eternal worship in God’s presence. They can also be assured that their citizenship in heaven is assured because they are identified with God the Father and Jesus because they have been sealed with their names. Christians can live without fear during the days of their earthly lives, boldly witnessing for Christ who has granted them access into His Kingdom and has opened a door of ministry to them to invite others to come and worship Christ, the King.
Join us this Sunday as we consider these things together and focus our minds and hearts on the worship of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Soli Deo Gloria.
-Thomas