The Lord sent the letter to the church in Philadelphia to praise the Christians for their faithfulness in spite of persecution and to encourage them to persevere.
Philadelphia (lit. brotherly love; cf. Rom. 12:10; 1 Thess. 4:9; Heb. 13:1; et al.) lay about 30 miles southeast of Sardis. A Pergamenian king, Attalus II (159-138 B.C.), founded it. The town received its name from his nickname, "Philadelphus"or "brother lover."This king had a special devotion to his brother, Eumenes II. The city stood in a wine-producing area and was the so-called gateway to central Asia Minor. The modern name of this town is Alasehir.
"It was a missionary city, founded to promote a unity of spirit, customs and loyalty within the realm, the apostle of Hellenism in an Oriental land."155
Because it experienced earthquakes from time to time more of the population than normal chose to live outside the city walls.
Jesus Christ presented Himself to these saints as holy (cf. 4:8; 6:10; Ps. 16:10; Hab. 3:3; Isa. 40:34; Mark 1:24; Luke 1:35; 4:34; John 6:69; Acts 4:27, 30; 1 Pet. 1:15; 1 John 2:20), true (genuine), and authoritative (cf. 1:5; 6:10). The "key of David"seems to refer to Isaiah 22:20-23 where Hezekiah's servant, Eliakim, received authority over David's house including access to all the king's treasures. Jesus claimed to have God's full administrative authority to distribute or not distribute all God's resources according to His will.
The Philadelphia Christians had received an "open door"to opportunity for spiritual blessing, perhaps opportunity for evangelism (cf. 1 Cor. 16:9; 2 Cor. 2:12; Col. 4:3). This opportunity would continue because they had a little "power"(spiritual power) though they were evidently few.156They had faithfully obeyed God's Word, and they had maintained a faithful testimony for the Lord in the past, presumably by word and by deed. They also enjoyed the prospect of an open door into the messianic kingdom because they had been faithful. This may be the primary reference in view.157
Jesus Christ gave no rebuke to this church, as was true of the church in Smyrna. He gave the Christians five promises instead.
1. Their Jewish antagonists would eventually have to acknowledge that the Christians were the true followers of God (cf. 2:9). These foes claimed to be the true followers of God, but they were not having rejected Jesus Christ (cf. John 8:31-59). Eventually they would have to admit their error, at the judgment of unbelievers (the great white throne judgment) if not earlier (Isa. 45:23; 60:14; Rom. 14:11; Phil. 2:10-11). However the future repentance of Israel at Messiah's second coming that will result in the Jews' respectful treatment of Gentile believers seems to be in view here (cf. Isa. 45:14; 49:23; Ezek. 36:23; 37:28; Zech. 8:20-23).
2. God gave a second promise for faithful, patient endurance. He promised the Christians in this church that they would not go through the Tribulation period (Rev. 6-19). He promised to keep them from the hour of testing. The combination of the verb and the preposition in Greek in this verse clearly means that He would keep them out of it (the pretribulation position). It does not mean He would preserve them through it (the posttribulation position) or remove them during it (the midtribulation position).158
What if some in the church did not keep the word of Christ's perseverance?159Would God not keep them from the hour of testing? In other words, will only faithful or watchful Christians experience the Rapture (the partial rapture position)? No, all Christians will experience transformation at the Rapture (1 Cor. 15:51-52). God has promised all Christians deliverance from that outpouring of His wrath (1 Thess. 1:10).160
Furthermore, it is not just the testing God promised to deliver them from but the "hour"of testing, the time in history during which these trials will come (cf. John 12:27).161The Greek word translated "testing"(peirasai) means to test to demonstrate the quality of a thing, not to purify its quality. This hour of testing will involve the "whole world"(Gr. oikoymenes, the inhabited earth), not just a local area. Its purpose is to demonstrate the quality of those who "dwell upon the earth."This term refers to earth-dwellers as contrasted with heaven-dwellers, the unsaved as contrasted with Christians. As with the promises given to the other churches in chapters 2 and 3, this one is applicable to all Christians, not just the original recipients of the letter.162
Verse 10 appears at first reading to be another inducement to remain faithful to the Lord (cf. 2:10c, 25; 3:4). The implication may appear to be that if a Christian denies Christ (v. 8) he or she will not participate in the Rapture. However other Scriptures make it clear that God will catch up all Christians, faithful and unfaithful, at the same time (1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:16-17; 5:9). We must therefore look for another explanation.
Since the whole Philadelphia church was faithful (v. 8) verse 10 is probably not an inducement to remain faithful. It seems instead to refer to a blessing the whole church could anticipate. The verse seems intended to comfort the whole church rather than to challenge unfaithful or potentially unfaithful Christians.
"The words in this verse must be looked upon as a statement after the factrather than a conditional statement, somewhat similar to the words, Because thou hast obeyed my voice,' in Gen. 22:18."163
"Probably the most debated verse in the whole discussion about the time of the Church's rapture is Revelation 3:10."164
Gundry believed that God will fulfill the promise of this verse at the Rapture, but he believed the Rapture will occur at the end of the Tribulation (posttribulation). He believed the Lord will come for His saints, meet them in the air, and descend with them to the earth immediately.165Townsend's article, just cited, refuted Gundry's posttribulational interpretation of this verse.166
"It is exemption from the period of time that is promised. By implication, this deliverance will coincide with Christ's return mentioned in the very next verse: I will come soon' (3:11). Believers on earth will meet the Lord in the air and thus escape the hour of trial . . . One cannot make good sense out of Rev. 3:10 otherwise. The statement does not refer directly to the rapture. What it guarantees is protection away from the scene of the hour of trial' while that hour is in progress. This effect of placing the faithful in Philadelphia (and hence, the faithful in all the churches; cf. 3:13) in a position of safety presupposes that they will have been removed to another location (i.e., heaven) at the period's beginning. . . .
"Because this period of tribulation will immediately precede the coming of the Lord to earth in power and great glory (cf. Matt. 24:29, 30), and because the generation to whom John wrote these words has long since passed away, Philadelphia's representation of not just the other six churches of Asia but also of the church universal throughout the present age is evident . . ."167
Other New Testament passages also teach a pretribulation Rapture (e.g., 1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:16-17; 5:9).
3. The Lord also promised to come quickly (Gr. tachy, soon; cf. 1:1, 7; 2:16; 22:7, 12, 20; 2 Pet. 3:8).
"This can hardly be His return to earth described in Rev. 19:11-21, because this phase of His coming will be preceded by all the events described in chapters 6-18. A return to earth could not be characterized as soon' by any stretch of the imagination. It is rather an imminent event that will come suddenly and unexpectedly (Walvoord). Only this nearness of the Lord's coming to reward the faithful provides an effective motive to be tenacious (Alford; Moffatt)."168
"In light of the concept of the imminent coming of Christ and the fact that the New Testament does teach His imminent coming, we can conclude that the Pretribulation Rapture view is the only view of the Rapture of the church that comfortably fits the New Testament teaching of the imminent coming of Christ. It is the only view that can honestly say that Christ could return at any moment, because it alone teaches that Christ will come to rapture the church before the 70th week of Daniel 9 or the Tribulation period begins and that nothing else must happen before His return."169
4. God will not just honor overcomers by erecting a pillar in their name in heaven, as was the custom in Philadelphia. He will make them pillars in the spiritual temple of God, the New Jerusalem (21:22; cf. Gal. 2:9; 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Pet. 2:4-10).170
"When Solomon built the temple following his ascension to the throne, he had a worker of brass from Tyre construct two massive pillars for the porch. Solomon named one of these pillars Jachin,' meaning establish, and he named the other pillar Boaz,' meaning strength(I Kings 7:13-21). The overcomers in Philadelphia were promised future positions with Christ which appear to be described by the meanings of the names given to these two pillars. The promise to the overcomers that they would go no more out' refers to their fixed position as pillars in the temple; and with the two massive pillars in Solomon's temple in view, saying that overcoming Christians will be placed in the position of pillars in the temple is the same as saying that these Christians will occupy sure, secure, firmly establishedpositions of strengthand power, positions which will be realized when they rule and reign as co-heirs with Christ in the [millennial] kingdom."171
"In contrast to the fate of Eliakim [see comment on v. 7], who was like a peg that gave way, and the buildings that perished in Philadelphia's earthquakes, the victor is assured that his place in the city which comes down out of heaven is eternally secured."172
5. Jesus Christ will identify with His faithful people. Since they have honored Him on earth He will acknowledge them in heaven (cf. 2:17; 14:1; 19:12). Writing one's name on something indicated ownership in John's day, as it does now. In the ancient world columns often bore the names of conquerors. In the pagan world devotees of certain gods often wrote the name of their god on their forehead (cf. Exod. 28:36). Scripture does not reveal Jesus Christ's new name elsewhere. Perhaps this name is a symbol of His character, which overcomers can appreciate only when we see Him (cf. 2:17; 3:5).
"The threefold occurrence of onoma(name') is impressive and amounts to a threefold assurance of his identity with God."173
Since Jesus Christ's return is imminent the believers should remain faithful to Him so their detractors would not rob them of the reward that would be theirs for steadfast perseverance (cf. 2 John 8). The familiar closing charge (v. 13) reminds us again that the message of each of these seven letters is applicable to all churches.
Students of church history have seen the era during which the modern foreign missionary movement flourished, especially the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as similar to the Philadelphia church. During those years there were several revivals of return to God's Word. These took place under the leadership of the Puritans, the Wesleys, the Plymouth Brethren, and others. As the church at Philadelphia, these groups of believers were not flashy, but they were faithful.
