Revelation 3 Part 2 (3:7-12): Philadelphia
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Revelation 3:7-12
| Revelation | References |
|---|---|
| (7) “To the angel of the Messianic Community in Philadelphia, write: ‘Here is the message of HaKadosh, the True One, the one who has the key of David, who, if he opens something, no one else can shut it, and if he closes something, no one else can open it. | Lev 19:2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. Isa 47:4 Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts is his name— is the Holy One of Israel. Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 1 Jn 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ**. He is the true God and eternal life**. Isa 22:20-22 In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, (21) and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. (22) And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. Luk 1:31-35 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. (32) He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, (33) and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be since I am a virgin?” (35) And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. Mat 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Act 15:15-18 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, (16) “‘After this, I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, (17) that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things (18) known from of old.’ (Quoting Amos 9:11-12 and referencing Isaiah 16:5) |
| (8) “I know what you are doing. Look, I have put in front of you an open door, and no one can shut it. I know that you have but little power, yet you have obeyed my message and have not disowned me. | Isa 25:6-8 On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. (7) And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. (8) He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. Joh 10:7-9 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. (8) All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. (9) I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 1 Cor 16:8-9 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, (9) for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 2 Cor 2:12 When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, Col 4:3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 2 Cor 12:10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Joh 14:21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” |
| (9) Here, I will give you some from the synagogue of the Adversary, those who call themselves Jews but aren’t—on the contrary, they are lying—see, I will cause them to come and prostrate themselves at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you. | Is 49:23 Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground, they shall bow down to you and lick the dust off your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.” Isa 45:22-25 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. (23) By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’ (24) “Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him. (25) In the LORD all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory.” Est 8:17 And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them. Psa 72:10-11 May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! (11) May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him! Php 2:10-11 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, (11) and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. |
| (10) Because you did obey my message about persevering, I will keep you from the time of trial coming upon the whole world to put the people living on earth to the test. | Luk 21:20-21 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. (21) Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, Isa 26:18 we were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen. 2 Pe 2:9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, Zec 13:9 And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’” |
| (11) I am coming soon; hold on to what you have so that no one will take away your crown. | 2Ti 4:8 Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing. Jas 5:9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. |
| Rev 3:12-13 I will make him who wins the victory a pillar in the Temple of my God, and he will never leave it. Also, I will write on him the name of my God and the name of my God’s city, the new Yerushalayim coming down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name. (13) Those who have ears, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the Messianic communities.” ' |
1Ki 7:21 He set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple. He set up the pillar on the south and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the north and called its name Boaz. Jer 1:18-19 And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. (19) They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you.” Isa 56:4-5 For thus says the LORD: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, (5) I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. |
Seven Letters Table
| Ephesus | Smyrna | Pergamum | Thyatira | Sardis | Philadelphia | Laodicea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| To | Darling; desired | Myrrh; death | Height; Mixed (strange) Marriage | Daughter | Precious stone | Brotherly Love | |
| From | Holds 7 stars/ walks among lampstands | First/last dead/alive | Sharp two-edged sword | Son of God; eyes of fire; feet of brass | Sevenfold Spirit & Seven Stars | Holy, True, Key of David Open Door | |
| Praise | Don’t tolerate evil; Persevered; Acts 17:11 | Suffering (pressing, tribulation) and insults | Not denied faith; holds fast to His name; know they live where Satan has his throne | love, trust, service, and perseverance; improving | NONE | Kept Word and not denied | |
| Judgment | Lost love they had at first | N/A | Tolerate those with sexual and dietary sin (Balaam) | Jezebel | False reputation; they are dead! Works are incomplete. Repent or He will come like a thief | None directed to Philadelphia – will sit in judgment of false Jews who will learn He loves | |
| Secondary Encouragement | Hates deeds of people who do things their own way instead of God’s | Do not fear suffering; remain faithful | N/A | Hold fast against teaching of deep things of Satan | A few who have not soiled clothes | Patient endurance will keep them from the worldwide hour of trial for earth-dwellers | |
| Location of “Ear” clause | Before | Before | Before | After | After | After | After |
| Promise | Eat from Tree/Life | Not taste 2nd death | Eat of Hidden Manna / A white stone/new name | Authority over nations; morning star | Dressed in white; name in Book, be acknowledged in Heaven | Pillar in Millennial temple; write on him name of my God, name of new Jerusalem, and His own Name | |
| Application | Neglected priorities | Expect Satanic opposition | Beware spiritual compromise: (worshipping God AND something else) | Beware of pagan practices mixed in and corrupting the true faith: (worshipping something else pretending it’s God) | Be watchful and diligently guard the heart (not just doctrine) | Loyal ambassadorship | |
| Age | Apostolic (70-170) | Persecuted (170-312) | State Religion (312-606) | Catholic (606-present) | Protestant (1517 - present) | Missionary “on fire”; Raptured (1750-present) | |
| Parable | Four Soils | Wheat/tares | Mustard seed | Woman/leaven | Treasure/Field | Pearl of Great Price | |
| Paul | Ephesians | Philippians | 1/2 Corinthians | Galatians | Romans | 1/2 Thessalonians |
Watch the Videos
Part I: Rev 3:7-9 | Historical background | Davidic Covenant | More on Synagogue of Satan
Part II: Rev 3:10-12, Missionary church age | Pearl of Great Price | Thessalonians
Study the context
Chris Flanagan
Bible teacher and growing disciple of ישוע/Jesus
Former healthcare compliance auditing professional with a passion for understanding the biblical texts in their original context and applying these lessons to 21st century life.