Letters to the Church: Philadelphia (The Church part 9)

Revelation 3:7-13 Background Philadelphia is 25 miles SE of Sardis in the Hermes Valley. It is the youngest of the churches in Revelation. Philadelphia means “brotherly love”. When King Eumenes II of Pergamum founded the city of Philadelphia he named it after his younger brother and successor Attalus Philadelphus. Attalus got the nickname Philadelphus (The one who loves his brother) because Attalus was deeply loyal to his brother to the point when the Romans offered to help Attalus overthrow his brother and give him the throne he refused. Philadelphia sat on top of a fault line and was affected by several major earthquakes in 17 AD. It was a city that was ruined and rebuilt many times Description of Jesus (3:7) Holy and True This is usually translated as “the words of him who is holy and true” but in Greek “holy” and “true” are each proceeded with the definite article. It should read “the words of him who is THE holy and THE true”. By taking these titles Jesus is reminding the church that he is one with God the Father. It’s also important as we look at the interaction of the Jews and Christians in Philadelphia. The claim of the church that Jesus is Lord and God is what is bringing them persecution. Has the Key of David Isaiah 22:15-24 The theme here in Isaiah 22 is that the previous stewards will be removed, and a new “servant” will be set up who will have the keys to the kingdom, the key of David. There are a lot of Echoes of Christ in this passage: a servant, given authority, connection to David, at the seat of honor (right hand), over the father’s household. And the honor of the family hangs on Him (Jesus is the head of the church). Praise for Philadelphia (3:8-11) Philadelphia, like Smyrna, is a church that Jesus does not call to repent. Both churches are churches that suffer for Jesus’ name. both churches are facing persecution from the religious establishment (The Jews). Synagogue of Satan In Revelation 3:9 Jesus describes this synagogue as not real Jews but liars. Like in Smyrna “Those who say they are Jews but are not”. The true Jew is the one who in part of the family of the Messiah in Christ. Those who claim Jesus as Lord. NT Wright: “which of these two groups then, Jews or Christians, can claim to be the true Jews, bearing the torch of God’s ancient people? Here Jesus is quite clear; those who follow him, the Davidic messiah, are the true Jews. Those who deny him are forfeiting their right to this noble name.” Isaiah 45:14 The Expectation was that the nations would flow into the Jewish nation, but Jesus reverses it and now at the end of Revelation we see the nations flowing into the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom. But Jesus puts the Jews in Philadelphia in the shoes of the pagan nations. Flips the script! He compares the Jews in Philadelphia to Shebna in Isaiah 22 who is removed from the house, and the keys of David are given to God’s servant Eliakim, a shadow of Jesus. It says the glory of his family will hang on him, it’s offspring and offshoots… His body the church Kept in the Trial There are exact word parallels with the words “keep” and “from” in Rev. 3:10 and John 17:15, which is the only other NT occurrence of “to keep” with “from” together: there Christ prays, “I ask not that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” Thus, Jesus denies a physical removal from tribulation and affirms a spiritual protection from the devil. Big idea of this section is there is judgement coming on the kingdoms and systems that oppose God but God will keep his family Conquer We conquer the way of the Lamb, not the way of Rome! The conquers will be a pillar in the temple of God and have God’s name, New Jerusalem, and Jesus’ name written on them.