Revelation 3:9-12

3. Promise 3:9-12

Jesus Christ gave no rebuke to this church, as was true of the church in Smyrna. He gave the Christians five promises instead.

First, their Jewish antagonists would eventually have to acknowledge that the Christians were the true followers of God (cf. Revelation 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 (Isaiah 45:23; Isaiah 60:14; Romans 14:11; Philippians 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. Isaiah 45:14; Isaiah 49:23; Ezekiel 36:23; Ezekiel 37:28; Zechariah 8:20-23).

Second, God promised the Christians in this church that they would not go through the Tribulation period (Revelation 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). [Note: See Newell, pp. 71-72; Thomas R. Edgar, "An Exegesis of Rapture Passages," in Issues in Dispensationalism, pp. 211-17; Thomas, Revelation 1-7, pp. 283-91; Daniel K. K. Wong, "The Pillar and the Throne in Revelation 3:12, 21," Bibliotheca Sacra 156:623 (July-September 1999):303. For the posttribulational interpretation, see Mounce, p. 119; aand Ladd, p. 62.]

What if some in the church did not keep the word of Christ’s perseverance? This is probably a subjective gentive, meaning the endurance that Jesus Himself displayed rather than the endurance that He requires. Would 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 Corinthians 15:51-52). God has promised all Christians deliverance from that outpouring of His wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10). [Note: See Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, pp. 478-507, for further explanation of the four major premillennial views of the Rapture; and see Gerald B. Stanton, Kept from the Hour, for refutation of the partial rapture, the midtribulation rapture, and the posttribulation rapture views.]

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). Beasley-Murray regarded the hour of testing as a designation of the trial itself rather than as a period of testing (cf. Mark 14:35). [Note: Beasley-Murray, p. 101.] Beale believed that this "hour" probably refers to the end of the church’s present experience of tribulation, just before Christ’s second coming. [Note: Beale, p. 290.]

The 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. [Note: See Thomas D. Ice, "The Meaning of ’Earth Dwellers’ in Revelation," Bibliotheca Sacra 166:663 (July-September 2009)350-65.] 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. [Note: See Stanton, pp. 46-50, 108-37; and Jeffrey Townsend, "The Rapture in Revelation 3:10," Bibliotheca Sacra 137:547 (July-September 1980):252-66.]

Revelation 3:10 appears at first reading to be another inducement to remain faithful to the Lord (cf. Revelation 2:10 c, 25; Revelation 3:4). The implication may appear to be that if a Christian denies Christ (Revelation 3:8) 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 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:9). We must therefore look for another explanation.

Since the whole Philadelphia church was faithful (Revelation 3:8) Revelation 3:10 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 fact rather than a conditional statement, somewhat similar to the words, ’Because thou hast obeyed my voice,’ in Genesis 22:18." [Note: Chitwood, p. 98.]

"Probably the most debated verse in the whole discussion about the time of the Church’s rapture is Revelation 3:10." [Note: Gundry, p. 54.]

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 (the posttribulation view). He believed the Lord will come for His saints, meet them in the air, and descend with them to the earth immediately. [Note: Ibid., p. 159.] Townsend’s article, just cited, refuted Gundry’s interpretation of this verse. The Rapture and the Second Coming cannot occur back to back but must be separated by the seven-year Tribulation. [Note: See Renald E. Showers, Maranatha: Our Lord, Come! A Definitive Study of the Rapture of the Church, pp. 176-91.]

"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’ (Revelation 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 Revelation 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. Revelation 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. Matthew 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 . . ." [Note: Thomas, Revelation 1-7, pp. 288, 289. See also Showers, pp. 208-18.]

Other New Testament passages also teach a pretribulation Rapture (e.g., John 14:3; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:9).

Third, the Lord also promised to come quickly (Gr. tachy, soon; cf. Revelation 1:1; Revelation 1:7; Revelation 2:16; Revelation 22:7; Revelation 22:12; Revelation 22:20; 2 Peter 3:8).

"This can hardly be His return to earth described in Revelation 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)." [Note: Thomas, Revelation 1-7, p. 290.]

"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." [Note: Showers, p. 149.]

Fourth, God promised that He 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 (Revelation 21:22; cf. Galatians 2:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-10). [Note: For a study of the references to the temple in Revelation from a Reformed perspective, see Simon J. Kistemaker, "The Temple in the Apocalypse," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 43:3 (September 2000):433-41.]

"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 (1 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 established positions of strength and power, positions which will be realized when they rule and reign as co-heirs with Christ in the [millennial] kingdom." [Note: Chitwood, p. 101. Cf. Overstreet, pp. 453-55.]

"In contrast to the fate of Eliakim [see comment on Revelation 3:7], 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." [Note: Beasley-Murray, p. 102.]

Fifth, Jesus Christ will identify with His faithful people. Since they have honored Him on earth He will acknowledge them in heaven (cf. Revelation 2:17; Revelation 14:1; Revelation 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. Exodus 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. Revelation 2:17; Revelation 3:5). [Note: Swete, p. 58.]

"The threefold occurrence of onoma (’name’) is impressive and amounts to a threefold assurance of his identity with God." [Note: Thomas, Revelation 1-7, p. 293.]