Revelation 3:7 - Philadelphia

7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

Philadelphia is located about 25 miles southeast of Sardis. This city was founded much later than the others and was very new by comparison originating sometime after 189 B.C. It had several other names such as Decapolis, Neo-kaisaria, and Flavia. Today its name is Ala-shehir. Like Sardis, it was destroyed by the large earthquake around 17 B.C. and had to be rebuilt. This city also suffered aftershocks that lasted years afterward.

The writing to this church, like Smyrna, is only encouragement and does not condemn.

These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.

Up to this point, the phrases used to identify Jesus were repetitions of the descriptions used in Chapter 1, but here Jesus uses a new description, at least it is new in this letter. The term “holy one” is a common Old Testament title for God (Is 40:25; 43:15). The notion is that Jesus is pure and separate. He is without sin and therefore spotless, without stain or blemish.

Jesus is the “true one”; He is the truth. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Jn 1:1,14) “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (Jn 14:6) “We know also 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 by being in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” (1 Jn 5:20)  Half of the times this word for "true" are used in the Bible it is by John.  He emphasizes that God is true, His Word is truth, and Jesus is true.

The early Christian churches probably resembled the Jewish order or worship quite a bit. Some commentators speculate that most early Christians attended Jewish synagogues on one day then had their own service on another or later the same day. The rift between Jews and Christians would be that Christians claimed to be God’s people (new Israel Gal 6:16 & circumcised by the Spirit Rom 2:28-29) and the Jews held that specifically to them alone. The Jews believed that they alone would have the keys to God’s kingdom. Jesus had already said that He “holds the keys of death and Hades” in 1:18. Undoubtedly this is a further description of that reference directed towards the Jews.

The imagery of the Key of David is a reference to Isaiah 22. In Isaiah there is an individual named Shebna who had charge of the palace of the Judean king. Isaiah wrote that the Lord would replace Shebna with a man named Eliakim, son of Hilkiah. The Lord would “place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open” (Is 22:22). So, Eliakim would be a gatekeeper with the power to control entry into the kingdom. He alone would be able to decide who could come and couldn’t have access to the king.

The Jews would relate this to the Word which said that the Messiah would come through David. So, if Jesus says He holds the key of David, then He is saying He is the One from David’s lineage.

A more New Testament interpretation of the key of David would be references to open doors. Paul in Acts 14:27 indicated he had “opened the door of faith to the Gentiles”. And in 1 Corinthians 16:8-9 he said, “But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.” Other references are in 2 Corinthians 2:12 and Colossians 4:3.

One thought is that Jesus would open a door for evangelism and witness that no one could shut. It is worth considering that the Jews, “the synagogue of Satan”, would seek to silence these Christians and their message of Jesus as the Messiah and they would be unable to do so as Jesus Himself would keep the opportunities ever present.

Finally, Jesus is quoted in John 10 as saying that He is the door to the kingdom of God. When he was in the physical body He made it abundantly clear that His actions and words were those of His Father’s. He did the perfect work He was to do and it was finished. Now, He is not only the door, but the key as well. He and the Father are one. He holds the key to life as the way (door) to salvation (Jn 14).