Revelation 3:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.

NIV: Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

NASB: Because you have kept My word of perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of the testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who live on the earth.

CSB: Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

NLT: 'Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.

KJV: Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

NKJV: Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

Jesus did not bring any accusation against the church at Philadelphia. Only Philadelphia and Smyrna have this distinction. Rather, Instead, He commends them for patient endurance. These believers did not give up or give in to the oppressors' attempts to convert them to a false form of Judaism. Because the church showed such patience, Jesus promised to keep it "from the hour of trial."

Jesus' words make it clear that the church will not go through the hour of trial, a reference to the "tribulation," a seven-year period of intense earthly distress and the subject of much of the book of Revelation. The Greek word translated "from" is ek, meaning "out of." Unlike other forms of hardship, where God promises to be with us, or to keep us "through" or "in" those times of difficulty, the church will be kept out of the tribulation. If the church were destined to be kept through the tribulation, the Greek word dia, meaning "through," could have been used.

Further, Jesus said the hour of trial is coming on the whole world, not on the church. The judgments unleashed in the tribulation will fall on "those who dwell on the earth"; that is, on those whose home is the world, not heaven. Jesus will take Christians out of the world before the tribulation begins, in an event known as the rapture.

Revelation 3:7–13 contains Jesus' letter to the church at Philadelphia. Philadelphia, was a center for exporting the Greek language and culture into the interior of Asia Minor. Thus, it had a secular missionary calling. Just as the city had an open door to the interior, so the church had an open door to spread the gospel. Jesus commends the church in verse 10 and promises to keep it from the tribulation period. He also instructs the church to retain the truth and promises each conqueror special recognition in the New Jerusalem. Smyrna and Philadelphia are the only churches in Revelation not to receive any particular criticism. The church at Philadelphia's characteristics are similar to those of the Church in the 19th and 20th centuries that was a period of frequent revivals and missionary activity.

These final letters symbolize Church history from AD 1500 to the Rapture, the event that transports the Church from earth to be with Jesus. Sardis had a good reputation, but it was actually spiritually dead. Philadelphia had a good opportunity to spread the gospel, and it had kept Jesus' word and had remained loyal to Him. As such, Jesus promises to reward this church's conquerors. Laodicea was proud of its wealth, but was spiritually lukewarm, a characteristic that Jesus detests. He promises to fellowship with anyone in the church who would heed His voice and welcome Him. Laodicea is the only church given no praise by Christ.

This chapter concludes the letters Jesus instructed the apostle John to write to seven churches in Asia Minor. Those messages began in chapter 2. This passage ends the section of Revelation that describes the things that are (Revelation 1:19), meaning the things which existed in John's lifetime. Chapter 1 describes what John had seen (Revelation 1:19), and chapter 4 begins John's account of what was to take place in the future (Revelation 1:19).

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''