A little background concerning the church at Philadelphia:
- not a large city, but commercially busy.
- prone to earthquake disasters.
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
- “the holy one” – “In the Bible “holiness” is the very essence of God, the quality that makes God what he is, different and set apart from human beings. It carries a sense of separateness from sin, of exclusiveness, of uniqueness”(Bratcher). Also a Messianic designation, meaning God’s servant or one who does God’s will. Thus when we combine Jesus’ self description here in this verse we end up with something like “the true, faithful divine Messiah-servant of God”.
Continue reading “What Happens Next? Revelation 3:7-13, to the church at Philadelphia”