Revelation 3:7-13 – “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: 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. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 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. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
“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.” Since, or because, they have kept the kept the Lord’s command to endure patiently (V8) the Lord gives them a great promise to embrace. They have been faithful to His Word and to His name. They have not backed down and succumbed to the pressures of the world to compromise with the Word of God. They have not failed to proclaim that Jesus is the only Messiah and there is no other (John 14:6, Acts 4:12, 1 John 2:5), He gave them another Word to cling to and be faithful to. Hasn’t Jesus said that those who are faithful in little things will be faithful in bigger things (Luke 16:10)? Now He tells them I have seen your faithfulness in all things, small and big, and so I give to you another Truth. Oh the Lord is gracious, considerate and grand! The Philadelphians had been enduring, had been faithful, through the persecutions, and now He rewards them when He plainly says that He will keep them from the coming great tribulation. This is a clear reference that the church will be raptured (For a brief explanation of the Rapture of the church, please see (https://www.gotquestions.org/rapture-of-the-church.html) before the great tribulation and will not have to endure it.
Concerning the letters to the seven churches listed here in Revelation 2 and 3, many believe that they are: 1) Written to a real church with real issues, real troubles and in need of real encouraging. The Lord is speaking to real churches. 2) They are letters that also apply to every church since the resurrection of Jesus. 3) Remembering that the letters were written to churches with believers who were going through these trials. The letters not only applied to the church in general, but to the individuals of the church. Furthermore, these words from Jesus are given to all His churches and to all His followers, since His resurrection until His return. 4) These letters are prophetic. It is asserted that, while applying to all churches during the history of the church, they also are representative of the church during certain periods of time: A) Ephesus – AD 33 – AD 100 B) Smyrna – AD 100 – AD 312 C) Pergamum – AD 313 – AD 600 D) Thyatira – AD 600 – AD 1517, and still existing today E) Sardis – AD 1517 – AD 1648 F) Philadelphia – AD 1648 – AD 1900 G) Laodicea – AD 1900 – present day. These dates represented: Ephesus – The Apostolic Church; Smyrna – The Church of the Roman Persecution; Pergamum – The Church of the Age of Constantine; Thyatira – The Church of the Dark Ages; Sardis – The Church of Reformation; Philadelphia – The Church of the Great Missionary Movement and Laodicea – The Church of Apostasy.
Why would the Lord tell this first century church that He would keep them from the great tribulation if they were not going to live to the time of it? It would seem clear that the Lord was speaking to the church that will be alive at the time of the start of the great tribulation. V10 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1-9 point to a rapture of the church that occurs before the Antichrist is revealed, before the seven years of tribulation.
Family, throughout the Bible, when great devastation was coming, the Lord removed His own from among those for whom judgement was intended. He cleared out the Jews before the Red Sea closed, He took put Jonah in the ark before the flood, and He took Lot’s family out of Sodom before it was destroyed. Revelation 6:15-17 refers to the Great Tribulation as a time of God’s wrath. We, having been redeemed by Jesus and are not people upon whom God’s wrath will fall. When speaking of the end times, and our salvation, the Apostle Paul wrote that we are not to suffer the wrath of God “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9) This verse in amidst Him writing of end times (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11). The Lord is clearly telling His church not to fear the seven years of tribulation. His wrath will be poured out on those who rebel against Him, not on His children. He is telling them that all of His own are safe from it. Family, we have nothing to fear. We belong to God. He is good all the time and in all He does. And He loves us. Always and forever, He love us. Let our comfort be in God. Our God is God and there is no other (Deuteronomy 4:39, 1 Kings 8:60, Isaiah 45:18). Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.