I know thy works behold, I have set before thee an opened door, which no one can shut, because thou hast a little power, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
The Lord who holds the key of David sets an open door before this church. The reason lies not in size or success, but in little power, a kept word, and a name never denied.
They were too weak to open the door themselves. One writer shows why the key in Christ's hand was what they needed:
The Lord presents Himself as having the key of David. So they ought not to look to the power of the world, nor to man; for if He had the key, that was the very thing they wanted. Human energy might be at work all around — Jezebel, false prophets, and the rest. But there was this blessed One, the Holy and the True. They were weak, so they needed Him all the more. They had so little strength that perhaps they could not even open the door; but He says He had opened it for them. He had brought them into a large place where there was no bondage or constraint... They valued Christ. They wanted to know more of Him, and He knew their heart.
The Lord opens this door for testimony and service, and no opposition can close it:
We gather from this that wherever the condition described here is found, the Lord opens a door for His servants. It is a door for His testimony and service. He will keep it open, whatever hostile efforts men make to close it. It is not a door standing open, but one that the Lord has opened. It was so in the Lord's own service among Israel. To the outward eye He had only a little strength. He was crucified in weakness. He lived by every word that came out of the mouth of God. He did not deny His Father's name. Men were full of cunning, malice, and hostility, yet there was always an open door before Him. To Him the doorkeeper opened, and so it is now for all who have the moral marks given here. So we never need to be anxious about open doors for service. Our only concern should be to be in a fit state for His use. Then a door will always open, even though there are many adversaries.
The phrase describes a church with nothing impressive to show the world. These writers quote it as "a little strength":
First, the Lord says, "You have but little power." This church is not marked by any display of power that would attract the notice of the world. ... The world delights in a strong man; God delights to carry out His work through weak vessels... Their wisdom, then, is not to claim power they do not have, nor to covet gifts that have passed away. Instead they own their true condition — they have only a little strength. So they find the support of the Lord, the One who has all power, who holds the key, and whom no one can resist.
Little strength is still strength. One writer sets it beside Sardis and Laodicea:
Yet the very expression "a little strength" assumes they had some strength. That is more than could be said of Sardis or Laodicea... Philadelphia has only a little strength. But it is enough to rise above the deadness of Sardis and the self-sufficiency of Laodicea. In doing so it had the Lord's approval.
Two questions arise here: whose word, and what does keeping it involve?
Not simply the Word as a whole, however true that may be of the Philadelphians, but Christ's word... His word covers the whole circle of Christian truth... Further, "keeping" the word implies that it is treasured in the heart and obeyed in the life. The Lord does not say you have expounded or taught the word, though that may be true. He puts the emphasis on the great fact that His word is kept. Those with little strength may have little gift. But something far more valuable in the Lord's eyes can mark them — obedience to His word.
One writer links the two commendations and names the target of Satan's attack:
The Word and the Name go together... All the heresies that have come into the world have always had their root in the abuse of the name of Christ... The great assault of Satan is against the Person of Christ, and your safeguard is holding fast that name.
One writer warns against turning these marks into a label:
No one need look for great attainments, in themselves or in others, for Philadelphia is marked by "little strength." But there is the keeping of Christ's word and not denying His name. May these features mark each one of us. To be governed by these marks is to be Philadelphian in character. But to claim the name of Philadelphia is the sure road to the state of Laodicea. Any assumption on our part is fatal to true spiritual progress.
- His key — the One who holds all authority opens the door, so weakness is no barrier and opposition no threat.
- His door — it opens for testimony and service; the concern is not to find an opening but to be fit for His use.
- His strength — "a little" makes no display that impresses the world. Yet it lifts Philadelphia above the deadness of Sardis and the self-satisfaction of Laodicea.
- His word — to keep it is to treasure it and obey it, which He values above gift or teaching.
- His name — word and name stand or fall together. Refusing to deny His Person is the safeguard — a character to live, never a label to claim.
Behold, I make them of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie; behold, I will cause that they shall come and shall do homage before thy feet, and shall know that *I* have loved thee.
The Lord's message to the assembly in Philadelphia turns to a group of opponents. They claimed to be God's earthly people, and He promises to expose the claim and to make them bow one day before the very believers they despised.
Commentators identify these opponents by their principle, not their race. They stand for a religious system that drags Christians back onto ground God had set aside.
The synagogue of Satan, as already said, is the return to Jewish principles. It puts people under law. It restores the priestly ranks and ceremonies that suited an earthly religion like Judaism, but are out of place in a heavenly religion like Christianity. Paul condemns this pouring of new wine into old wineskins as destructive to the truth entrusted to him.
The claim is a "lie" because they take a title that is no longer theirs, and the promises that go with it.
In their ignorance, these teachers give up the true Christian position. They claim to be the spiritual Israel. They take Jewish promises and Jewish hopes for themselves, and they would put the consciences of Christians under the bondage of Jewish law-keeping. So they are really doing Satan's work.
The same phrase appeared once before, in the message to Smyrna.
We noted before that Smyrna and Philadelphia are the only two of the seven churches the Lord does not rebuke. Now we notice that both had to face the same religious opposition. Those who are the synagogue of Satan, falsely claiming to be Jews, reappear. In Paul's day Satan was already dressing up as an angel of light. It is nothing new for him to wear religious clothes.
The next writer traces where this counterfeit leads.
Judaism, set aside by God, is now one of Satan's best weapons and most subtle snares. Great Babylon has built her whole structure on this foundation. With the rituals, the priestly caste and the law-keeping of an earlier time, she has pushed out what belongs to Christianity: its simplicity and open speech, its equal priesthood and completed sacrifice, its free grace and full salvation.
Twice over, the Lord makes Himself the one who acts. Both the exposing and the bowing are His work.
The Lord can subdue such as far as He sees fit. He can expose their true character, for He says, "I will make them of the synagogue of Satan." Despite their religious display, He will show them up as nothing but a Satanic imitation of the Jewish system. On the other hand, the Lord will make them acknowledge what is according to Himself.
The Greek word behind "bow down" covers a wide range, and the reader is meant to weigh who is bowing and to whom.
We have translated the Greek word proskuneo as "do homage." In Greek it covers every act of reverence, from a simple bow to someone higher up to the worship of God Himself. The reader can decide what kind of homage is meant by asking who receives it and who gives it.
Commentators differ on the object of that homage. Some read it as respect paid to the despised believers themselves. One writer holds that the Lord will make them worship Him, not Philadelphia, at Philadelphia's feet (L. M. Grant). Both agree on the reversal itself:
In their religious pride and pretensions, they scorned and despised the Lord's devoted Assembly, but Christ here promises that He would display to their adversaries how much He loved them.
The verse ends with the sentence that gives the whole promise its weight.
We see how readily He speaks as the One who loves when He finds devotion to Himself in the Philadelphian church (Rev. 3:9). The one sentence that stands out in His words to them is "I have loved you." Others are to know that soon. Philadelphia knew it when He spoke, and it was their choicest treasure.
Writers are careful here. The Lord guarantees the vindication, but does not say when or how it comes.
But the Lord will compel the recognition of His own testimony. I do not say when, where, or how; but as surely as He lives, will the Lord vindicate the truth He has given, and the testimony He has raised up for His name.
- Counterfeit. The opponents claim a place God has set aside. Their religion is law, ritual and rank pressed onto Christians.
- Exposed. The first "I will make them" strips the disguise: the Lord shows their claim to be an imitation, not the real thing.
- Subdued. The second "I will make them" bends the proud to the ground before the weak — the Lord's work, not Philadelphia's.
- Loved. In the end the enemy learns not that Philadelphia was right, but that Christ loved her.
- Certain. The vindication is sure because He lives. He keeps the when and how to Himself, so faith holds on meanwhile.