Revelation 3:9
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.
View all translations →Revelation 3:9 stands inside Christ's letter to Philadelphia, the assembly that has "a little strength" yet keeps His word and does not deny His name. Here the Lord turns to the opposition this faithful remnant faces — a religious system claiming Jewish privilege — and promises both their public exposure and the vindication of those He loves.
The hostile party is not literal Judaism but a Judaizing principle that has crept into the professing church. Commentators connect it directly to the system Babylon was built upon — ritual, priestly orders, and legal bondage substituted for the simplicity of Christ.
Frederick W GrantJudaism, set aside by God, is now one of Satan's best weapons and most subtle snares. Great Babylon has built her superstructure upon this foundation, and displaced with the ritualism, the sacerdotalism, and the legalism of an earlier time, the simplicity and open speech, the equal priesthood and completed sacrifice, the free grace and full salvation, of Christianity.
Raymond K. CampbellThese opposers claimed to be Jews and were not; they took Jewish ground in their sacerdotal orders, robes, rites, ceremonies and sacred buildings, and made an ecclesiastical pretension to a successional God-established religion. In their religious pride and pretensions, they scorned and despised the Lord's devoted Assembly.
Henry Allan IronsideIt is, undoubtedly, that false Judaizing system which is contemplated, whose advocates everywhere oppose the truth of grace, and seek in every way to hinder the carrying out of those principles... In their ignorance, these teachers give up the true Christian position, claiming to be the spiritual Israel, appropriating to themselves Jewish promises and Jewish hopes, and would put the consciences of Christians under the bondage of Jewish legalism, thus really doing Satan's work.
The same expression appeared earlier in the letter to Smyrna. Wherever the truth of Philadelphia is fresh, this old enemy is renewed.
Frederick W GrantIt is not after all so strange, therefore, that if in Philadelphia we find the heart fresh awakened after Christ, His Word preached with fresh energy and held with more appreciation, on the other hand Satan's old attempt should be renewed... yet this does not assume that the onset will have no success. God permits these things for the trial of His own.
Yet Philadelphia is given more than Smyrna. Smyrna is comforted in persecution; Philadelphia is promised public vindication.
MagazinesSmyrna was comforted against their persecution; Philadelphia has more: there comes a time when the great professing body will be forced to acknowledge the Philadelphians she had despised. "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 eye is fixed on those faithful to His Person in a day of pretension. He sees them, and He will openly display His love for them before their adversaries.
MagazinesAs before, when He was in the world, the rejecters have plenty of loud pretension; but their true character spiritually, as well as the day of their future humbling, is here revealed... And here the Lord shows that His eye rests on and His heart is occupied with those who through grace are faithful to Him.
Raymond K. CampbellChrist here promises that He would display to their adversaries how much He loved them. He would make them come and worship before their feet and to know that those whom they despised and maligned were the objects of the Lord's love and affections.
The climax of the verse is not the humbling of enemies but the words "I have loved thee." This personal love of Christ is the believer's greatest treasure.
J T MawsonHear how the Lord speaks of it to the Philadelphian church, "Behold I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I HAVE LOVED THEE." They had no higher honour, greater treasure, or brighter crown than that.
- Synagogue of Satan. A Judaizing, sacerdotal, legal system claiming spiritual privilege it does not possess — Satan's chief snare against Philadelphia.
- Renewed attack. Wherever Philadelphian truth is recovered and Christ Himself becomes the test, this old enemy reappears with loud pretension.
- Vindication promised. Unlike Smyrna, which is only comforted in persecution, Philadelphia is promised that her despisers will be forced to acknowledge her.
- Christ's eye. The Lord's heart rests on the faithful little flock; He sees through pretension and will openly own those who keep His word.
- The crown. The supreme honour is not the enemies' humbling but hearing Christ say "I have loved thee" — no greater treasure exists for the believer.