Revelation 3:10

10 'Because you have ¹kept the word of ²My perseverance, ³I also will keep you from the hour of ⁴testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole ⁵world, to test ⁶those who dwell on the earth.

Revelation 3:10 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 3:10

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience
The Gospel; so called because it gives an account of the patience of Christ, in the midst of all his outward meanness and humiliation; and because it is a means of implanting and increasing the grace of patience, which God is the efficient cause of, and Christ is the example of; that patience, which bears a resemblance to his, in enduring afflictions, reproaches, persecutions, desertions, and temptations, and in waiting for his kingdom and glory; and because both the preachers and professors of the word have need of patience, and should exercise it in like manner as Christ did. This word, the churches, in the Philadelphian state, will keep pure and incorrupt, and observe the ordinances of it according to the directions given in it; and will believe the promise of Christ's personal coming, and patiently wait for it: wherefore, Christ promises as follows,

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;
this hour seems to refer not to any of the vials which will be poured out on the antichristian states, but to some affliction and distress which will befall the reformed churches, and will light upon the outward court worshippers among them It seems to be the last struggle of the beast of Rome, and to denote some violent and sharp persecution, such as what Daniel mentions, that never was before nor since; but it will be but short, but one hour, the twenty fourth part of a prophetical day or year, perhaps about a fortnight; yet it will be very extensive; it will reach all the world, the whole Roman empire, and all that dwell upon the earth, that are called by the name of Christians, and will try them, whether they are so or not; Christ will now have his fan in his hand, and purge his floor of all his formal professors and hypocrites; and it will be known who are his true churches, and pure members; and these he will keep close to himself, and preserve safe amidst all the distress and confusion the world will be in. This cannot refer to the bloody persecutions under the Roman emperors, for from those the church at Philadelphia was not preserved. We read ^F19 of twelve members of it that suffered with Polycarp.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 4. c. 15.

Revelation 3:10 In-Context

8 'I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

9 'Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie -I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you.

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

11 'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

12 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.

Cross References

• 1. John 17:6; Revelation 3:8
• 2. Revelation 1:9
• 3. 2 Timothy 2:12; 2 Peter 2:9
• 4. Revelation 2:10
• 5. Matthew 24:14; Revelation 16:14
• 6. Revelation 6:10; Revelation 8:13; Revelation 11:10; Revelation 13:8, 14; Revelation 17:8

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "steadfastness"
• [b]. Or "temptation"
• [c]. Lit "inhabited earth"
• [d]. Or "tempt"