Revelation 3:9: 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.

At Philadelphia, as at Smyrna,¹ the saints were persecuted by people that were Jews in name only² from the synagogue of Satan.³ Here, the vision looks beyond those persecutions to a future day when the persecutors shall be made⁴ to come and worship before [the] feet of the persecuted.⁵ Contrary to the suggestions of some scholars,⁶ this does not mean the Jewish persecutors would convert to Christianity.⁷ Instead, before the day of their judgment⁸ the persecutors shall prostrate themselves and acknowledge their error at the feet of the Philadelphian saints.⁹ Christ reassures these suffering saints that their persecutors will one day know that I have loved thee.¹⁰

Revelation 3:10: Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, 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.

The word of my patience¹¹ refers to the Lord's frequent admonition for the saints to be patient in tribulation,¹² which aids the process of perfection.¹³ The Philadelphian saints had kept Christ's word of patience,¹⁴ so he also will keep [them].¹⁵ That is, they are given to Christ¹⁶ and they belong to him.¹⁷ This is not an exemption from temptation or trial,¹⁸ but a promise from Christ that he will keep them from succumbing to evil while they remain in the world.¹⁹ Jesus prayed for this spiritual safeguard²⁰ during his intercessory (high priestly)²¹ prayer offered by him on the night before his death while still in the upper room where the Passover was celebrated.²² John alone recorded the words of the Savior²³ as he prayed for the eternal life of all those given to him of the Father.²⁴ The prayer for eternal life in John 17 became a promise of eternal life to the Philadelphian saints in Revelation 3:10 because they kept the word of my patience.²⁵

Revelation 3:10 also describes the more sure word of prophecy promised to the faithful Philadelphian saints²⁶ by which their calling and election was made sure.²⁷ They had overcome the world while still in the world.²⁸ Therefore, he that hath the key of David²⁹ opened to them the door to exaltation that no man could shut.³⁰ This guarantee of eternal life³¹ is found in Christ's promise that I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation.³² This promise is much more than a reassurance that the Philadelphian saints would not be tempted above their ability to withstand.³³ Once their calling and election was made sure, they were spiritually hidden³⁴ from the hour of temptation (trial or tribulation),³⁵ so their faith would not fail in the face of ongoing persecution and even martyrdom.³⁶

The hour of temptation may imply that the trials of the Philadelphian saints would be short-lived.³⁷ In this context, however, the hour refers to an appointed time rather than a statement of duration.³⁸ The hour of temptation identifies the onset of the Great Apostasy³⁹ that had already begun to come upon all the world⁴⁰ no later than 70 AD.⁴¹ The hour of temptation became a universal trial to the Philadelphians and all them that dwell upon the earth.⁴²