Disciples Digital Library

Revelation moves inexorably from the death of Jesus to the final day when God judges the wicked and vindicates the righteous .  At the conclusion of his ‘Olivet Discourse,’ Jesus taught his parable of the  Sheep and the Goats . On the day when the “ Son of Man arrives in glory ,” his angels will gather  all  the nations before him for judgment, and he will divide them into two groups.  One will receive “ everlasting destruction ,” and the other, “ everlasting life .”

Philadelphia receives no correction since she has remained faithful, and therefore, she will be kept from the hour of trial  – Revelation 3:7-13.  Philadelphia is fifty kilometers southeast of Sardis and straddles a major road into the interior, making commerce and trade with the other cities of the province vital to its economy. It was established in 189 B.C. by the king of Pergamos, coming under Roman rule later when the last Pergamene king bequeathed the kingdom to Rome in 133 B.C.

In his first epistle, John declares it is  the last hour , a period elsewhere called the “ last days .” As evidence of this, he points to the false teachers that are disrupting his churches. They are products of the “ spirit of antichrist ” that is active already in the world. And these deceivers are forerunners of the final “ Antichrist . ”

In the third chapter of  Revelation , Jesus promises to “ keep ” overcoming saints in the city of Philadelphia “ from the hour of trial ” that is coming upon the “ inhabitants of the earth .” A comparison with similar passages demonstrates that this “ hour ” refers to the time of judgment when those whose names “ are not written in the Lamb’s book of life ” experience the “ second death ” in the “ Lake of Fire .”