Revelation 3:7. "And to
the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he
that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man
shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.”
This verse is parallel to Isaiah 22:22:
And the key of the house of
David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall
open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.
The Rabbis used the phrase “openings of the wise” to
refer to interpretation of Scriptures.
The word “key” was used of “teachings.” The Revelator is declaring that
Christ is the One spoken of by Isaiah, Who has been given the Key of David, that is, the key to
interpreting the Scriptures. The Pharisees at that time were searching the
Scriptures, but they were perverting them to their own use. But unless the
Scriptures are interpreted as testifying to Christ, it is a misinterpretation,
John 5:39.
There seems to be a play on the Greek word Philadelphia
and the Hebrew word deleth,
“door.” The word Philadelphia can be
divided in the middle like a two-leaved door, swinging both ways. The first
part, philad – is a mirror image of
the last part of the word, daleph, Hebrew
for “door.” The original Hebrew Bible had no vowel points, so disregarding the
vowels the word is ph-l-d + d-l-ph. This door motif is first seen in verse 7:
He that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man
shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.
The motif is seen again in 3:8:
I know thy works: behold, I
have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not
denied my name.
The key to the correct interpretation of Scripture is Christ: Old Testament, New Testament, and the prophetic future, Christ is the Beginning, the Center and The End.
This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation In Context, available at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma and also available online at www.amazon.com or www.xulonpress.com. Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net
The key to the correct interpretation of Scripture is Christ: Old Testament, New Testament, and the prophetic future, Christ is the Beginning, the Center and The End.
This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation In Context, available at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma and also available online at www.amazon.com or www.xulonpress.com. Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net
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