The British Messianic Jewish Alliance
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The British Messianic Jewish Alliance
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Summer
2002, Issue 215
The
Person referred to as “holy” and “true” in Revelation 3:7-8, and who
possesses the “key of David”, is the Messiah, Yeshua (c.f. 6:10). Isaiah
22:22, where we are told that Eliakim has the “key
of the house of David” laid upon his shoulder, provides the background for our
understanding this term. This
term, the “key of the house of David”, denotes a position of authority in
the royal household at that point in history. Eliakim
controlled the doors; he decided who had entry to the king and who did not.
“On his shoulders” may possibly refer to the fact that the key to the
king’s royal chamber was so big that it had to be carried over the shoulder.
John quotes this verse almost word for word in Revelation 3:7b. He was
not setting Eliakim forth as a type of Messiah, but
was using the concept of the “key of David” to convey the authority and
sovereign work of the divine Messiah. His possession of the key indicates His
total authority. Eliakim’s possession of the key
of the house of David was an imparted authority but Yeshua not only possesses
the key, He is the Key of David personified.
Only Yeshua can open the door to the Kadosh
HaKadoshim (Holy of Holies) for us to
enter into the presence of God. Yeshua alone opens doors that none other can
open. He opens the door as an opportunity to preach the Besora
(Gospel); He opens the door of people’s hearts creating willing ears to listen
and hearts to receive the Besora. Certainty
of the “Open Door” Conditions
of the “Open Door” “I
know your works.” We cannot gloss over our inadequacies; God knows our works.
Despite the feebleness of their faith and the fact that God said, “You have
little strength”, He still sets before the Philadelphian believers an “open
door” that no man could shut. When
the Lord opens a door of opportunity for us, we should not be boastful, as
though we had opened it ourselves or that it was opened as a result of our
cleverness, Messianic lingo or compelling arguments. “You have little
strength” still acts as a gentle rebuke and corrective for us today as we
witness to the unbelieving majority of Jewish people. Obligation
of the “Open Door” Even
though we may have “little strength” and are dependent upon God to open the
doors, we have certain responsibilities. God opened the door for the
Philadelphian church and kept it open because they “kept [His] word” and
“did not deny [His] name”. This principle applies to us also. The Bible
commentator Matthew Henry wisely wrote: “If we do not provoke Christ to shut
this door against us, men cannot do it.” God
may have opened the door, but how long it remains open depends to some extent on
our faithfulness to Him and His Word. In our daily experience, how often have we
missed the opportunities that God has set before us as individuals and as the
worldwide Body of Messiah? Pray that despite our “little strength”, God
would continue to open doors into the Jewish community, and that Yeshua the
Messiah, the Key of David,
would open hearts to repent of sin and believe in Him. By
Richard Gibson
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