Revelation 3:12

Rev_3:12

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God.

The Philadelphian conqueror

I. The conqueror is to be a temple-pillar. Not an outside, but an inside pillar. The interior colonnades or double rows of tall pillars in some churches and temples are splendid beyond description. They are part of the vast fabric; not like those who minister there, going out and in, but standing immovable in their surpassing beauty. Such is the reward of the Philadelphian conqueror. An everlasting inhabitant and ornament of that sanctuary of which we read, I saw no temple therein, etc. They shall go no more out! Their home is the innermost shrine in the heaven of heavens. Like Jachin and Boaz (1Ki_7:15; 1Ki_7:21), there they stand for ever. II The conqueror is to be inscribed with glorious names. It is said of Christ that He has on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. It is said of the redeemed in glory that they have their Fathers name written on their foreheads (Rev_14:1); so here on these Philadelphian pillars are many names to be inscribed, each of them unutterably glorious. These inscriptions are written by Christ Himself: I will write. He engraves these names upon these temple-pillars, that they may be eternal witnesses to them in the glorious sanctuary. The inscriptions to be thus engraven are as follows:

1. The name of my God. This is the name which God proclaimed to Moses, the name which is the summary of His blessed character, as the God of all grace. What honour! To be the marble on which Jehovahs name is carved, and from which it shall blaze forth in the eternal temple!

2. The name of the city of my God. Other pillars set up on earth by man have the names of deities, or kings, or warriors, or cities graven upon them. But this inscription excels all in glory.

3. My new name. This is the new name given by Christ, which no man knoweth save he who receiveth it. (H. Bonar, D. D.)

The Christians final triumph

I. The qualification insisted upon in the text. Him that over-cometh.

1. The term evidently implies a struggle and conflict.

2. The term overcometh implies daily advancement and success.

3. A third feature of the man who overcometh is perseverance. His religion is not the mere meteor of the moment, extinguished almost as soon as kindled. He will set his face like a flint against corruption; will resist, even unto blood, the contradiction of sinners against the Master he loves.

II. The promises addressed in the text to the victorious servants of the Redeemer.

1. The successful Christian shall be made a pillar in the temple of his God. In this world the servant of the Redeemer may be a mere outcast in society. Nevertheless, he that overcometh shall be made a pillar in the temple of God. That poor outcast, if a true servant of Christ, shall be stripped of his rags and wretchedness, and be raised as a pillar of ornament in the temple of the Lord. Great will be the changes of the last day: the first shall be last and the last first.

2. He shall go no more out. The sun of his joys shall never go down. The wellspring of his comforts shall never fail.

3. I will write on him the name of My God. In this world, it is possible that the sincere Christian may be perplexed, either by his own doubts of acceptance with God or by the suspicions and insinuations of others; but in heaven his acceptance and adoption will be no longer a disputable point. He shall be recognised by Him who has stamped him with His own name.

4. I will write on him the name of the city of My God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God. Even here it is the city not made with hands which the Christian seeks. And to that city he shall be exalted in heaven.

5. I will write upon him My new Name. (J. W. Cunningham.)

Fidelity rewarded

I. In heaven noble service. Believers are called in the epistles, even while they are on earth, the temple of God. But how often it is desecrated and defiled! Here the same image has a more glorious and fitting application to the perfect life of heaven. We seem to see the entire company of Gods servants fitly framed together into one vast, living temple; the polished stones brought from many distant parts. What worship there, where every stone has a tongue to praise, a heart to feel! But as, in examining a noble pile of building, the great whole distracts you, and you turn from it to look separately at single parts--a window, or an arch--so let us follow our heavenly guide, as, leading us through the temple of His God, He points our attention to one of its component parts, bids us observe the functions of a pillar in it. It is the office of a pillar to support, uphold, an edifice, and also to adorn it. A column, then, is a noble part of any building; noble because of its important function--to sustain within a small compass the weight of the spreading roof and arches; and noble also because there can be joined with this utility beauty of form and wealth of ornament. Then, too, a pillar is not something extraneous, introduced into a building for a temporary purpose, and then to be removed; but it is an essential part of it. So the servant whom Christ makes a pillar in Gods temple shall by that appointment become himself an actual part of heaven itself, bearing its glories up by the unwearied strength of his own hands, and adding to its beauty by his holiness and by the bright success attending all his toils. As a column has no wasted parts, but is so shaped that every atom bears its due proportion of the weight, or carries ornament in keeping with the beauties around it, so you are being moulded, by the Divine Workman who makes the pillars for that temple, in such wise that your energies will neither be left latent nor be overstrained, but developed to the full, and kept in joyous exercise, till you, in your place there, will become a very part of heaven, its beauty and blessedness augmented by the contribution of your pure delight. For the light of God will flash back reflected from the pillars there.

II. No last hours in heaven. This expressive image of a pillar is often applied, and justly, to the positions men occupy on earth. For men of high faculties do often find worthy scope for their powers--fill important posts with eminent success. The warrior who saves his countrys independence--what a noble pillar of its fortunes is he! Or the statesman, who develops its resources, and conducts it to greatness and renown--how fitly is he called a pillar of the state! When the great abilities needed for such high stations are employed in filling them, have we not all we covet, namely, noble faculties in noblest exercise? Well, forget if you will the failures and disappointments which attend such careers, yet will you say that such a lot is comparable to heaven? Look on a few years. A great funeral passes by--the pillar is broken. Out of his high place he goes, and does not return. Oh, what an abatement of pride to know that any day the stately column may fall prostrate in the dust! But he whom Christ makes a pillar in the temple of His God shall go no more out. His strength and beauty will never know decay.

III. Such service is the reward of victory here. For he whom Christ makes a pillar there, is him that overcometh. So that the temptations, the disappointments, the wretched weaknesses, all so harassing, and in such sad contrast to the bright light above, are not hostile to it, but co-operate towards it. The stability of heaven, so firm and glorious, is to be won only by patient endurance of earths changes and earnest conflict with its sins. So if you want to work for God there, with delightful ease, you must learn by hard effort here to use your hands skilfully for Him. The workman who does the hardest task with greatest ease has gained that dexterity only by years of strenuous toll. And so the servants who do Gods work with joyous ease in heaven, have all come out of great tribulation, and have by that hard discipline been schooled into their glorious proficiency, and only after a long, fierce conflict did they overcome.

IV. The double agency spoken of. Him that overcometh: the man must fight and conquer. I will make him a pillar: like a passive column, he is fashioned by anothers hand. Yes; both are true. We must act; not because God does not, but because He does. Christ, by the might and skill of His Divine hand, makes a pillar, not of the man who wishes and dreams, but of the man who overcomes. The blows of misfortune, which were so hard to bear and seemed so disastrous, were the strokes of His Divine chisel, educing beauty from deformity. The bitter deprivation of what they prized so much, and which excited such complaints, was the cutting away of what would have for ever disfigured Gods temple if it had remained. (T. M. Herbert, M. A.)

A pillar in the temple, the emblem of moral character

I. Here is the idea of sanctity.

II. Here is the idea of strength. God uses the good in the maintenance of His Church in the world, hence they must give their best sympathy, talent, and effort in its service. The good will be stronger in the temple above.

III. Here is the idea of permanence. In this life moral character in its higher mood is uncertain in continuance; it is beset by many enemies who would carry it out of the temple of God; but there it will be eternally amidst scenes of devotion and splendour.

IV. Here is the idea of inscription. In heaven moral character will be more God-like; it will be transformed by a vision of the Eternal. Every mans life has some inscription on it, which is read by the world. Lessons:

1. That the good are consecrated to Divine uses in life.

2. That the good are to be morally useful in life. That the good should in their lives exhibit the name of God. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The promises to the victor

I. The steadfast pillar. Now, I take it that the two clauses which refer to this matter are closely connected. I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out. In the second clause the figure is dropped; and the point of the metaphor is brought out more clearly. Here it cannot mean the office of sustaining a building, or pre-eminence above others, as it naturally lends itself sometimes to mean. For instance, the Apostle Paul speaks of the three chief apostles in Jerusalem and says that they seemed to be pillars. We cannot conceive of even redeemed men sustaining that temple in the heavens; and also, inasmuch as the promise here is perfectly universal, and is given to all that overcome. Now, the second of the two clauses which are thus linked together seems to me to point to the direction in which we are to look. He shall go no more out. A pillar is a natural emblem of stability and permanence, as poets in many tongues, and in many lands, have felt it to be. But whilst the general notion is that of stability and permanence, do not let us forget that it is permanence and stability in a certain direction, for the pillar is in the temple of my God. And whilst there are ideas of dignity and grace attaching to the metaphor of the pillar, the underlying meaning of it is substantially that the individual souls of redeemed men shall be themselves parts, and collectively shall constitute the temple of God in the heavens. The special point in which that perfection and transcendence are expressed here is to be kept prominent. He shall go no more out. Permanence, and stability, and uninterruptedness in the communion and consciousness of an indwelling God, is a main element in the glory and blessedness of that future life. Stability in any fashion comes as a blessed hope to us, who know the cause of constant change, and are tossing on the unquiet waters of life. Sometimes the bay is filled with flashing waters that leap in the sunshine; sometimes, when the tide is out, there is only a long stretch of grey and cozy mud. It shall not be always so. Like lands on the equator, where the difference between midsummer and midwinter is scarcely perceptible, either in length of day or in degree of temperature, that future will be a calm continuance, a uniformity which is not monotony, and a stability which does not exclude progress. He shall go no more out. Eternal glory and unbroken communion is the blessed promise to the victor who is made by Christ a pillar in the temple of my God.

II. Now, secondly, notice the threefold inscription. The writing of a name implies ownership and visibility. So the first of the triple inscriptions declares that the victor shall be conspicuously Gods. I will write upon him the name of my God. There may possibly be an allusion to the golden plate which flamed in the front of the High Priests mitre, and on which was written the unspoken name of Jehovah. How do we possess one another? How do we belong to God? How does God belong to us? There is but one way by which a spirit can possess a spirit--by love; which leads to self-surrender and to practical obedience. And if--as a man writes his name in his books, as a farmer brands on his sheep and oxen the marks that express his ownership--on the redeemed there is written the name of God, that means, whatever else it may mean, perfect love, perfect self-surrender, perfect obedience. That is the perfecting of the Christian relationship which is begun here on earth. In the preceding letter to Sardis we were told that the victors name should not be blotted out of the book of life. Here the same thought is suggested by a converse metaphor. The name of the victor is written on the rolls of the city; and the name of the city is stamped on the forehead of the victor. That is to say, the affinity which even here and now has knit men who believe in Jesus Christ to an invisible order, where is their true mother-city and metropolis, will then be uncontradicted by any inconsistencies, unobscured by the necessary absorption in daily duties and transient aims and interests which often veils to others, and renders less conscious to ourselves, our true belonging to the city beyond the sea. The last of the triple inscriptions declares that the victor shall be conspicuously Christs. I will write upon him My new name. What is that new name? It is an expression for the sum of the new revelations of what He is, which will flood the souls of the redeemed when they pass from earth. That new name will not obliterate the old one--God forbid! It will do away with the ancient, earth-begun relation of dependence and faith and obedience. Jesus Christ is the same … for ever; and His name in the heavens, as upon earth, is Jesus the Saviour. That new name no man fully knows, even when he has entered on its possession, and carries it on his forehead; for the infinite Christ, who is the manifestation of the infinite God, can never be comprehended, much less exhausted, even by the united perceptions of a redeemed universe, but for ever and ever more and more will well out from Him. His name shall last as long as the sun, and blaze when the sun himself is dead. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar. (For construction, oo nikwn, poihsw auton , see on Rev_2:26) The "overcoming" is a present continuous process, but will have a termination, and then he who has faithfully fought the daily battle will be made a pillar, steadfast, immovable. St. John may be alluding to

(1) the two pillars of Solomon"s temple set up in the porch, and called Jachin (ykiy he will establish) and Boaz (Bo, in him is strength); see 1Ki_7:15, 21 and 2Ch_3:17. Both names signify steadfastness and permanence, and would serve to render emphatic the superiority in these respects of the reward to come when compared with the evanescent nature of present suffering. A pillar is constantly used as a figure of strength and durability. (see Jer_1:18 Gal_2:9)

(2) A contrast may be intended between the immovableness of the Christian"s future position and the liability of pillars in the Philadelphian temples to succumb to the effects of the frequent earthquakes which took place there (see on ver. 7). Such pillars, moreover, were frequently sculptured in human shape.

(3) Matthew Henry suggests that a reference may be intended to monumental pillars bearing inscriptions; the signification being "a monumental pillar of the free and powerful grace of God, never to be defaced or removed; not a support heaven needing no such props." But it seems much more likely that St. John is alluding to the Hebrew temple. In the temple. The temple is naov , the shrine, the dwelling place of God, not ieron , the whole extent of the sacred buildings. The latter word occurs often in St. John"s Gospel, but never in the Apocalypse. The temple in the Revelation is the abode of God, the sacred shrine into which all may be privileged to enter, both in this world and in the world to come. Of my God. (see note on Rev_3:2 Rev_2:7) And he shall go no more out. "And out of it he shall in no wise go out more:" such is the full force of the Greek. The conqueror"s period of probation will be over, and he shall be for ever free from the possibility of falling away. Trench quotes St. Augustine: "Quis non desideret illam civi-tatem, unde amicus non exit, quo inimicus non intrat?" And I will write upon him the name of my God. (cf. Rev_22:4, "His name shall be in their foreheads;" and Rev_9:4, "Those which have not the seal of God in their foreheads;" the former passage referring to the elect in heaven, the latter distinguishing Christians on earth from their heathen oppressors) In the passage under consideration the action is future; it does not refer to holy baptism, but to the sealing of the faithful upon their entrance into glory a sealing which shall settle for ever, and make all things sure. "To write the name upon" anything is a common figurative expression in Hebrew to denote taking absolute possession of, and making completely one"s own. Thus Joab fears that Rabbah may be called after his name, i.e. looked upon as his, if David should be absent at the capture of it. (2Sa_12:28; cf. also Num_6:27) The struggling Christian is encouraged by hearing that a time will come when he will without any doubt become God"s own, incapable of being removed or claimed by other. In the rabbinical book, "Bava Bathra," 75. 2, it is noted that there are three applications of the name of God:

(1) to the just; (Isa_43:7)

(2) to the Messiah; (Jer_23:6)

(3) to Jerusalem. (Eze_48:35)

A reference may be intended to the frontlet of the high priest, upon which was inscribed, "Holiness to the Lord". (Exo_28:36) The inscription is threefold:

(1) the name of God;

(2) the name of the new Jerusalem;

(3) the name of Christ.

For God was the Christian maintaining his warfare; to the Church, the new Jerusalem, was he rendering this service; under Christ, as Captain, was the fight being accomplished. Again, the victorious Christian was

(1) to belong completely to God;

(2) to possess the citizenship of the new Jerusalem;

(3) to enter into the glory of Christ, which was the new name, that which he knew not yet.

We can here trace an analogy to the baptismal formula.

(1) The name of God the Father, whose we are made;

(2) God the Holy Ghost, whose indwelling guides and sustains his Church, the new Jerusalem;

(3) God the Son, by whose Name we shall enter glory.

And the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem; rather, the city... new Jerusalem (see Revised Version). In Eze_48:35 the name given to the city Jerusalem is Jehovah Shammah, "the Lord is there;" and in Jer_33:16 Jehovah Tsidkenu, "the Lord our Righteousness." Either of these may be meant; but, as Alford points out, the holy name itself has already been inscribed. In any case, the victorious one is to be openly acknowledged a citizen of the new Jerusalem. The old Jerusalem was destroyed, and her citizens scattered; but a new Jerusalem, of which the true Israelites are the citizens, should reunite the faithful. It is noticeable that without exception, throughout the Revelation, St. John uses the Hebraic form of the name Ierousalhm , while in the Gospel Ierosoluma always occurs. He almost seems to distinguish thus between the earthly Jerusalem and the heavenly the home of the true Israel. Which cometh down out of heaven from my God. "Which cometh down" (h katabainousa), a grammatical anomaly. (cf. ver. 11; Rev_2:20 and Rev_3:12) The name "new Jerusalem" is always coupled in the Revelation with the phrase, "coming down from heaven". (Rev_21:2, Rev_21:10) The spirituality and holiness of the Church is thus set forth, since its being is wholly due to God, in its creation and sustenance. And I will write upon him my new name; and mine own new name (Revised Version). This is not any of the names given in the Revelation, but that referred to in Rev_19:12, oudei autov , which no one knew except himself. The passage is a promise that when Christ makes us completely his own by writing his own new name on us, he will admit us into his full glory, which is at present incomprehensible to us. Such comprehension is one of the things "which shall be hereafter", (Rev_1:19) and which cannot now be known to us, "for now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known". (1Co_13:12)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Revelation

VI. - THE VICTOR’S LIFE-NAMES

Rev 3:12.

The eyes which were as a flame of fire saw nothing to blame in the Philadelphian Church, and the lips out of which came the two-edged sword that cuts through all hypocrisy to the discerning of the thoughts and intents of the heart, spoke only eulogium- ‘Thou hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name.’ But however mature and advanced may be Christian experience, it is never lifted above the possibility of temptation; so, with praise, there came warning of an approaching hour which would try the mettle of this unblamed Church. Christ’s reward for faithfulness is not immunity from, but strength in, trial and conflict. As long as we are in the world there will be forces warring against us; and we shall have to fight our worst selves and the tendencies which tempt us to prefer the visible to the unseen, and the present to the future. So the Church which had no rebuke received the solemn injunction: ‘Hold fast that thou hast; let no man take thy crown.’ There is always need of struggle, even for the most mature, if we would keep what we have. The treasure will be filched from slack hands; the crown will be stricken from a slumbering head. So it is not inappropriate that the promise to this Church should be couched in the usual terms, ‘to him that overcometh,’ and the conclusion to be drawn is the solemn and simple one that the Christian life is always a conflict, even to the end.

The promise contained in my text presents practically but a twofold aspect of that future blessedness; the one expressed in the clause, ‘I will make him a pillar’; the other expressed in the clauses referring to the writing upon him of certain names. I need not do more than again call attention to the fact that here, as always, Jesus Christ represents Himself as not only allocating the position and determining the condition, but as shaping, and moulding, and enriching the characters of the redeemed, and ask you to ponder the question. What in Him does that assumption involve?

Passing on, then, to the consideration of these two promises more closely, let us deal with them singly. There is, first, the steadfast pillar; there is, second, the threefold inscription.

I. The steadfast pillar.

Now I take it that the two clauses which refer to this matter are closely connected. ‘I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out.’ In the second clause the figure is dropped, and the point of the metaphor is brought out more clearly. The stately column in the temples, with which these Philadelphian Christians, dwelling in the midst of the glories of Greek architecture, were familiar, might be, and often has been, employed as a symbol of many things. Here it cannot mean the office of sustaining a building, or pre-eminence above others, as it naturally lends itself sometimes to mean. For instance, the Apostle Paul speaks of the three chief apostles in Jerusalem, and says that they ‘seemed to be pillars’; by which pre-eminence and the office of maintaining the Church are implied. But that obviously cannot be the special application of the figure here, inasmuch as we cannot conceive of even redeemed men sustaining that temple in the heavens, and also inasmuch as the promise here is perfectly universal, and is given to all that overcome - that is to say, to all the redeemed. We must, therefore, look in some other direction. Now, the second of the two clauses which are thus linked together seems to me to point in the direction in which we are to look. ‘He shall go no more out.’ A pillar is a natural emblem of stability and permanence, as poets in many tongues and in many lands have felt it to be. I remember one of our own quaint English writers who speaks of men who are bottomed on the basis of a firm faith, mounting up with the clear shaft of a shining life, and having their persevering tops garlanded about, according to God’s promise, ‘I will give thee a crown of life.’ That idea of stability, of permanence, of fixedness, is the one that is prominent in the metaphor here.

But whilst the general notion is that of stability and permanence, do not let us forget that it is permanence and stability in a certain direction, for the pillar is ‘in the temple of My God.’ Now I would recall to you the fact that in other parts of Scripture we find the present relation of Christian men to God set forth under a similar metaphor: ‘Ye are the temple of the living God’; or again, ‘In whom ye are builded for a habitation of God through the Spirit’; or again, in that great word which is the foundation of all such symbols, ‘We will come and make our abode with Him.’ So that the individual believer and the community of all such are, even here and now, the dwelling-place of God. And whilst there are ideas of dignity and grace attaching to the metaphor of the pillar, the underlying meaning of it is substantially that the individual souls of redeemed men shall be themselves parts of, and collectively shall constitute, the temple of God in the heavens.

This book of the Apocalypse has several points of view in regard to that great symbol. It speaks, for instance, of there being no temple therein,’ by which is meant the cessation of all material and external worships such as belong to earth. It speaks also of God and the Lamb as themselves being ‘the Temple thereof.’ And here we have the converse idea that not only may we think of the redeemed community as dwelling in God and Christ, but of God and Christ as dwelling in the redeemed community. The promise, then, is of a thrilling consciousness that God is in us, a deeper realization of His presence, a fuller communication of His grace, a closer touch of Him, far beyond anything that we can conceive of on earth, and yet being the continuation and the completion of the earthly experiences of those in whom God dwells by their faith, their love, and their obedience. We have nothing to say about the new capacities for consciousness of God which may come to redeemed souls when the veils of flesh and sense, and the absorption in the present drop away. "We have nothing to say, because we know nothing about the new manifestations and more intimate touches which may correspond to these new capacities. There are vibrations of sounds too rapid or too slow for our ears as at present organized to catch. But whether these be too shrill or too deep to be heard, if the ear were more sensitive there would be sound where there is silence, and music in the waste places. So with new organs, with new capacities, there will be a new and a deeper sense of the presence of God; and utterances of His lips too profound to be caught by us now, or too clear and high to be apprehended by our limited sense, will then thunder into melody and with clear notes sound His praises. There are rays of light in the spectrum, at both ends of it, as yet not perceptible to human eyes; but then ‘we shall, in Thy light, see light ‘flaming higher and deeper than we can do now. We dwell in God here if we dwell in Christ, and we dwell in Christ if He dwell in us, by faith and love. But in the heavens the indwelling shall be more perfect, and transcend all that we know now.

The special point in regard to which that perfection is expressed here is to be kept prominent. ‘He shall go no more out.’ Permanence, and stability, and uninterruptedness in the communion and consciousness of an indwelling God, is a main element in the glory and blessedness of that future life. Stability in any fashion comes as a blessed hope to us, who know the curse of constant change, and are tossing on the unquiet waters of life. It is blessed to think of a region where the seal of permanence will be set on all delights, and our blessedness will be like the bush in the desert, burning and yet not consumed. But the highest form of that blessedness is the thought of stable, uninterrupted, permanent communion with God and consciousness of His dwelling in us. The contrast forces itself upon us between that equable and unvarying communion and the ups and downs of the most uniform Christian life here - to-day thrilling in every nerve with the sense of God, to-morrow dead and careless. Sometimes the bay is filled with flashing waters that leap in the sunshine; sometimes, when the tide is out, there is only a long stretch of grey and oozy mud. It shall not be always so. Like lands on the equator, where the difference between midsummer and midwinter is scarcely perceptible, either in length of day or in degree of temperature, that future will be a calm continuance, a uniformity which is not monotony, and a stability which does not exclude progress.

I cannot but bring into contrast with that great promise he shall go no more out ‘an incident in the gospels. Christ and the Twelve were in the upper room, and He poured out His heart to them, and their hearts burned within them. But they went out to the Mount of Olives ‘- He to Gethsemane and to Calvary; Judas to betray and Peter to deny; all to toil and suffer, and sometimes to waver in their faith. ‘He shall go no more out.’ Eternal glory and unbroken communion is the blessed promise to the victor who is made by Christ ‘a pillar in the temple of My God.’

II. Now, secondly, notice the threefold inscription.

We have done with the metaphor of the pillar altogether. We are not to think of anything so incongruous as a pillar stamped with writing, a monstrosity in Grecian architecture. But it is the man himself on whom Christ is to write the threefold name. The writing of a name implies ownership and visibility.

So the first of the triple inscriptions declares that the victor shall be conspicuously God’s. ‘I will write upon him the name of My God.’ There may possibly be an allusion to the golden plate which flamed in the front of the high priest’s mitre, and on which was written the unspoken name of Jehovah. But whether that be so or no, the underlying ideas are these two which I have already referred to - complete ownership, and that manifested in the very front of the character.

How do we possess one another? How do we belong to God? How does God belong to us? There is but one way by which a spirit can possess a spirit - by love, which leads to self-surrender and to practical obedience. And if - as a man writes his name in his books, as a farmer brands on his sheep and oxen the marks that express his ownership - on the redeemed there is written the name of God, that means, whatever else it may mean, perfect love, perfect self -surrender, perfect obedience, that the whole nature shall be owned, and know itself owned, and be glad to be owned, by God. That is the perfecting of the Christian relationship which is begun here on earth. And if we here yield ourselves to God and depart from that foolish and always frustrated attempt to be our own masters and owners, so escaping the misery and burden of self -hood, and entering into the liberty of the children of God, we shall reach that blessed state in which there will be no murmuring and incipient rebellions, no disturbance of our inward submission, no breach in our active obedience, no holding back of anything that we have or are; but we shall be wholly God’s - that is, wholly possessors of ourselves, and blessed thereby. ‘He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life, the same shall find it.’ And that Name will be stamped on us that every eye that looks, whoever they may be, shall know ‘whose we are and whom we serve.’

The second inscription declares that the victor conspicuously belongs to the City. Our time will not allow of my entering at all upon the many questions that gather round that representation of ‘the New Jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven.’ I must content myself with simply pointing to the possible allusion here to the promise in the preceding letter to Sardis. There we were told that the victor’s name should not ‘be blotted out of the Book of Life’; and that Book of Life suggested the idea of the burgess-roll of the city, as well as the register of those that truly live. Here the same thought is suggested by a converse metaphor. The name of the victor is written on the rolls of the city, and the name of the city is stamped on the forehead of the victor. That is to say, the affinity which, even here and now, has knit men who believe in Jesus Christ to an invisible order, where is their true mother-city and metropolis, will then be uncontradicted by any inconsistencies, unobscured by the necessary absorption in daily duties and transient aims and interests, which often veils to others, and renders less conscious to ourselves, our true belonging to the city beyond the sea. The name of the city shall be stamped upon the victor. That, again, is the perfecting and the continuation of the central heart of the Christian life here, the consciousness that we are come to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and belong to another order of things than the visible and material around us.

The last of the triple inscriptions declares that the victor shall be conspicuously Christ’s. ‘I will write upon him My new name.’ All the three inscriptions link themselves, not with earlier, but with later parts of this most artistically constructed book of the Revelation; and in a subsequent portion of it we read of a new name of Christ’s, which no man knoweth save Himself. "What is that new name? It is an expression for the sum of the new revelations of what He is, which will flood the souls of the redeemed when they pass from earth. That new name will not obliterate the old one - God forbid! It will not do away with the ancient, earth-begun relation of dependence and faith and obedience. ‘Jesus Christ is the same . . . for ever’: and His name in the heavens, as upon earth, is Jesus the Saviour. But there are abysses in Him which no man moving amidst the incipiencies and imperfections of this infantile life of earth can understand. Not until we possess can we know the depths of wisdom and knowledge, and of all other blessed treasures which are stored in Him. Here we touch but the fringe of His great glory; yonder we shall penetrate to its central flame.

That new name no man fully knows, even when he has entered on its possession and carries it on his forehead; for the infinite Christ, who is the manifestation of the infinite God, can never be comprehended, much less exhausted, even by the united perceptions of a redeemed universe; but for ever and ever, more and more will well out from Him. His name shall last as long as the sun, and blaze when the sun himself is dead.

‘I will write upon him My new name’ was said to a church, and while the eulogium was, ‘Thou hast not denied My name.’ If we are to pierce the heart and the glory there, we must begin on its edges here. If the name is to be on our foreheads then, we must bear in our body the marks of the Lord Jesus - the brand of ownership impressed on the slave’s palm. In the strength of the name we can overcome; and if we overcome. His name will hereafter blaze on our foreheads - the token that we are completely His for ever, and the pledge that we shall be growingly made like unto Him.

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:12 Victorious Christians are secure in God’s household since, like pillars, . . . they will never have to leave it. • The name of . . . God that is inscribed on them portrays God’s ownership and the security Christians thus enjoy (see 7:4; 14:1). • The new Jerusalem is not a realm constructed by humans, but is God’s gift from heaven (21:2-10). • A new name was a sign of God’s blessing (see also 2:17); Abram, Jacob, Simon, and others were given new names (Gen 17:5; 32:28; John 1:42).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rev 3:12. [51] Ναῷ) A recent error has λαῷ.[52] See App. on this passage, Ed. ii.

[51] Bengel is silent, indeed, respecting the pillar, both here and in der Erkl. Offenb. (as S. R. Ernesti admonishes, Bibl. th. Noviss. T. T. p. 708); but I think that it should not be concealed, that he endeavoured to illustrate the phrase in den LX. Reden, p. 155, sq., using these words:—Der Tempel Gottes ist, das Heiligthum Gottes. In demselben eine Säule abgeben, ist eine sehr grosse Ehre. Sie gehöret, ganz in jene Welt, und da ist eine immerwährende Ehre, denn er wird nicht mehr hinauskommen. So lang der Tempel selber steht, wird auch der Pfeiler darinn stehen. Wann einer in der Welt schon etwa viel zu bedeuten hat, ist ein General oder Gesandter, oder Staats-Minister, auf welchem ein Königreich, als auf einer Säule, ruhet; so kann er über eine Weile gesturzet und weggethan werden, dass man kaum weiss, wo er hingekommen ist. Aber ein Pfeiler in Gottes Tempel komnt nimmer hinaus. (Comp. Rev 22:5, end. See also Gal 2:9.)—E. B.

[52] Viz. in the Elzev. Rec. Text of 1624.—E.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev_3:12. As in all the epistles, so here, the concluding promise to the victor (cf. Rev_3:11) proceeds to the time of eternal glory after the coming of the Lord. This is, besides, especially indicated here by the expression τ. καιν. Ἰερους., κ.τ.λ. The incorrect reference to the Church militant,[1501] or the Church militant and triumphant,[1502] causes the most perverted interpretations of individual points. Thus N. de Lyra interprets, by understanding ἘΝ Τ. ΝΑῷ Τ. Θ. Μ. and Τ. ΠΌΛΕΩς Τ. Θ. Μ. of the Church militant, and the ΠΟΙΉΣΩ ΑὐΤ. ΣΤΎΛΟΝ, recalling Gal_2:9 : Brave and powerful in faith, not only for himself, but also for comforting and sustaining others; and remarks on ἜΞΩ Οὐ ΜῊ ἘΞΈΛΘῌ ἜΤΙ, by apostasy, not by excommunication; on ΓΡ. ΈΠʼ ΑὐΤ. Τ. ὌΝ Τ. Θ. Μ., for they [viz., bishops] represent in the Church the person of God; on ΚΑΤΑΒ. ἙΚ Τ. ΟὐΡ.: For the Church militant is ruled and directed by the Holy Spirit; and on Τ. ὌΝ, Μ. ΤῸ ΚΑΙΝΌΝ: As the Lord himself at the circumcision was called Jesus, and afterwards Christ, so believers are first called disciples of Jesus, and then[1503] Christians.[1504] Similar distortions occur in Grot.,[1505] Wetst.,[1506] etc. The correct reference to the future glory[1507] is not in any way, as with Beng., to be so limited that the first promise ποιήσω αὐτ. στύλον ἐν τ. ναῷ τ. θ. μ. is fulfilled already at the time of Rev_7:15, and before that of ch. 19, on the ground that there will be no temple in the new Jerusalem.[1508] For if it be said that in the new Jerusalem there will be no special place for the worship and revelation of God, as God himself will be immediately near all the blessed, this does not prevent, that, according to an idea of an entirely different kind, but of essentially the same meaning, the entire community of perfected believers is contemplated as the temple of God, in which individuals may appear as pillars. This is only a transfer of the figure of the temporal to that of the heavenly communion of saints;[1509] while the figure contains a significant feature, founded neither upon Isa_22:23,[1510] nor 1Ki_7:15 sqq.,[1511] in that[1512] by being compared not to foundation-stones, but to the pillars of the temple,[1513] they are represented in their immutable firmness (κ. ἔξω, κ.τ.λ.) and glorious adornment. Incorrectly, Eichh.:[1514] The friends of the King, having more intimate access to him, who are admitted to his counsels, maybe called columns.

καὶ ἔξω οὐ μὴ ἐξέλθῃ ἔτι. The subject is not ὁ στύλος,[1515] but ὁ νικῶν.[1516] Therefore the remark on ἐξέλθῃ is in no wise necessary, that the verb as intransitive expresses the[1517] sense of a passive.[1518] He who once, in the sense above indicated, is made a victor in the temple of God, henceforth shall no more go forth, either voluntarily (viz., by a fall), or under constraint.

ΚΑῚ ΓΡΆΨΩ ἘΠʼ ΑΥΤῸΝ ΤῸ ὌΝΟΜΑ ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ ΜΟΥ. Cf. in general Tr. Bara bathra, p. 75, Revelation 2 :[1519] R. Samuel … says that R. Jochanan said that three are called by the name of God; e.g., the righteous,[1520] the Messiah,[1521] and Jerusalem.[1522]

ἘΠʼ ΑὐΤΌΝ, viz., upon the victor,[1523] not upon the pillar.[1524] Areth. says more accurately: ἘΠῚ ΤῸΝ ΝΟΗΤῸΝ ΣΤΎΛΟΝ [on the mental pillar]; yet here the ΑὐΤΌΝ is entirely identical with the preceding object (ΠΟΙΉΣΩ) ΑὐΤΌΝ. If the question be asked as to where the inscription is to be regarded as written, the answer is to be given otherwise than Rev_2:17, and according to Rev_14:1, Rev_22:4 (cf. Rev_17:5, Rev_7:3): upon the forehead. Since the ΝΑΌς is mentioned, the thought is closely connected therewith of the inscription upon the high priests[1525] diadem, קרש ליהוה;[1526] and that, too, the more as by ΤῸ ὌΝΟΜΑ Τ. Θ. Μ. ft. the holy name יהוה[1527] is meant.[1528] At all events,[1529] the holy and blessed state of belonging to God is expressed.

So, too, the name of the city of Godwhich is arbitrarily traced to a breast-shield of the wearer, instead of the names of the twelve tribes[1530]designates the right of citizenship in the new Jerusalem.[1531] The name city need not, however, be derived from Eze_48:35,[1532]although the description (Rev_21:3 sqq.) is applicable as an exposition of that significant designation,but John himself calls the city of God Ἡ ΚΑΙΝῊ ἹΕΡΟΥΣΑΛΉΜ.

Ἡ ΚΑΤΑΒΑΊΝΟΥΣΑ, Κ.Τ.Λ. The construction as Rev_1:5. The meaning of the expression is elucidated by ch. 21. Falsely rationalizing, not only Grot.: It has been procured by the wonderful kindness of God, but even Calov.:[1533] It has God as its author.

Κ. Τ. ὌΝΟΜΆ ΜΟΥ ΤῸ ΚΑΙΝῸΝ. Not the name mentioned in Rev_19:16,[1534] but that meant in Rev_19:12.[1535] But he who bears the new name of the Lord is thereby designated as eternally belonging to the Lord as though with the Lords own signature. If, however, the name of the Lord in this sense and significance can be placed alongside of that of God and the new Jerusalem, the Lord must verily be the one that in Rev_3:7 he professes to be; in that also he says of himself ΠΟΙΉΣΩ, ΓΡΆΨΩ, he proclaims himself as one who is to be recognized as the eternal King of the kingdom of heaven.

[1501] N. de Lyra, Areth., Grot., Wetst., Schöttg., etc.

[1502] Vitr., C. a Lap., Stern, etc.

[1503] Acts 11.

[1504] The Jesuit C. a Lap. (cf. the brethren of his order, Rib. Vieg.) thinks that, according to the new name which the Lord received at his circumcision, the victors will be called Jesuani or Jesuits.

[1505] οὐ μὴ ἐξέλθῃ: Will not be compelled again to flee as under Nero. τ. ὄν. τ. πολ. τ. θεμ.: This name is the Catholic Church, viz., as it was free and flourishing under the Christian emperors.

[1506] στυλ., in opposition to the earthquakes which were frequent at Philadelphia. Cf. Rev_3:1.

[1507] Calov., Beng., Eichh., Heinr., Ew., De Wette, Hengstenb., Ebrard, Klief.

[1508] Rev_21:22.

[1509] Cf. 1Co_3:16 sqq.; Eph_2:19 sqq.; 1Pe_2:5 sqq.

[1510] Eichh., Ew.

[1511] Grot., Vitr., Züll.

[1512] Cf. De Wette, etc.

[1513] Gal_2:9.

[1514] Cf. Rev_3:8.

[1515] Eich., Ebr.

[1516] Ew., De Wette, Hengstenb., Klief.

[1517] Vitr., Eichh., Ew.

[1518] Possibly ἐκβάλλεσθαι. Cf. Mar_4:21; Gen_43:18; Mat_8:12; Mat_9:33. Syr.

[1519] In Wetst.

[1520] Isa_43:7.

[1521] Jer_23:6.

[1522] Eze_48:35.

[1523] Vitr., Calov., Schöttg., Eichh., Heinr., Ewald, Züll., Hengstenb., Ebrard.

[1524] Grot., De Wette.

[1525] Cf. Rev_1:6.

[1526] Schöttg., Eichh., Ewald.

[1527] Cf. Rev_1:8.

[1528] Grot., Vitr., etc.

[1529] Calov., Hengstenb., Ebrard.

[1530] Schöttg.

[1531] Cf. Rev_21:3 sqq.

[1532] Vitr., Ewald, etc.

[1533] Cf. Luk_20:4; Jam_3:15.

[1534] Grot., Calov., Vitr., Hengstenb.

[1535] Eichh., De Wette, Stern, Ebiard, etc.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev 3:12 . The reward of steadfastness here is a stable relation to God and absolute (trebly verified) assurance of eternal life, permanence ἐν τῷ ναῷ (verbally inconsistent with Rev 21:22 ) τοῦ θεοῦ μου (four times in this verse). From Strabo (xii. 868 [905] ἥ τε φιλαδελφία … οὐδὲ τοὺς τοίχους ἔχει πιστούς , ἀλλὰ καθʼ ἡμέραν τρόπον τινὰ σαλεύονται καὶ διΐστανται : xiii. 936 B., πόλις φιλ . σεισμῶν πλήρής · οὐ γὰρ διαλείπουσιν οἱ τοῖχοι διϊστάμενοι , καὶ ἄλλοτʼ ἄλλο μέρος τῆς πόλεως κακοπαθῶν , κ . τ . λ .) we learn that the city was liable to frequent and severe earthquakes, one of which had produced such ruin a while ago (Tac Ann. ii. 47) that the citizens had to be exempted from Imperial taxation and assisted to repair their buildings. These local circumstances ( cf. Juv. vi. 411; Dio Cass. lxviii. 25; Renan, 335) lend colour to this promise, which would also appeal to citizens of a city whose numerous festivals and temples are said to have won for it the sobriquet of “a miniature Athens” ( E. Bi. 3692). The promise is alluded to in Ep. Lugd., where God’s grace is said to have “delivered the weak and set them up as στύλους ἑδραίους able by means of their patience to stand all angry onsets of the evil one,” and Attalus of Pergamos is termed a στύλον καὶ ἑδραίωμα of the local Christians. Permanent communion with God is further expressed in terms of the widespread ethnic belief that to be ignorant of a god’s name meant inability to worship him, whereas to know that name implied the power of entering into fellowship with him. “Just as writing a name on temple-walls puts the owner of the name in continual union with the deity of the temple, so for early man the knowledge, invocation and vain repetition of the deity’s name constitutes in itself an actual, if mystic, union with the deity named” (Jevons’ Introd. Hist. Religion , 1896, p. 245; cf. Jastrow, p. 173). καὶ γράψω , κ . τ . λ ., inscriptions upon pillars being a common feature of Oriental architecture, cf. Cooke’s North Semitic Inscriptions , p. 266, names on pillars; also Reitzenstein’s Poimandres , 20. The provincial priest of the Imperial cultus erected his statue in the temple at the close of his year’s official reign, inscribing on it his own name and his father’s, his place of birth and year of office. Hence some of the mysterious imagery of this verse, applied to Christians as priests of God in the next world. This is more probable than to suspect an allusion to what was written on the high priest’s forehead (Exo 28:36 , cf. Rev 7:3 ; Rev 14:1 ; Rev 17:5 ; Rev 22:4 ). Pillars were also, of course, sculptured now and then in human shape. For the first ( a ) of the three names, cf. Baba Bathra , 75, 2: R. Samuel ait R. Jochanan dixisse tres appellari nomine Dei, justos (Isa 43:7 ), Messiam (Jer 23:6 ), Hierosolyma (Eze 48:35 ); also Targ. Jerus. on Exod. xxviii. 30, quisquis memorat illud nomen sanctum [ i.e. , τετραγράμματον ] in hora necessitatis, eripitur, et occulta reteguntur. Where a name was equivalent in one sense to personality and character, to have a divine name conferred on one or revealed to one was equivalent to being endowed with divine power. The divine “hidden name” ( Asc. Isa. i. 7 Jewish: “as the Lord liveth whose name has not been sent into this world,” cf. Rev 8:7 ) was (according to En. lxix. 14f.) known to Michael, and had talismanic power over dæmons. Perhaps an allusion to this also underlies the apocalyptic promise, the talismanic metaphor implying that God grants to the victorious Christian inviolable safety against evil spirits ( cf. Rom 8:38-39 ). The second ( b ) name denotes ( cf. Isa 56:5 , Eze 48:35 ) that the bearer belongs not merely to God but to the heavenly city and society of God. Since rabbinic speculation was sure that Abraham had the privilege of knowing the mysterious new name for Jerusalem in the next world, John claims this for the average and honest Christian. On the connexion between the divine name and the temple, see Mal 2:9Mal 2:9 ; Mal 2:14Mal 2:14 , Jdt 9:8 , etc. The third ( c ) “my own new name” (Rev 19:12 ) is reflected in Asc. Isa. ix. 5 (the Son of God, et nomen eius non potes audire donec de carne exibis ); it denotes some esoteric, incommunicable, pre-existent (LXX of Psa 71:17 , En. lxix. 26, cf. R. J. 249, 344) title, the knowledge of which meant power to invoke and obtain help from its bearer. The whole imagery (as in Rev 2:17 , Rev 19:12 ) is drawn from the primitive superstition that God’s name. like a man’s name, must be kept secret, lest if known it might be used to the disadvantage of the bearer (Frazer’s Golden Bough , 2nd ed. i. 443 f.). The close tie between the name and the personality in ancient life lent the former a secret virtue. Especially in Egyptian and in Roman belief, to learn a god’s name meant to share his power, and often “the art of the magician consisted in obtaining from the gods a revelation of their sacred names”. The point made by the prophet here is that the Christian God bestows freely upon his people the privilege of invoking his aid successfully, and of entering into his secret nature; also, perhaps, of security in the mysterious future across death. See the famous ch. 125. of E. B. D. where the successive doors will not allow Nu to pass till he tells them their names ( cf. chapters cxli. f.). Ignatius tells the Philadelphians (obviously referring to this passage, ad Phil. 6) that people unsound upon the truth of Jesus Christ are to him στῆλαι καὶ τάφοι νεκρῶν , ἐφʼ οἶς γέγραπται μόνον ὀνόματα ἀνθρώπων . The μόνον is emphatic. In the survival of 2 Peter during the later conquests which left the other six towns of the Apocalypse more or less ruined, Gibbon (ch. 64.) irrelevantly finds “a pleasing example that the paths of honour and safety may sometimes be the same”.

[905] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[906]. Codex Porphyrianus (sæc. ix.), at St. Petersburg, collated by Tischendorf. Its text is deficient for chap. Rev 2:13-16 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The conclusion, which containeth a promise and a commandment.

That is, the new man shall be turned after his Father, Mother, and head Christ.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

pillar in the temple--In one sense there shall be "no temple" in the heavenly city because there shall be no distinction of things into sacred and secular, for all things and persons shall be holy to the Lord. The city shall be all one great temple, in which the saints shall be not merely stones, as m the spiritual temple now on earth, but all eminent as pillars: immovably firm (unlike Philadelphia, the city which was so often shaken by earthquakes, STRABO [12 and 13]), like the colossal pillars before Solomon's temple, Boaz (that is, "In it is strength") and Jachin ("It shall be established"): only that those pillars were outside, these shall be within the temple.

my God--(See on Rev 2:7).

go no more out--The Greek is stronger, never more at all. As the elect angels are beyond the possibility of falling, being now under (as the Schoolmen say) "the blessed necessity of goodness," so shall the saints be. The door shall be once for all shut, as well to shut safely in for ever the elect, as to shut out the lost (Mat 25:10; Joh 8:35; compare Isa 22:23, the type, Eliakim). They shall be priests for ever unto God (Rev 1:6). "Who would not yearn for that city out of which no friend departs, and into which no enemy enters?" [AUGUSTINE in TRENCH].

write upon him the name of my God--as belonging to God in a peculiar sense (Rev 7:3; Rev 9:4; Rev 14:1; and especially Rev 22:4), therefore secure. As the name of Jehovah ("Holiness to the Lord") was on the golden plate on the high priest's forehead (Exo 28:36-38); so the saints in their heavenly royal priesthood shall bear His name openly, as consecrated to Him. Compare the caricature of this in the brand on the forehead of the beast's followers (Rev 13:16-17), and on the harlot (Rev 17:5; compare Rev 20:4).

name of the city of my God--as one of its citizens (Rev 21:2-3, Rev 21:10, which is briefly alluded to by anticipation here). The full description of the city forms the appropriate close of the book. The saint's citizenship is now hidden, but then it shall be manifested: he shall have the right to enter in through the gates into the city (Rev 22:14). This was the city which Abraham looked for.

new--Greek, "kaine." Not the old Jerusalem, once called "the holy city," but having forfeited the name. Greek, "nea," would express that it had recently come into existence; but Greek, "kaine," that which is new and different, superseding the worn-out old Jerusalem and its polity. "John, in the Gospel, applies to the old city the Greek name Hierosolyma. But in the Apocalypse, always, to the heavenly city the Hebrew name, Hierousalem. The Hebrew name is the original and holier one: the Greek, the recent and more secular and political one" [BENGEL].

my new name--at present incommunicable and only known to God: to be hereafter revealed and made the believer's own in union with God in Christ. Christ's name written on him denotes he shall be wholly Christ's. New also relates to Christ, who shall assume a new character (answering to His "new name") entering with His saints on a kingdom--not that which He had with the Father before the worlds, but that earned by His humiliation as Son of man. GIBBON, the infidel [Decline and Fall, ch. 64], gives an unwilling testimony to the fulfilment of the prophecy as to Philadelphia from a temporal point of view, Among the Greek colonies and churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect,--a column in a scene of ruins--a pleasing example that the paths of honor and safety may sometimes be the same."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. A pillar in the temple] There is probably all allusion here to the two pillars in the temple of Jerusalem, called Jachin and Boaz, stability and strength. The Church is the temple; CHRIST is the foundation on which it is built; and his ministers are the PILLARS by which, under him, it is adorned and supported. St. Paul has the same allusions, Ga 2:9.

I will write upon him the name of my God] That is, I will make him a priest unto myself. The priest had written on his forehead ליהוה קודש kodesh laihovah, "Holiness to the Lord."

And the name of the city of my God] As the high priest had on his breastplate the names of the twelve tribes engraved, and these constituted the city or Church of God; Christ here promises that in place of them the twelve apostles, representing the Christian Church, shall be written, which is called the New Jerusalem, and which God has adopted in place of the twelve Jewish tribes.

My new name.] The Saviour of ALL; the light that lightens the GENTILES; the CHRIST; the Anointed One; the only GOVERNOR of his Church; and the Redeemer of ALL mankind.

There is here an intimation that the Christian Church is to endure for ever; and the Christian ministry to last as long as time endures: He shall go no more out for ever.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(12) Will I make a pillar.—A pillar, and an unshaken one. There may be reference to the frequent earthquakes which had shaken down buildings in their city. Those who overcome will prove real supports to the great Christian temple. (Comp. Gal_2:9.)

Write upon him.—Or, grave upon it. On the sides of the four marble pillars which survive as ruins of Philadelphia inscriptions are to be found. The writing would be the name of God, the name of the heavenly Jerusalem and (omit the repetition, “I will write upon him”) the new, unknown name of Christ Himself. The allusion is to the golden frontlet inscribed with the name of Jehovah. (Comp. Rev_22:4.) He will reflect the likeness of God; and not only so, he will bear the tokens—now seen in all clearness—of his heavenly citizenship (Php_3:20; Heb_12:22-23). And a further promise implies that in the day of the last triumph, as there will be new revealings of Christ’s power, there will be unfolded to the faithful and victorious new and higher possibilities of purity. Thus does Scripture refuse to recognise any finality which is not a beginning as well as an end—a landing-stage in the great law of continuity. (See Rev_2:17; Rev_19:12.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. Him that overcometh] Lit. He that overcometh, I will make him, as in Rev_2:26.

a pillar] Used of chief men in the Church in Gal_2:9, and perhaps 1Ti_3:15. All Christians are living-stones in the Temple (Eph_2:20 sqq., 1Pe_2:5), all necessary to its completeness, but some of course filling in it a more important position than others: and such important position is indicated by the image of the “pillars” ll.cc. But here the promise is not for Apostles or their successors only, but for all the faithful: the point is not “he shall be one of the great and beautiful stones on which the others rest,” but “he shall be so placed that he cannot be removed while the whole fabric stands.”

I will write upon him] We repeatedly have in this book the image of the divine Name written on the foreheads of God’s servants: see Rev_7:3, Rev_14:1, Rev_22:4. Hence the inscribing the name is here equally appropriate to the figure and the thing signified: probably the metaphor of the pillar is not dropped, but writing the name on the pillar means the same as writing it on the man.

the name of my God, and the name of the city] Cf. Isa_44:5; Jer_23:6; Jer_33:16; Eze_48:35, for the junction of these two names. The three names joined here are in a manner those of the Trinity, the Church being representative of the Spirit. It is probable that passages like this did much to suggest the use of the sign of the Cross on the forehead, both at Baptism and on other occasions that seemed to call for a profession of faith: and the image of the “new name” (cf. Rev_2:17) harmonises well with the much later usage of conferring a name in Baptism.

which cometh down] Rev_21:2; Rev_21:10.

my new name] See on Rev_2:17, and Rev_19:12 there referred to.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He that hath an ear, let him hear,.... See Gill on Rev 2:7.

.

Revelation 3:14

rev 3:14

rev 3:14

rev 3:14And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,.... Of the city of Laodicea; see Gill on Rev 1:11; there was a church here in the times of the Apostle Paul; by whom it was founded is not known; mention is made of it in Col 2:1, who was now the angel, or pastor of it, whether Epaphras, who is there named, or another, is not certain. According to the Apostolical Constitutions (t), Archippus was ordained bishop of it by the apostles; see Col 4:16. There was a church here in the second century, for Sagaris, bishop of it, suffered martyrdom in the times of Antoninus Verus (u); and in the "fourth" century, this church was famous for two eminent bishops, Theodorus and Gregory; and in the "fifth" century, it was the metropolitan church of Phrygia, as it was in the "seventh" century, in which age Tyberius, bishop of this place, was in the sixth synod at Constantinople (w); but now it is even without inhabitants (x). This church represents the state of the church, from the end of the spiritual reign of Christ, till the time of his personal appearing and kingdom, to judge the quick and dead; for after the spiritual reign is over, professors of religion will sink into a formality, and into a lukewarm frame of spirit, and into great spiritual sloth and security, Rev 3:15, which will make those times like the times of Noah and of Lot; and such will be the days of the coming of the son of man to judge the world. Its name signifies either "the righteousness of the people"; and so may point at that popular and external righteousness, which the majority of the professors of religion in this period of time will be boasting of, and trusting in; being self-sufficient, and self-dependent, when at the same time they will be naked, as well as poor and blind, Rev 3:17; or it signifies "the judging of the people"; for this church state, at the end of it, will bring on the general judgment; the Judge will now be at the door indeed, standing and knocking; and they that are ready to meet the bridegroom, when he comes, will be admitted into the nuptial chamber, and sit down with him in his throne, in the thousand years' kingdom, at the close of which will be the second resurrection, when all the people, small and great, shall be judged, Rev 3:19.

These things saith the Amen; see Isa 65:16; The word "Amen" is the name of a divine Person with the Jews, and it seems the second Person; for so on those words in Pro 8:30; "then was I by him as one brought up with him", they observe (y), do not read "Amon", the word there used, but "Amen"; and, a little after, "Amen", they say, is the "notaricon", or sign of , "God the faithful King"; they make (z) "Amen" to be one of the names of the second "Sephira", or number in the Cabalistic tree, by whom the second Person in the Godhead seems to be designed: and they say (a), that the word "Amen", by gematry (or numerically) answers to the two names "Jehovah, Adonai". Christ may be so called, because he is the God of truth, and truth itself; and it may be expressive of his faithfulness, both to God his Father, and to his people, in whom all the promises he either made, or received, are yea and amen; and also of the firmness, constancy, and immutability of Christ, in his nature, person, and offices, in his love, fulness of grace, power, blood, and righteousness; and is very appropriately assumed by him now, when he was about to give the finishing stroke to all covenant engagements, and to all promises and prophesies; see Rev 1:18.

The faithful and true witness; who as he was in the days of his flesh; see Gill on Rev 1:5; so he will be at the day of judgment, a swift witness against all ungodly men; and he may the rather take up this title, not only on that account, but to show that the description he gives of the state and condition of this church is just, Rev 3:15; and to engage it to take his advice the more readily, Rev 3:18; and to assure it of the nearness of his coming, Rev 3:20; and to strengthen the faith of his people, and quicken their hope and expectation of the happiness with him promised, Rev 3:21; the same character is given to the Logos, or Word of the Lord, by the Targumist in Jer 42:5, let the Word of the Lord be to us , "for a true and faithful witness"; the very phrase here used,

The beginning of the creation of God; not the first creature that God made, but the first cause of the creation; the first Parent, producer, and efficient cause of every creature; the author of the old creation, who made all things out of nothing in the beginning of time; and of the new creation, the everlasting Father of, everyone that is made a new creature; the Father of the world to come, or of the new age and Gospel dispensation; the Maker of the new heaven and new earth; and so a very fit person to be the Judge of the whole world, to summon all nations before him, and pass the final sentence on them. The phrase is Jewish, and it is a title the Jews give to Metatron, by whom they sometimes mean the Messiah; so those words in Gen 24:2, and Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, they paraphrase thus (b),

""and Abraham said unto his servant", this is Metatron, (or the Mediator,) the servant of God, "the eldest of his house"; for he is , "the beginning of the creation of God", who rules over all that he has; for to him the holy blessed God has given the government of all his hosts.

Christ is the "the Prince", or Governor of all creatures,

(t) L. 7. c. 46. (u) Euseb. Hist. Eccl. l. 4. c. 26. & l. 5. c. 24. (w) Eccl. Hist. Magdeburg. cent. 4. c. 2. p. 3. cent. 5. c. 7. p. 418. cent. 7. c. 2. p. 3. c. 7. p. 112. c. 10. p. 254. (x) Smith. Notitia, p. 150. (y) Zohar in Deut. fol. 121. 4. so in T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 119. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol. 111. 1. Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 46. 1. (z) Cabal. Denud. par. 2. p. 7. (a) Lex. Cabal. p. 130. & Baal Hatturim in Deut. xxviii. 15. (b) Zohar in Gen. fol. 77. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Ver. 12. Will I make a pillar] Pillars are both the firmament and ornament of temples. Understand it of that fulness and constancy both of grace and of glory in heaven.

Which is new Jerusalem] It was a pride in Montanus to overween his Peruza and Tymium (two pelting parishes in Phrygia) and to call them Jerusalem, as if they had been the only churches. (Euseb. v. 15.) And surely, it is nothing else but pride in the Brownists to avow that their churches are nothing less than the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven: that the very crown, sceptre, and throne of Christ’s kingdom consists in them. (See Mr Bailey’s Dissuasive, p. 17.)

My new name] viz. That which he received from his Father in his exaltation, Eph 1:20; Php 2:9.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Him that overcometh - See the notes on Rev 2:7.

Will make a pillar in the temple of my God - See the introductory remarks to this epistle. The promised reward of faithfulness here is, that he who was victorious would be honored as if he were a pillar or column in the temple of God. Such a pillar or column was partly for ornament, and partly for support; and the idea here is, that in that temple he would contribute to its beauty and the justness of its proportions, and would see the same time be honored as if he were a pillar which was necessary for the support of the temple. It is not uncommon in the New Testament to represent the church as a temple, and Christians as parts of it. See 1Co 3:16-17; 1Co 6:19; 2Co 6:16; 1Pe 2:5.

And he shall go no more out - He shall be permanent as a part of that spiritual temple. The idea of “going out” does not properly belong to a pillar; but the speaker here has in his mind the man, though represented as a column. The description of some parts would be applicable more directly to a pillar; in others more properly to a man. Compare Joh 6:37; Joh 10:28-29; 1Jo 2:19, for an illustration of the sentiment here. The main truth here is, that if we reach heaven, our happiness will be secure forever. We shall have the most absolute certainty that the welfare of the soul will no more be perilled; that we shall never be in danger of falling into temptation; that no artful foe shall ever have power to alienate our affections from God; that we shall never die. Though we may change our place, and may roam from world to world until we shall have surveyed all the wonders of creation, yet we shall never “go out of the temple of God.” Compare the notes on Joh 14:2. When we reach the heavenly world our conflicts will be over, our doubts at an end. As soon as we cross the threshold we shall be greeted with the assurance, “he shall go no more out forever.” That is to be our eternal abode, and whatever of joy, or felicity, or glory, that bright world can furnish, is to be ours. Happy moment I when, emerging from a world of danger and of doubt, the soul shall settle down into the calmness and peace of that state where there is the assurance of God himself that that world of bliss is to be its eternal abode!

And I will write upon him the name of my God - Considered as a pillar or column in the temple. The name of God would be conspicuously recorded on it to show that he belonged to God. The allusion is to a public edifice, on the columns of which the names of distinguished and honored persons were recorded; that is, where there is a public testimonial of the respect in which one whose name was thus recorded was held. The honor thus conferred on him “who should overcome” would be as great as if the name of that God whom he served, and whose favor and friendship he enjoyed, were inscribed on him in some conspicuous manner. The meaning is, that he would be known and recognized as belonging to God; the God of the Redeemer himself - indicated by the phrase, “the name of my God.”

And the name of the city of my God - That is, indicating that he belongs to that city, or that the New Jerusalem is the city of his habitation. The idea would seem to be, that in this world, and in. all worlds wherever he goes and wherever he abides, he will be recognized as belonging to that holy city; as enjoying the rights and immunities of such a citizen.

Which is New Jerusalem - Jerusalem was the place where the temple was reared, and where the worship of God was celebrated. It thus came to be synonymous with the church - the dwelling-place of God on earth.

Which cometh down out of heaven from my God - See this explained in the notes on Rev 21:2 ff. Of course this must be a figurative representation, but the idea is plain. It is:

(1)That the church is, in accordance with settled Scripture language, represented as a city - the abode of God on earth.

(2)That is, instead of being built here, or having an earthly origin, it has its origin in heaven.

It is as if it had been constructed there, and then sent down to earth ready formed. The type, the form, the whole structure is heavenly. It is a departure from all proper laws of interpretation to explain this literally, as if a city should be actually let down from heaven; and equally so to infer from this passage, and the others of similar import in this book, that a city will be literally reared for the residence of the saints. If the passage proves anything on either of these points, it is, that a great and splendid city, such as that described in Rev. 21, will literally come down from heavens. But who can believe that? Such an interpretation, however, is by no means necessary. The comparison of the church with a beautiful city, and the fact that it has its origin in heaven, is all that is fairly implied in the passage.

And I will write upon him my new name - See the notes on Rev 2:17. The reward, therefore, promised here is, that he who, by persevering fidelity, showed that he was a real friend of the Saviour, would be honored with a permanent abode in the holy city of his habitation, In the church redeemed and triumphant he would have a perpetual dwelling; and wherever he should be, there would be given him sure pledges that he belonged to him, and was recognized as a citizen of the heavenly world. To no higher honor could any man aspire; and yet that is an honor to which the most humble and lowly may attain by faith in the Son of God.

The Epistle to the Church at Laodicea

The contents of the epistle to the church at Laodicea Rev 3:14-22 are as follows:

The usual salutation to the angel of the church, Rev 3:14, The reference to the attributes of the speaker - the one here referred to being that he was the “Amen,” “the faithful and true witness,” and “the beginning of the creation of God,” Rev 3:14.

(3)The claim that he knew all their works, Rev 3:15.

(4)The characteristic of the church: it was “lukewarm” - neither “cold nor hot,” Rev 3:15.

(5)The punishment threatened, that he would “spue them out of his mouth,” Rev 3:16.

(6)A solemn reproof of their self-confidence, of their ignorance of themselves, an of their pride, when they were in fact poor, and blind, and naked; and a solemn counsel to them to apply to him for those things which would make them truly rich - which would cover up the shame of their nakedness, and which would give them clear spiritual vision, Rev 3:17-18.

(7)A command to repent, in view of the fact that he rebukes and chastens those whom he loves.

(8)An assurance that an opportunity is still offered for repentance, represented by his standing at the door and praying for admittance, Rev 3:20.

(9)A promise to him that should be victorious - in this case, that he should sit down with him on his throne, Rev 3:21; and,

(10)The usual call on those who had ears to hear, to attend to what the Spirit said to the churches.

Laodicea was situated in the southern part of Phrygia, near the junction of the small rivers Asopus and Carpus, on a plain washed at its edges by each. It was about 40 miles from Ephesus, and not far from Colosse and Hierapolis. In the time of Strabo it was a large city; but the frequency of earthquakes, to which this district has been always liable, demolished, long since, a large part of the city, and destroyed many of the inhabitants, and the place was abandoned, and now lies in ruins. It is now a deserted place, called by the Turks Eski-hissar, or Old Castle. From its ruins, ‘which are numerous, consisting of the remains of temples, theaters, etc., it seems to have been situated on six or seven hills, taking up a large space of ground. The whole rising ground on which the city stood is one vast tumulus of ruins, abandoned entirely to the owl and the fox. Col. Leake says, “There are few ancient sites more likely than Laodicea to preserve many curious remains of antiquity beneath the surface of the soil; its opulence, and the earthquakes to which it was subject, rendering it probable that valuable works of art were there buried beneath the ruins of the public and private edifices.”

The neighboring village contains some 50 or 60 people, among whom, on a visit of a recent traveler there, there were only two nominal Christians (circa the mid-19th century). “The name of Christianity,” says Emerson (p. 101), “is forgotten, and the only sounds that disturb the silence of its desertion are the tones of the Muezzin, whose voice from the distant village (Eski-hissar) proclaims the ascendency of Muhammed. Laodicea is even more solitary than Ephesus; for the latter has the prospect of the rolling sea or of a whitening sail to enliven its decay; while the former sits in widowed loneliness, its walls are grass-grown, its temples desolate, its very name has perished.” A thunderstorm gathered on the mountains at a distance while this traveler was examining the ruins of Laodicea. He returned to Eski-hissar, and waited until the fury of the storm had abated, but set off on his journey again before it had entirely ceased to blow and to rain. “We preferred,” says he, “hastening on, to a further delay in that melancholy spot, where everything whispered desolation, and where the very wind that swept impetuously through the valley sounded like the fiendish laugh of time exulting over the destruction of man and his proudest monuments.” See Prof. Stuart, vol. ii. pp. 44, 45; Kitto’s Encyclopedia; “Smith’s Journey to the Seven Churches,” 1671; Leake, Arundell, Hartley, MacFarlane, Pococke, etc. The engraving in this vol. will furnish a representation of the ruins of Laodicea.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God: though by the temple of God in this place some understand the church of Christ on earth, where those always were, and are, and always shall be, most famous, who have overcome temptations best, from the world, the flesh, and the devil; yet, considering that all the promises before made to those who overcome are of another life, it seems best rather to interpret this so, that God would make such a one of fame and renown in heaven, great in the kingdom of heaven, Mat 5:19, to sit upon a throne there, Mat 19:28. He shall have a higher degree in glory, (for stars differ from one another in glory, 1Co 15:41), pillars being not only for support, but ornament, and principal parts in buildings.

And he shall go no more out; he shall have an eternal inheritance, of which he shall not be dispossessed.

And I will write upon him the name of my God; as men use, upon pillars and monuments erected for their own use and honour, to write their names; so I will peculiarly own, and challenge such a one for myself.

And the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem; and I will write upon him: This man is an inhabitant of the new Jerusalem.

And I will write upon him my new name; I will glorify him with that glory of which myself was made partaker, upon my ascension after my resurrection, Joh 17:22,24.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. A pillar—An emblem of his unchangeable permanence in the final heaven; not limited to a few eminent rulers, like the “pillars” of Gal_2:9, but including every saint in the New Jerusalem. Such a pillar is not, like the Jachin and Boaz of Solomon’s temple, outside, but inside—namely, of the living temple, the glorified Church. A tall pillar still stands a most conspicuous object in the city of Philadelphia, reminding the modern traveller of this passage, if it be not the source of the allusion. This permanence is explicitly expressed in the words he shall go no more out. He is, then, a fixed pillar; forever God’s, whose name is written upon him, and the name also of the city which is to be his eternal home. His name is Jehovah, and its name is the New Jerusalem, whose glories are unfolded in 22. In addition to the name of my God, Christ writes upon him his own new name, thus doubling the ownership; a name, as already said, which is not a mere word, but a power; namely, the full, final, glorifying power embraced in the word Jesus, Saviour, Redeemer, and which is new at the glorious resurrection in its renewing effect upon soul and body, and then will be forever and forever new; forever renewing the man in the image of Jesus. Thrice is the phrase my God here repeated; my as a term of claiming affection shared with Christ by all saints: God, as the primordial and eternal author and assurer of the whole great plan; thrice occurring as symbol of the divine threefoldness. In the permanence of the heavenly system and the saints’ abode, the whole Trinity is pledged, with all the omnipotence and immutability of God.

Though we find no temporal promises of prosperity to the little Church, yet it is historically true, that in the midst of the changes of war which have swept over this land, Philadelphia has had a wonderful preservation. The bravery of its inhabitants, whose home overlies the sleeping earthquakes, has ever signalized it in its own defences. On this subject see the impressive language of Gibbon. “In the loss of Ephesus, the Christians deplored the fall of the first angel, the extinction of the first candlestick, of the Revelation; the desolation is complete; and the temple of Diana or the Church of Mary will equally elude the search of the curious traveller. The circus and the three stately theatres of Laodicea are now peopled with wolves and foxes; Sardis is reduced to a miserable village; the God of Mohammed, without a rival or a son, is invoked in the mosques of Thyatira and Pergamos, and the populousness of Smyrna is supported by the foreign trade of the Franks and the Armenians. Philadelphia alone has been saved by prophecy or courage. At a distance from the sea, forgotten by the emperors, encompassed on all sides by the Turks, her valiant citizens defended their religion and freedom above fourscore years, and at length capitulated with the proudest of the Ottomans. Among the Greek colonies and Churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect—a column in a scene of ruins—a pleasing example that the paths of honour and safety may sometimes be the same.” When Brewer visited the place, in 1831, he found the Greek population about 2,000 souls, being three or four hundred families, amid as many thousand Turkish. “As a whole they have, for a century or two past, had a good name among travellers as a civil and hospitable people.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God - I will fix him as beautiful, as useful, and as immovable as a pillar in the church of God. And he shall go out no more - But shall be holy and happy forever. And I will write upon him the name of my God - So that the nature and image of God shall appear visibly upon him. And the name of the city of my God - Giving him a title to dwell in the New Jerusalem. And my new name - A share in that joy which I entered into, after overcoming all my enemies.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

go no more

See, Psa 23:6, contrast, Heb 13:14.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In this verse Christ promises a threefold reward to them that finally overcome all the temptations and trials of this life.

1. They shall be pillars in God’s temple, that is, honourable and glorious members of the triumphant glorified church, and shall have a fixed happiness therein; possibly the Holy Ghost here alludes to the pillars in Solomon’s temple, which were very beautiful.

2. They shall go no more out; the pillars in Solomon’s porch were removed and carried away by the Chaldeans, but these pillars shall be perpetual, their glorious state shall be a fixed, unchangeable state; when all the pillars of the earth shall tremble, these pillars in the temple of heaven shall remain immoveable to eternal ages.

3. As in pillars erected by men their names were written and engraved; in like manner does Christ here promise the inscription of a threefold name upon these pillars, the name of God, the name of the city of God, and his new name.

The name of God signifies the person to be an adopted child of God: the name of the city of God, declares such a person to be a citizen of the New Jerusalem, which is said to come down out of heaven: that is, the knowledge of it comes down to us from God, else we had never known it, nor could ever have conceived of it: and Christ’s new name, is that of the glorious Redeemer, and signifies him that overcometh shall be honoured as one of Christ’s redeemed ones; the whole name put together, to wit, the name of God, the name of the city of God, and the new name, signifies an adopted son of God, and heir of the New Jerusalem, and a living member of Christ the glorified Redeemer; thus shall it be done to them whom Christ delighteth to honour: in the New Jerusalem above shall they spend an eternity in the rapturous and ravishing admiration of that love which Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bestowed upon them, in making them first the adopted and now the glorified sons of God.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. I will make a pillar. A term implying strength, permanence and honor. In the temple. Not in any material temple, but in the church, either on earth or in heaven. The latter is here meant. The New Jerusalem has no temple in it because it is all temple. Go no more out. Always dwell there. I will write upon. When one enters the church, the spiritual temple below, three names are recorded in his baptismal formula. When he enters the kingdom above, three names are again written upon him; the name of God, of the heavenly city, and Christ's heavenly name.

The Church at Laodicea.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

The one who conquers, I will make like a pillar in the temple of my God

Here "The one who conquers" refers to anyone who conquers. See how you translated this in Revelation 2:7. The "pillar" represents an important and permanent part of God's kingdom. AT: "I will make anyone who resists evil strong, like a pillar in the temple of my God" or "Those who do not agree to do evil I will make strong, like a pillar in the temple of my God" (See: Generic Noun Phrases and Metaphor)

Let the one who has an ear

Being willing to listen is spoken of as having an ear. See how you translated this in Revelation 2:7. AT: "Let the one who is willing to listen, listen" or "If you are willing, listen" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

column

temple

God

name

Jerusalem

heaven

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

12. αὐτόν. א* reads αὐτῷ.

ἡ καταβαίνουσα. With א*ACP 1 …; Text. Rec[134] i.e. Beza and Elzevir, reads ἢ καταβαίνει with B2 And[135]; אc reads τῆς καταβαινούσης.

[134] Rec. Textus Receptus as printed by Scrivener.

[135] Andreas Archbishop of Caesarea.

12. ὁ νικῶν. Lit. “He that overcometh, I will make him,” as in Rev 2:26.

στῦλον. Used of chief men in the Church in Gal 2:9, and probably of the Church itself in 1Ti 3:15. All Christians are living stones in the Temple (Eph 2:20 sqq., 1Pe 2:5), all necessary to its completeness, but some of course filling in it a more important position than others: and such important position is indicated by the image of the “pillars” ll. cc. But here the promise is not for Apostles or their successors only, but for all the faithful: the point is not “he shall be one of the great and beautiful stones on which the others rest,” but “he shall be so placed that he cannot be removed while the whole fabric stands.”

The reading αὐτῷ στῦλον would have to be explained by the analogy, not very close, of 2Sa 18:18, Isa 56:5.

γράψω ἐπʼ αὐτόν. We repeatedly have in this book the image of the divine Name written on the foreheads of God’s servants: see Rev 7:3, Rev 14:1, Rev 22:4. Hence the inscribing the name is here equally appropriate to the figure and the thing signified: probably the metaphor of the pillar is not dropped, but writing the name on the pillar means the same as writing it on the man.

τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ μου καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τῆς πόλεως τοῦ θεοῦ μου. Cf. Isa 44:5; Jer 23:6; Jer 33:16; Eze 48:35, for the junction of these two names. The three names joined here are in a manner those of the Trinity, the Church being representative of the Spirit. It is probable that passages like this did much to suggest the use of the sign of the Cross on the forehead, both at Baptism and on other occasions that seemed to call for a profession of faith: and the image of the “new name” (cf. Rev 2:17) harmonises well with the much later usage of conferring a name in Baptism.

ἡ καταβαίνουσα, Rev 21:2; Rev 21:10. The nominative after τῆς καινῆς cannot be ascribed either to ignorance or to forgetfulness; see note on ἡ λέγουσα, Rev 2:20.

τὸ ὄνομά μου τὸ καινόν. See on Rev 2:17 and Rev 19:1 there referred to.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12.] The reward of the conqueror. He that conquereth (for the pendent nom., see ref.), I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God (i. e. he shall have a fixed and important place in the glorified church hereafter. That this, and nothing referring to any honour or dignity in the church militant (so Lyra, Aretius, Grot., “Wetst., Schöttg., al.), or in that as leading on to the church triumphant (so Vitr., Corn.-a-lap., Stern, al.) is intended, is manifest from the whole diction of this passage, as well as from comparing the corresponding promises, which all refer to the blessings of the future state of glory. It is no objection to this view, that in the heavenly Jerusalem there is no temple, ch. 21:22: but rather a corroboration of it. That glorious city is all temple, and Christ’s victorious ones are its living stones and pillars. Thus as Düsterd. well remarks, the imagery of the church militant, 1Co 3:16 ff.; Eph 2:19 ff.; 1Pe 2:5 ff., is transferred to the church triumphant, but with this difference, that the saints are no longer the stones merely, but now the pillars themselves, standing in their immovable firmness. On θεοῦ μου, see note on ch. 2:7), and out of it he shall never more go out (the subject is not the στύλος, but ὁ νικῶν; and the sense, that he who is thus fixed in his eternal place as a pillar in the heavenly temple, will never more, from any cause, depart from it. Those Commentators who have understood the promise of the church militant, have been obliged to take ἐξέλθῃ as a passive,” non ejicietur,” justifying this by such expressions as μήτι ὁ λύχνος ἔρχεται Mar 4:21. Lyra takes it in both senses—“nec per apostasin, nec per excommunicationem.” And thus, except that the latter word will have no place, we may well understand the general word ἐξέλθῃ: none shall thrust him out, nor shall he be any more in danger of falling, and thus thrusting himself out. It is well worth noticing, as Wetst. has done, the recorded fact, that Philadelphia was notorious for calamities by earthquake. The language in which Strabo describes this is remarkable in connexion with this promise of the pillar which should not be moved; ἥ τε Φιλαδέλφεια … οὐδὲ τοὺς τοίχους ἔχει πιστούς, ἀλλὰ καθʼ ἡμέραν τρόπον τινὰ σαλεύονται καὶ διΐστανται· διατελοῦσι δὲ προσέχοντες τῆς γῆς τοῖς πάθεσι, καὶ ἀρχιτεκτονοῦτες πρὸς αὐτήν, xii. p. 868 b: and still more so in xiii. p. 936 b,—πόλις Φιλαδέλφεια σεισμῶν πληρής. οὐ γὰρ διαλείπουσιν οἱ τοῖχοι διϊστάμενοι, καὶ ἄλλοτʼ ἄλλο μέρος τῆς πόλεως κακοπαθοῦν· οἰκοῦσιν οὖν ὀλίγοι τὴν πόλιν διὰ τοῦτο· … ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ὀλίγων θαυμάζειν ἐστὶν ὅτι οὕτω φιλοχωροῦσιν ἐπισφαλεῖς τὰς οἰκήσεις ἔχοντες· ἔτι δʼ ἄν τις μᾶλλον θαυμάσειε τῶν κτισάντων αὐτήν. See also Tacit. Ann. ii. 47, where among the twelve cities of proconsular Asia which were overthrown by an earthquake, Philadelphia suffered, and was in consequence excused its taxes, and in common with the others entrusted to a senatorian commissioner to repair): and I will write upon him (the conqueror; not as Grot., the pillar) the name of my God (Wetst. quotes from the Rabbinical book Bava Bathra 75. 2, “R. Samuel filius Nachmanni ait, R. Jochananem dixisse, tres appellari nomine Dei S. B.,—justos (Isa 43:7), Messiam (Jer 23:6), Hierosolyma (Eze 48:35).” Some think of the mitre frontlet of the high-priests, on which was inscribed “Holiness to the Lord,” Exo 28:36: so Schöttg., Ewald, al. But this does not seem applicable here, where, from this and the following particulars, it is rather a blessed belonging to God and the holy city and Christ, that is imported, than the priestly office of the glorified Christian) and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which descendeth (the appositive nom., see reff.) out of heaven from my God (on the whole, see ch. 21:2, 3, and notes. It is possible, that the name Jehovah Shammah, Eze 48:35, may be meant; but hardly probable, seeing that the Holy Name itself has before been mentioned as inscribed on him. The inscription of the name of the city would betoken citizenship), and mine own new name (not the name mentioned ch. 19:16, which is known and patent, but that indicated ch. 19:12, ὃ οὐδεὶς οἶδεν εἰ μὴ αὐτός: for this is clearly pointed at by the word καινόν. By the inscription of this new name of the glorified Saviour is declared, that he belongs to Him in His new and glorious state of eternal rest and triumph).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pillar [στυλον] . The word occurs, Gal 2:9; 1Ti 3:15; Rev 10:1. The reference here is not to any prominence in the earthly church, as Gal 2:9, but to blessedness in the future state. The exact meaning is doubtful. Some explain, he shall have a fixed and important place in the glorified church. Compare Mt 19:28. Others emphasize the idea of stability, and find a possible local reference to the frequent earthquakes from which Philadelphia had suffered, and which had shaken its temples. Strabo says : "And Philadelphia has not even its walls unimpaired, but daily they are shaken in some way, and gaps are made in them. But the inhabitants continue to occupy the land notwithstanding their sufferings, and to build new houses." Others again emphasize the idea of beauty. Compare 1Pe 2:5, where the saints are described living stones.

Temple [ναω] . See on Mt 4:5.

Upon him. The conqueror, not the pillar. Compare chapter Rev 7:3; Rev 9:4; Rev 14:1; Rev 22:4. Probably with reference to the golden plate inscribed with the name of Jehovah, and worn by the High - Priest upon his forehead (Exo 28:36, 38). See on chapter Rev 2:17.

New Jerusalem. See Eze 48:35. The believer whose brow is adorned with this name has the freedom of the heavenly city. Even on earth his commonwealth is in heaven (Phi 3:20). "Still, his citizenship was latent : he was one of God 's hidden ones; but now he is openly avouched, and has a right to enter in by the gates to the city" (Trench). The city is called by John, the great and holy (Chapter Rev 21:10); by Matthew, the holy city (iv. 5); by Paul, Jerusalem which is above (Gal 4:6); by the writer to the Hebrews, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 12:22). Plato calls his ideal city Callipolis, the fair city (" Republic, " 7, 527), and the name Ouranopolis, heavenly city, was applied to Rome and Byzantium. For new [καινης] , see on Mt 26:29. The new Jerusalem is not a city freshly built [νεα] , but is new [καινη] in contrast with the old, outworn, sinful city. In the Gospel John habitually uses the Greek and civil form of the name, JIerosoluma; in Revelation, the Hebrew and more holy appellation, Jierousalhm. 78

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.