“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
‘These things says
He who is holy,
He who is true,
He who has the key of David,
He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.”
Revelation 3:7
Like the other cities that are mentioned mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3, Philadelphia had its problems. It was built on the edge of a great plain called the Katakekaumene which means Burned Land. Thus the city of Philadelphia was constructed on a large active fault line called a volcanic belt, a plain bearing the scars of the lava and the ash from volcanoes in the area. Volcanic belts develop above zones of unusually high temperature (1,292 to 2,552 °F)) where magma is created by partial melting of solid material in the earth’s crust.
The historian Strabo wrote of the area, “There are no trees here,
but only the vineyards where they produce the wines. The soil is
covered with ash, black in color as if the mountainous and rocky country was made up of fires… such soil is very convenient for viniculture…it is not reasonable to accept that the whole country
was burned as a result of a fire bursting from underground whose source has now died out.”
Strabo indicated his amazement that anyone would build a city in such a dangerous location. He wrote that the area was “full of violent and often recurring earthquakes”. The worst of the earthquakes (known as the earthquake of the 12 cities) estimated to be a “10” on the scale used at the time. It completely destroyed Philadelphia in AD 17. The ancient writer Pliny said the earthquake was one of the
greatest disasters in human history. Citizens had to flee their homes and live in tents or booths to keep themselves outside the perimeter of disaster. Strabo added “The constant tremors and quakes kept the citizens in a state of fear and anxiety over the next time they would have to flee the city in terror. After-shocks were an everyday occurrence. Gaping cracks appeared in the walls of many houses. Most of the population lived outside the city in huts and feared to walk on the city streets lest they should be killed by failing masonry. Those who did live in the city were reckoned mad; they spent their time shoring up shaking buildings and every now and then fleeing to the open spaces for safety. These terrible days in Philadelphia were never fully forgotten, and people subconsciously waited for the ominous tremors of the ground, ready to flee for their lives at a moment’s notice. Strabo recorded “Philadelphia has no trustworthy walls, all kept tottering and falling apart.” He also questioned the sanity of Philadelphia’s citizens for continuing to return and re-build the city despite the future earthquakes that were anticipated. He said people driven from a city by earthquakes ought to be wise enough never to return. Thus the city was constantly being repaired because of the
damage to homes and city walls.
What can we learn? It is very important to understand Philadelphia’s situation in light of what the Lord says to this church. To these believers who are in a city that has no firm foundations and the future was dangerous, the Lord presents Himself. To a people that has to live in tents and huts the Lord promises a city that they can safely go into and out of. To a city that suffers from the threat of aftershocks the Lord promises He will keep the from the hour of trial. To a city that could not afford to rebuild unless the Roman government paid for it, the Lord promises a city whose “builder and maker is God. For the church in Philadelphia the best was still ahead.