‘Because you kept my word of patient endurance I also will keep you from the hour of trial which is to come upon the whole world, to try those who dwell on earth. I come quickly. Hold fast what you have that no man take your crown.'
For His ‘word of patient endurance' see Matthew 10:22; Mark 13:13; John 15:18; John 15:21; John 16:2. All who would live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12), and they must endure to the end. Clearly the Philadelphian church has also faced persecution instigated by false Jews, and has come through unscathed, patiently enduring. (Alternately we may read it as ‘the word of my patient endurance', thus referring to His sufferings on the cross. But it is clear from Revelation 3:9 that there has been serious trouble, so the former is more likely).
‘I also will keep you from the hour of trial'. There is a play on the word ‘keep'. ‘You have kept my word of patient endurance' - ‘I will keep you from the hour of trial'. God responds to the faithfulness of His people. They have already suffered enough. He will not ask them to suffer more.
‘Those who dwell on earth' are mentioned regularly in Revelation, referring specifically to non-Christians, and the various trials that they have to go through are vividly described. They represent humanity outside the church.
So the Philadelphians are promised that in some way not described they will escape, not all the trials, but the worst of the trials to come, the ‘hour of trial'. This may have in mind that, as always in such times there will be places where the worst effects are not felt, possibly because of the presence of a humane governor. It is a reminder that God can keep His people either from or through, depending on His will, any hour of trial they have to face. But more probably it has in mind the particularly awful attacks of spiritual forces which are limited in time but which those sealed by God will not experience (Revelation 9:4-11).
They will not be kept from everything that the world must face. Their preservation is limited to a particularly severe ‘hour of trial' which God has in mind. This ‘hour' cannot be seen as describing the whole process of tribulation described in the following Chapter s, which will be prolonged, but must have reference to a particularly severe part of the trials which are coming, which they will escape. As suggested it may refer to Revelation 9:4-11.
It may well, however, have reference to the ‘hour' mentioned in Revelation 17:12; Revelation 18:10; Revelation 18:17, promising that they will not share the fate of Babylon the Great (His people are warned to come out of her (Revelation 18:4)). Revelation 9:15 demonstrates that an ‘hour' means a small part of what is being described. But had Jesus meant that they would totally escape something tangibly called ‘the Great Tribulation' He would have said so. The fact is that the unique period called ‘the Great Tribulation' as such is an invention of Bible students. The great tribulation mentioned in Matthew 24:21 was of the Jews, and could be escaped by fleeing to the mountains. It began in 70 AD at the destruction of the Temple, and continued on through the centuries (see Luke 21:24). The great tribulation in Revelation 2:22 was threatened as possibly coming on certain members of the church in John's day. That in Revelation 7:14 refers to the same possibility.
We can compare this use of the word ‘hour' with its use by Jesus where we are told ‘His hour was not yet come'. His hour was a short period at the end of His life and ministry. The world also must face its ‘hour', but this church will be kept from it. Great play is often put on the words ‘out of ' and ‘hour' in ‘out of the hour of trial', suggesting that because they will not go through the hour they must have been raptured. But the hour is for those who must face the trial, ‘those who dwell on earth'. Those who do not face it, even though on earth, are kept out of it. (Jesus went through His hour, the disciples were kept out of it. It was not their hour. But they were still both on earth).
‘I come quickly. Hold fast what you have that no man may take your crown.' Jesus intends that His people live in expectancy of His imminent return, for He knows it will be an encouragement in whatever they have to face. Now, today, Christians are still looking for His imminent return, as have Christians in every age. To every generation He is ‘coming soon'. The two thousand years that have passed may seem long to us, but in God's terminology they are two days (2 Peter 3:8 - written specifically in the light of the second coming - compare Psalms 90:4). Besides these words come from Christ in resplendence in ‘the Lord's day' looking back in time to where the churches are. Thus ‘quickly' can be seen as relating to His standpoint.
For those who have been faithful a crown awaits, an idea constantly repeated in the New Testament (an incorruptible crown - 1 Corinthians 9:25; a crown won by striving in accordance with the rules - 2 Timothy 2:5; a crown of righteousness - Revelation 4:8; a crown of life - James 1:12; an unfading crown of glory - 1 Peter 5:4). We must ensure that we endure stedfastly so that it is not taken from us by others. Like entry in the book of life it is not something that can be taken from us, but we are exhorted to live in such a way that we deserve it not to be taken from us.