What is the Key of David?

7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. 8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
- Rev 3:7-8

There are many different interpretations as to what is the Key of David. Some believes it points to open doors for the gospel to be preached, especially the church age of the missionaries of the 1800s which historicists believe the letter to the Philadelphia refers to. Some who tend more to the prosperity gospel heresy will link this to God opening doors for blessings, and closing it from curses. Without a biblically sound system of understanding, we can easily fall into misintepretations that could be esoteric or mystical. Perhaps we should allow the word of God to interpret itself. What does the bible says about the Key of David?

In Isaiah 22:15, it talks about Shebna, who is the treasurer over the household of Hezekiah (or a comptroller or governor over the Palace). In v16, it says that he had "cut out here a tomb for yourself" and "a dwelling for yourself in the rock". It shows that at the time of trouble, this governor had put himself in a place of priority and honor over the one whom he served, be it the King in earthly sense or God in a spiritual sense.

Therefore in Isaiah 22:19, he promised to "thrust you from your office," and replace him with Eliakim the son of Hilkiah (v20). In v22, he was promised, "And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.". Hence in this case, the Key of David is given as an authority to Eliakim as the governor over the King's Palace to open or shut any door. The reference to David obviously relates to the lineage of Kings that led to Hezekiah, and will lead to Jesus and his Church later on.

In Matthew 16:1-4, the Pharisees (representative of the Jews) tested Jesus asking for a sign. It was obvious that despite of the miracles that Jesus performed in public, they should have seen and believed that he was the Son of God, but they didn't. Hence Jesus responded in v4 that, "but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.", which means a sign of warning and judgement like Jonah to Nineveh.

In v15, Jesus asked if they knew who he was, and Peter answered that "“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”". It was Peter's answer, that Jesus again quoted the Key of David, stating in v19 that "19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[d]in heaven.”"

In this case, the term "Key of David" is replaced with the "Keys to the Kingdom of heaven". But the effect is the same, it opens (loose) and closes (binds) whatever that it has authority to do so.

In both cases as with Isaiah 22 and Matthew 16, the similarity in context of both passages lies in the rejection of one and acceptance of another. In Isaiah 22, Shebna was rejected due to his selfishness and hence Eliakim was selected to replace his office. In Matt 16, the Pharisees (Jews) were rejected for rejecting Christ, and the Apostles were accepted for accepting Christ.

Hence the term "Key of David" as in Rev 3:7-8 is the same. Rev 3:9 says "Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.". Who are those of the Synagogue of Satan? Similar to Matthew 16, it refers to the Pharisees, who were really false Jews who had rejected the very Messiah that was promised to them.

Rom 2:29 states that "9 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.". Hence a "true Jew" in God's perspective, is the one who accepts him, in contrast to "False Jews" who are Jews by lineage but ended up rejecting Jesus Christ.

The Philadelphia Church was accepted by God while their persecutors who are false Jews claiming that they were true, were rejected. And hence just like Eliakim (Isaiah 22) and the Apostles (Matthew 16), they were given the Key of David which represents their acceptance and authority to proclaim Christ like Peter did and hence open the door to those who accept it, and close the door to those who rejects it.