The Key of David is mentioned in Revelation and Isaiah. David was a unique King of Israel and ultimately reigned from Jerusalem, the City of David. He was unique because of the covenant God made with him which stated that through his posterity, his throne would be established forever!
“…The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.“
2 Samuel 7:11-16
“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Luke 1:31-33
Part of God’s covenant was fulfilled through Solomon, David’s son who reigned after him and had the Temple built. In the generations after Solomon, the Kingdom was first divided and then exiled to Assyria and later Babylon, both Gentile nations. Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon had a strange dream that the Prophet Daniel interpreted with help from God. The interpretation revealed that Gentiles would retain control over Israel and the world until the times of the Gentiles are completed, or in other words, until the Second Coming of Christ.
“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.“
Luke 21:20-24
In Revelation, when Christ said he had the Key of David, he alluded to the fact that he is the son of David who has the authority and power to gain the kingdom back from the Gentiles. Christ’s domain will be over the entire world, just as the previous Gentile rule had been over the entire world from the time of Daniel circa 600 B.C. to the Second Coming of Christ. The context is basically saying that the time has come for Christ to bring an end to the time of the Gentiles and establish his divine rule on the earth and fulfill the promise made to David.
“Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”
Revelation 1:4-6
The Context in Isaiah
The first mention of the Key of David is recorded during the reign of King Hezekiah in Judah. The original hearers of John’s letter would have been familiar with the context in Isaiah which mentioned the Key of David.
“I will place on his [Eliakim’s] shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”
Isaiah 22:22
In the Isaiah passage, the Lord was angry with the actions of the people of Judah who were unwilling to repent of their sinful ways. God’s discipline was closing in on them in the form of an Assyrian army about to take over their city. Instead of repenting, they tore down houses to fortify the wall and took other measures to withstand the attack. As the attack intensified, the people still refused to trust in the Lord and began feasting and drinking it up with the mindset of “tomorrow we will die”. Shebna, the palace administrator, had a magnificent tomb built for himself thinking that his importance would be remembered in future generations because of the extravagant tomb he would be buried in. The Lord said through Isaiah that he was going to depose Shebna, and install Eliakim in his place. Shebna was a foreigner to Israel and used his power and authority selfishly and not in the way God would have intended. Instead of being buried in his tomb, the Lord would see that he was sent away to a foreign nation to die in shame. Eliakim, on the other hand, was given all his authority and ruled in an honorable manner and served the people well and the people honored him for his faithful service. God blessed his faithful service by saying he would give him the Key of David which afforded him greater status, power and authority than Shebna had ever experienced. The role of Eliakim was second only to the King and was perhaps equivalent to Joseph’s role in Egypt as he served under Pharoah (Genesis 41:40).
“In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I will clothe him with your [Shebna’s] robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat of honor for the house of his father. All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.”
Isaiah 22:20-24
The Context in Revelation
Christ commended the church in Philadelphia. They kept their faith in Christ in the midst of persecution from the Jews who refused to believe in Christ. Just as Shebna was humiliated as he was deposed and deported, so also will the persecutors of the church of Philadelphia suffer humiliation and banishment from Christ’s kingdom. In fact, the Glorified Christ which John had described holds the key (power and authority) to admit or deny them. Christ encourages the true believers in Philadelphia to hold on to what they have and he will grant them a new, intimate relationship with God signified in the new information to be given to them: 1. New name of God; 2. New name of the City of God; 3. Christ’s new name. He said they would be pillars in the temple which would have been especially meaningful to these believers because they often had to leave the city because of earthquakes and aftershocks. Upon their return, they would sometimes only see pillars where the buildings used to stand. Christ stated that they would be the pillars. Combined with the new names they were given, this message assured them they would be an integral part of God’s temple and never have to leave in fear. They would go from having little strength to being made into a strong foundation of an eternal temple. What a great word of encouragement!
“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
“These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Revelation 3:7-13
Christ said he had the Key of David, the Keys of death and hades (Revelation 1:18) and the Keys to the Kingdom (Matthew 16:19). Also, an angel is said to be given the Key to the shaft of the Abyss (Revelation 9:1). In each case, the keys represent control and authority to use them. The Key of David must represent control and authority over the kingdom which God promised to David. Christ is the son of David and Christ will conquer the world in his Second Coming. The subsequent revelation details Christ’s victory as the tribulation period unfolds with the breaking of the seals (Revelation 6-19). We discover that Christ reigns on earth for 1000 years which is followed by the destruction of the present heavens and earth. He then consigns Satan and all unbelievers to the Lake of Fire, and declares that he is making everything new – new heaven, new earth, New Jerusalem. At that time he will hand over the kingdom to his Father (1 Corinthians 15:24-38) and we will enter the Eternal state where the Davidic Covenant will be fulfilled. Christ has the Key of David and honors God the Father while being honored by all the redeemed just as Eliakim had the Key of David and brought honor to King Hezekiah and was honored by all in Judah (Isaiah 22:24). Unlike all previous reigns, Christ’s reign will be forever. The fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant has been prophesied in many places throughout scripture:
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.”
Jeremiah 23:5
“Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”
Isaiah 9:7
“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.”
Isaiah 11:1
“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Luke 1:31-33
“God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said, ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’”
Acts 13:34
“We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: ‘You are my son; today I have become your father.’
“God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said, ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’
“So it is also stated elsewhere: ‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’
“Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.”
Acts 13:32-37
“When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.”
1 Chronicles 17:11-14
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New International Version (NIV)
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