This “hour of trial” is not a reference to worldwide persecution at the end of the age, in the thin slice of time just before Christ returns. Before his arrest Jesus had told his disciples, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18; see also 2 Timothy 3:12). The Lord’s churches in the book of Acts experienced such hours of trial. In his further revelation to John, the Lord will make clear that his people will endure much hostility upon the earth (Revelation 6:9–11; Revelation 11:1–14; Revelation 12:3–6, Revelation 12:13–17; etc.). Moreover, as people reject the gospel that’s preached around the world, plagues from the Lord will characterize life anywhere on earth (Revelation 6:1–17), and God’s people will not be immune to the fallout of these plagues. In the years between the time John received this Revelation on Patmos and the Lord’s return in glory, life on earth would involve much suffering because of the spiritual resistance that comes with the spread of the gospel (see Ephesians 6:10–20).
10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.