Daily Devotional For March 20, 2025
The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God and that one will not go out of the temple anymore. I will write upon him or her the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God and I will write upon that one my new name. He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Rev 3:12-13.
Just outside Aswan, Egypt in the middle of Lake Nasser, there is an island temple called Philae. It is reachable by felucca (Egyptian sailboat) or small motorized boats. On my visit the boat was driven by a small, barefooted boy from Sudan, who didn’t look a day over ten years old. The Temple of Philae was built around two centuries before the time of Jesus by the Greek government of the Ptolemies. While the Greeks didn’t worship Egyptian gods, they respected the venerable culture of Egypt and sought to provide temples that carefully copied the ancient Egyptian art and architecture of Thebes.
Because of its relative youth and the fact that it was covered by sand for hundreds of years, Philae presents itself today in remarkable condition, compared to the ruins of Karnak and the area around the Valley of the Kings. Its roof is intact and so is the artwork inside, including colorful paintings that are amazingly preserved after 2200 years.
Like other ancient Egyptian temples (and like the temple to Yahweh in Bible times), one passes through a gigantic gate into an outer courtyard. There is then a gate into the temple structure itself, with successive chambers leading to the tiny inner shrine which is the holiest part of the temple. At each level of holiness, access was increasingly limited until only the highest of priests could enter the inner shrine.
The Book of Revelation is full of allusions to the heavenly temple. There are the lamps, the incense, the Lamb, the worship, and the presence of God Himself in Revelation 4 and 5. There is the altar of sacrifice in Rev 6:9 and the altar of incense in Rev 8:3-5 and 9:13. The ark of the covenant is explicitly connected to the inner shrine of the heavenly tabernacle in Rev 11:19. That temple appears again in chapter 15, this time only to be emptied on account of the glory of God that is within (Rev 15:5-8). The people of God are said to perform priestly service before Him day and night in His temple (Rev 7:15-17; 22:2-5).
The promise to Philadelphia includes permanent dwelling in the innermost part of the heavenly temple. Christians will always be in the presence of God. This means that they will have a major role in the governance of the universe (see also Rev 3:21). Though often weak and despised on this earth, the servants of God will be elevated to the highest place in eternity.
Lord, prepare me now for the glorious role You have in store for all of Your people.