LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Seven Pillars
Proverbs 9:1 teaches us that the seven pillars of the house of God are associated with wisdom. This wisdom is not an attribute of God, but a Person: Jesus Christ. In Proverbs 8:12 it is revealed personified: "I, wisdom, dwell with sanity", and Proverbs 9:10 tells us that intelligence is "the knowledge of the Most Holy". In him, the house is already built and the pillars are already hewn.
All that is of man is made of clay mingled with straw; made of the dust of the earth, of the same stuff that man came from. It has the same form, and is mixed with the works of the flesh (the chaff), which is used to bind them together (Ex. 5:7). The things of God are of stone, which is hewn out of the mountain and then hewn (Dan. 2:45). Jesus is a hewn stone, a living stone, and so is every child of God (1 Pet. 2:4-5).
The first pillar of his House is fear: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Most Holy is understanding" (Prov. 9:10). It is the beginning, the first thing. If there were no fear, the church would fall into every evil work. The second pillar is the word of God: "For the Lord giveth wisdom: from his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding" (Prov. 2:6). If there were no word of God there would be no salvation (Rom. 10:14-17), no regeneration, much less sanctification (John 17:17).
The third pillar is sanity: "I, wisdom, dwell with sanity, and find knowledge of counsels" (Prov. 8:12). If there were no sanity in her house, there would be no readiness, patience or long-suffering in her house. The fourth pillar is counsel: "Counsel and good judgment are with me" (Prov. 8:14). If there were no counsel in the house of God, errors and heresies would remain forever. We have a Wonderful Counselor (Is. 9:6).
The fifth pillar is humility: "When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the humble is wisdom" (Prov. 11:2). Humility is a clear trait of our Lord (Matt. 11:29). If there were no humility in her, the church would be resisted by God (James 4:6). The sixth pillar is salvation: "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but he that walketh in wisdom shall be delivered" (Prov. 28:26). Without salvation there would be no house of God. Being one of the pillars, we can have hope in the salvation that is still in process, ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Pet. 1:4).
The seventh and last pillar is discipline: "The rod and reproof give wisdom" (Prov. 29:15). If there were no discipline for His children in the House, we would never reach the perfect man and partaker of His holiness (Heb. 12:5-11).
But all this is one person: Christ. The seven pillars are all that he is, and all that man is not. And it is for this that each of us has been hewn by God, that we may also be living stones, and together, the building of God. Christ being all and in all.