Why Pillar and Ground?
Genesis 28:22 — And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
Here Jacob vowed a vow unto the LORD. This vow was marked by an unmistakable pillar attached to the unmovable ground.
When God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt, He used a pillar as a symbol of His presence with His people. There was a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night that marked the fact that God was there.
In the New Testament, God uses the Apostle Paul’s pen to describe to the mind of young Timothy what the church of God ought to be. The familiar sight of the pillars in the Temple of Diana would be unforgettable to that culture.
1st Timothy 3:15 — But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
God associates a local New Testament church with two things:
One, the Pillar itself, which by purpose is designed and engineered for more than just beauty and glory. Its very purpose is to hold something up! In our passage we see that the truth is to be held up– not man’s opinion, not man’s interpretation, but truth.
“It is not opinions that man needs: it is TRUTH. It is not theology; it is God. It is not religion: it is Christ. It is not literature and science; but the knowledge of the free love of God in the gift of His only-begotten Son.” – Horatius Bonar
Then secondly, we see the pillar is grounded. The ground is not movable. We may be able to pick up parts of the ground and move it to create a foundation, but the ground itself is still there, holding up the pillar and thus holding up the truth.
Finally, we see the last mention in the Bible concerning a pillar. We as ‘overcomers’ who have overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimonies are to be ‘pillars.’
Rev_3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
To think that we are to be forever in the presence of the eternal God! How is that possible?
Come to church to find out more.
PILLAR AND GROUND 