What are the pillars of the earth mentioned in the Bible?

"He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill," again says Hannah, "to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory." We have illustrations of this in Scripture all the way from Joseph to Lazarus. The former was raised up from the condition of a slave to rule over Egypt; and the latter, a beggar on earth, was taken to "Abraham's bosom" in paradise.

Hannah next ascribes to God almighty power: "For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and He hath set the world upon them." This is a poetic figure of speech, though none the less forceful for that. Who but He whose "strength is infinite" could suspend and sustain this globe in its circuits as if it had no more weight than "the small dust of the balance?" as it is beautifully expressed in Job 26:27, "He hangeth the earth upon nothing." In His wisdom, grace, and power, He is able to keep us without falling: "He will keep the feet of His saints," she confidently says O child of God, weak, failing, and needing much mercy, rejoice in this which our Saviour has said: "They shall never perish, neither shall any one pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:28). And may the certainty of this make you, not more careless in your walk, but the more careful not to grieve such love; for if He keep the feet of His saints, His eye is upon them to see every misstep they make, and observes when they wander into forbidden paths.

For the pillars of the earth belong to Jehovah: that is, the foundations of the dry land which are set up in the deep, and upon which the world that men inhabit stands. All that sustains the present condition of things, she tells us, depends upon the will of Jehovah, unchangeably holy as He is. Thus these principles will finally and everywhere prevail. He keepeth the feet of His saints, and the wicked are silent in darkness [such is the day that is rapidly drawing near]: for by strength shall no man prevail. They that strive with Jehovah shall be broken in pieces; out of heaven shall He thunder upon them; [now we see the day in its broad features]: Jehovah shall judge the ends of the earth; and shall give strength unto His King, and exalt the horn of His Anointed."

The word ammud occurs many times for the pillars of the tabernacle and the temple. It is also used for the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire; also symbolically for the pillars of the heavens and the pillars of the earth. Ex. 13:21; Ex. 27:10-17; 1 Kings 7:2-42; Job 9:6; Job 26:11; Ps. 75:3; Ezek. 40:49; Ezek. 42:6.

In the N.T. the word is στύλος, 'a pillar or column.' James, Cephas and John seemed to be 'pillars' in the church at Jerusalem — those to whom matters were referred, as they were afterwards to Paul. Gal. 2:9. The church of God is "the pillar and ground of the truth" — the witness that maintains the truth on earth. 1 Tim. 3:15. The word occurs also in Rev. 3:12; Rev. 10:1.

THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH (vv.4-7)

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?" (v.4). Does the earth have foundations? - an earth that revolves in space with nothing to hold it up? Yes, it could not even exist without a fundamental basis of truth, but could Job explain this? Can anyone today explain it? No! For one thing, none of us was present when God laid these foundations, and who can understand anything about the way that creation came into existence? "For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast" (Psalm 33:9). The earth's foundations and earth itself were created at the same instant, simply by the Word of God.

"Who determined its measurements? Surely you know!" (v.5). Of course Job knew that only God could do this. "Who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened?" (v.6). Certainly the foundations of the earth are not fastened to anything visible to us.. Whether Job knew this at that time or not, he could certainly not answer God's question. When man builds he must have a foundation fastened to something solid, but what of God's building? Man too requires a corner stone. Who laid the corner stone for God's building?

So Job describes in a very grand manner what God is in His ways — His uncontrollable power and authority. He knew man was weak and faulty. Nevertheless, Job did not doubt that God would see him through all his difficulties, but on what ground of righteousness he could not conceive. If man was a poor sinful man, and nevertheless God showed him saving mercy, how was man to be just? You cannot put justice and sins together until you have got Christ, who died for the sins and rose again for the believer's justification. There the sins are completely blotted out. How could Job know anything about that. Nobody knew it; no man on earth. Their idea of the Messiah was more of a great king that would be full of goodness and mercy to his people upon the earth. But that He should be made to us righteousness as well as wisdom and sanctification and redemption! oh, dear no! they did not in the least understand; how could they? I daresay that the people in Christendom think it was all known pretty much as they know it now. There was no power, no joy, no peace, but always entreating that God would show them mercy as poor, miserable sinners; there was no idea of salvation. Well, here Job describes God's power in a wonderful way. "Which shakes the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble; which commands the sun, and it rises not, and seals up the stars; which alone spreads out the heavens, and treads upon the waves of the sea." Very grand; wonderfully so; and very true. "Which makes Arcturus" — that is in the constellation of Arctophylax or Bootes (the Herdsman), near the seven stars which people call "Charles' Wain." The Arabs call the latter, however, a very different thing, viz., "The Greater Bear." They made the four stars to be the body, and the three stars were the tail. However, this is Arcturus; and Orion and the Pleiades go by the same names still. These are all in the northern sphere; but the people of those days had penetrated enough to cross the line, and they were aware that there was a southern world. They did not know much about it; they knew very little. Of course they did not know America, except very obscurely. There were hints from time to time that there was something in the west; but in the south they had no idea of Australia or New Zealand.

He goes on, "which does great things, past finding out; yea, and wonders without number. Lo, he goes by me, and I see him not; he passes on also, but I perceive him not. Behold, he takes away, who can hinder him? who will say to him, What doest thou?" (verses 6-12). That is exactly where Job was. He was quite sure that it was of God, and that is the very thing that made the difficulty. Because his conscience was pure toward God, and he knew the goodness of God, and yet how was this? He could not understand it, neither did they in the slightest degree. "If God will not withdraw His anger, the proud helpers do stoop under Him. How much less shall I answer Him?" There he is beginning to feel his weakness. He was not a proud man; but as all men are, till they learn in the way that I have described, he had a very good opinion of himself. That must all come down. If a man is to be blessed, or a woman, the blessing will not come by a good opinion of oneself; that is wrong, and the greatest hindrance to the blessing of God and the enjoyment of His grace. "Though I were righteous, yet would I not answer." There, you see, was thorough piety. "But I would make supplication to my judge. If I called, and he had answered me, yet would I not believe that he had hearkened to my voice."

"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" He does not mean that Job did not know Him at all, but He did mean that his knowledge was limited, and that he had no adequate knowledge as to the dealings of God. "Gird up now thy loins like a man" — like a hero — "for I will demand of thee and answer thou me." That was a remarkable word. God is going to ask him a number of questions. Job had been questioning the dealings of God. Now God retorts upon him; now He says, I am going to ask you, and answer Me like a man if you can. "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?" What an overwhelming question! What did Job know about it? "Declare, if thou hast understanding." He had none. "Who has laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest?" He did not know. "Or who has stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?" Because there are two things true of the earth. Stability for the time — that is what is referred to here, and why foundations are spoken of; and there is another view given in this very Book of Job, that it is suspended upon nothing. That never entered into the mind of anyone until comparatively late. Even the men of science have only just come to that. But there it was in Scripture before them. It is hung upon nothing. So that it has great stability and regularity in its course, so firmly are the foundations laid; but on the other hand the mighty power of God is shown, because, although it is hung upon nothing of the creature, it hangs entirely upon God's power.

The term, "the pillars of heaven" evidently refers to the earth with its great mountains reaching toward heaven, pillars that often tremble when an earthquake strikes with its awesome demonstration of the power of God.

(vv. 2-3) The verses that follow give the occasion which calls forth the praise of verse 1. It is the announcement by God Himself that, in His set time, God will judge uprightly. We are often impatient for God to deal with evil. God, however, has His set time — when evil is ripe, and His people have learned their lesson — for intervention in judgment. Then the earth and its inhabitants will be dissolved. The social fabric will be broken up (see Isa. 24:19-20); but even so God has established its pillars. God maintains the earth, though the world system formed by man is broken up.

These verses confirm the Genesis record of God's preparing the earth for man's welfare. We may wonder as to the earth having foundations when we understand it to be a great ball speeding through space; but God knows what He is doing and He establishes what we cannot, the foundations being so solid that nothing can change it 'forever and ever" (v. 5)

In the beautiful song of 1 Samuel 2 Hannah recognises this great principle of sovereign grace, and of the power of God; that He brings down the proud and those who trust in the flesh, and exalts the weak and impotent. "For the pillars of the earth are Jehovah's; and he has set the world upon them." This was what Israel, poor and fallen, and a feeble remnant waiting for Jehovah, needed to learn; that is, that everything hung upon God and God alone, who did not seek for power in man, but manifests it in His own dealings by destroying all His enemies, and who will at length "give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed." It is the history of God's interposition in favour of poor fallen Israel; and that by the manifestation of His power in giving strength to His King, His Christ. It is a prophecy of the ways of God, of the great principles of His government with respect to the position of Israel, from the moment of its utterance until the establishment of the millennial kingdom in the Person of the Lord Jesus.