Have you ever felt intimidated? Maybe it was by someone’s personality, their physical build, their wealth, their title. Maybe it was a building that intimidated you. Intimidation is a real feeling and the enemy uses it to make us feel small, when Christ in us is the biggest thing going for us. It is amazing how we can look at something or someone and be intimidated by what we see or what we hear. It is like the enemy knows how to push our buttons. It is just another way he seeks to devalue the truth in us that we are made in the image of God, we are endured with the power of God and we are filled with the Spirit of God. There is no one more powerful than Yahweh, the Almighty God.

I was reading Jeremiah 52 and it was describing Solomon’s temple he built for the Lord and from what I have read the temple of the Lord would have been intimidating. It was built to be large, to show authority and power, but this verse struck me, “King Solomon had made for the house of the LORD—the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. As for the pillars, the height of each pillar was eighteen cubits, and it was twelve cubits in circumference and four fingers in thickness, and hollow.” The size of these pillars would have been huge, similar to the Supreme Court pillars in the USA or the Greek temple pillars in Athens, Greece at the Parthenon. Large, looming, intimidating. But the Bible says, these gigantic pillars were hollow. They looked huge, powerful, intimidating, but they were hollow.

Hollow in the Hebrew means foolish, vain, empty, idiot. There are other pillars in scripture though as well in Proverbs 9, “Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars; She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine; She has also set her table; She has sent out her maidens, she calls Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!” To him who lacks understanding she says, Come, eat of my food And drink of the wine I have mixed. Forsake your folly and live And proceed in the way of understanding.”

Two pillars, one is hollow and one is hewn (carved, cut out, engraved), one is called foolish, the other wisdom. Both pillars, one is intimidating because it is hollow, the other is hewn (solid marble) and it is inviting. Tap on the pillar when you find yourself intimidated by it, you might find it is nothing to fear for it is hollow and then add yourself to the pillars that are hewn for there is room at their table for you.