To Go Up, Lie Down

Sometimes in life, we combine two truths together that seem to contradict themselves. We often call this situation a paradox. Examples of a paradox would be “to make money you have to spend it” or “I slept so much that I’m tired.” Again, these statements seem to contradict themselves but can still be true.

The Bible has its own set of paradoxes, and it provides us with a very important one in Genesis 11. This chapter opens with the Tower of Babel. Why did this Tower come about? Well, several generations after the worldwide flood and Noah’s Ark (Genesis 6-10), all the people in the world moved to a place called Shinar, located in the Middle East. And this group decided to break God’s commands. How so? First, they wanted to make a name for themselves (Gen. 11:4 - “Let us build a city and tower…and let us make a name for ourselves”). But God made humanity to display His likeness and image. He made us ultimately reflect His name and character to the world and not our own (Gen.1:26-27). Second, they wanted to control their own destinies (Gen. 11:4 - “Let us build a city and tower…lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth”). God commanded Adam and Eve to spread over the whole earth to have dominion over it, not to have humanity just stay in one place (Gen. 1:28). He also commanded the same to Noah and his descendants (Gen. 9:1). So, the problem with this Tower is that it symbolizes direct disobedience to God’s will for humanity.

What’s humorous is that the people want this Tower to reach up to heaven to be equal with God, but God has to “come down” to see this Tower (Gen. 11:5). Friend, if you’re like me, you can think that our man-made efforts in this life are monumental and world-changing, but God still has “to come down” to see them. In other words, our Towers made up of our fragile, brittle efforts really amount to nothing no matter how high we build them.

So how do we build things in this life that will really matter forever? This is where the paradox comes in. To build up anything with our efforts, we have to lie down in humility before God. Our lives, families, churches, jobs, hobbies, etc. will mean nothing in the end if we don’t humbly do them and guide them in God’s name and in line with His Word. Psalm 127:1 declares, “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Dear friend, build for God and you build up for eternity.