Origins: The Beginning (Genesis 1–11)Sample

By Pastor Dan Hickling

“Then they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, ‘Come, let us build . . .’” Genesis 11:3-4 (NKJV) 

The Law of Recovery is an interesting thing. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s basically the reality that God has given human beings the ability to recover from calamity and move on in life. 

You’ve undoubtedly seen this law in action in your own life. In your past, something happened that you never thought you’d get over. Maybe it was an incredible loss or a life-altering event. At the time you couldn’t see yourself recovering from it. But in time, you took one step forward, and another, until you’ve moved past that thing in your past.

That’s the Law of Recovery, and we can also see it working here in Genesis chapter 11, as mankind starts to rebuild from the calamity caused by the flood. Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with this law. In fact, we know that God wanted man to recover and rebuild. But watch how mankind took the Law of Recovery and put a sinful twist on it. “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth” Genesis 11:4 (NKJV).

Do you see what’s happening here? Instead of rebuilding according to God’s will, they are deciding that they have recovered to the point where they can build for themselves a city and tower to the heavens. Not only that, they are deliberately defying God’s will that man settle across the entire earth (Genesis 9:1) by consolidating in one place. Mankind had recovered from the flood, but not in a good way. They had forgotten the flood’s lesson about sin and the consequences of defying God.

The Law of Recovery is at work in each of our lives, as well. It’s a God-given ability so we can get past things that seem insurmountable. But be careful. Don’t do what they did! Don’t recover to the point of forgetting the lessons that God would have us learn about sin and its consequences. Don’t forget the sting that sin produces or the scar that it leaves. Recover, but remember the lessons of the past. 

DIG: What is the Law of Recovery?

DISCOVER: How is it demonstrated negatively in this passage?

DO: Consider what personal warning you can take away from their example.