When we open the ancient scrolls and let the words of God speak for themselves without the clutter of human tradition or modern thought, we find a kingdom that looks nothing like the kingdoms of this world. It is a kingdom where the last shall be first, as Jesus declared in Matthew 20:16, “So the last will be first, and the first last”, where the meek shall inherit the earth, promised in Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”, and where God’s strength is made perfect in weakness, as Paul taught in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”. These are not poetic contradictions meant to confuse. These are living truths that reveal the very heart of God. They are invitations to lay down our own ways of thinking and to step into His ways which are higher than ours, as the prophet Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 55:9. “for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are My ways higher than your ways.” This is not a soft encouragement but a reminder that our natural logic cannot comprehend His order unless we surrender to it.
The Torah gives us glimpses of this upside down order from the very beginning. Think of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25. Esau was the firstborn, the one expected to inherit blessing and status, yet God chose Jacob the younger, through whom the covenant line would pass. The Hebrew text uses the word בְּכוֹר, bekhor, for firstborn, a title of honor and privilege, yet God reverses it. This is the first hint that the world’s order is not the same as God’s. Later we see Joseph, the second youngest among Jacob’s sons, betrayed and sold into slavery, yet he rises to become second only to Pharaoh in Egypt. What the world intended for harm God used for good, as Joseph declares in Genesis 50:20 “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” Again the pattern is clear. The one cast down becomes the vessel of deliverance. God turns the world upside down and His character shines through.
Consider Moses too. He stammered, he doubted himself, he told God in Exodus 4:10 that he was “slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Yet God chose him to stand before Pharaoh and lead Israel out of Egypt. The paradox is unmistakable. God delights to display His power not through human perfection but through yielded weakness. The strong rulers of Egypt fell and the hesitant shepherd held the rod of God. This reversal was not a one time event but a revelation of how His kingdom always works.
When we move through the Tanakh, we see the same thread. Hannah, barren and mocked, cries out to God in 1 Sam 2, and God opens her womb. In her song of thanksgiving she declares the truth of His upside down kingdom, “The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and He exalts.” She goes on to say He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes. Here again the paradox: the powerless inherit honor.
David himself was the youngest son of Jesse, not even considered when Samuel came to anoint the king. Yet God said in 1 Sam 16:7, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” This single verse captures the entire upside down pattern of the kingdom. God values the unseen, the humble, the inward heart rather than outward prestige.
The prophets continue this theme. Isaiah tells us in chapter 53 of the suffering servant, despised and rejected, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. This is how God chose to bring healing to His people. In the Hebrew חֲבֻרָתוֹ נִרְפָּא לָנוּ, chavurato nirpa lanu, “by His wounds we are healed.” Weakness becomes the channel of strength. Shame becomes the road to glory.
When we cross into the New Testament writings, we see Jesus Himself embodying every one of these paradoxes. He was born not in a palace but in a manger, raised not in Jerusalem’s wealth but in Nazareth’s obscurity. He called fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, and women to follow Him, overturning the expected religious order. In His Sermon on the Mount He declared, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth, Matthew 5:3–5. The Greek word for meek there is πραΰς, praus, which means gentle, humble, tame under God’s hand. In human eyes meekness is weakness, but in God’s eyes it is strength restrained, aligned with His will, and promised an inheritance.
He told His disciples in Matthew 20:16 that the last will be first and the first last. The Greek word for last is ἔσχατος, eschatos, the very edge or least of all, and first is πρῶτος, protos, the highest or foremost. He was not offering a clever turn of phrase. He was telling them that God’s kingdom reverses human ranking entirely.
When Paul writes in 2 Cor 12:9 that God’s grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in weakness, the Greek word is ἀσθένεια, astheneia, meaning feebleness or frailty. Paul even says, For when I am weak, then I am strong. This is a paradox that burns into the soul because it demands trust beyond logic. We want to boast in our sufficiency, yet Paul boasts in weakness so that the power of Christ may rest upon him.
The cross itself is the greatest paradox of all. To the world it looked like defeat. In 1 Cor 1:18 Paul says the word of the cross is μωρία, moria, foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Foolishness becomes wisdom. Defeat becomes victory. Death becomes life.
And so when we look at God’s kingdom, we must accept that He truly does turn the world upside down. His character is revealed in the ways that shock human expectation. He chooses the lowly to shame the lofty. He calls the barren fruitful. He lifts the beggar to the throne. He crowns the meek with inheritance. He declares the last the first. He perfects strength in weakness. This is not random. It is the very nature of His kingdom.
The longer we walk in His ways, the more these paradoxes confront us in our own hearts. Do we still cling to self promotion, to human recognition, to our own definitions of power and success? Or do we let His Spirit shape us into the meek, the servants, the ones content to be last if it means Christ is seen as first? This is the place of real transformation.
The rabbis of old sometimes spoke of God’s Torah as an overturning fire. Jesus said in Luke 12:49, I came to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled. That fire consumes the old ways of thinking, the pride and self reliance, so that the paradoxes of His kingdom become our lived reality.
And as we live them, we testify with our lives that God’s kingdom is not of this world. It is greater. It is eternal. It is life through death, strength through weakness, honor through humility, joy through sorrow, glory through the cross.
When we look at the way God overturns what we think we know, it becomes clear that His kingdom is not just a different version of our world. It is an entirely different order of reality. The Torah, the prophets, the writings, and the testimony of the apostles all agree on this. God’s order does not build on human systems. It replaces them. This is why Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that one must be born again to see the kingdom of God. A new birth was needed because the old order of thinking could not even perceive the new one.
The phrase born again in Greek is γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν, gennēthē anōthen, which can mean born from above. It is a heavenly birth, a new creation. Paul later echoes this in 2 Cor 5:17 when he says if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has passed away, the new has come. That is the ultimate upside down act of God. He does not patch up the old. He brings forth the new.
This new life, however, looks so different that to the natural mind it seems backwards. When Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all and follow Him, the man went away sorrowful. To him it seemed like loss. Yet Jesus explained that those who leave behind possessions and family for His sake will receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life. The world says gain is gain, but God says surrender is gain. The paradox again stands firm.
The book of Proverbs, written long before the coming of Messiah, gives us countless hints of this same pattern. Proverbs 11:24 says, There is one who scatters yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and it results only in want. The Hebrew uses the word מְפַזֵּר, mefazzer, meaning to scatter. The one who scatters should by human logic end up with less, but God says that one increases. The one who holds tightly to everything loses. This shows us that the economy of the kingdom is not based on hoarding but on trust in the generosity of God.
We can go back even further to Abraham, who was asked to leave everything familiar and set out for a land he did not know. The world would call that risk, even foolishness. Yet God promised him descendants like the stars of heaven, and through him all nations would be blessed. Abraham’s faith was accounted to him as righteousness as Paul tells us in Romans 4:3. Abraham’s surrender became the seedbed for blessing.
Let us take a look at Job, who lost wealth, children, health, and reputation. From a worldly perspective, his life was destroyed. Yet in his weakness and grief Job confessed, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth, Job 19:25. The Hebrew for Redeemer there is גֹּאֲלִי, go’ali, my kinsman redeemer, the one who rescues. In the ashes Job proclaimed the upside down truth that out of loss would come restoration. At the end of the book God restored Job’s fortunes and blessed him more than at the beginning.
This theme carries through into the ministry of Christ again and again. When He saw a widow give her two small coins in the temple, He said she gave more than all the rich because she gave out of her poverty, Luke 21:1–4. The Greek for poor is πενιχρὰ, penichra, meaning very needy or destitute. Her little became much because God measures differently than man.
Think of Peter walking on the water in Matthew 14. When he took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the waves, he began to sink. In that moment of weakness Jesus reached out and caught him. Faith in human ability would have failed completely, but faith fixed on Jesus gave him the strength to walk where no man could. Weakness leaning on Christ became strength.
The apostles themselves became living proofs of this upside down kingdom. Paul, imprisoned, beaten, stoned, left for dead, said in Philippians 1:21, For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. The Greek word for gain is κέρδος, kerdos, meaning profit or advantage. To the world death is the ultimate loss, yet Paul called it gain because it brought him fully into the presence of Christ.
This is the key that unlocks all of the paradoxes. God’s kingdom values what is eternal, not what is temporary. Human logic measures by what is seen and touched, but God measures by the unseen and eternal. That is why Paul says in 2 Cor 4:17–18, For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen. The Greek word for affliction is θλῖψις, thlipsis, meaning pressure or crushing. What crushes us here produces glory there.
The paradoxes are not contradictions. They are revelations that God’s ways are rooted in eternity while ours are rooted in time. The meek inherit the earth not because they grab it but because God gives it. The last become first not because they climb faster but because God exalts them. Strength is perfected in weakness not because weakness itself is strong but because it invites Christ to be all in all.
Let us go back to Isaiah 40:31, where the prophet declares that those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. The Hebrew word for wait is קֹוֵי, qovei, meaning to bind together by twisting like cords or to look eagerly with expectation. It is not passive. It is active trust. Those who wait do not rely on their own strength but on His, and as a result they mount up with wings like eagles. Human logic says waiting wastes time. God says waiting renews strength.
In the Gospel of John 12:24 Jesus said, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. The Greek word for dies is ἀποθάνῃ, apothanē, to die completely. Death produces life. The seed buried in darkness bursts forth into abundance. In the same way the cross produced resurrection.
As we embrace these truths, we begin to see that God is not asking us to understand fully but to trust fully. He has given us the examples again and again in the scrolls. Sarah laughed at the promise of a child, yet gave birth. Gideon hid in fear yet became a mighty warrior. Ruth, a foreign widow, became part of the line of Messiah. Mary, a young woman of no status, bore the Son of God. Over and over the last became first, the meek inherited the promise, and the weak displayed the strength of God.
The kingdom of God overturns the world not to confuse us but to set us free. If the order remained as the world says, then the proud, the rich, the powerful, the self sufficient would always rule. But in God’s order the humble, the broken, the trusting, the meek, the servants receive the kingdom. Jesus Himself said in Luke 22:27, I am among you as the one who serves. The Greek word for serves is διακονῶν, diakonōn, meaning ministering or waiting upon others. The King of kings came as a servant. If that is the nature of our Lord, then we must see clearly that His kingdom truly is upside down from all others.
If we take these paradoxes only as lofty ideas, we miss their full weight. They were never meant to remain as words on a page but to shape the very way we live and move and breathe in the presence of God. The Torah, the Tanakh, and the New Testament all agree that this upside down kingdom is not theory but life itself.
The question becomes, will we trust God enough to live as though these paradoxes are real? For the world says make yourself first or you will be left behind. But Jesus says the first will be last and the last first. The world says defend your pride and prove your worth. Yet Jesus says blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. The world says hide your weakness, show only strength. But the Lord tells us, My strength is made perfect in weakness. If we live by the world we may win the applause of men for a moment. If we live by the kingdom we gain the approval of God for eternity.
Look at how this played out in the earliest believers. In the book of Acts the apostles were threatened, beaten, and imprisoned, yet they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus. The Greek in Acts 5:41 says κατηξιώθησαν, katēxiōthēsan, meaning they were considered worthy. Worthy not for escaping suffering but for enduring it. To the world that looks upside down. To God that is the mark of glory.
Even in the Torah we see foreshadowing of this truth. When Israel wandered in the wilderness they had nothing of their own. They depended daily on manna from heaven. Exodus 16 says it was like coriander seed, white and tasted like wafers made with honey. It fell each morning, and if they tried to store it overnight it spoiled. They had to trust God daily. Human logic says save up, control the supply. God said receive what I give day by day. That daily dependence formed them into a people who understood that their life was in His hands, not in their storehouses.
This truth continues in the teaching of Jesus when He told His disciples in Matthew 6:11 to pray, Give us this day our daily bread. The Greek word for daily is ἐπιούσιον, epiousion, which is understood as meaning necessary for existence. Not stockpiled, not hoarded, but provided each day. The upside down kingdom teaches us to rely not on what we can secure but on the faithfulness of God.
The psalmist sings in Psalm 37:11 that the meek will inherit the land and delight in abundant peace. The Hebrew for peace is שָׁלוֹם, shalom, a word that means more than absence of conflict. It is wholeness, completeness, flourishing. When the meek inherit the earth they receive not a bare plot of ground but the fullness of shalom under God’s reign. That is the promise for those willing to yield to His ways.
Paul captures the essence of the paradox in Philippians 2 when he writes that Christ, though in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. The Greek word for emptied is ἐκένωσεν, ekenōsen, meaning to pour out completely. Jesus humbled Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted Him and gave Him the name above every name. Humiliation led to exaltation. Weakness led to victory. The path down became the path up.
So what does this mean for us who believe? It means that every day we face choices that test whether we live by the world’s order or God’s. Will we choose to forgive an enemy even when the world says hold a grudge? Will we choose to serve quietly when the world says demand recognition? Will we accept weakness as the place where Christ’s power rests instead of hiding it in shame? Will we choose to walk humbly and trust God’s timing instead of pushing our way forward?
When we say yes to these choices we live out the paradox of the kingdom. It may not bring applause or status now but it bears eternal fruit. Jesus said in Matthew 19:29 that everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for His sake will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. The Greek word for inherit is κληρονομήσει, klēronomēsei, meaning to receive as an heir. To lose in this world is to gain in the next.
We can even see this truth reflected in the natural world that God created. A seed must be buried and die before it grows into a tree. Water flows to the lowest place bringing life where it goes. The sun sets before it rises again. Night falls before morning breaks. God has written His paradox into creation itself as a witness that His order is true.
In the end the greatest paradox is the cross itself. There the Son of God hung, beaten, mocked, stripped of dignity. To human eyes it was the deepest shame and the surest defeat. Yet in that very moment He was conquering sin, death, and hell. Colossians 2:15 says He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, triumphing over them in it. The Greek word for triumphing is θριαμβεύσας, thriambeusas, the word used for a victorious procession. What looked like defeat was in fact the greatest triumph of all history.
This is why the apostle John in Revelation 5 saw the Lion of Judah revealed as a Lamb standing as though slain. The Lion is power, the Lamb is sacrifice. In God’s kingdom the Lamb is the Lion. The paradox remains at the center of eternity.
So we come back to the truth that God truly turns the world upside down. The proud are brought low, the humble are lifted up, the barren sing for joy, the persecuted rejoice, the poor in spirit inherit the kingdom, the meek inherit the earth, the weak display His strength. His character is revealed in this reversal because He is not like man. He is holy, just, merciful, and faithful. He delights to show power through vessels that the world would dismiss so that all glory belongs to Him alone.
For us the call is simple yet profound. Do we trust Him enough to live this way? Will we let go of our striving and allow Him to lift us in His timing? Will we accept the low place knowing that is where He is most present? Will we boast in our weakness so that Christ’s power may rest on us?
If we do, we will find that the paradoxes are not heavy burdens but doorways into joy, peace, and eternal life. The meek will not only inherit the earth. They will find that the earth itself was never the prize. The prize is God Himself. His presence, His kingdom, His eternal reign. That is the deepest truth of all.
This image shows how God turns the world upside down. A child walks ahead of kings, the lion bows beside the lamb, and a cracked clay pot glows with heavenly light. Above, an inverted city shows how God’s order overturns human pride. At the center stands the radiant cross, the greatest paradox of all—what looked like defeat became eternal victory. Together, these symbols remind us that in God’s kingdom the meek inherit the earth, the last become first, and His strength shines through our weakness.
And THAT is…
Images were done by chatgpt as per my instruction: