Stand in Awe
By Anthony Casperson
10-5-24

A film school graduate sat down to watch a well-known movie for the first time. Her studies had used the film as an example on many occasions. And she knew the popular memes made from it. But she’d never really taken the time to watch the movie in its entirety.

During the process of watching, she made comments about various aspects. The way the camera was used. Intentionality of language in the dialogue. And even how the film’s style proved its place as inspiration in movies for decades after it.

But there was something else about the experience that left her sitting in awe. Something making her go from film critic to amazed audience member.

It’s one thing to study, dissect, and zoom really close in on something. To seek understanding about minute details and appreciate the various pieces. But it’s something else entirely to back up and experience the larger context of it all.

Even when we’re intimately familiar the particular pieces, we can still be amazed at the whole.

For that film school graduate, she sat there amazed at a piece of art that many adore. And we can have a similar experience in a whole host of other moments.

Earlier this week, I likewise felt awe while reading Isaiah 44 in my daily bible reading. (And yes, I know that a chapter in a book of the bible also exists in the larger context of the entire book. But the book of Isaiah is also much larger than a couple-hour movie.)

I knew that a large chunk of the chapter, verses 9-20, speak about the worthless nature of idols. The prophet’s words poke a little fun at the person who bows down to these little wooden figures. Specifically, he speaks of the person who chops down a tree and fashions the wood into the image that he bows down before.

The prophet finds it funny because, what does the guy do with the rest of the wood? He throws it into the fire. Bakes bread over it. Warms himself with it. And ultimately, reduces it to ashes.

What makes the difference between the two halves of the wood? Why is one half so holy that a person feels the need to bow down before it, while the other half is used for mundane things? And eventually, that second half is tossed out with the garbage of the house. Does that final end of the second half mean that the person might as well be claiming that the dust and ashes are his god?

That section of Isaiah 44 had been covered in multiple classes throughout my experience of bible college and seminary.

As well, my professors taught from the end of this chapter. Verse 28 is famous for being one of the most direct proclamations of future-focused prophecy in the bible. God—through Isaiah—specifically names Cyrus as the agent by whose hand God would return the people of Judah back to the Promised Land.

When it comes to biblical prophecy, this chapter—and the next, like it—is among the most unique examples of prophetic word in the bible because of how far away from the fulfillment it is. While still literally giving the name of a person involved in the prophecy.

This isn’t some mystical “a seventh son of a seventh son,” or “some day, one will rise who is born of the Force, and he will bring balance to it.” No, this is, “Cyrus will be my shepherd in raising up the ruins of Judah’s cities.” It gives specific details that couldn’t be interpreted as fulfilled by multiple possibilities throughout the generations.

And it’s written during the time of Isaiah, who lived almost a century and a half before the return of the people of Judah back from the exile. I mean, Assyria was still the cultural powerhouse in Isaiah’s day. Babylon—the nation who would bring the people of Judah into exile—wasn’t even a major player in middle eastern politics yet. And Cyrus was a king from the nation that rose to world power after them.

For a prophecy to be that specific about an event so distantly removed, we can only call it astounding. It’s so unthinkable—unless God really did give foreknowledge to his prophet, as I believe—that some biblical scholars deny that Isaiah wrote it. They go so far as to claim that the words were written after the Israelites returned from exile as a sort of propaganda for morale among the returned exiles. The prophecy looks so specific to the truth that they wrongly claim it had to be written afterward.

As I read the chapter this past week, memories of all of those classes and sermons and commentary readings rang around my head. But then I sat back and looked at the chapter as a whole. And I became amazed.

In awe of the God spotlighted in this chapter.

This amazement came when I read verse 24 where it says, “Thus says the Lord your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb.” Words that are so close to verse 2, “Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb.” The connection made me step back and look at the chapter as a whole.

The God who chose Israel from among all of the other nations, the one who birthed Israel into a nation, he is the one who formed and fashioned them. Unlike the other so-called gods who are formed and fashioned in the likeness of their human crafter, the true and only God made us in his image. And because of his choice, he will remain faithful to his covenant. Even redeeming his people and bringing them back from their exile that was caused because of their idolatry.

From the beginning, God knew the end. We see in verse 3 that God promises restoration through the pouring of his Spirit. The same promise of his Spirit that continues its fulfillment since the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit began his indwelling ministry among followers of Jesus. These words from the early 700s BC speak even into our present day. And beyond, to when the fullness of the Kingdom is revealed.

And near the end of the chapter, God points back to the beginning of creation. Verse 24 speaks of God’s work in stretching out the heavens and the earth. The surety of his act in creating the universe stands as one example of how sure we can be in the fulfillment of his promise. His mighty hand has done wondrous things before. And he will do them again for those who belong to him.

How can we not stare in amazement at the Creator who formed us? The only God there is. The one who has fulfilled so many promises in the past. The one who proved foreknowledge of events long before they happened, because they moved according to his will. The one who pours out his Spirit upon we who are his people.

Because of this, I call on all of us to take a minute and just experience the fullness of God’s glory. We might know and understand bits and pieces. Some of us have even spent long stretches of time studying our wondrous Creator and his word. But we will stand in the most awe when we witness as much of his entirety as our human minds can handle.

Step back with me to witness the full piece of God and his craftsmanship.

Stand in awe.