Torch, Winter 2012

I t was the summer of 1998. The Amazon River darkness seemed to swallow up everything in its path. Our pecky-pecky (dugout canoe) slowly and quietly drifted down the narrow tributary of this magnificent river. I was on a hunting expedition with nine Cedarville students, an ABWE missionary, and a Brazilian national. We had to be so cautious. The river was full of anacondas, piranha, “orifice” fish (flesh-eating fish that enter through any possible opening in the body), and crocodiles. Fallen tree trunks and dense jungle growth threatened us with hidden danger from all around. Fear consumed us. Then, somehow, in the midst of the danger surrounding me, God reached down and reminded me of His awesome presence. For just a few minutes, the jungle growth over us disappeared. In awe, I cried out, “Look up!” Immediately our canoe was filled with gasps. Tears flowed and words could not quite find their way out for a moment. There were so many stars! We were captured with a sense of astonishing awe. At that moment, the eminent danger all around us seemed trivial. Nothing compared with what we were seeing in the Amazon sky. Our fear of our surroundings turned to a different kind of fear — a humbling reverence for our Almighty God. Behold Your Fear Our experience was, in miniature, what Isaiah must have felt in Chapter 40 of the book bearing his name. God’s people so desperately needed encouragement. Hope was so far from them. One chapter earlier Isaiah had prophesied to King Hezekiah that Judah would be taken into exile in Babylon. That is exactly what happened. The Babylonian army crushed her, carrying off any survivors. God’s people had miserably failed Him, and now they were paying for it. Seventy excruciating years elapsed between Isaiah Chapter 39 and 40. Beaten down, Judah needed to know God had not abandoned her. She was coming unglued in captivity. The people were discouraged, disillusioned, and bitter. They believed God had failed them. God specializes in making a way out of circumstances that cause people to fear. The first 11 verses of Isaiah 40 lay the foundation for Judah’s renewed hope. Just like my traveling companions in that dugout canoe on the Amazon River, Judah’s fear had to be redirected. These people needed comfort, stability, and most of all, assurance. They had to realize that the awesome God of the universe is the one dependable reality in their confusing, constantly changing world! The text says voices cried out informing God’s people that their captivity was soon to be over and their sins were pardoned. Isaiah challenged his listeners to spread the good news that Adonai Yahweh was coming in all His power. Better days were ahead! Behold Your God J.I. Packer, in his masterpiece book Knowing God , makes this profound statement, “Living becomes an awesome business when you realize that you spend every moment of your life in the sight and company of an omniscient, omnipotent Creator.” Judah desperately needed to get a fresh view of her God. “Behold your God!” the text exclaimed. Proverbs 14:26 says, “In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and His children will have a refuge.” In order for Judah to get a grip on this reality, she was allowed to view breathtaking truth about her God. Isaiah records six realities about God found in Isaiah 40:12–31. 1. God’s majesty is incomparable (verse 12). John Bunyan once said, “Nothing awes the soul so much as does the glorious majesty of God.” The Amazon River contains one-fifth Winter 2012 | TORCH 21