For many of us born in the 1980s, the first time we heard the word “awesome” was from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But it wasn’t just cartoons using the word, it was all over popular media, usually being the choice word of characters falling under the surfer guy stereotype.
By the time I was in middle school, “awesome” had become a replacement for the word “cool.” It basically meant that something was agreeable. You got a good grade on a test: “Awesome!” Your friend said he’ll arrive in 5 minutes: “Awesome!” Someone asks how you’re feeling: “Awesome!”
This is a far cry from what the word is supposed to mean. If you look “awesome” up in the dictionary, it will say “inspiring awe.” So, you then have to look up what “awe” means. Webster’s Dictionary defines it as “an emotion variously combining dread, veneration and wonder that is inspired by overwhelming greatness (as in beauty, power or size).” This is a word that was once reserved to describe the most wonderous of things. So, when we read it in the Bible today, it has lost some of its impact when describing the one true and most awesome God.
The first time we find the word “awesome” in the Bible is when Jacob receives the vision of a ladder going into heaven at Bethel in Genesis 28:10-22. Here, God spoke to Jacob and gave him the same great land, great nation and great Seed promises that were given to Abraham and Isaac. When Jacob awoke, verse 17 tells us, “And he was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!’” Jacob realized that he was in the presence of God. And in response, he consecrated the place and vowed his loyalty to the Lord (28:18-22).
In the Bible, the word “awesome” is a feeling reserved for only the most uniquely wonderful or fearful things. With very few exceptions, the word is almost always referring to the Lord God or His works. It is such a powerful feeling that, like Jacob, it demands our immediate reverence and obedience. In Deuteronomy 10:16-17, Moses declared, “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome…”
This article is not written to make anyone feel guilty about using the word “awesome” in a casual way. However, it is a reminder that when the Bible uses it, we must understand the grand magnificence it is conveying. Our God is fearful (Deut. 7:21). Our God is mighty (Jer. 20:11). Our God is holy (Psa. 111:9). And, our God is so loving, He suffered and died to save us (John 3:16-17). Now that’s awesome!