A rising of Eagles
The story of the Eagle
The eagle is part of a group of birds known as the Birds of prey. There are 60 species of eagle worldwide. The eagle is one of the largest and strongest birds in the world. The eagle flies at high altitudes by its self (not in a flock) and conserves energy by gliding on top of thermal updrafts and also using air current to navigate the skies. Their lifespan is around 20 to 30 years in the wild.
Because eagles are fairly heavy they are not very efficient at pursuing their food in aerial pursuit. Therefore they rely on surprising their prey and overcoming it on the ground. They can fly at an average speed of 80 kpm (50 mph) and reach 160 kpm (100 mph) when diving to catch some prey. Their diet includes fish, other birds and small animal like bats, rabbits, rodents and snakes. The eagle is regarded as the strongest hunter in the world of birds and is able to attack prey as big as them. To assist with this, the eagle has strong large feet with curved talons.
The eagle’s eyes are among the sharpest out of all animals with them being up to 8 times stronger than a human being. It can see its prey on the ground up to 3 kilometres away. As it rapidly descends on the prey it adjusts the shape of its eyeballs so as to keep a sharp focus on the animal. The eagle gets most of its food from live prey. It does not eat dead things like a vulture would do.
The eagle mates for life having only one partner. Like most birds, they build a nest for raising their young. The nests are often in out of the way places like on cliffs. The male provides for the pair by hunting for food and the female keeps her eggs safe and warm. When the young get to a certain age the parents stop feeding them and, as a result, the young are forced to fly and find their own food.
The eagle is a strong bird and as a result it has become a symbol of war and power in some nations since the times of Babylon. A drawing of the eagle can be found on Greek and Roman coins along with some of the ruins of those nations.
The Eagle – too wonderful
In the book of Proverbs, Agur son of Jakeh, wrote these words:
Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky,…. (Proverbs 30: 18-19)
Agur includes at first place of his “too wonderful” list of things – the eagle. Probably because of the magnificent bird’s grace and power as it rises from the earth. As mentioned above, the eagle soars over the earth climbing over higher. It cruises on the thermals which lift it up into the higher altitudes. Eagles don’t avoid storms but rather fly into them as the air currents take them high above the storm.
They shall mount up with wings like eagles
In the prophet Isaiah, the eagle is used to draw our attention to redemption in Christ. It can be read in Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 31:
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
The prophet here is saying that those who believe and are baptised will not always be in a state of mortality (where they will eventually die). There will come a day, through the mercy and grace of God, that they will be given immortality where they will know the exhilarating tirelessness and dynamism that typifies the eagle in everything it does.
Those who by God’s grace are granted a place in the Kingdom will “mount up with wings as eagles” where weariness, pain, and even death itself shall no longer exercise dominion over them.
Soaring high above the earth
When the eagle takes to the sky, he can soar ever higher to give him a view across the land below him. So must the disciples of Christ lift their vision above earthly things. Paul encourages the members to the Colosse church (ecclesia) to:
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:2)
The Psalmist says a similar thing:
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? (Psalm 121:1)
The vision of faith of a believer must rise beyond the corrupting influences of earth for as it says:
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Philippians 3:20
We are to focus on the things that truly matter in our lives. We wait for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The power and supremacy of the eagle
God spoke about the power and supremacy of the eagle when he communicated with Moses upon Mount Sinai:
You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. (Exodus 19:4)
The metaphor talks of the strength and might of God’s sustaining care, and His loving tenderness. This was seen in his concern for their welfare by sometimes disciplining them. Sometimes he tested them. He taught the lesson of endurance and faith, but He never tried them beyond what they were able to bear.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Cor. 10:13
The eagle and her young – stirring up the nest
The metaphor in relation to the eagle is expanded in Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse 11 and 12. God uses the example of the eagle to speak about his protection of his people:
Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, the Lord alone guided him, no foreign god was with him.
The verse talks of the eagle stirring up its nest. The action of the eagle is to so disturb her young, as to excite them to be the more willing to leave the nest, learn to fly and to fend for themselves. How is this done? It is possibly through the parent bird returning with food, and so exciting the eaglets, and encouraging them to do likewise. In a similar way, God permitted Israel to be agitated and disturbed in the time of slavery in Egypt and later through the wilderness journeys. The purpose was to make them more willing to leave those areas for the land of plenty. Therefore, what was a problem to the people was to be to their ultimate benefit and good.
The eagle and her young – fluttering over its young
Verse 11 goes on to tell of the eagle fluttering over it young. This describes the mother bird protectively brooding over the young, caring for them, keeping them warm and preserving them from evil. God did likewise for His people. The eagle by its action of interacting with her brood gives the young her own vital warmth. This God did this for Israel by the influence of His Spirit Word, enlightening, encouraging and strengthening His people.
The eagle and her young – spreading outs its wings
The verse then goes on to tell of the eagle spreading out its wings, catching the young ones and bearing them on its pinions. In biology, a pinion refers to a bird’s wing, specifically the stiff outer flight feathers (quills) or the end joint of the wing.
It has been mistaken that the eagle actually carries the young ones in its wings. This is not what actually happens. The carrying refers to the strange manoeuvres of the parent bird in its desire to help the young to fly. The parent bird will fly around, and sometimes very closely underneath the young bird with the twofold aim of teaching it by example, and causing air currents that will help its flight.
Therefore, the metaphor is drawn of the eagle which is said to stir the fledglings out of the nest to teach them to fly, but continues to hover nearby to catch them if they fall. In every trial of Israel, whether threatened by the Egyptians, suffering the pangs of hunger and thirst, or challenged by the Amalekites, God was ever ready to help, and always responded to the prayer of faith uttered by Moses. The Israelites knew that, and therefore were in a position to respond to the appeal of His words. Therefore the verse tells of care of God for Israel. He trained and disciplined them to prepare them for the occupation of the Promised Land.
However, it is not God’s intention to ‘carry’ us into His Kingdom. He nevertheless provides an example, in His dear Son, and creates circumstances that assist us in aspiring to the heights He demands of His children. The process is expressed in Deuteronomy 32:12 (quoted above) by the phrase “the Lord alone guided him”.
Returning to the words of Exodus 19: 4, God says “how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself”. To bring Israel to Himself had been the purpose of God from the beginning. They had been slaves in Egypt, unlawfully claimed by Pharaoh as his own. They had been snatched from the oppressor, and brought into the presence of God. Now the terms of the covenant by which a permanent relationship could be secured were about to be given them.
The eagle used as a warning
The image of the eagle was also used by Moses in warning the Israelites of the penalties that would be inflicted upon them for disobedience:
The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, (Deut.28:49)
This verse is prophetic and speaks of the Jewish revolt and the Roman invasion of AD 66 to 70. This resulted in the destruction of the Temple and the overthrow of the nation. This all happened because of the disapproval of God as a result of the Israelite people’s disobedience.
The eagle was the common ensign of the legions of the Roman army. A flying eagle, on the Roman standards, preceded the legions when they marched into battle. The word “eagle” is nesher which signifies to lacerate or tear. It therefore is a fitting symbol for the ruthless methods of warfare engaged upon by Rome.
A similar warning was given to the Israelites through the prophet Habakkuk:
For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves….they fly like an eagle swift to devour. (Habakkuk 1:6-8)
We can see in God’s words in verses 6 to 8 how fearsome the Babylonians truly were. They were under the control of Nebuchadnezzar. In verse 6 they took dwelling place that were not there’s. They will be like the eagle which has a sharp eye that can see its prey from long distance and flies in swiftly and unexpectedly to consume its prey. The Leopard, wolf and eagle describe Babylon and its attack on Judah. You can imagine the fear in the eyes of the people of Judah as they see the Babylonians for the first time coming over the hills. This happened because of the disobedience of the people of Judah.
Swifter than eagles
When the phrase “Swifter than eagles” is used in a verse it is a conveying the idea of power and invincibility. In David’s lamentation over the deaths of Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa, in the war against the Philistines, he deemed them both to be “swifter than eagles”. He came up with this phrase because of his own observations of that mighty bird’s pre-eminence in the sky.
Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles in the heavens; they chased us on the mountains; they lay in wait for us in the wilderness. (Lamentations 4:19)
The new life through resurrection
Near the beginning of this article we read Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 31:
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
It speaks in symbolism of life and power specifically in relation to the rising of baptised believers to a new life by way of resurrection. At that time of the return of Christ, their strength shall be renewed and they shall mount up with wings like eagles.
Jesus told his apostles that “the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt.24:13). This same promise applies to those followers of Christ in this current day. They live in a world that has no interest in the things of God and the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ:
that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, Philippians 2:15
In that great day of the Lord God, there will be a rising of faithful ones—the redeemed in Christ—who, in the love and mercy of God, will “mount up with wings like eagles”, and “they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint”. These are the ones who have been approved by God. They will be lifted up to the spiritual mountain tops to everlasting joy, and will see the glories of the Day of Redemption. The “Sun of righteousness” will have arisen “with healing in his wings”.
In conclusion
Almighty God uses the figure of the eagle, to encourage Israel, and ourselves, of His continuing care and guidance, as He is depicted as “fluttering over” the young in the nest (the church or “ecclesia”) and continuing that care as maturity develops. The final picture is beautifully expressed in Isaiah 40:31—“They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles”.
