The Eagle
The eagle is a symbol used many times in Scripture. In fact,
it is mentioned 39 times throughout the Bible. We can learn
some important lessons from this majestic creation of God.
Eagles have a wing span of 2 meters and are around 90 cm tall.
The eagle mates for life and uses the same nest for life. This
nest is built in a safe place, often on a ledge of a sharp cliff.
It is built to last and the largest nest reported is
9 1/2 feet wide and 20 feet deep.
When the babies are born, both parents assume responsibility
for their care. They are gentle parents, sitting on the eggs
for one month. The parents bring food up to the nest and
feed them small pieces of meat. Within 45 days, they can
weigh nearly 40 times their birth weight.
At three months they get special feathers for flying and a new
learning experience begins. The Mother eagle flies into the
nest and begins to thrash around causing a great commotion.
Eventually, one of the babies will fall out of the nest and will
begin heading for the earth below. Never having used his
wings before, he's not really sure what to do, but does
do a lot of flapping while heading straight down.
Just before the baby eagle hit's the ground, the Mother eagle
flies underneath in order to catch the baby on her powerful
wings and she flies him safely back to the nest. This continues
on day after day until all the babies learn how to fly.
There are two verses in scripture that actually mention this
routine of the eagle. In Deuteronomy 32:10 & 11, Moses reminds
the children of Israel how God cared for them and guarded them
"just like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings in order to catch them and carries it on
its pinions." Again in Exodus 19:4 God says that "He will carry
the children of Israel on eagle's wings."
We can get very comfortable in our nest. Perhaps that can be our
way of doing things, our way of thinking, our opinions, our way of
living life. Then when God comes and stirs up our nest, we get
upset. We don't always identify this as a growing experience.
Sometimes if we were really honest, we really don't want to grow.
We get very complacent and satisfied with where we are and any
interruptions are viewed as negative. But God wants us to fly,
to become all that he intends for us to become. He never
stirs up our nest without good reason.
Did you know the eagle can see a rabbit two miles away? It can
soar up to two miles above the ground and can fly at speeds
up to 100 miles an hour. They have a separate eyelid which
slides across the eye sideways in order to keep the eye
clean and free from dust as they fly.
Their bones are hollow and therefore light of frame. Their
frame has cross ribs, like steal bars in sky scrapers. The eagle
has 7000 feathers. The back feathers are as long as the head
feathers. Their beak is black until they turn 3 years of
age, and then it turns golden.
When eagles are about 30 years old, they go through a renewal
process. They find a secret place high in the mountains and
begin to claw at their face and tear out the feathers that
have been damaged over the years. As a result, it bleeds
badly. But this is necessary for the eagle in order to
renew its strength. If it did not do this, it would not
be able to live to its normal 60 years of age.
Psalms 103:5 says, "who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagles." A time of renewal
is necessary for every child of God. A time when we get rid of
what is weighing us down, holding us back, aging us spiritually.
A time to give up the sinful habits, to give in to the Holy
Spirit in whichever way He is convicting us.
We need to do this, even to the point of renewal with pain.
Some things we hold on to so tightly, that to let go actually
causes us pain. But in order to have the long, powerful, useful,
spiritual life that God plans for us, we need to do that.
It will renew our spiritual youthfulness.
When the eagles are free to soar in God's creation, they are
the cleanest of birds. They were created to be free and to soar
to great heights. They were not meant to remain close to the
earth in the lowlands. They were created to soar. When they
are held in captivity, they become one of the dirtiest birds.
God has created us to remain pure and holy and conformed to
His image. Don't allow the freedom we are to experience in Him
to be compromised by spending too much time in worldly thinking,
activities and mindsets. We need to remain clean.
Eagles do not fly like other birds, they don't flap their wings,
they soar! Flapping their wings would use incredible amounts
of their own strength and endurance, and they would require
so much more food as fuel if they didn't soar.
Instead, they sit on a high ledge and wait for the right wind
currents to come. When the time is right, they take off and
soar upwards, effortlessly, because they have waited for the
right time. There is a special "up going" wind that they ride
as it circles higher and higher toward the sky.
What a lesson for God's children to learn. How often do we
loose strength by jumping out too soon and flapping our
wings instead of waiting for God's timing.
Waiting is not a popular concept in these days of instant
everything. But when we wait on the Lord, wait for His timing,
wait for His answers, wait for His direction, then we can
soar to new heights and fly to new places.
"Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength,
they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and
not grow weary, they will walk and not faint."
Linda Ozirney, Women's Ministries
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