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“Yours will be the wings of an eagle’s flight, the soaring of a lark, sunward,
heavenward, Godward! But you must take time to be holy – in meditation, in
prayer, and especially in the use of the Bible.” F.B. Meyer
“If we will only surrender ourselves utterly to the Lord, and will trust Him
perfectly, we shall find our souls “mounting up with wings as eagles” to the
“heavenly places” in Christ Jesus, where earthly annoyances or sorrows
have no power to disturb us.” Hannah Whitall Smith
What is a metaphor?
Metaphors are common in the Bible. They are figures of speech used to
describe something uniquely. For instance, a metaphor often says one thing
is something else. Scripture may say, “The eagle is a warrior.” You
understand this means the eagle fights and defends. Metaphors are used a
lot in literature, poems because they help symbolize and describe things.
Scripture uses the eagle as a literary metaphor.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for eagle is “nesher” means “to tear
with its beak.” It was usually translated as eagle, but in a couple places
vulture. The eagle is depicted as a bird of prey that’s swift, unstoppable
judgment similar to an invading nation. God used the metaphor of the eagle
when He wanted to give a warning to His people or other nations around
Israel when they pursued evil. Scripture speaks of a bird that Israelites
understood was unstoppable and powerful.
“Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on
high?
On the rock, he dwells and makes his home, on the rocky crag and
stronghold.
From there he spies out the prey; his eyes behold it from far away.
“His young ones suck up blood, and where the slain are, there is he.” (Job
39:27-30 ESV)
“Behold, He will mount up and swoop like an eagle, and spread out His
wings against Bozrah; and the hearts of the warriors of Edom on that day
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.” (Jeremiah 49:22 NASB)
“Thus says the Lord God: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions,
rich in plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took the top of the
cedar.” (Ezekiel 17:4 ESV)
“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.” (Deuteronomy 32:11 ESV)
Heavenly deliverer
The image of the eagle is also of Godly deliverance. All throughout scripture
you read about God’s deliverance of His people. No more is this as clear as
in the story of God delivering the Israelites out of Egypt.
“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 ESV)
…who satisfies you with good, so that your youth is renewed like the
eagle’s.(Psalm 103:5 ESV)
..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. (Isaiah 40:31 ESV)
Power
Eagles also represent power. There are many scriptures that speak of the
strength, power of the eagle, especially in relation to its ability to swoop
down from its high to catch its prey. The metaphor speaks of God’s powerful
ability to bring down even the highest and mightiest on the earth.
“Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the
stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord.” (Obadiah 1:4
ESV)
1. Psalm 103:5 (NIV) “who satisfies your desires with good things so that
your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.“
2. Jeremiah 4:13 (NLT) “Our enemy rushes down on us like storm clouds!
His chariots are like whirlwinds. His horses are swifter than eagles. How
terrible it will be, for we are doomed!”
3. Jeremiah 49:22 “He will mount up and swoop like an eagle, and spread
out His wings against Bozrah; and the hearts of the warriors of Edom on that
day will be like the heart of a woman in labor.”
4. Exodus 19:4 “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I
carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.”
5. Habakkuk 1:8 “Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves
at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour.”
6. Ezekiel 17:3-4 “Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: “A great
eagle with broad wings and long feathers, covered with many-colored
plumage, came to Lebanon. He seized the top of a cedar tree 4 and plucked
off its highest branch. He carried it away to a city filled with merchants. He
planted it in a city of traders.”
7. Deuteronomy 32:11 “like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its
young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.”
8. Job 39:27-30 “Is it at your command that the eagle flies high, And makes
his nest on high? 28 He dwells and spends his nights on the cliff, On the
rocky cliff, an inaccessible place. 29 From there he tracks food; His eyes
look at it from afar. 30 His young ones also lick up blood greedily; And where
the slain are, there he is.”
9. Obadiah 1:4 “Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among
the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.”
10. Job 9:26 “They skim past like boats of papyrus, like eagles swooping
down on their prey.”
11. Jeremiah 48:40 “For thus says the LORD: “Behold, one shall fly like an
eagle, And spread his wings over Moab.”
12. Hosea 8:1 (HCSB) “Put the horn to your mouth! One like an eagle
comes against the house of the LORD, because they transgress My
covenant and rebel against My law.”
13. Revelation 4:7 “The first living creature was like a lion, the second was
like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.”
– (Lion quotes)
14. Proverbs 23:5 “Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they
will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.”
Nesting characteristics- Eagles live in pairs and nest in a tall tree or high
crag of a mountain. Their large nests are not made in trees like those of
many other birds, nor are they the same shape as other birds. An eagle’s
next is nothing but a layer of sticks laid out flat on a rock and covered
with some hay or straw.
We read about the care of the eagle for her young in Deuteronomy
32:11. Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his
wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
and makes his nest on high? On the rock he dwells and makes his home,
on the rocky crag and stronghold. From there he spies out the prey; his
eyes behold it from far away. (Job 39: 26-30 ESV)
We read about the care of the eagle for her young in Deuteronomy
32:11. Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his
wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
and makes his nest on high? On the rock he dwells and makes his home,
on the rocky crag and stronghold. From there he spies out the prey; his
eyes behold it from far away. (Job 39: 26-30 ESV)
We read about the care of the eagle for her young is spoken of in
Deuteronomy 32:11. Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and
spreads his wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle
mounts up and makes his nest on high? On the rock he dwells and
makes his home, on the rocky crag and stronghold. From there he spies
out the prey; his eyes behold it from far away. (Job 39:26-30 ESV)
Care for young- Several verses tell us the eagle carries its young on its
wings. Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its
young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its
opinions, the Lord alone guided him, no foreign god was with him.
(Deuteronomy 32:11-12 ESV)
Eagle eye- If someone tells you that you have an eagle eye, it’s a
compliment. They can see their prey from very far away. Plus, the eagle
has a thin, inner eyelid they can close over their eye to help block out
sunlight. This not only protects their eyes but allows them to hunt small
animals on the ground.
Strength- The eagle can live up to 70 years. It sheds its wings every
spring so that it looks like a young bird. This is why David says in Psalm
103: 5…who satisfies you with good, so that your youth is renewed
like the eagle’s. Another well-known verse depicts the strength of the
eagle. Isaiah 40: 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.
15. Deuteronomy 28:49 (KJV) “The LORD shall bring a nation against thee
from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation
whose tongue thou shalt not understand.”
16. Lamentations 4:19 (NASB) “Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of
the sky; They chased us on the mountains, They waited in ambush for us in
the wilderness.”
17. 2 Samuel 1:23 “Saul and Jonathan— in life they were loved and
admired, and in death they were not parted. They were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.”
18. Deuteronomy 32:11 (NKJV) “As an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over
its young, Spreading out its wings, taking them up, Carrying them on its
wings.”
19. Daniel 4:33 “That same hour the judgment was fulfilled, and
Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society. He ate grass like a cow,
and he was drenched with the dew of heaven. He lived this way until his hair
was as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws.”
20. Ezekiel 1:10 “Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face
of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on
the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.”
What does it mean to soar on wings like eagles?
So, the metaphor of the eagle is both that of a predator, swift and powerful.
It gives us an image of a caring, protector that can soar into the clouds
above . In essence, the eagle is an image of God, both to be feared and to
be seen as your protector. One who secures an eternal home for his people.
No one can hurt them when he’s protecting them. He lifts them up on high
and holds them close.
…but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31 ESV)
Faith in Christ saves us from eternal destruction. We can soar on high to the
world’s unknown with God leading us home. The Lord provides the strength
the world can’t give you. He supplies the strength as you call upon his
name.
Isaiah 55:6-7 “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while he is
near. 7 Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God,
for he will freely pardon.”
21. Isaiah 40:30-31 “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men
stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in 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 be faint.”
22. Psalm 27:1 “The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?”
23. Matthew 6:30 “If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is
here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe
you—you of little faith?”
24. 1 Peter 5:7 “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
25. 2 Samuel 22:3-4 “my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield,
and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you
save me from violence. 4 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.”
26. Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his
might.”
Although an eagle doesn’t really carry its young on its back, this metaphor
means the eagle is strong and protective. Similarly, God is powerful and able
to protect his children. This is a parental type of care.
27. Isaiah 66:13 “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
28. Exodus 19:4 “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and
how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.”
29. Isaiah 49:15 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no
compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not
forget you!”
30. Matthew 28:20 “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the
age.”
31. Isaiah 54:5 “For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his
name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole
earth he is called.”
33. Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I
am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my
righteous right hand.”
And these you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten; they
are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture.( Leviticus
11:13 ESV)
Some think that God prohibited the eagle as food because they are
scavengers who eat dead flesh. They could carry disease to humans. God
was protecting his people.
35. Ezekiel 17:7 “But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and
full plumage. The vine now sent out its roots toward him from the plot where
it was planted and stretched out its branches to him for water.”
36. Revelation 12:14 “The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle,
so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where
she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the
serpent’s reach.”
37. Leviticus 11:13 “These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and
not eat because they are unclean: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture.”
Conclusion
The Bible has a lot to say about eagles. It uses metaphors to depict God’s
power, judgment and protective care. Like the majestic eagle, Lord he
comes to judgment against his enemies. He swoops with talons ready to
strike those who would disobey his laws. Yet, also just like the eagle, the
Lord is a fierce protector of His people. He lifts that high above the chaos of
life similar to the eagle’s nest planted on the highest crag of a mountain. He
promises to gather those who trust Him under His wings and keep us until
we are carried home on wings like an eagle.
Related Topics:
Bible Verses About Flying
Bible Verses About Birds
Bible Verses About Lions
Tanakh Vs Torah
Bible Verses About Sparrows
NIV VS KJV Bible
Bible Verses About Hunting
Sheep
Bible Verses About Animals
Toil
Quotes About Wolves
Cats
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Luke 1:37 – “For No Word From God Will Ever Fail.”