Eagles’ Wings
“To soar like an eagle is to transcend the ordinary and touch the extraordinary.”
Whether knowingly or not, the person who authored that statement authored a profound truth. God designed this majestic creature with its various striking characteristics. Its noble head and fierce talons speak to us of courage and determination. Its wings, however, are its most outstanding feature. Their wings give them powerful thrust and with their feathered expanse they can deftly utilize the unseen power in the air for speed and perfect maneuverability.
God used eagles’ wings symbolically when speaking to Israel through Moses. “You 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 word “bore” is translated from a primitive root word that means “to lift” and it can be used in a variety of applications. God lifted them or brought them out of Egypt for the purpose of being with Him. They had to walk out on their own feet, but God was with them, guiding them just as an eagle’s wings deftly guide and direct its flight.
We can glean a little more understanding from the Song of Moses. Speaking of Israel, Moses said, “He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so the Lord alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him” (Deuteronomy 32:10–12). Here we see the symbolism of God’s close contact with, and loving instruction to Israel as being comparable to how eagles hover over their young and teach them to fly. The Israelites went through many trials while under God’s care due to their own stiff necks, but they were under God’s wings, so to speak. Interestingly, the word “hover” here is the very same word as is used in Genesis 1:2 when God’s Spirit was hovering over the face of the waters. This adds a very certain spiritual dimension to the symbolism of eagle’s wings. God leads the willing by means of His Spirit.
The symbolism of eagles’ wings closely relates to our confidence in God and the resulting spiritual strength. Isaiah wrote, “But those who wait on 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). Nothing will wear a person down mentally, physically or spiritually more quickly than putting our faith in ourselves. Not allowing oneself to be lead by the Holy Spirit is analogous to being separated from the eagles’ wings. It is to reject God’s love and guidance.
Being easily led by the Holy Spirit has always been essential, but especially so in our present age. God’s people will need eagles’ wings again. “But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent” (Revelation 12:14). Wherever the place of nourishment for the faithful is, is inconsequential. Being easily led by God’s Spirit is the matter of consequence. These are the ones who will be extraordinarily led by the wings of a great eagle to the place God provides them.
Marshall Stiver
