Eagles (saints, unconscious breathers, same word as air, from the bird that flies in the air) Deut. 32:11-12, “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her winds, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the Lord alone did lead him…” Isaiah 40:31, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Under the law the eagle was an unclean bird and that it preyed on the weak. Both of these facts speak of the unredeemed mind of man that is capable of soaring but also has a negative aspect that needs to be transformed into the mind of Christ. Man, under the law, does prey on the weak instead of lifting them up and praying for them. By showing God’s Love, giving of our prayers and encouragement we are extending grace. Man's legal nature wants to judge.) The eagle has always represented power and strength. The eagle to the bird world is like the lion to the animal world. It has the greatest power and strength of any kind of bird. The eagle comes from falcons and condors, and is the king. The eagle is a meat eater (not the milk of the word), and will not eat anything corrupt or rotten. The eagle distinguishes itself from other birds by its habitat, which is the highest place on a mount, (Mt. Zion) and on a cliff. The eagle can crush your hand with one squeeze. An eagle is born with its mouth wide open ready to eat, and it is the only bird where the mother and father raise the baby together. (Just as a newly saved person is, ready to eat the Word, and the more mature Christians, both male and female, should be there to raise this baby together.) The mom and dad prepare the nest with sticks and the hides from their kills. A nest is known to be as large as 8 feet across and 11-12 feet deep. While the female is sitting on the egg she will extend her feet (talons), and the male will join his talons with hers. And then he rubs on her with his head and shows affection as well as kisses her, and then they will reverse positions during this incubation period until the baby is born. After the baby is born one will get fresh kill, and they will chew the fresh meat up first before feeding the baby. (It is so important for mature Christians to feed the newly saved carefully so they don’t get too much at one time and choke. They must start with the “Milk of the Word” and then will eventually begin to eat the “Meat of the Word” on their own.) During a thundering, rain storm, the parents will spread out their wings and form a canopy to protect the baby. (A newly saved person needs extra care and protection while they are young.) When the baby is grown, it is time for it to learn it’s identity and get out of the nest. Once out, the parents will watch intently, and at the same time the mother will pick every hair and the fur out of the nest and throw it away over the side of the cliff, making the nest a little less comfortable that night. The second time the baby leaves the nest the mother will remove anything else that is comfortable and toss it over the cliff. This forces the baby to spend more time out of the nest since it is now very uncomfortable. The third time out of the nest the mother will completely destroy the nest leaving the baby disoriented. The birthplace of an eagle is not permanent, but the birth is. (The place of our salvation is not always permanent, but our birth is). Now the baby is on a cold rock, it’s unfamiliar and he’s uncomfortable, shaking and shivering. Mom and dad do not snuggle up to it because it is now time for the baby to strengthen and learn. It’s around 12-13 weeks old and it’s time to learn how to fly. (As with a newly saved person, there comes a time when they have to begin to stand up on their own, and become strong.) The next morning mom moves beside the baby, turns her head and looks at him and the baby knows that mom is telling him to climb up on top of her back. (“But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.”) He digs his talons into her feathers, and settles down in comfort, but then she jumps up and off the cliff, causing him to dig his talons in deeper. Then she will turn her nose up in the air, and then she will flip over on her back. The baby will be hanging on as long as it can. Scared, falling, and screaming, the baby doesn’t know what to do, but just before he hits the ground, mom will swoop up underneath him and he will be safe again on her back, digging even deeper with his talons. She can fly faster then he can fall. Then she takes him back to the rock. He will then walk back and forth on the rock and making sounds as though he were praising it. The second night he takes the cold and discomforts a lot easier, no longer complaining and thankful for being back on the rock. (“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress…” Psa 18:2) (“…for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ.”) The next morning she repeats moving next to him and looks at him again, until he finally will climb back on. He knows to obey her even though he is fearful. Always, when he is falling, the mother and father will fly above him and give him a loud scream, as if to say, “spread out your wings and fly, you are made for the sky.” Again, if he doesn’t fly she will swoop down under him right before he hits the ground. Sometimes it takes 3-4 times, but eventually he will see them flying above him, while he is tumbling, and spread out his wings like hers and begins to glide. In the wing bone there is a hole where the air circulates right through it and lifts the eagle up. An eagle flies 10% of the time, 90% of the time it glides. They have learned to use the wind to their advantage; they yield to the wind. (When we yield to the wind, the Holy Spirit, we can glide). Like mom, the baby has spread its wings, and soon a turbulent wind will come and carry him higher, to help him to see further down into the valley. Mom and dad constantly stay above him to watch and protect him. When a baby begins to fly the mom and dad will join their talons together in the air as they did on the nest, throw their wings out and float around like a canopy in circles, screaming and hollering. The baby is now strong, powerful, and flying. You will never find eagles, young or old, in a storm. During a storm they are flying above the storm clouds looking down. (We wouldn’t have to go through a lot of storms if we would learn to yield to the wind, the Holy Spirit, and then we would rise above the storm). You will also never find an eagle letting an enemy come between them and the sun. The eagle’s eyesight is 20 times better then ours, and they have special eyelids that are considered built-in sunglasses. When the enemy comes they will lower the lid, look at the sun and fly towards it. The enemy has to turn and go back because he looses sight of the eagle in the sun. (When the devil comes on the scene, we should look at the Son, and fly up with wings as the eagles, soar to the Son of God, and the devil has to turn back because he looses all sight of us in the Lord Christ Jesus. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”) The eagle utilizes everything around him to his advantage, like keeping his claws and beak sharp on the rocks. (“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God…”) Eagles live from 60 years to 100, or more. The oldest eagle in captivity is recorded living somewhere over 128 years, and was still strong and powerful. In the middle part of an eagle’s life he goes through a period of depression. During this period, the eagle quits flying and starts walking around on the earth like a chicken or a turkey. The eagle is not intended for that. During this time his claws break off and nubs form, calcium deposits build up on this beak covering his 2 nostrils, and he has to open his mouth to breathe. His flying, if at all, will slow to 30-35 mph. Eagles have been clocked at 137 mph straight out and 180 mph in a downward sweep. If the eagle stays on the earth too long he will lose all ability to fly because he loses his power. (There have been people powerful for God, got involved with the things of the world, which drained their strength and power.) When a storm comes, the eagle will sit out in it, in the rain, and the wind blows and beats on him with his head hanging low. Before he was proud and had identity, now he’s depressed. Now he is out of the will of God for his life. Yet there is still a cry from within telling him that he is an eagle and was not intended to live like this but was intended to fly. (How many times have we been sitting in the rain being beaten by the wind with our head low, and yet there was a “still small voice” from within saying “this is not my plan for you.”) When the eagle flies again, he will return to the rock. An eagle never changes rocks from the day of birth. (Jesus Christ is our “Rock of Ages.”) The eagle will put his head against the rock and grind his beak against it to break down the calcium (barrier) over his nostrils for it to fall off to be able to breath freely again. (The Breath of Life) He gets rid of anything that hinders him at that rock. He will then fly off and slam his feet into the rock to break the nubs off, so his claws will grow out long and sharp again. Then he will fly into the rock to break off the cartilage on his beak so it will grow properly. When he gets out of this condition he will never get back into it again, it is a one time only. We should learn our lesson the first time. (“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us,” 1 John 1:8-10) How many of us have known what it is like to have the power of God in our life? To have known what it is to be real, genuine, and see God work, and to see the power of God move, and to be a witness for Him, and then turn away towards the world? Then, how many of us have experienced the pain of breaking away the barrier keeping us from breathing? And experienced the pain of breaking off the nubs on our feet so they can be “shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace?” And experienced the breaking off the cartilage on our beak so we can speak sharply and clear the word of God with strength and authority? In his older age, an eagle is stronger then he ever was. He is more powerful and quicker then ever before, and you cannot tell the difference between a young eagle and an old one. You can put a 16 month eagle next to one 100 years old and you can’t tell them apart. Everything about him is better once he comes out of the wilderness experience. The eagle sheds his feathers every year. This maintains his identity and beauty. (“For the corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Cor. 15:53) We are to have a glorified body, and it will matter not how old or young we are, we will be in the image of the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, strong, powerful, quick, and beautiful. The eyes of a strong eagle are always wet and have a far-away look in them. They long to fly and be free. An eagle wears no man’s chain or leather strap, will fight to get out of a cage, and has a love to be free from this world. You don’t have to be down or depressed, in bondage or in pain. God wants you to mount up with wings as the eagles, to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint, and to look to the Son, and fly to Him, right here and right now.
With the Love of Jesus Christ, Darlene Luke Darlene Luke PO Box 1883 Bethany, OK 73008-1883
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