Eagles: The King of the Birds in Scripture
Eagles: The King of the Birds in Scripture.
“First this: God created the heavens and the earth – all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.” (Genesis 1:1-2, MSG).
Since the fifth day of creation in Genesis 1:20, birds have held a deep fascination among us humans. “And God said, ‘Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds soar high above the earth across the expanse of the heavens!’ So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was beautiful and excellent. And God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth!” And ever since, mankind has been saying ‘Amen!’ to God’s words of blessing over these birds of His.
It is abundantly clear that the Creator God has loved His fine-feathered friends from the beginning. God’s instructions to Noah included a special word for the birds… “Take seven of each kind of bird of the heavens, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of the earth.” (Genesis 6:3). And to this day, birds are the only creatures that flourish on every continent. God’s instructions to Noah revealed that birds hold a special place in God’s heart, and He wanted all of them, every kind, to flourish. The unique connection between God and birds has convinced me that, no, the birds didn’t evolve from meat-eating dinosaurs. God had special plans in mind for His birds. And it takes a greater leap of faith to think birds are evolved than to simply believe that Creator God invented them in the first place. As the psalmist proclaims in Ps. 50:7,11, “Hear O My people, and I will speak… I know by name every bird flying over the mountains, and every animal roaming over the fields is Mine, they belong to Me.”
So why have such commonplace creatures like birds been so enthralling to us since ancient times? The sheer magnitude of varieties in the 18,000 species of birds boggles the imagination, for one thing. So many kinds of birds, so many unique qualities to each species. On the one hand, birds seem so vulnerable in the wilds of nature, and on the other hand they literally are above it all in their freedom of movement and escapability. It is true, though, that 3/4 of the birds that live in the wild survive less than a year. Some sing, while others can only emit squeaks, squawks, whistles, gurgles, warbles, trills, rattles, or some other sound that can’t be described. They all, though, have hollow bones, water-resistant feathers with a muscle at the base of each one, and lay eggs.
Birds are mentioned over 300 times in Scripture, are used as examples of beauty and powerful symbols in countless pieces of the visual arts, and are singled out in more songs than one could imagine. Birds have been used as visual aids to represent qualities of God, to illustrate aspects of our relationship to Him, and to teach us spiritual truths. Birds are ready-made symbols for God’s protective care and divine provision. Every circumstance known to mankind could easily find a suitable symbol in one bird or another.
Eagles in particular have been highlighted all through history and Scripture as an exceptional bird. They have been a reference point in almost 30 biblical passages, and have been the chosen symbol and representative for countless nations, royalties, schools, athletic teams, etc. The eagle is the ‘king of the birds” and described as noble, majestic, swift, courageous, fierce, beautiful, swift, powerful, and even for their faithfulness as life-long parents and their amazing responsibility in caring for their young. Scripture remains a wonderful resource on the qualities of the eagle:
a. “They who wait for the Lord, who patiently hope in the Lord by weaving together aspects of their lives with Him, will find their strength renewed. Trusting in the Lord, they will be able to lift off and soar like the eagles. When they are running their race, they will never get winded or weary; when they walking through life, they will never become tired or give up.” (Isaiah 40:31); “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits… Who satisfies you with good and beautiful things as long as you live, making you strong like the eagle, restoring our youth.” (Ps. 103:5).
Eagle Fact: Once a year, each eagle senses when it is time to renew their feathers by plucking off the ends of each feather so new ends can grow in. This process takes about 150 days, since each eagle has around 7,000 feathers. When this yearly process is complete, the adult eagle appears like it did when young with a new set of feathers. To renew our strength as believers within the biblical idea of waiting, then, is to: actively hope with patience; maintain a persistent faith; peacefully trust in God; be content in the midst of delay; live in eager anticipation; engage in the spiritual activity of listening for/to God; alertly watch for God in the midst of uncertainty; look for God’s guidance and presence; maintain a faithful expectation of what has been promised by God; prepare oneself for whatever comes next… to “collect oneself,” to actively “get it together.”
b. DIVINE CARE. “The Lord Yahweh called to Moses on the mountain and told him, ‘Say this to the house of Jacob, ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself… “( Ex. 19:4); “He encircled His people, He cared for him, like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on His feathers, Lord Yahweh alone guided him.” (Deut. 32:10-12).
Eagle Fact: The Lord God’s care and protection of His people is symbolized by the way a mother hovers about three feet above the nest, and then proceeds to drop down to the eaglets and nudge them each toward the edge of the nest. Then the mother pushes them out of the nest to do a freefall. The father eagle nearby catches each one on his back and returns them to the nest, at which time the mother nudges them all out of the nest once again. This process continues until the young eagles have figured out to fly for themselves.
c. FLIGHT. “Though you soar aloft like an eagle…” (Obadiah 1:4); “There are three mysteries that are too amazing and wonderful for me; no, make it four that are beyond my understanding, including the way an eagle flies through the sky…” (Proverbs 30:18-19).
Eagle Fact: The majestic soaring of an eagle incredibly high in the sky has amazed human beings all through history. Eagles are equipped to discern air currents, then lock its wings as it waits for the right breeze for their purposes, and then simply rides the wind as they steer themselves in their desired direction. So technically, eagles don’t fly as much as they soar. Eagles have always been accepted as the “king of all the birds: because they are able to soar the highest of any bird above the clouds. They literally ride out any storms by simply soaring above the storm. Eagles have been even worshipped by some cultures because they are seemingly able to more closely approach the gods in the heavens.
d. VISION. “Does the eagle mount up and take flight at your command, or build its nest in the towering heights? On jutting cliffs it lives and keeps the night; on rocky crags it builds its mountain stronghold. From there it spies its prey; the eagle’s keen eyes discover its victims still far off, beholding it from far away.” (Job 39:27-29).
Eagle Fact: The phenomenal eyesight of the eagle is legendary. It can observe something five times farther than a human with perfect eyesight. An eagle can spot prey as small as a rabbit three miles away. Instead of the human’s comparatively meager 180-degree vision, the eagle has a 340-degree field of vision. Not only that, but the eagle enjoys the ability to operate each eye individually or together, depending on what the eagle wants to look at. Somehow, the eagle is the only creature that can stare directly at the sun with no ill effects, and uses that skill to avoid natural enemies who cannot do so. To say that someone has “eagle eyes” doesn’t know the half of it.
e. BUILDING A NEST. “Does the eagle mount up and take flight at your command, or build its nest in the towering heights?” (Job 39:27); “Though you make your nest as high as the eagles, I will bring you down from there, declares the Lord.” ( Jer. 49:16); “Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from their I will bring you down, declares the Lord.” (Obadiah 1:4).
Eagle Fact: The nest of an eagle is a magnificent work of art. They always build their nests far away, isolated from other birds because of its height on a cliff, or mountain top, or even a dead treetop. The father and mother eagle together build their nest after mating for life. Each nest is carefully constructed of branches that they skillfully intertwine, which makes the nest durable, able to withstand any storm or enemy attack. Eagle nests are the largest of any bird in North America, and can often reach four feet tall with a diameter of six feet. After the nest is fully constructed, the eagle parents finally lay down on the nest a cushion of feathers, grass, and other soft materials to make their nest comfortable for the eaglets and themselves.
f. FIERCE WARRIORS. “The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle…” ( Deut. 28:49); “For thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, one shall fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Moab…” (Jer. 48:40); “Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, ‘Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth…” (Rev. 8:13); “Set the trumpets to your lips! One like an eagle is over the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant and rebelled against my instructions.” (Hosea 8:1).
Eagle Fact: Eagles are renowned for being ferocious when it comes to killing their prey or fighting against anything foolish enough to be its enemy. In biblical times, the eagle was the fates known creature, and so their swiftness was an example of a skilled warrior in action. Their strength was also honored, recognizing that an eagle was able to carry a prey that was twice its own weight. So between an eagle’s speed, strength, power, ferocity and vision, the eagle was held up as the ultimate fighting machine in nature.
g. UNCLEAN. “You are to detest these birds. These creatures of the air must not be eaten because they are detestable: eagles, vultures, ospreys, buzzards, ravens, ostriches, owls, seagulls, hawks, pelicans, storks, and herons.” (Leviticus 11:13-19).
Eagle Fact: These particular “creatures of the air” were all scavengers, birds of prey that consumed rotting flesh. They were all created by God to be what they were meant to be, but God nonetheless called these birds all kinds of derogatory names, including detestable, abhorrent, and an abomination. Eagles were exceptions, though, because eagles do not eat rotting carcasses. Eagles only consume meat from their fresh kills. Eagles spot their prey, kill them, and immediately eat them. The other unclean birds eat carcasses that have been long-dead and rotting. Biblical scholars have been puzzled why scavengers were not to be eaten by His chosen people. Some say these birds probably carried disease because of what they consumed, and so the Lord declared them unclean for dietary and health reasons. Others say that anything associated with death was rejected by the God of life, which would include scavengers. Others claim that the clean and unclean restrictions were intended by God to teach his people to make distinctions, to honor the need for discernment in how they live and make choices. Still others say that some of these purity laws were meant to develop a trust in God, that the people are to follow God’s instructions whether or not they understand them. They are to assume that God has good reasons, that He knows what He is doing, and they are to trust in His intentions in all these rules.
The Eagles Are Coming | Compilation of Scenes from TLOTR&Hobbit