The Gospel of Isaiah: Highlights of Chapter 40:28-31
The Gospel of Isaiah: Highlights of Chapter 40:28-31.
WANTED: An imaginative scribe who can write exquisite poetry. A faithful, articulate believer in Yahweh who can switch from one extreme to another at the Lord’s command… from a sublime vision of God’s glory, to a ridiculous demonstration of shameful nakedness; from confronting the people over their sinfulness, to comforting people with hopefulness; from being an outspoken messenger one minute, to a living object lesson the next; from having one foot in the immediate surroundings one minute, to one foot in the future messianic realm the next. Must be adaptable, thick-skinned, and extraordinarily brave. Person who answers, “Here I am. Send me!” will be especially considered. (from The Jerusalem Post, 740 BC).
“Don’t you know? Haven’t you been listening? Yahweh is the one and only everlasting God, the creator of all you can see and imagine! He never gets weary or worn out. His intelligence is unlimited; His wisdom is beyond understanding. He empowers the feeble and infuses the powerless with increasing strength. Even young people faint and get exhausted; young athletes may stumble and fall. But they who wait patiently for the Lord and trust in Him experience increasing strength. 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 are walking through life, they will never become tired or give up.” (40:28-31).
Eagles in particular have been a practically mythological creature forever, it seems, 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. It is difficult to untangle fact from fiction regarding eagles, but Scripture remains a wonderful resource on the qualities of the eagle:
(1.) Eagle Fact About Renewing Its Strength: Once a year, each eagle naturally senses when it is time to renew their feathers through their molting process in which they gradually shed most of their flight feathers. Evidently, sometimes they help things along occasionally by carefully 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. So down through history eagles in particular have been seen as renewing their youth. 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.”
“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).
(2.) Eagle Fact about Protection: 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.
“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).
(3.) Eagle Fact about Its Flight: 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.
“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).
(4.) Eagle Fact about Its Vision: 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.
“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).
(5.) Eagle Fact about Its Nest-Building: 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.
“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).
(6.) Eagle Fact about Its Fierce Nature: 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 fastest 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.
“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).
WAIT: “qavah,” a common Hebrew term in Scripture for “wait,” which has a literal meaning and a figurative meaning. We get a fuller understanding of “qavah” and what it means to “wait” in the biblical sense, when we combine the literal with the figurative:
Literal Meaning of qavah: the process of weaving together separate strands into one; braiding together what is needed for wholeness; binding together by twisting and entwining tightly. Examples of this root word for wait would be braiding hair, twining rope, twisting strands together for a cord. To wait in this sense is not passive, but active; not a waste of time, but a useful time; not something to avoid at all costs but instead to redeem as fully as possible; not the time for seeking distractions from potential boredom, but a time to recognize it as an opportunity.
Figurative Meaning of qavah: to entwine our hearts to God and bind ourselves to Him as we wait for God’s timing to unfold; to actively hope with patience; to maintain a persistent faith; to peacefully trust in God; to be content in the midst of delay; to live in eager anticipation; to engage in the spiritual activity of listening for/to God; to alertly watch for God in the midst of uncertainty; to look for God’s guidance and presence; to have a faithful expectation of what has been promised by God; to prepare oneself for whatever comes next; to “collect oneself,” to actively “get it together.”
The Purposes of Waiting: to gain and renew strength; to learn dependence on God; to flesh out one’s submission to God; to grow spiritually; to make progress in spiritual discipline; to gain wisdom and understanding; to keep from making rash or unwise decisions; to cooperate with God in His transformation of us; to continue securing one’s intimate union with God; to grow in patience and hopefulness; to develop creative responses with unexpected delays. Waiting can also be an opportunity to prayerfully seek God’s healing of shame, guilt, fear, trauma; to grow in “being content in all circumstances (Philippians 4:11-13).”
Our Instant Age. We are a world that is absolutely addicted to speed. I want it now! Make it happen yesterday, sooner than now! We are like trained seals who are constantly in need of their little fish, who will not tolerate delay in any way. Impatience is now a virtue, and speed is our fix. Slowing down is unthinkable and painfully uncomfortable. In a way, who could blame us, since this is the generation who grew up on technology and don’t know anything different. We have been programmed to expect quick convenience in practically everything. Compare for a minute 2025 with 1979. We now have instant conveniences that were not even contemplated back then: high-speed internet; computers; digital photography; constant news cycles; supersonic jets; a thin, little rectangular box in your hand that contains full sets of encyclopedias, Oxford dictionaries, on-demand movies and TV, video games, instant messaging to anyone in the world. All this at your fingertips for immediate use at any time.
Results of Our Need for Speed: The inability to wait; the habit of skim-reading instead of reading in depth, which has resulted in shallow thinking and a superficial understanding of practically everything; ridiculously short attention spans, and according to the latest research the average young person literally has the attention span of a goldfish; multitasking, which splinters one’s focus and results in reduced efficiency in thinking and doing anything productive; short stories are all the students can read in school now, with no assignments as ambitious as a complete book; the constant need for stimulation, which then leaves careful reflection and deep thinking in the dust; contemporary businesses now count on the impatience of people, and provide same-day delivery, extremely fast food, and a rush order for everything; the development of weak minds and questionable brain development; superficial relationships; mental illness due to lengthy screen time and addiction to social media;
“A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12).
An Antidote to Instant Gratification: Do whatever it takes to learn the biblical art of waiting. Do your part in the active version of waiting that involves the process of braiding together within you what you need to survive as you patiently wait and eagerly expect God’s best. Yes, three strands braided together is strong, which makes four strands even stronger! So, with each of us being a strand, let us bind together with some of these vital threesomes during our time of trustful waiting, of practicing contentment in the midst of delay or difficulty. In the durable oneness produced in our braiding, we will remember the old meaning of integrity: when something is produced that is put together so effectively that it will accomplish its purpose. If a bridge has integrity, it has all its parts integrated in a way that achieves it purpose. When we braid together what is crucial for our lives, then we will have integrity, soundness, coherence, usefulness.