Eagle Saints

Logos of Saint Andrews

Bishop Jerry Ogles

12 September 2004

We are told in Holy Writ that the Holy Spirit will be our guide and teacher, leading us into all truth.

When we seek, we shall find. And when we come to a fullness of the knowledge of God, we become like Him because we Love Him. We become as clay in the hands of the Great Potter.

No matter what befalls us in this life, we have a certain assurance of God’s Providential care for us, for He is always concerned about those in whom He sees the likeness of His only Begotten Son.

     We may always be sure that God is ready to catch us when we stumble:

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee;  (Deuteronomy 33:27)

The Bible often uses beautiful illustrations from nature to teach us truth. Today, we will learn what God says about the Eagle and what characteristics are common to the Eagle and the True Christian.

The symbol of the United States is the Eagle because our Founding Fathers were Godly men who desired that our national spirit would be akin to that of the Great Eagle.

You have heard it said that the Lion is the King of the Jungle. No other beast can challenge his rule. The same is true of the Eagle. It is the King of the Skies. No other creature can challenge the Eagle in its chosen environment. It is stronger, more ferocious in battle, able to fly higher, and more independent than any other bird.

1.              The Eagle mates for life. (Just as Christians are commanded to do) Eagles may live for as long as one hundred years or more. Christians may also live a long and happy life according to the Commandment.


2.              The Eagle is a loner – never flies in a flock or crowd but always alone or with its mate. We, too, are commanded to come apart and be separate from the world. We are not to “run with the crowd!”


3.              The Eagle can fly high above stormy weather. His strong wings allow him to float above all earthly troubles (just as the Holy Spirit allows us to rise above the petty problems of this life.) The Eagle soars effortlessly allowing the wind currents to lift him. So does the Christian depend upon the lifting forces of the Holy Spirit to soar effortlessly in the Christian walk?


4.              The Eagle has excellent vision. He can spot a mouse from 8,000 ft above the earth. (A Christian, likewise, should have far-sightedness in identifying sin and error.)
 

5.              The Eagle jealousy guards her young. When terrible storms arise, the mother and father eagle spread their wings around the young in their nest to protect them from harm.


6.              The Eagle is very fast. Deuteronomy 28:49 tells us that the Eagle is swift. Christians should also work with deliberate speed to redeem the time of the coming of Christ.


7.              We are told in Scripture that the Eagle can fly straight up to the heavens and into the Sun.  When danger threatens, the Eagle flies directly to the Sun and the archer is unable to see him for the sun’s brightness. When Christians encounter evil or temptation, they need only fly toward the Sun of Righteousness (Jesus Christ) and Satan can not take aim on us.
     Just recently, scientists have learned exactly why the Eagle can look directly at the Sun. The Eagle has a membrane which will cover the Eagle’s eyes when it looks toward the Sun. Almost like sunglasses.


8.              When the Eagle becomes old and miserable, it can renew its youth and strength. Look at Psalms 103:5 - Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
 

The Eagle cares fervently for its young. During the time of breeding, the Eagle parents build a nest on a high crag (always near a great rock). Job 39:

27.  Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?
28.  She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.

29.  From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.

30.  Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.

They build the nest of strong limbs and briars – even sharp pieces of glass and thorns. Doesn’t sound so comfortable does it? Then the Eagles bring leaves and cotton and line the nest. At last, the fur of rabbits and other creatures is brought to make the nest a paradise for the expected baby eagles. When the babies are hatched, the Eagles bring food constantly. A baby eagle needs a lot of food to nourish its growing body. When a mother cannot find prey for her young, she will feed them from her own blood. How like Christ is this natural instinct of the Eagle? We need the cleansing blood of Christ to wash away our sins, and then we need the Bread of Heaven (Word) to make us strong in our Faith.

So do young Christians need much teaching in the Word of God.

   

     When the young are able to move about and even walk, the mother does something very strange: she stirs up the nest and removes the comfortable fur and leaves so that thorns and briars remain. Deuteronomy 32:11. 

11.  As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:

12.  So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

13.  He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;

         The nest is now quite uncomfortable. When we become complacent in our walk as Christians, God quite often stirs up our nest and makes us so uncomfortable that we leave our former state and embark on new missions in life. That is what happens to the young eagles. They become uncomfortable and leave the nest during the day. They walk about the top of the mountain until their strength is increased. Then the mother swoops down and knocks them from the top of the mountain. The young eagle is confused at this sudden unfriendly treatment by its mother. It falls helplessly for hundreds of feet. Finally it tries to flap its wings, but to no avail. As it falls down and down near to the surface of the valley below, the mother Eagle swoops under her baby at the last minute and catches it on her back. Exodus 19:4 -  I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.

        An Eagle always carries her young on her back between her wings. Her talons are too strong to grasp her baby. God also carries us in the safest manner on His back (like Korean O’pah). She repeats this exercise over and over until the young eagle is able to fly.

    The Eagle enjoys a great life for many decades, but there comes a time when the Eagle is old and weary. They get disgusted with life and are tired of living. Some Christians likewise. The Eagle goes through a period called the moping (or mourning) period when they are perhaps 50 years old. They quit flying. They walk down the mountain to the floor of the valley. They begin to live off of the grass, insects and rats that inhabit the valley floor. This is a phase that many Christians go through. After many weeks, the eagle’s feathers become stiff and coated with goo. Their beaks become coated with a buildup of calcium so that they are unable to get food and insects from between rocks. Their condition becomes hopeless – and they will surely die if they do not amend their attitudes. They become possible prey for land locked animals such as wolves and coyotes.

The younger eagles bring them food and shriek from the air their warnings in an attempt to encourage the older eagles to fly to safety.

     Finally, the old eagle becomes totally enraged at his deplorable condition. He gets mad – very mad. He begins to climb the mountain again. He climbs desperately back up to the large rock near which he was born. He beats his beak against the rock until the calcium deposits are gone. He then pulls out all his unsightly feathers until he becomes bald. Micah 1:16 -  Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.

Likewise the Christian, after falling from the Christian path, must become angered and disgusted at his deplorable state and resolve to amend his way through repentance and grief at his sins.

     In a few days, the Eagle begins to take on a new appearance: new feathers begin to cover his body. Finally, the Eagle looks just like a new, young Eagle. He soars into the heavens with a new lease on life. He may live another one hundred years after having renewed his strength. Christians may likewise renew their strength as the Eagle.

Look at Isaiah 40: 28:

28.  Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

29.  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

30.  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

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.

Do not be a pigeon Christian, fearful of every predator and danger. The pigeon travels in the company of the common flock. He eats dead organism and anything else which comes within his purview. He is fearful of the slightest danger. He lacks courage, determination, and valor.

Be an Eagle Christian and fear not. When the times are difficult, soar above the storm. When tiresome days come, renew your strength in the Lord. Glide on the wings of the Holy Spirit without labor or effort. That is the way of the Eagle and the Way of the Christian!