Moses And The Eagle

As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: (Deuteronomy 32:11)

“Her Nest”:The nest of the eagle is built high upon the mountain ranges of Israel. Eagles will, at times, decide on locations that can reach altitudes of 10,000 feet.  The nesting eagles will build a nest that can reach a weight of up to two tons, stretch as far as eight feet across, and be as deep as two feet.  The wearisome task consists of carrying limbs up to four inches in diameter to the nesting area.  The huge limbs support the core of the nest, and the outer edges of the nest are lined with soft leaves and vines that are actually woven together by the eagles before the laying of the eggs.  The leaves cover the rough sticks that would puncture the soft fur of the eaglets. In addition to the soft bed of leaves, shortly before the eggs hatch, the mother eagle begins to pull the soft downy fur from her own body for added shelter and warmth.

God prepared Moses a comfortable nest.  He was drawn out of the water of the Nile, nursed by his own mother, and raised in a royal palace.  He had the advantages of godly parenting (Hebrews 11:23), a good education, and a vision from God (Acts 7:23). 

In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months:And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.(Acts 7:20-22)

“As an eagle stirreth up her nest”: After about six to seven months, the mother eagle swoops in and begins to stir or basically wreck the brooding area of the nest. She pulls out the soft leaves, tosses the rabbit fur to the winds, and removes the long vines that once provided comfort.  It then becomes a task for the eaglets to stand and balance themselves in the nest that has been stirred. But the alternative is not an option, for to lie down would cause lacerations from the limbs in the nest. The eagle must learn to balance himself and also become acclimated to the use of the small stubby talons that are beginning to grow. The balance will help him later with flight, and the talons will assist him in the catching of prey for hunting at a later time.

God stirred Moses’ nest and got him out of his comfort zone.  He faced rejection from his brethren, had to run for his life, and then went to raise sheep on the backside of a desert.  

God stirs our nest and builds our dependency on Him. God stirs by giving an illness, a tormenter, a burden, or a trial.  The Lord prepares us to take flight! 

For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.  And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.(Acts 7:25-29)

“…fluttereth over her young spreadeth abroad her wings …”There comes a day in the life of the eaglet that the mother returns again to the nest and begins to flutter her wings over the nest with a vehemence. The small eaglets began to scream in terror as she pushes them closer and closer to the edge of the nest.

God gave Moses a vision of Himself.  At the burning bush, Moses saw, heard, and took a commission from God. Moses would fly to Pharaoh with the words “The I AM hath sent me!”

“And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.”(Exodus 3;2)

“…taketh them, beareth them on her wings…”: Being lodged in the heights of the cliffs of the mountain ranges 5,000 to 8,000 feet above the ground, the young eaglet encounters another training ground. He is pushed from the nest and begins to fall. As he begins to fall, something takes over — the will to live, the struggle to survive. The power of flight is within the eaglet, but it is as of yet unknown because it has never been challenged.  His screams are not that of power but of terror (screams like the mother is trying to kill him). But out of this challenging situation, he begins to clumsily flap his wings. During thefree-fall, he flails and beats at the air without success until fatigue renders him almost totally limp. Then just before falling to a certain death, the father eagle swoops down and catches the young eaglet and returns the eaglet to the nest for the next lesson which will come on the next day. This stage is repeated over and over again until the young eaglet can fly for himself.

Just as the eagle was equipped for flight, Moses was equipped to be the man God called him to be.   “What is in your hand?” (Ex. 4:2).  “Who made man’s mouth? (Ex. 4:11).  God would use what Moses had available, a shepherd’s rod and a shepherd’s experience.  God would use what he had created, man’s mouth.  When God calls, he“beareth up!”

“…as thy days, so shall thy strength be.”  (Deuteronomy 33:25)

God gives renewing strength:

Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.(Psalm 103:5)

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.(Isaiah 40:31)

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. (II Corinthians 4:16)

And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. (Deuteronomy 34:7)

Throughout the soul-depleting exercise of shepherding the children of Israel, Moses never lost his vigor.  He was a man who was in the practice of letting God “renew his strength.”

The pull of this world takes its toll on us — our hearts become dull, our spirits begin to lack drive, and the gravity of the world pulls us to the ground.  Many Christians talk about “the good old days”when they used “mount up,”but a renewed believer will continue soaring for Jesus into eternity!