|
Contact
for more information:
Banstead Christadelphians
FREEPOST
SEA 10703
Epsom
Surrey
KT17 2BR
|
The Hebrew word for Eagle is possibly derived from a root word meaning ‘tear in pieces’ or ‘lacerate,’ referring to its powerful bill and sharp talons designed for killing its prey and tearing it apart. However, an alternative view is that the name is onomatopoeic (that is a name whose very sound suggests the thing meant) so meaning a ‘rushing sound’ or ‘gleaming flash,’ hence a bird that dives at its prey. The Hebrew name aptly describes the eagle's ability to dive and descend at breathtaking speeds of up to 90 miles (145 kilometres) per hour. The lightning lunge of the eagle from high altitudes causes a whining sound as air rushes through its outer wing feathers, or pinions.
 Israel varieties
Among the eagles to be found in Israel today are the following: Short-toed Eagle, Imperial Eagle and Golden Eagle. In the bird world there are few birds that can compare with the sheer majesty of the Golden Eagle. This magnificent bird has a dignified, powerful, somewhat ferocious yet elegant appearance. It has a broad head, which projects in a ridge over its eyes, a short, powerful hooked beak, sturdy legs and sharp, strong talons. The colour is almost uniformly dark brown, crowned with a golden sheen on its head and nape. This impressive bird is almost three feet in length, the female being a little larger than the male. The wing span, a huge six to seven feet (two metres), enables the eagle to soar and fly superbly.
Feeding habits
Eagles hunt by day, either singly or in pairs. They eat a wide variety of prey such as hares, rodents, grouse, fish, lizards, frogs, eels and water insects. They will also eat lambs (usually the weaklings) and occasionally feed on dead bodies (see Palestine Exploration Quarterly journal, 1955, page 9). Some critics and Bible students have overlooked or even dismissed this last food source as wrong. Because of this misunderstanding "Aetos" in the Greek text of Matthew 24.28 and Luke 17.37 is rendered vulture by some modern translators. It is a historical fact that the conquering Roman army, which fulfilled the first part of the prophecy of the Lord Jesus, displayed the eagle on their standards, not a vulture.
How perfectly the words of Job complement the prophecy of Jesus about the eagle preying on the dead at the end of the age:
‘Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.’ [Job 39.30]
It is also noteworthy that in the Mosaic Law, [Lev.11.13; Deut.14.12] the eagle was listed as unclean, unfit for human consumption (‘detestable’ - NIV).
Territory
The Sinai region is called ‘Eagle Country,’ where the birds soar and glide at high altitudes. The boundaries of the eagle's home range are not clearly defined, but by mutual arrangement the rivals of their own species avoid hunting in each other's territory. This is remarkable if one considers that a pair of eagles hunt over a home range of up to 18,000 acres (over 28 square miles). Little wonder that the writer of Proverbs is amazed at ‘The way of an eagle in the air’ [Proverbs 30.19]. God, questioning Job, asks him ‘Doth the eagle mount up at thy command?’ [Job 39.27] Earlier Job states that his life skims past ‘as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.’ [Job 9.26]
The eagle's flying abilities are highlighted further in many Scriptural texts (See 2 Samuel 1.23; Jeremiah 4.13; Lamentations 4.19; Habakkuk 1.8, which refer to the eagle’s swiftness). Another allusion, by Solomon, warns that ‘riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.’ [Proverbs 23.4,5] By contrast they who put their trust in God receive power to go on, as if mounting up on the seemingly tireless wings of the soaring eagle. [Isaiah 40.31]
It was at Mount Sinai (Eagle Country) that the Israelites gathered after their liberation from Egypt. They would surely understand God's allegorical words, ‘I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.’ [Exodus 19.4] Moses also compared God's leading of Israel through the wilderness to:
‘an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions.’ [Deut.32.11 NIV]
For a long time critics would not accept the fact recorded in Scripture, contending that eagles do not carry eaglets on their wings. However, God's Word has once again proved true: independent observers in different parts of the world have seen eagles stir up their nests, move their young to the edge, drop them some 90 feet, swoop underneath them and spread their wings to catch the young and carry them back up to the top of the range. They then repeat the procedure until the eaglets can fly unassisted. (See bulletin of the Smithsonian Institute 1937, pp.167, 302 etc.)
Nesting
Job describes the eagle building his nest on high and says, ‘He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is his stronghold.’ [Job 39.28 NIV] As already noted eagles hunt by day. In Jeremiah 49.16 God's judgements against Edom refer to the eagle's nest: ‘though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.’ (compare Obadiah verses 3,4) These and other Scriptures vividly depict the eagle building its nest in inaccessibly high places. Nests are built on mountain peaks, sea cliffs, tall trees on high terrain, crags or rocky canyons at heights of 1,500-2,000 feet (500-700 metres). Eagles usually have two or three eyries in their territory, which they use in rotation. They repair, clean and rebuild their nests each year, decorating them with greenery before breeding. The nests grow in size to six feet or higher and can weigh as much as a ton!
|
Far-sightedness
‘His eyes detect it (his food) from afar’ says Job. [Job 39.29 NIV] This alludes to the unusual design of the eye, testifying to the Creator's wisdom. So keen is the eagle’s eyesight that it can spot its prey, half hidden in grass below, from a thousand feet in the air. As humans we look straight ahead and approach directly the object of our gaze. The eagle, having fixed the prey with its sharp-focusing, cone shaped cells at the back of the eyeballs, can approach in a slanting dive. The target image moves across the back of the eyeballs on a curved path. Unlike other living creatures that have a single clump of cones, the diving eagle has a curved path of cones, thereby keeping the target in constant focus, even at an angular approach.
Like the eagle, our spiritual far-sightedness needs to be in constant focus, looking steadfastly at the Kingdom that draws ever nearer and keeping our eyes on the prize. [Matthew.6.33; Philippians 3.14; Revelation 22.7,12,20]
Figurative usage
This powerful bird of prey was a symbol frequently used by the prophets to represent enemy nations suddenly launching attacks: [Deuteronomy 28.49-51; Jeremiah 48.40; 49.22; Hosea 8.1] The Babylonian and Egyptian rulers were characterised as eagles in Ezekiel 17.3,7. It is notable that in many ancient nations including Assyria, Persia and Rome, the figure of the eagle was regularly used on royal sceptres, standards and steles, even as Germany, the United States and others have used it in more modern times.
Eagles are also used in visions and revelations to represent attendants on Yahweh's throne, announcing messages of judgement to those on earth, possibly to indicate swiftness and farsightedness. [Ezekiel 1.10; 10.14; Revelation 4.7; 8.13; 12.14] Finally, and perhaps most importantly for us, eagles are also used to describe the way in which God looks after those who put their trust in him, as we read in the Psalms:
‘Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name...Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.’ [Psalm 103.1,5]
‘He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust...’ [Psalm 91.4]
|
