Saturday, August 2, 2014
Exodus 19:3-4 And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself.'"
"I BORE YOU ON EAGLES' WINGS"
When most of us consider an eagle, we tend to think of the powerful wings, or the mighty talons, or the sharp eyesight. One lesser known fact about eagles is the amount of effort that they put toward caring for their young. Eagles tend to mate for life and they build the largest nests of any other animal species, up to 13 feet deep and 8 feet wide. Both the father and the mother care for their young until it is time for them to fly on their own.
The Scripture reading for today was recorded three months after the children of Israel left Egypt. The deliverance from Pharaoh and the Egyptians through the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea was fresh in the minds of the Israelites.
God is using the metaphor of an eagle to describe His mighty salvation for the people of Israel. This same metaphor applies to us, to God's mighty salvation He gives to us. Just as God bore the Israelites from Egypt, He also bears us from the land of sin, death, and despair.
Throughout our lives we can count on God's mighty wings to carry us through the difficult, trying times that we face on this earth. We can count on God's sharp eyes to always be watching over us. We can count on God's loving mercy to wash away our sin because of what His Son did. Jesus went to the cross to wash away our sins forever, so that we can ride on God's comforting wings all the way to heaven.
