“‘…I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself.’” –Exodus 19:4 (NIV)
Here God is talking to Moses, referencing how He delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Now, I’ve grown up in church my whole life…my dad has always been a pastor, and so I’ve just grown up in the “behind the scenes” of church atmosphere. Having said that, I’ve definitely experienced and even said my share of “churchy lingo” ~ those phrases that make sense if you’ve gone to church for a long time, but to someone new, they just sound scary and weird. Yet, just because I’ve grown up around the phrases, doesn’t mean that I understand them all. Actually, until today, I’d never really understood what “on eagle’s wings” meant. I’ve heard it in a lot of worship songs, and even found myself worshiping along with the song, just because the phrase sounded “right” or “spiritual,” but honestly I never fully knew what it meant. So in my study Bible (The Fire Bible – Pentecostal Study Bible, Student Edition) it gives an illustration and explanation of this phrase that’s simple, yet so impacting:
“A mother eagle swoops down and catches her young on her wings to keep them from crashing while learning to fly…This expression demonstrates God’s love, which is the greatest reason for obeying God and following His plan.” (Fire Bible, pg. 124; verse 19:4 note)
Just the visual of a graceful mother eagle gliding down to save her baby, in the nick of time, was such a cool image to me. This phrase is mentioned in the Bible, I believe a few times, as we are intended to view God in this way. He allows us the opportunity to fly, but He’s always close by to catch us at just the right timing… even if we don’t necessarily view the timing, at that moment, as “right.”
