On Eagle's Wings Part 2

by John Lowe
(Laurens SC, USA)

The people who originally heard these words knew very well what the LORD was talking about because the memory was still very fresh in their minds. The Lord was saying something like this. Do you remember when you were trapped in Egypt, and there was no place for you to go, and you were in bondage and in trouble? Do you remember when you groaned in your captivity, because of the oppression and terrible cruelty of your taskmasters? Do you remember looking at your precious children and realizing that there was no hope, or future at all for them, beyond chains, a lash, and an early death?

“I heard your cries, I saw your tears. And I came down to buy you back out of slavery. Do you remember, my children?” says the LORD. Do you remember standing on the shore with the Red Sea lapping at your feet, and Pharaoh’s troops massing at your back? Do you remember the despair that you felt because you couldn’t go forward or backward and death was riding on chariots, like a storm out of Egypt? “I made a way for you where there was no way. Do you remember my people?

Can you remember the days in the wilderness, where there was nothing to drink and your throats were dry and your little ones cried for water? I opened up a spring for you…..a stream of fresh sweet water that came gushing over the parched desert floor. Do you remember Israel? I stepped into your lives to save you.“I swooped down and bore you on eagles’ wings; do you remember?”

Gods love was posted everywhere; from the manna, sweet as honey, that they collected and ate, to the cool water coming out of the desert sand. From the solder’s helmets that washed up on shore. Deliverance, Release, Protection, Provision! “I bore you on eagles’ wings, “says the LORD.

What does that mean anyway? “I bore you on eagles’ wings.” A mama eagle will make a nest, eight feet by eight feet. She will fill it up with sticks, leaves, and animal fur, making a cozy nest for her chicks. When the time comes, however, they will become a little less comfortable. The mother eagle will take them to a great height, and drop them. The eaglet begins to flutter, he’s never done this before, and he’s not sure what to do, so he continues to flap his wings. And he’s heading down fast. As the little fellow plummets to earth, mama eagle watches, and what does she do, she swoops down and picks the little bird up right before he hits the ground.

But what does she do when she regains her original altitude? She drops it again and as he almost hits the ground she swoops down to save him and bears him up…..on eagles’ wings. And that’s exactly what the Lord is saying to Moses. “Please tell them--make sure that you remind them--before you give them these Commandments, how much I loved them in the past, remind them how I’ve watched over their lives every day and concerned myself with their future.” The LORD is saying, “Because I know what is best for you, and I have proven it to you through your deliverance from Egypt, I know what I’m talking about in these Ten Commandments; they are there so that you may live a long, easy life, filled with joy and happiness. They are there because God knows what is best for you, and God wants to bear you on eagles’ wings; it’s OK if you fall, because like the mama eagle, God will catch you when you fall. And no matter what it takes, God will teach you to fly. If you disobey God’s Commandments, God knows that you will fall. God knows this, and there will be consequences for your actions if you disobey His Commandments.

God is saying, “Oh my people, how I love you and want the best for you, won’t you only trust in me? That’s what God is saying to us today; if we only listen and trust and obey these Ten Commandments everything will fall into place, everything in our lives will be right, the way God wants them to be, and the way that they should be.

You might be sitting there thinking, sure God did that for them, He saved them from bondage and oppression. He fed them manna in the desert, He gave them water every day, but God never parted the Red Sea for me. I have to say to you, that I’m sorry you feel that way because God does part seas in our lives, maybe not literally. But you did wake up this morning with food to eat, you did wake up to a warm home, and family and friends who love you, you do live in a country where you can worship freely, you did wake up with a God who loves you more than you can ever know. And you did wake up with a Savior this morning, who gave you everything you need 2100 tears ago, when He died for your sin and mine.

Everything that we have and everything that we enjoy happened because of God’s love; count your blessings, because God has parted seas in your life.