Isaiah gives a great promise in chapter 40:31, 'Those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.' As the Lord created the magnificent eagle, so the Holy Spirit raises us as by the powerful, muscular wings of this bird, the unrivalled champion of the sky.

Australia's female golden eagle is one metre long (tip of snout to tail), with a wingspan of 2.5 metres (eight feet four inches), being the fourth largest bird known. Its muscular wing strength, when swooping at high speeds, develops many G (gravitational) forces. They are like the Nazi Stuka bombers, that dived, eagle-like, on our Tobruk forces, an inescapable target. This pictures satanic assaults.

Read in Job 39:27,'does the eagle mount up at your command, and make its nest on high? It dwells on the rock, and resides on the crag of the rock and stronghold.' Both male and female eagles construct their nest from strong sticks, following a DNA pattern, alike with all such eagles. In Christ's teaching, husband and wife work harmoniously to construct a home life fulfilling for them and secure for their children, teaching the things of the Lord and His salvation. Only inbuilt intelligent design explains this identical pattern in those eagles (and other birds) who have never built a nest previously. My heart leaps in faith at God's perfection.

'From there it spies out its prey, its eyes observe from afar.' It spots rabbit, deer, possum, lambs, baby kangaroos, carrion, rodents, rats, mice. While some of us are short-sighted, others long-sighted, our wise God gave the eagle both: it visualises the panorama, yet pinpoints distant objects, diving and focussing on its prey. An optical miracle! From inaccessible heights, it swoops on tender meat for very young chicks.

For centuries, the eagle has been the national symbol of Rome, France, Germany, and Russia, The wedged- tail eagle survives, having no natural predator, ruling the skies, even as the Lord Jesus is undisputed ruler of His universe. He bore our sin; conquered death and the grave; and ascended through the clouds to heaven. Name above every name- King of kings; Lord of lords. Christ has eagle qualities.

An eagle lays only 1 or 2 eggs annually, about 3 inches by two, white with purple streaks. The male bird may share with his partner the incubation and brooding over newly-hatched chicks. Eventually, the stronger chick will jostle the weaker one from the nest, plunging to its death; evidence of the hostile, fallen nature of God's once-perfect creation. The male mostly fossicks food for its young.

Moses promised in Exodus 19, 'If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be a special treasure to me above all people, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation: you have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself.' (v 4) Parent eagles fly underneath their fledging chicks, creating updraught to prevent their plummeting: a glorious picture of our heavenly Father's undergirding and supportive skill. We parents have often flown protectively like an eagle near our beloved children: 'Thanks, Dad or Mum.'

Eagles fiercely grasp surface fish with their talons, carrying the prey to its eerie.

In 2 Samuel 1:23 Saul and Jonathan were 'beloved and pleasant in their lives, and they were not divided in death: they were swifter than eagles and stronger than lions.' Eagles' speed in diving and regaining height was unsurpassed, so Jonathan and Saul inevitably returned to their Lord in death, keeping a certain appointment with their living God. Let's remember this solemn, often-forgotten truth.

The Lord illustrates His anger against Edom as, 'He shall come up and fly like the eagle and spread His wings'. So terrifying that 'The heart of the mighty men of Edom in that day shall be like the heart of a woman in birth pangs.' The swish of air terrifies the spectators of the diving eagle, as 'The eagle spreads its wings' Jeremiah 49:22, allowing the muscles to fix the course of the flight, so graphically illustrating the Eternal One's Intelligent Design: and His solemn judgment on the ungodly.

An eagle is one of four things King Solomon could not figure out. 'Four things I cannot fathom, 'the way of the eagle in the air'. When it soars as in Proverbs 30:19, every feather of its body is aligned aerodynamically, to safeguard it, even as the space missile is protected by a covering shield from the intense heat of re-entry, Billions of dollars produced the space missile. The eternal God created (Hebrew -bara means from nothing) this amazing bird. _Solomon could not fathom its marvellous use of the thermals, with hot air rising, effortlessly carrying the eagles to such heights as 2 kilometres: its wings precisely outstretched for an express climb.

God despises those who mock their parents with conceited eye (Proverbs 30:17), threatening dire punishment on such. He said, 'the ravens of the valley will pick it out and the young eagles will eat it. God's judgment for breaking His law is specific, in that eagle vision will detect such an eye, and seize the delicacy for their chick.

Jeremiah warns concerning pride in 49:16, 'The pride of your heart, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill, though you make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says the Lord.' Like the eagle, our Lord is unassailable, brooking no intruders. He creatively inbuilt their qualities,

Moses spoke of his sheltering Lord in Deuteronomy 32:11, 12, 'He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, so the Lord alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him. If the wild eagle educates, feeds, teaches flying artistry to the young, how much more the Lord will guide Israel with His eye. May the Lord cause you to mount up with wings as an eagle, revelling in the unspeakable blessings of Christ Jesus your Lord.
Pete Dobre (Ozscapes), a son by marriage, contributed to this article from personal observations. Please check his awe-inspiring photography under 'Contacts.'
Tess and Jed are their father's computer consultants: our special grandchildren.
.