Spiritual Lessons From The Eagle's Nest

SPIRITUAL LESSONS FROM THE EAGLE’S NEST

TEXT: Deuteronomy 32:11-12

Deuteronomy 32:11 12 -- As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

l. THE STIRRING OF THE NEST

From The Message -- Eugene Peterson -- Job 39:27-28 -- Did you command the eagle’s flight, and teach her to build her nest in the heights, Perfectly at home on the high cliff face, invulnerable on pinnacle and crag?

A. The Construction of the Nest

-The nest of the eagle is built high upon the mountain ranges of Israel. They will at times decide on a location that can reach altitudes of 10,000 feet. The nesting eagles with build a nest that can reach a weight of up to two tons and stretch to as much as eight feet across.

-The wearisome task of carrying limbs up to four inches in diameter are brought to the nesting area. The nest can be as deep as two feet. The core of the nest is supported by the huge limbs and the outer edges of the nest are then lined with soft leaves and vines that are actually woven together by the eagles before the laying of the eggs.

-The leaves cover the rough sticks that would puncture the soft fur of the eaglets. In addition to the soft bed of leaves, shortly before the eggs hatch the mother eagle begans to pull the soft downey fur from her own body to shelter and warm her young.

-As the small birds are attempting to free themselves from the trappings of the egg shells, the mother never assists them in this struggle for to do so would hamper their own survival (more about this later on in the message).

B. The Stirring of the Nest

-After about six to seven months, the mother eagle swoops in one day and begans to stir or basically wreck the brooding area of the nest. She pulls out the soft leaves, tosses the rabbit fur to the winds, and removes the long vines that once provided comfort to them.

-It then becomes a task for the eaglets to stand and balance themselves in the nest that has been stirred. But the alternative is not an option, for to lie down would cause lacerations to arise from the limbs in the nest.

-He must learn to balance himself and also become acclimated to the use of the small stubby talons that are beginning to grow. The balance will help him later with flight and the talons will assist him in the catching of prey for hunting at a later time.

-God does similiar things to us. He disturbs our nest and causes us to reach toward him. Thank God for the stirrings that He sends our way.

Every Apostle had his nest stirred.

Every great reformer and revivalist had his nest stirred.

Every man who has ever longed to accomplish the purpose of the Kingdom had his nest stirred.

-He had to emigrate toward a new calling. He had to leave the familiar for the unfamiliar. He had to leave the profane and move toward the sacred. He had to leave the shallows and reach for the depths. No man can ever move without breaking some present relationship or thought process.

-Too often the sad part is that most men fail to recognize the hand of God as the One who is stirring the familiar surroundings to stimulate their own growth.

-God built a nest in Genesis 47 for the seventy souls of Israel. Their herds increased, they had prosperous times, and they had favor of the monarch. But then Joseph died and his services were forgotten. The favoured became the despised. They were hemmed in by forts and they were set to hard labor. Their nest became so uncomfortable that there was something that wanted to soar to a Promised Land.

-One may ask, How does God create the stirring of the nest?

He places us under the directive of some tormentor.

He allows us to languish under the effects of a heavy burden.

He allows the emotions to be assaulted with overwhelming feelings of displacement.

He monitors our progress in response to the call of substitute idols.

He causes us to catch a glimpse of some distant place of revival and renewal.

He grooms us with a restlessness that cannot be quenched with nothing but Him.

-It is that stirring that occurs in the tents of Kedar that sends the stirred in pursuit of one who can change the entire course of her life and destiny. When the nest is stirred:

Carnality is displaced with spiritual hunger.

Self-righteousness begans to wane and dies out to godly desire.