THE GOLDEN EAGLES vs. THE VULTURES
THE GOLDEN EAGLES vs. THE VULTURES
Sunday, September 9, 2012, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
In preparation for The Gathering of Eagles Retreat hosted by Pastor Pat Lee and Greater Works Fellowship at Harvest Ministries, Carson, Mississippi, September 21-23rd, I am teaching today on the Eagles.
I heard in the Spirit, “the Golden Eagles versus the Vulture”. I saw in the Spirit a golden eagle flying.
The majestic golden eagle (so named for its golden crown which becomes more evident with maturity), or imperial eagle, has a wingspan of six to ten feet and builds its up-to two-ton nest in lofty, virtually inaccessible rock places (6,000 to 10,000 feet high).
Jesus Christ is the majestic Son of God, the high-flying Golden Eagle (so revealed in the Gospel of John).
Psalm 93: 1-5: “The Lord reigns, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he has girded himself; the world is also established, that it cannot be moved. Your throne is established of old; you are from everlasting.”
Jesus is the resurrected, enthroned King of the air. Jesus is the imperial Eagle; the Overcomer; the One who even conquered and subdued death. All authority has been given Him to rule Heaven and earth. Having soared far above all principalities and powers, He is forever seated in the heavens, having made His “nest as high as the eagle”. The Good Shepherd, who carries His young like the parent eagle, is the God who leads and feeds His people.
The Golden eagles’ mating takes place high in the heavens. Golden eagles mate for life. The female lays from one to three eggs and will not raise more than two eaglets. Both parents sit on the eggs, guard the nest, and bring food to the young. As the eaglet matures, it is taught how to stand before it is taught how to fly. Later, the parent eagle carries its eaglet on its back until the youngster masters the art of flying.
Deut. 32:11: “As an eagle stirs up her nest, fluttering over her young, and spreads her wings, taking them, and bearing them on her wings; so the Lord alone did lead him (Jacob) and there was no strange god with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; Butter of cattle, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat, and you drank the pure blood of the grape.”
Here the eagle symbolizes the speed and power of God’s protection of Israel.
In Exodus 19:4, the eagle is portrayed as the power of God’s deliverance. “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself”.
Rev. 12:14: “The woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness into her place, where she is nourished for 3-1/2 years from the face of the serpent.”
The metaphor of the woman here is not an individual human being, but the celestial counterpart of an earthly community, the glorious church. The woman had a crown twelve stars on her head. This marks her out to be not only spiritual Israel (the Church) but true Israel from which Jesus was born. The twelve stars also represent the apostolic authority given to the apostles by Jesus.
I also believe the twelve stars represent the apostolic authority of the glorious end-time church.
This is the Lord’s deliverance of the church from persecution of the dragon, Satan. Like the eagle, our primary enemy is the serpent, yet we need not fear him. Luke 10:19: “Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
Golden eagle Christians are partakers of the divine nature and the heavenly calling. These have been raised up to sit with Christ in “heavenly places”
“Eagles are the highest of the three beasts who minister around the throne in Chapter 4 of Revelations. These are the 100-fold overcomers, sold out believers who operate in the fullness of Christ. They are separated from this world and constantly minister to the Lamb… (Van Tanner-The Seven Thunders of God)
The face of an Eagle in Ezekiel and Revelation suggests living on a high spiritual plane above the things of the earth. The Eagle in Ezekiel guard the Holiness of God from beneath the chariot throne and in Revelation they guard the Holiness of God around the throne.
In Biblical imagery, the eagle symbolizes wisdom, speed, power, resurrection, the overcomer, heavenly things, warriors, redeemed man, the church, God’s deliverance and His destruction.
In Job 28, we are given the secret of “he that dwells in the secret place” and the path to this secret place that cannot be seen except for those who discover the Wisdom of God.
Job. 28:7: “There is a path which no fowl knows, and which the vulture’s eye has not seen. (The vulture or buzzard feeds on dead things, does not fly as high as the eagle, a sign of death, a bird of the wilderness, and demons taking souls to hell). Isa. 34:15; Mt. 24:28; Lk. 17:37; Lev. 11: 13-14.
This emphasizes the failure of the flesh and/or human mind to arrive at this high path of hidden wisdom. Human research cannot discover wisdom. Human wealth cannot purchase wisdom. God alone has wisdom, which remains His gift and can only, be found by those who are willing to fly high above the carnal nature. Wisdom is hidden. All wisdom is in Jesus Christ, the “Hidden Man” of the heart (1 Pet. 3:4). This is the “Hidden Manna” of Rev. 2:17 and Proverbs 28:5: “Evil men do not understand judgment; but they that seek the Lord understand all things.”
28:8: “The lion’s whelps (demons) have not trodden (this path) it, nor the fierce lion (Satan) passed by it.”
28:9-11: He (God) puts forth his hand upon the rock; he overturns the mountains by the roots. He cuts out rivers among the rocks; and his eye sees every precious thing. He binds the foods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid he brings into the light.”
28: 12-19: Where shall wisdom be found”? Where is it found in the land of the living? The deep says, it is not in me; and the sea says, it is not with me. It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot equal it; and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls; for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it. Neither shall it be valued with pure gold...”
Eagle Christians have learned the ways of the wind of God’s Spirit. When we face a storm, we allow the wind of the storm to lift us higher. The eagle can see a storm coming from a distance; therefore, the eagle can rise above the wind and rain. The eagle can stay aloft for hours rarely moving his wings and riding wind currents. The flight of the eagle is effortless. He allows the wind of the Holy Ghost to do the job.
The turbulent winds cause the eagle to fly higher, giving the eagle a larger view of the earth, lifting the eagle above harassment. The same wind which causes other birds to seek shelter lifts the eagle to higher altitudes (the Son of God, swiftness, discernment and Glory
The great Golden Eagle has keen eyesight (eight times more powerful than man’s) and swift flight enabling it to seize the prey. An eagle renews its strength and youthful appearance yearly after shedding its feathers. Eagles tend to have a long lifespan, living 20 to 30 years in the wild, and longer in captivity. Michael Smith in his message entitled “Spiritual Old Age” writes “the renewing process takes place every seven years for a period of forty days. First there is a separation into a high mountain. The eagle plucks out his old feathers, exposing old wounds and scars to be healed. He bathes in the cascading waterfall in the cave of the mountain. The eagle eats only wild honey during this renewing period.
The beak that was once sharp is now covered with crusty formations. The eagle grinds his beak between two rocks so that he can eat again. As his feathers begin to grow back in place, the oil glands under the wings are reactivated.”
Isaiah 40:31: “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
We walk in the outer court; we run in the Holy Place, and mount up (into the heavenlies) in the Most Holy Place. There are two classes of eagles; the lesser eagles, with a wingspan of 7 feet---one who has seen the vision; and the greater eagles, with a wingspan of 14 feet---one who possesses the vision (Ez. 44).
There are also many nations who use the Golden Eagle as their symbol, Ancient Rome, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, Yemen and Libya. The eagle is on the Mexico coat of arms. The Golden Eagle is a poetic Arabic symbol in the Arab world. The United States has the Bald Eagle as our national symbol.
In the Old Testament the nations of Assyria and Babylon are portrayed as eagles bringing disaster on God’s people because they have broken covenant with him. Jeremiah depicts divine judgment against Moab and Edom as an eagle swooping down with wings out-spread. (Jer. 48:40; 49:22).
The gliding eagle appears in midair to announce the imminent disaster that the Lord is sending on the inhabitants of the earth in Revelation 8:13.
The eagle I saw in the Spirit, was a golden eagle, not a brown eagle tipped in gold, but golden as one clothed in the divine nature.
The eagle nature of the Christian, our new nature in Christ is greater than he that is in the world.
We have nothing to fear of the vulture, the lion whelps, and the fierce lion. As Christians, we have chosen the path unseen by human eye. As long as we stay on that path, in covenant with Christ, the vultures of this world and the unseen world cannot harm us.
The Imperial Golden Christian Eagles reveal the authority of the believer in Jesus’ name. We have been raised from the death of trespasses and sins …and quickened us together with Christ, (by grace we are saved;) and has raised us up together and made us wit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:1-6)
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Scripture from K.J.V.; I entered into the labors of Understanding Types, Shadows, and Names by: Kelley Varner; The Seven Thunders of God, by Van Tanner; Dictionary of biblical Imagery; Spiritual Old Age by: Michael Smith; The vision of the golden eagle was given to Carolyn Sissom, September 8, 2012. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those who I entered into their labors.