Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalms 103:2-5 NKJV)
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) by AestheticPhotos
The Eagle is an interesting bird and I have written about them before. In the King James Version of the Bible, an eagle is mentioned in 34 verses. So, there will be future articles about the eagle also.
The interest of this article is the renewing of the eagle. In Psalms 103:5 (quoted above), your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. What exactly does that mean? Also, in Isaiah 40:31, strength is renewed and “shall mount up with wings as eagles.”
But 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. (Isaiah 40:31 KJV)
Many articles can be found on the internet about an eagle going off and plucking its feathers and not being able to fly for about five months. The image has even been added that the beak and claws are knocked off and then grow back during that time, giving them another 10 or so more years to their life. I have been trying to find proof of that, and am not finding it. Most Eagle authorities state that that would not happen, because the bird would die during that time with no flight feathers or beak or claws.
Golden or Juvenile Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) by PastorBBC in NC
If those facts are true, then what is meant by God’s Word about the eagle? I believe God’s Word is true, so there has to be an explanation of it. From the Southwestern Bald Eagle Management I found an interesting chart that shows the different stages of plumage (feathers) as an eagle ages. They said, “In their five year development to adulthood, bald eagles go through one of the most varied plumage changes of any North American bird. During its first four weeks of life, an eaglet’s fluffy white down changes to a gray wooly down. At about five weeks, brown and black feathers begin to grow. It becomes fully feathered at 10 weeks of age. In its first year, the mostly dark-colored juvenile can often be mistaken as a golden eagle. However, the bald eagle progressively changes until it reaches adult plumage at five years. Notice in the pictures how its dark eye lightens throughout its first four years of life until it becomes yellow. Also, see how its beak changes form gray-black to a vibrant yellow.
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) by AestheticPhotos
It is believed that the darker, more mottled plumage of a young eagle serves as camouflage, while the white head and tail announce that it is of breeding age.”
That to me sounds a lot like, “So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” As the eagle goes through the different stages of its life, the new feathers are graciously provided by a Creator that sees to the needs of His creation by having designed those features to renew as it matures.
The Lord provides for renewal for His children as they mature. The following verses tell of a renewed right spirit, mind, spirit of your mind, and knowledge:
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalms 51:10 KJV)
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2 KJV)
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; (Ephesians 4:23 KJV)
And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: (Colossians 3:10 KJV)
(Update 11/2/11) Here is another possible explaination about this topic. It might be a vulture instead of an eagle. See: http://www.thewonderofbirds.com/griffon-vulture/bible.htm)
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- Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)Grandfather Eagle by PastorBBC
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- Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) by AestheticPhotos
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- Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) by AestheticPhotos
Lee
Val Lee
GuestWriter
a j mithra
Ian
Excellent! I’ve been reading Psalm 103 a lot, but recently I have been meditating even more in verse 5.
Understanding the eagle’s external changes (feathers) as the eagles matures, it helped me to understand that as God satisfies my mouth with good things,
‘ ..For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks..’ ( Mathhew 12:34 SPIRIT FILLED BIBLE)
I’ll will get external changes too! My physical body will be aligned with the Word of God! Hallelujah!
What a great analogy about changing outwardly as we change inwardly. Thank you.
i believe it is the same research of the eagle going to the high mountain and sheeding all its feathers and allows it to renew itself is what led me to this site. i believe there should be an information of that sort somewhere or if not, why then do people use that reference? i used it recently but thought i could not only depend on what i hear but research to find the truth and then you said the same. where then did people get this informatiom? and how did it become a popular christian reference to this particular text? I be very grateful if i find out the truth about the “…..OUR YOUTH BEING RENEWED LIKE THE EAGLE’S….” verse.
The explanation that I gave has settled it for me. I think as the eagle goes through his different stages he is renewed. Most birds do not have as many changes as the eagles. The Lord is capable to do to the eagle like the belief about it totally going through a renewal in older age, but I did not find any written accounts of it.
What I said, makes sense to me. “That to me sounds a lot like, “So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” As the eagle goes through the different stages of its life, the new feathers are graciously provided by a Creator that sees to the needs of His creation by having designed those features to renew as it matures.
The Lord provides for renewal for His children as they mature. The following verses tell of a renewed right spirit, mind, spirit of your mind, and knowledge:
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalms 51:10 KJV)
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2 KJV)
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; (Ephesians 4:23 KJV)
And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: (Colossians 3:10 KJV)”
Hi Lee,
We have Creation Moments on YouTube and the playlist is Creation Moment’s Play List – http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=0E5D976888F442BC.
We would like to use the hooded pitohuis photo on your blog, but it is always confusing as what to include for copyright. It appears that the Wiki info is what we should use.
Acts 20:31
Dave
Here are a few links you may be interested in.
WE ARE AMERICANS – http://www.resistnet.com/forum/topics/we-are-americans-1
We Want America Back! – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4HQiAWIQxk
This Was Your Life – http://www.chick.com/cartoons/twyl.html
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: Philippians 3:9
Thanks for the post. I was becoming dismayed that there were so many other posts out there that put up myth for fact and bore relation to observational science.
It would seem that the myth of the eagle going to a solitary place, moulting and smashing its beak and talons has a medieval origin. There are other ancient accounts of what people though happened to eagles – often looking for the explanation of various biblical passages in the imagination of the writers than from life. Unfortunately it has become a self perpetuating chain of evidence, each writer quoting the other to back up their, unfortunately, false evidence.
I am glad to find someone else who has the desire and actually takes the time to do the research.
Peace and grace to you,
Brian
Thank,s Brian, for the comment. We are trying to back up our words with truth. I struggled with that article, because of so many using the same info.
I love your article, but I did have one question. Isn’t the bald eagle a North American bird? Wouldn’t you need to study an eagle from the Middle East to be more accurate? I love learning, and I would appreciate any comments. Thanks for your time.
I have looked into the other eagles around the world, and none of them go through the “renewal” that is referred to in story that has been passed on and on. At least not that I found.
For me this article is nice in that it gives some description of the process of the Eagles life. However this does not answer the question for me based on the following points.
1: The Bald Eagle – native to North America – not sure that the Lord would use an analogy implicating a species of bird that was not known in the “Old World” .
2: While the article discusses the aging and maturing of the birds – (people age and mature too) but the renewing of youth this is in my opinion different than maturing.
There is some nice information in the article about the myths and the actual aging that Eagles go through. I wonder if there was a commonly held (true – belief ) about Eagles in the times of Isaiah or the psalmist for why the analogy would be used. I believe that there has to be a truthful reference to something more than the stages of life as it deals specifically with the youth being renewed . Perhaps something modern researchers have yet to discover, and of course it would not be the first time that has happened!
Thanks, Ken for leaving some thoughts on the eagle. Will have to research further on Old World eagles. The idea of their beaks falling off is mainly what I was questioning. We will never know all about the eagles, only their Creator knows that, but we keep trying to learn as much as is possible.
Nice article but I think it is important to consider the word “wait” as referenced in Isaiah 40: 31 in providing an insight into what is meant by the eagle’s renewal. Waiting talks of an activity as being carried out by an Eagle prior to its renewal. It is not an automatic process that comes with aging as your article suggests. If all eagles automatically gets renewed just by divine providence, then we can expect this process to happen to us naturally too without any need to “wait on the Lord”. When we wait on the lord as a self chosen activity, we allow the Lord to satisfy our mouth with good things or in other words to fill our mouth with abundance of life,(remember the power of life and death are in the (tongue) mouth) then our youth is renewed like that of the eagle as we speak wholsome words in confessions, prayers and declarations. While I do not fully subscribe to the myth of the eagle going to a solitary place, moulting and smashing its beak and talons in order to be renewed, I think there is an activity that an eagle engages in that is similar to “waiting” for Isaiah to have made such a comparison. Please keep up the good work and do update us with findings of your further researc
I am glad you left a comment about the Eagle’s renewal. I like you’re “waiting” analysis.
I just wanted to comment as I was looking thru this reasearch on Eagles. My interest in it was because God had placed a burden in my heart to do a Conference or Bible study on restoration in what at one point or another as Christians find ourselves in that situation. At this it can be very painful when we go thru this process because I believe that God is maturing us at this point. The eagles maturity process is so much in comparison to ones Christians walk. I know for a fact that when Isaiah was speaking he had to use the eagle according to ones own experiences the Bible is full of ones own experiences. That’s why it speaks to our lives so much and why we should apply it to our lives. I have a question, do you think perhaps that as the eagle matures its already being in a painful process thru out the first few weeks and yrs of its life just cause of all its changes so rapidly and short time.Its just like a woman going thru menopause everything changes from inside out and is a very hard and emotional process that one has to face.And that also happens at an older age when going thru that they also go back to feeling younger and dressing younger at times. Perhaps Isaiah seen something in the eagle that we or researchers will never know it also could of been a vision from God . God works are mysteries and of course he never makes a mistake.
Some interesting thoughts about the Eagle’s renewal. Like you said, “we or researchers will never know.” It is nice to try to figure things like this out, though.
Thank you for this wonderful article on the Eagle, this helped me with my research on the scripture Isaiah 40:31, I was studying this passage to teach at a class at my church, the Eagle’s renewal process in this article gives a lot of insight on this scripture and support the Word of God on our renewal process it also validates the necessary every Christian to be patient (wait) on the Lord so he can renew (replace that which is broken or worn out) that shows the growth and maturity of a believer in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Thank you again for such an awesome article.
The “Youth” which is renewed is the Spiritual “Youth” which we were created with in the beginning. God created us perfect as the Father is perfect. That is our original state and that is what is renewed.
Earthly fleshly “youth” is never renewed but always passes away.
Foolishness passes away as wisdom is renewed and increases.
Immaturity passes away as maturity is renewed and increases.
The eagle in Hebrew is also metaphoric and symbolic of God.
To have ones youth renewed like the eagle is metaphorically to be “renewed” restored, to our original state of perfection and strength in the Lord before mankind sinned.
God created mankind in His own image.
The Hebrew word translated as “youth” means “early life.” The “early life” of mankind is the life before sin. It is Life in the image and likeness of God.
Lee,
I love your intensity and passion in disclosing the truth about the eagle as God presents it in His Word because it causes us to pause, think, consider, research, meditate and finally apply His Word to our lives, so that our strength will be renewed like the eagles and we will “soar on wings like eagles; ….run and not grow weary, walk and not be faint.” Psalm 103 is one of my favorites and I have used it to bless many a bride and groom!
An old Indian folktale I heard was that strange things happen to eagles at times and they become depressed. There is nothing physically wrong with them; they do not know why. When they are depressed like that they do not want to eat, fly or do anything and if they stay in that depressed condition they will die. When these eagles have died the Indian’s would place a marker at the place of their death as a memorial. The most amazing thing happens at times when other eagles see the depressed eagle just sitting there ready to die. Some of the eagles will tear meat from a prey they have caught with the blood dripping down, and they will fly over the depressed eagle so that they will catch a new scent of life. [Ref: "Daily Inspiration With Sigi" by Sigi Oblander, ISBN: 0-620-28072-7; pg 294-295]
Many of God’s people are like those depressed eagles having lost the joy of life. Jesus’ blood flowed out over us so that we might have a new desire to live, a new desire to embrace our destiny for such a time as this, to fulfill all that God wants for our lives.
My sole desire as a follower of Christ is to fulfill the 2 greatest commandments in my life…..and my joy will be full.
With love and respect,
Marge
Thanks, Marge, for commenting and for the folktale. It is very interesting. Yes, we shouldn’t become depressed, but it happens. We can stay in that state, or we can “turn our eyes upon Jesus”, as the song goes, and look in His Word, and put our trust in Him. This world is always going to present challenges, but we have a Saviour who can, if we let Him, help us out of our situations and so much more.
With love to you also, Lee
One of your pictures is not a Bald Eagle it is a Golden Eagle!
I changed the title, but was told by the photographer that it was a juvenile Bald Eagle. The Golden Eagle and the young Bald look very similar. This bird has more yellow in the eye than a Golden, but It is only one photo. Wish more have been photographed.
Perhaps the confusion relates to the misuse of the word “eagle” to translate the Hebrew “nesher”. Apparently a “nesher” is more likely a vulture than an eagle.
http://www.thewonderofbirds.com/griffon-vulture/bible.htm
Thanks, David,
I will add a link to that article on that. I don’t claim to be an expert and only go on the writings of others. Might make for another interesting article later.
Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:1-5, NIV