When birds have babies, they do all they can to protect them from predators. The birds spend time building and then filling their nest with eggs. The nest is protected almost constantly from the time the bird lays the eggs until the fledglings depart. That is normal behavior and the video below of the Fieldfare shows one way they do it. The video is by BBC Worldwide.

And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. (Isaiah 10:14 KJV)

In the verse above, the nest has not been protected, nor has a wing been flapped to chase the aggressor away, nor did they open their mouth in peeps or chirping alarm calls. If the nest is abandoned; whether by desertion, having been chased off, or other reason, it is easy to take the eggs or chicks.

This verse is found in the book  of Isaiah and is referring to the King of Assyria. The kings pride, arrogant heart, and boastful look in his eyes cause him to state:

For he says: By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples, and plunder their treasures; like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones. My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing or opened the mouth or chirped. (Isaiah 10:13-14 ESV)

Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) nest by Bob-Nan

I like what Albert Barnes Notes On The Bible says,
“Isa 10:14
And my hand hath found, as a nest – By a beautiful and striking figure here, the Assyrian monarch is represented as describing the ease with which he had subdued kingdoms, and rifled them of their treasures. No resistance had been offered. He had taken them with as little opposition as a rustic takes possession of a nest, with its eggs or young, when the parent bird is away.
Eggs that are left – That is, eggs that are left of the parent bird; when the bird from fright, or any other cause, has gone, and when no resistance is offered.
Have I gathered all the earth – That is, I have subdued and plundered it. This shows the height of his self-confidence and his arrogant assumptions.
That moved the wing – Keeping up the figure of the nest. There was none that offered resistance; as an angry bird does when her nest is about to be robbed.
Or opened the mouth – To make a noise in alarm. The dread of him produced perfect silence and submission.
Or peeped – Or that chirped – the noise made by young birds; the note at Isa_8:19. The idea is, that such was the dread of his name and power that there was universal silence. None dared to resist the terror of his arms.”

Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood! (Isaiah 10:15 ESV)

Living Application Study Bible – “The ax – How absurd is it, for thee, who art but an instrument in God’s hand, to blaspheme thy Lord and master, who has as great power over thee, as a man hath over the ax wherewith he heweth?”

Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) by Peter Ericsson

Gill’s Exposition – “Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?…. Hitherto are the words of the Assyrian monarch; and here begin the words of the prophet, rebuking him for his pride, and deriding his vain boasting, in attributing that to himself, to his wisdom and power, who was but an instrument, which belonged to God, the sole Governor and wise orderer of all things; which was all one as if an axe should ascribe the cutting down of trees to itself, and insist on it that the man that cut with it had no share in the action, nor was it to be ascribed to him; than which nothing is more absurd. The sense is, that the king of Assyria, in taking cities, and conquering kingdoms, and adding them to his own, was only an instrument in the hand of God, like an axe in the hand of one that hews down trees; and therefore it was vain and ridiculous to take that to himself which belonged to the Lord, on whom he depended as an instrument, as to motion, operation, and effect; from whom he had all power to act, all fitness for it, and efficacy in it, as the axe has from the person that makes and uses it, or any other instrument”

It is interesting to try to find out what is behind the verses we read about the birds in the Bible. God uses many illustrations of things around us to teach us His Truth. In these verses, self-pride, arrogance and denying Who is in control of our lives.

Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken. (Jeremiah 13:15 KJV)

Wordless Birds
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