Bald Eagle landing ©CC0 Pixabay
“Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.” (Hosea 8:1 KJV)
In my Bible reading today, an Eagle was mentioned in Hosea 8:1. My current version of the Bible is the Defender’s Study Bible and the notes for that verses are from the New Defender’s Study Bible Notes on Hosea 8 says:
8:1 as an eagle. Literally, “like a vulture,” the Assyrians were about to swoop down on Israel to devour her spiritually dead body. She would cry out to God for deliverance (Hosea 8:2), but still depended on her idols. [NDSB Notes]
So why would an illustration of an eagle be used against the house of the Lord? The people had turned their backs on the Lord and were adopting the “things” of the heathens. They turned more and more away from the truths of the Scriptures and were adopting the attitudes, amoral acceptance, and sins of the people. [sounds like what is happening today]
God brings judgment on sin, and as an eagle attacks its prey, sometimes by surprise, the time of judgment would arrive. Verse 8:7 tells part of their problem. “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.” (KJV)
8:7 reap the whirlwind. Reaping follows sowing. “He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption” (Galatians 6:8). This principle was applied with great fury to ancient Israel, and a similar time of reaping awaits other nations that forget God (Psalm 9:17). [NDSB Notes]
Our sins can start out small, but over time, they can multiply beyond measure. Just watching the news these days can show that principle is alive and well, unfortunately.
White-bellied Sea Eagle captured a Lesser Whistling Duck ©WikiC
Even trying to talk about God’s Creation, His Love, His Sacrifice on the Cross for our sins, and His free gift of Salvation through faith are like Hosea 8:1:
“I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.” (Hosea 8:12 KJV)
Again, the comment in the notes says much that should give us a warning:
8:12 a strange thing. God judged Israel for rejecting the great things of His law. How great must be his anger at those modern “Christian” nations that not only count His law “strange,” but also the whole Bible and God’s great work of creation and redemption! [NDSB Notes]
As a critter does not want to not fall prey to an Eagle, Lord help us to live our lives that will bring blessings and not judgment.
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Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus 
Most of the time, when a raptor hits, the prey had no idea it was coming, just like God’s people in this Hosea text. It will be the same in the last days (which I believe are soon, if not now). It will come upon the world unaware like an eagle’s prey. It will be “business as usual” when He comes. Matthew 24:37-38 “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be… they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage…” But we as Christians have the privilege of being told the Great Day is coming! We can awake, be diligent, watch and warn others of that eagle of judgment coming. If we will “pray” for our nation, perhaps we won’t fall “prey” and be caught unaware! Let’s take as many people with us to heaven as we can!!!!
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