…as swift as the eagle flieth…
—Deuteronomy 28:49
None among the feathered creation can surpass the eagle in speed of flight. And interesting aspects of this fact are used by Jeremiah. (See Jeremiah 4:13; Lamentations 4:19.) Of all birds it is said to fly the highest, and with the greatest rapidity, and is thus used as a symbol of successive conquest. (See Jeremiah 48:40, 42; Hosea 8:1.) Its great swiftness is also used to describe the rapid flight of time. (See Job 9:26.) And its way in the air amazed Solomon (Proverbs 30:19).
Can we say we emulate the eagle here? Are we swift to obey? Like young Samuel, are we alive and quick to hear each murmur of God’s voice?