I am excited to begin our new series on "Protection"!!!!!!!!!!!!
God's protection.
This Bible Study was put on my heart to do at the end of 2008;
the last few days in December and the first few days of January 2009.
My sweet husband was in Detroit, visiting family.
(At that time, I did not have paid days off...now I do TTL!)
I was unable to join him because we needed for me to work.
He was on Christmas break from being a substitute school teacher
here in Williamson County, TN.
I am USUALLY pretty comfortable in this situation.
I found myself needing a new theme, book or new Bible Study
to do. I had been studying Philippians for this blog,
but must confess to allowing my "personal" time with God
lacking, because I felt that I was getting the Word of God in me.
I knew better and God convicted me and gave me that "sweet
urging" in my spirit that I needed to get back to doing both studies
and time with Him.
So.........I asked the Lord what He wanted me to study.
Have you ever done that?
It is so exciting to do that and get the answer and see the results.....!!!!!!!
He told me "Protection".....
Some of you may be saying, "I wish I could hear from God like that".
I am NOT bragging on myself, because I will be the first to tell you
that the Creator of the Universe WILL SPEAK to your spirit.....
IF, IF, IF you will QUIET yourself before Him and LISTEN!!
He is no respecter of persons, Romans 2:11
In my new Holman Illustrated Study Bible, Christian Standard Bible
Version (shewwww..!)
...that I had just received for Christmas...
the chapter headings for the Psalms were entitled in a way
that I had never seen before.
I found 8 Psalms that had the word "Protection" in the title.
This lead me to study those Psalms, as we will do over the course
of time in this series.
The 8 Protection Psalms that this Bible had labeled are:
- Psalms 17 • Psalms 64
- Psalms 31 • Psalms 91 ~ (oh yeah...)
- Psalms 56 • Psalms 121 ~ (one of my personal favorites)
- Psalms 57 • Psalms 141
"Protection" Psalm, but these are the 8 that were burned into
my heart, mind and soul...
In those Psalms, I kept coming across words that correlated
with the word "Protection" and here they are:
- Shadow
- Wings (Eagle's Wings)
- Hedge
- Hem
- Watch/Watches
- Refuge
- Shelter
- Shield
Wings and Eagles.....
If any of you have ever heard or read Joyce Meyer's teaching
on the characteristics of eagles, you know that it "dovetails"
(pun intended) with the characteristics of how to be a positive
Christian.
I was wanting more of a spin on that teaching to include
how God protects us. It is a great message, though and I highly re-
commend it!
Here is a video of Joyce teaching on part of the series:
Here is where you can purchase her series.
As far as I can tell, it is out of print.
If someone knows differently, please advise us!
Here is another wonderful, fact-filled article about eagles.
The most well known Scripture about eagles IWDTS
(I Would Dare To Say).....is
Isaiah 40:31 (King James Version)...
"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."
I really appreciate this Scripture, but to me it is more about
renewed strength, rather than protection,
unless you really dwell on the last 3 words.
In researching for "eagle/s" and "wing/s" in the Bible,
I typed the words in the search box at
www.blueletterbible.org and found that there are:
- 28 instances for eagle/s
- 89 instances for wing/s
(In the New International Version.)
Don't worry
we will not be looking up every 117 verses! :D
References:Four verses "jumped" out at me:
from the wicked who are out to get me, from mortal enemies closing in."
- Psalm 17:8-9 in The Message Bible:
from the wicked who are out to get me, from mortal enemies closing in."
AND
Deuteronomy 32:11 New International Version
"...like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions."
I don't know about you, but I didn't know what a "pinion" was.
Here what my computer dictionary said:
"Outer part of the bird wing, including the flight feathers."
Well...aren't all the feathers on the wing a "flight feather"?
Click here
for a "gr8t" explanation of this pinion/flight feather situation.
(And they say there is no God....)
Here's one excerpt that I could not resist:
"(The primary feathers) are the largest of the flight feathers and are the farthest away from the body, attached to the skin of the wing on the 'hand'."
hmmm...He catches us when we fall...And He carries us in His hand...!!!
Some commentators say that it is not natural for eagles to carry their
young on their wings or backs.
But here is an eye witness to this feat:
"In his classic work on birds of prey, Arthur Cleveland Bent presented much detailed information about the nesting habits of the golden eagle, Aguila Chrysadtos canadensis (Linnaeus). He reported material derived from an observation published in 'The Condor' as follows:
Dr. Loye Miller (1918) published the following account, as given to him by one of his students:
'Last summer while my father and I were extracting honey at the apiary about a mile southeast of Thatcher School, Ojai, California, we noticed a golden eagle teaching its young one to fly. It was about ten o'clock. The Mother started from the nest in the crags, and roughly handling the young, she allowed him to drop, I should say, about ninety feet, then she would swoop down under him, wings spread, and he would alight on her back. She would soar to the top of the range with him and repeat the process. One time she waited perhaps fifteen minutes between flights, I should say the farthest she let him fall was 150 feet.
My father and I watched this, spellbound, for over an hour. I do not know whether the young one gained confidence by this method or not. A few days later father and I rode to the cliff and out on Overhanging Rock. The eagle's nest was empty.' (Miss F. E. Shuman.)" (1)
- Exodus 19:4 in The Holman Christian Standard Bible:
AND
Deuteronomy 32:11 New International Version
"...like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions."
I don't know about you, but I didn't know what a "pinion" was.
Here what my computer dictionary said:
"Outer part of the bird wing, including the flight feathers."
Well...aren't all the feathers on the wing a "flight feather"?
Click here
for a "gr8t" explanation of this pinion/flight feather situation.
(And they say there is no God....)
Here's one excerpt that I could not resist:
"(The primary feathers) are the largest of the flight feathers and are the farthest away from the body, attached to the skin of the wing on the 'hand'."
hmmm...He catches us when we fall...And He carries us in His hand...!!!
Some commentators say that it is not natural for eagles to carry their
young on their wings or backs.
But here is an eye witness to this feat:
"In his classic work on birds of prey, Arthur Cleveland Bent presented much detailed information about the nesting habits of the golden eagle, Aguila Chrysadtos canadensis (Linnaeus). He reported material derived from an observation published in 'The Condor' as follows:
Dr. Loye Miller (1918) published the following account, as given to him by one of his students:
'Last summer while my father and I were extracting honey at the apiary about a mile southeast of Thatcher School, Ojai, California, we noticed a golden eagle teaching its young one to fly. It was about ten o'clock. The Mother started from the nest in the crags, and roughly handling the young, she allowed him to drop, I should say, about ninety feet, then she would swoop down under him, wings spread, and he would alight on her back. She would soar to the top of the range with him and repeat the process. One time she waited perhaps fifteen minutes between flights, I should say the farthest she let him fall was 150 feet.
My father and I watched this, spellbound, for over an hour. I do not know whether the young one gained confidence by this method or not. A few days later father and I rode to the cliff and out on Overhanging Rock. The eagle's nest was empty.' (Miss F. E. Shuman.)" (1)
(Now...I don't think this is an eagle's wing by any means...
but I just couldn't keep from posting it.
I like the way the light is shining on it.)
"God reveals Himself throughout His Word. Sometimes He shows Himself powerful and mighty. Other times He is a still small voice. But one of the most beautiful and revealing pictures of our Lord is that of the mother Eagle. If we could only live moment by moment in the assurance that God is our Protector and Sustainer, our Power and Strength. Like the mother eagle, God teaches us of His ways. Like the mother eagle, God protects us from all enemies. Like the mother eagle, God nurtures and loves us. May we be always mindful of that love and nurturing." (2)
"God's love and care was shown for Israel already, as He bore you on eagle's wings. It is said that an eagle does not carry her young in her claws like other birds; the young eagles attach themselves to the back of the mother eagle and are protected as they are carried. Any arrow from a hunter must pass through the mother eagle before it could touch the young eagle on her back."(3)
WHOO HOO!!! Talk about protection with a capital "P"!
That reminds me a the word "shield" in all of this...
Nothing can come to me that doesn't pass through the Lord first!!!
Praise the Lord!!
You ARE my Shield and You ARE my Protector!
Allow me to end with this video...Plz enjoy!
(Friendly reminder: click the pause button on
the Playlist on the sidebar to be able to hear
this video.)
Amen!
Lord, help me to rise up as the eagle's wings, know that You are always
my Protector and Shield!
Debbie G.
but I just couldn't keep from posting it.
I like the way the light is shining on it.)
"God reveals Himself throughout His Word. Sometimes He shows Himself powerful and mighty. Other times He is a still small voice. But one of the most beautiful and revealing pictures of our Lord is that of the mother Eagle. If we could only live moment by moment in the assurance that God is our Protector and Sustainer, our Power and Strength. Like the mother eagle, God teaches us of His ways. Like the mother eagle, God protects us from all enemies. Like the mother eagle, God nurtures and loves us. May we be always mindful of that love and nurturing." (2)
"God's love and care was shown for Israel already, as He bore you on eagle's wings. It is said that an eagle does not carry her young in her claws like other birds; the young eagles attach themselves to the back of the mother eagle and are protected as they are carried. Any arrow from a hunter must pass through the mother eagle before it could touch the young eagle on her back."(3)
WHOO HOO!!! Talk about protection with a capital "P"!
That reminds me a the word "shield" in all of this...
Nothing can come to me that doesn't pass through the Lord first!!!
Praise the Lord!!
You ARE my Shield and You ARE my Protector!
Allow me to end with this video...Plz enjoy!
(Friendly reminder: click the pause button on
the Playlist on the sidebar to be able to hear
this video.)
Amen!
Lord, help me to rise up as the eagle's wings, know that You are always
my Protector and Shield!
Debbie G.
(1) Science in Christian Perspective
MOSES AND THE EAGLE
FREDERIC R. HOWE* AND GEORGE F. HOWE"
From: JASA 20 (March 1968): 22-24.
(2) http://ll.newsforchristians.com/sermons/sermon027.html
(3) David Guzik Study Guide for Exodus 19 at:
www.blueletterbible.org
Hi Debbie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your first post about protection, and in the days we live, we all need to know how to have God's protection all around us.
The words that you picked that you feel correlate with the meaning of protection are great.
I always enjoy hearing Joyce Myers speak and her talk went right with your study.
That song, Like Eagles, by Don Meon was great.
Love you,
Darlene