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Mount Up
With Wings Like Eagles
What does it mean to mount up with
wings like eagles?
The phrase “mount up with wings like eagles” can
be found at the end of Isaiah 40, in verse 31,
“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew
their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and
not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (ESV)
During
Isaiah’s lifetime, the dispirited nation of Israel suffered a period of great
distress politically as oppressive Assyrian powers invaded and conquered
their lands.
Isaiah
chapters 40–48 contain promises of redemption and deliverance from the
suffering.
That section of the book starts with the
words “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” (Isaiah
40:1)
Israel
had nearly given up hope, thinking God had abandoned them, yet Isaiah drives
his point home in Isaiah 40:27-31,
“Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God’?
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The
Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not
faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
“He gives power to the faint, and to him who has
no might he increases strength.
“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young
men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their
strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be
weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (ESV)
Ancient
Hebrew culture revered eagles as mighty warriors that also cared fiercely for
their young.
Eagles
carry their eaglets to safety, away from the threat of predators.
Eagles
are also known for their strength and courage in dangerous, turbulent weather,
soaring above storm clouds and to safety.
“Eagles’ wings” was a figure of
speech commonly used to attribute these fine characteristics to a person.
The
Lord references eagles’ wings in Exodus 19:1-6, which is a recollection of how
God delivered Israel from the Egyptians.
In
this passage, the Lord gives Moses a message for His people:
“You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt,
and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you
obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my
treasured possession.” (verses 4–5)
The
prophet Isaiah uses “wings like eagles” in the same
way, attributing the great characteristics of eagles to those who remain
faithful to God and look forward to their heavenly reward.
The
phrase “mount up” is
a translation of the Hebrew word ˈalah, which means “to
go up, ascend, to go up over a boundary.”
Isaiah
is communicating the promise that God will provide renewed strength and courage
to overcome obstacles, if Israel would only have patience and trust in the
Lord’s sovereign timing.
Upon
reading Isaiah’s words, perhaps Israel recalled what God had said to them long
ago as they fled Egypt, about how the Lord had delivered them “on
eagles’ wings” with His great strength and power.
Isaiah
tells them that they, too, could have access to such deliverance.
If
they remained faithful to God, they would soar.
Christians
today can apply the principle of Isaiah 40:31 by trusting in God’s
sovereignty and waiting faithfully for Him.
“We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are
wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2
Corinthians 4:16).
God
in His grace will provide power, strength, and courage to the weary, weak, and
downtrodden when they are willing to be patient and wait on Him.
God
will cause us to mount up on eagles’ wings.
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