Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:
Isaiah 40:31: “But they that wait upon the Lord will 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.”
Ok, let’s venture down the ancient pathway here to see if this verse might have had some meaning to the people of Isaiah’s day that has been lost in history. First we must examine the word used for “wait” it is quavah which is word for making rope. Rope was made in those days, as it is today, by the binding of strands of fabric together very tightly. Thus, this “waiting upon the Lord” carries the idea of binding yourself to Him. Unlike today, when the strands of fabric of rope in ancient times which were bound together tended to come loose and on occasion had to be rebound. As they were rebounded the strength of the rope was renewed, just as when we drift away from God and then return and begin binding ourselves to Him again and tightening that bind do we become stronger.
Next we see that when we bind ourselves to God we will not only renew our strength we will mount up with wings as eagles. Let me point out that we may not be talking about an eagle here. The word in Hebrew for eagle is nesor which could mean both an eagle or a vulture. The word is really more descriptive of a vulture because nesor, in its primitive sense, means to “saw” or “rip apart.” This is how a vulture uses his beak to rip apart it’s food. I have even heard old time carpenters talk about “ripping apart” a board in reference to sawing a board. In older times saws were not as sharp as they are today and you usually cut a board through a combination of ripping and sawing.
We tend to shy away from the idea of mounting up with wings of vultures, as our culture has a negative view of vultures and a positive or noble view of an eagle. I mean I would much rather mount up with wings of eagles rather than vultures. However, in ancient times you may prefer the vulture and I believe in its context, this should be rendered as vulture.
Isaiah may be making a reference to the pagan Egyptian goddess Nekhbet, as we would to some pagan religion to show the superiority of our faith. We might point to a pagan religion where its followers wash themselves with water before worship and we would say we cleanse ourselves through the Living Waters of Christ. So Isaiah could be saying that you will mount up with wings like the goddess Nekhbet who served as the protector of Upper Egypt. This goddess wore the Shen Ring which in Hieroglyphs is pictured as the loop of a rope and symbolized eternal protection. Isaiah could have been making a play on the word “quavah” which is rendered as “wait” but really means the looping and binding of rope.
A problem lies in the choice of the root word for “mount up.” The priestess of Nekhbat wore the white feathers of the white vulture and appeared like they had wings. They would spread their wings to show that their goddess Nekhbat was their eternal protection. Tradition tells us that the root word for “mount up” is “alah” which is really a common sense decision as one reading the original text would almost automatically say the root word is “ya’al.” But “ya’al does not really fit the context so translators move to the alternative “alah” which means to ascend or mount up. It fits but leaves you wondering just exactly what that means.
However, let’s go with our first impression that the root word is “ya’al” which means to receive, profit or benefit. Those who wait upon the Lord will benefit or profit from the wings of protection. In Ancient Egypt, if one were to go to battle or on a long journey he may have been given a feather off of the robe of a priestess of Nekhbet (a very rare and coveted gift) and thus he would be protected in battle or on his journey.
The symbolism feathers are not unique to our Native American culture. In fact the symbolism of feathers is almost universal but not as endeared as the Native Americans who were rewarded for their bravery by receiving an eagle’s feather.
Ok, let me back up here. Isaiah lived between 750 BC to 700 BC. The Northern Kingdom had fallen to the Assyrian Empire about 20 years before Isaiah began to prophesy to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. When the Northern Kingdom fell to the Assyrian Empire, the Assyrian Empire pretty well left King Ahaz, King of Judah, alone. They did this so long as Judah paid them well enough. When Hezekiah, Ahaz’s son, ascended to the throne he determined to end the tribute to Assyria and sought an alliance with Egypt to put the Assyrian Empire in its place. This prompted Isaiah to prophesy to King Hezekiah telling him not to trust or depend upon the arm of the flesh of Egypt. History shows that Isaiah was right. Once Hezekiah made an alliance with Egypt, Assyria mounted an attacked against Judah and Egypt ended up being a no show in the conflict. Had Hezekiah not sought the help of the arm of the flesh or Egypt, Assyria would have remained at peace with Judah, albeit a peace at a monetary cost, but at least not one in lives.
It is in this climate that Isaiah is warning against an alliance with Egypt that he would make a reference to the goddess Nekhbet declaring that Egypt may depend upon their false goddess for protection, but Judah has a God that will give them His “feathers” (‘avar – wing or feathers) for protection. The first two letters for “’avar” are Aleph Beth which spell the word for father. This is followed by a Resh which represents renewal. The Heavenly Father will renew their strength.
If we let the strands of fabric in our binding with God loosen, we are tempted to look to the arm of the flesh to deliver us. That arm of the flesh could be empty promises, a money market account, a job or even a relationship. If we accept an “avar” (feather, protection) from the arm of the flesh rather than from God, we put ourselves in danger no less than the danger King Hezekiah brought upon his nation.
Recent Comments