“He found him in a desert land,
And in the howling waste of a wilderness;
He encircled him, He cared for him,
He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.
“Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
That hovers over its young,
He spread His wings and caught them,
He carried them on His pinions.
“The LORD alone guided him,
And there was no foreign god with him.
Deuteronomy 32:10–12 (NASB95)
Israel is pictured as found by God in the desert and taken in and cared for by Him. God's care for Israel is compared to that of an eagle caring for her young. These verses come from the Song of Moses. He has led the people of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt to the promised land, but Israel was not ready to trust God to give them the land, and so they wandered around in the desert for forty years. Now they are back at the border of the promised land and ready to take possession of the land. Moses is old and Joshua takes on the leadership role. Deuteronomy 31-32 records his parting Song just before his death.
This part of the Song of Moses describes Israel as a helpless person found by God in the desert. Perhaps as an infant or a child in need of Care. Found in a desert a place where howling is a familiar sound. Whether howling of winds or animals it is indeed a lonely place, but God took Israel in, to care for him with love and compassion. Carefully guarded as though the very pupil of His eye, Israel is safe now.
Nurtured as though by an eagle hen. He stirs up the nest. When an eagle stirs up its nest, it is removing the comfortable bedding to expose the uncomfortable thorns and sharp rocks that encourage the chicks to spread their wing in the wind and take flight rather than lounge comfortably in the middle of the nest. The chicks retreat to the edge of the nest away from the discomfort with increase risk of falling out of the nest. God hovers over them with wings spread out to catch them should they falter on the edge. They are under His care and guidance. Israel benefited as God Himself guided them. As a result of God’s attentive care, Israel did not stray to serve other God’s. They learned to live God’s way as He had taught them.
Now back in the days when my youngest daughter would blurt out a movie quote at the most unexpected moment, she was riding her tricycle around the kitchen island and paused to look up at her mother and say, “Mom, have I ever steered you wrong?”
You know God does not steer us wrong. If we go wrong, it is because of our own devices or our lack of searching His word out for ourselves. God guides us through the Holy Spirit to understand the Bible and navigate through life as we walk with Him. Israel is called the children of God just as we are His children and Jesus said he would not leave us as orphans. God will take care of us just as he cares for the sparrow. He guides us when we let him. When we let him guide us, we are under his care. Let us be open to God’s guidance so we are useful to Him as well as ourselves.