PRÉCIS ON THE INVINCIBILLITY OF AN OBEDIENT CHRISTIAN: WAIT. RENEW. MOUNT UP!

SCRIPTURE. “But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.” – ISAIAH 40:31, AMPC

KEY TERMS

• “WAIT.” ‘Qavah’ [קָוָה]: “To bind together, to collect;to be gathered together or be joined [tightly with]; to lie in wait; to look for eagerly, patiently; to hope, be confident; i.e., ‘to trust, and thereby be enduring.’”

• “RENEW.’ ‘Chalaph’ [חָלַף]: “To hasten; to spring or sprout up [again]; to go forward; to grow up [mature]; to be able to strike through [all resistance to progress]; to change one’s garments; to shew newness; ‘to pierce or sweep through.’”

• “MOUNT UP!” ‘Alah’ [עָלָה]: “From a Hebrew root word meaning, ‘To ascend;’ also, to arise, carry up, climb up; to grow (over), leap, increase; to spring or stir up; denotes an ascension to a higher place [or purpose]; associated with an offering of a sacrifice; to go up and stand before the Lord; to cause to burn or shoot forth.” DK. Reminds of the Jews’ common, sacred ‘Call to Aliya,’ or the historic desire to ‘Make Aliya,’ that is, “Go up to Jerusalem!’ [or God, by extension].

QUOTATION. “The phrase ‘Saddle up!’ is often used in the context of cycling [‘in a Peloton’] when referring to getting ready to ride. In its original context, the phrase was used to refer to ‘getting a horse ready to ride.’ It was first documented in the early 1800s in the American West and referred to the act of putting a saddle on a horse. The phrase was later adopted by the cycling community in the late 1800s.” – EDITORS, Rehook, ret. May 8, 2024; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘Beloved, how do we wait?’ Or better yet, why would we choose to wait on anyone or anything? And finally, and more to the point, in the present passage what is required to wait for Jehovah? Is this wait not a wait of Faith? Is it not ‘a Faith that lays hold of the fringes of His ways’ (cf. Job 26:14)? Is it not a Faith which sees the unseeable (Heb. 11:1), ‘Faith ‘sees’ God.’ Is it not ‘a Faith which obeys’ [note on relationship between Faith and Obedience] in spite of the external (or even internal) turmoil related to circumstances and/or people).

Indeed, Faith sees the tumult which is sorely tempting us not to wait on Jehovah, and chooses to see the temptation through the grid of the Promise giving, Covenant keeping God (His great Name ‘Jehovah’ even emphasizing and undergirding the truth that He is a Covenant keeping God.) Faith is the convinced, convicted heart reaching out to the Almighty (‘Shaddai’) to readily receive His free grace in one its many and variegated forms – in this verse ‘depicted as flight like an eagle!’ …

And so just as there is ‘Saving Faith,’ there is also ‘Waiting Faith,’ Faith that relies on and recalls the record of what God has done and/or declared, rather than relying on ‘an arm of flesh’ (2 Chr. 32:8a). A Waiting Faith is a faith that allows one to sit still and know that Jehovah is God (Ps 46:10–note), the Living God (Ps. 42:2), Who alone can be relied on to accomplish His good will and work in and through our life. And sometimes His method of achieving His goal is to have us wait.

In Sum: ‘The Wait of Faith is not easy for it may bring death to our desires and dreams’ (Mk. 8:34, Lk. 9:23, but it is a wait that is necessary if we would ‘mount up with wings like eagles.’Faith is often challenged by waiting, but we are able to wait if we really believe what God has told us. In the present context, those who wait (Hope in, Isa. 40:31) for Jehovah are those who place their Faith in Him and ultimately in His Messiah, i.e., those Jewish [and Christian] believers who constitute ‘the Faithful Remnant.’” – PRECEPT AUSTIN (Bruce Hurt), Mar. 19, 2018; edited

DK. Now after all that by Introduction, I shall be brief. This passage is very personal for me; the Scripture is one I pray every single morning of every day that runs something like this, in more condensed form I assure you.

“Father, I am an old man as You well know, yet You have seen fit to preserve me so graciously these many years. But as an old man, I am given to the normal physical and intellectual vicissitudes of old age, and therefore need supernatural strength, supernatural ability and supernatural perseverance. The very enhancements, if You will grant it, of a much younger eagle than I presently am. For the Message to fly higher and wider and further than would otherwise be possible. Thank You Lord. Amen.”

So may it be with us ‘Older Eagles’ in the Days to Come, beloved, that we ascend to where He dwells for the gain of new strength, fresh perspective, and greater impact on the Presemt Darkness that is below.

While it is still Day, before The Night comes, when we shall no longer be given the Wings of Heaven upon which to fly. Selah.