



North America









[Image courtesy NASA's Visible Earth]

North America is home to millions of Christians. Approximately 80% of the population claims to be Christian. These are a people who worship our Father and His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. How wonderful to learn then that we worship in a land that's shaped like the stately and majestic...



[Map from the Perry Castenada Library,

Courtesy The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin] ...eagle! Alaska is the head, and the rest of the continent is the body:



[Map from the Perry Castenada Library,

Courtesy The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin]



Here are a few points to ponder about the North American eagle:

it's head to head with Russia;

the wing is the Arctic;

the body is made up of the rest of Canada and the United States;

the leg and one talon belongs to Mexico;

the other talon is Florida;

it's holding on to Central America; and

it's about to grab Cuba.

Here's another look at the North American eagle. On the map are green dots that mark places bearing the name Eagle such as Eagle River, Eagle Lake, and so on; highlighting the popularity of eagles on this continent:



But why is North America shaped like an eagle? Of course our heavenly Father knew it would be occupied predominantly by Christians. And it's obviously not a coincidence that the Bald Eagle is the national bird of the United States of America. It's one nation under God, and even on her coins is stamped "In God we trust". But to get a better understanding of why North America is shaped like an eagle, we should go to our Father's word, and study eagles. I would like to begin in Deuteronomy 32 where our Father compares Himself to a great eagle:

8 When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. 9 For the LORD'S portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. 10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. 11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: 12 So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

The word 'fluttereth' in verse 11 is from the Hebrew word rachaph (Strong's Concordance #7363) which is also translated 'moved' in Genesis 1:2 where the "Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters". So we might say that the Holy Spirit fluttered over the waters like a great eagle.



Our Father also compares Himself to an eagle in Exodus 19:

1 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. 3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;



4 'Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto Myself. 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine: 6 And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.' These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel."

North America has within her many people who obey God's voice and keep His covenants. That must be why she is blessed so much by our Father. The United States and Canada are blessed so much that we have to try and keep people from coming in, not from leaving, but many do not give God the credit.



America is the land of freedom. North America even has the largest undefended border in the world. We have the freedom to pursue a very peaceful life if we work at it. I believe this peaceful land is referred to in Revelation 12:

14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

I believe this woman represents the house of Israel, and that the eagle's wings are a reference to their migration to the wilderness of North America; just as they migrated from Egypt to Mt. Sinai on eagles' wings, and then to Palestine. The time, and times, and half a time must be future (the 3 1/2 years of the two witnesses; Revelation 11:3).

How is she nourished? By the Word of God. It seems obvious to me that our Father chose this wilderness of America, in part, because of the promises He gave to Abraham that his children would become as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sands of the seashore (Genesis 22:17). That many people need somewhere to live, and I believe the blessings we receive here were promised in Genesis 12:

1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."



It can't be an accident that inside the North American eagle is the strongest nation on Earth, and together with Canada she exports more grain - or seed - than anyone else; and that there is more fresh water here than anywhere else in the world (John 4:14). And just as the American eagle is a bird of prey, likewise many of the people in North America are birds who pray. They talk with Almighty God. They love our heavenly Father. And Christians in North America share the Word of God with the entire world. Therefore God blesses us. He blesses those who bless Him.



Let's close with another promise involving eagles in Isaiah 40:

31 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.

There is always hope in our Father. And Point Hope is even on the forehead of the American eagle:



[Click here for a satellite image courtesy NASA's Earthobservatory]