(Gen 1:1-2) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
hovering. i.e., in the sense of protecting and participating in the creative work (Ryrie)
While God was creating the earth He stood by, or hung around, to protect His work in progress. God watches over His work. He cares and wants to make sure everything turns out just right. We are also God’s creation, so God is also very much concerned that things turn out right with us too.
(Phil 1:6 NIV) ... He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Messiah Jesus.
(Message) There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Messiah Jesus appears.
God won’t sit back passively and relax, hoping things turn out right. He cares about us too much to do that. He watches closely, and stays close by, to make sure nothing interferes with His work in progress. And when trouble comes, He will do whatever is necessary.
(Deut 32:10-11) In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions.
God protects us as the apple of His eye. I mentioned that God stays close by to keep His eye on us. Well, He is so close to us that we can be seen in the apple of His eye.
God He paints a little picture for us by saying He hovers over us like a mother eagle.
(Message v. 11) The LORD was like an eagle teaching its young to fly, always ready to swoop down and catch them on its back.
We are God’s workmanship created by Him to do good works which He prepared in advance for us to do. God will push out of our nest when it’s time to learn to fly, but He will not just sit there and hope we learn how to fly by ourselves. He knows that we will fall often while we are learning, so like a mother eagle He will stay right by our side so that He can catch us every time we fall.
(Matt 23:37-39) "... how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, ...’"
Here we see that like a mother hen, Jesus wants to wrap His wings around us and protect us from harm. He wants to keep us warm and safe.
Earlier I mentioned that God will complete the work He begun in us.
(Matt 24:31 NIV) And He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
When Jesus returns He will send His angels to gather us up and bring us to Himself. He knows how easily we get lost. He knows that there are detours that keep us from finding our way. Jesus knows that some of us don’t know our right from our left. He knows that some people have no clue which way is east or west. Therefore, Jesus promises to send His angels to pick us up and carry us to His side. He will have His angels hand deliver us. He will complete the work He began in us.
He is committed to making sure that we are safe, that we accomplish the purpose He created us for, and that we make it by His side in the end. Therefore, Jesus will hover over us and protect us all throughout our life. Then, He promises to have His angels carry us right to His side, to make sure we get there. This is what God did while He was creating the heavens and earth. He did it again with Israel while they were wandering in the wilderness. And He promises to do this for us as well. |
