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"For he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible." (Hebrews 11:27).

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18).

             The eagle "makes her nest on high. She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off." (Job 39:27-29).
            The eagle has long been recognized as a beautiful type of the believer who ascends into the heavenlies-- into spiritual dimensions of victory in Christ. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles..."  (Isaiah 40:31). Leaving the realm of the earthy, its bestial passion and pride, its self -will and self -centeredness, to rise up in the Spirit, and partake of that life from above. The eagle "maketh her nest on high." What a challenge before us!
             But first we would note the negative, and then proceed into the positive applications. Jesus gave strong warning that "from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." (Matthew 11:12). Or, as the Amplified translation gives, for Luke's record of this same statement, "The good news of the kingdom is being preached, and every one strives violently to go in - would force his own way, rather than God's way into it." (Luke 16:16). They want the blessings without paying the price. They want the Goal without the Way, the resurrection life without the inworking of the cross. But God's way requires a total abandonment of self, and coming in THROUGH HIS GRACE into the expression of His life.
             There are those who want to "take the kingdom" by their own power, in their own strength, by their own self -works and programs, and thus build their own kingdom instead of seeing the kingdom of God established. And in effect, they are saying again in this day, "Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven." (Genesis 11:4).
             Four words say it all-- "Let us build US..." Self-effort that is directed for the fulfillment of self-interest. It has within it the same spirit that we read of in Isaiah 14:13-14. "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High."  It is this spirit of "I WILL" that motivates all of this "let us build us. " But the next verse tells us of the results of such effort. "Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." For anything that has been built by this spirit of "I WILL," shall be utterly shaken and cast down, when He fulfills the Word-- (Hebrews 12:26-28), "Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain." Yet, praise God, there is a "receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, " when it is GOD building His kingdom in us.
             God gave another clear Word of warning, when speaking of Esau, type of the flesh, "Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord." (Jeremiah 49:16).
             Herein we have a strong challenge-- for while we would "ascend into the hill of the Lord, and stand in His holy place," (Psalm 24:3), while we would "abide on the rock, upon the crag of the rock and the strong place. From thence... to behold afar off," (Job 39:28-29), yet we must needs be PLACED THERE BY GOD, and not try to ascend there by our own strength. And we need to discern between those who have, through immense self effort raised themselves up among the stars-- become known as one of the stars of the hour, and those who are dwelling in the heights because of GOD'S GRACE alone, and their UNION WITH HIM. "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up." (James 4:10).
             It is HIS GRACE-- always we joyfully acknowledge that it is grace which "hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:6). Amen!

             How beautifully Moses said it, when speaking of the gods of the heathen, "For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges." (Deuteronomy 32:31 ). Our Rock is that High and Holy One. And with the Psalmist we cry out, "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." (Psalm 61:2).
             God once spoke to Moses, "There is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock." (Exodus 33:21). There was a cleft in the rock, Moses stood in that place while the glory of the Lord passed by, and God removed His hand from covering Moses long enough for Moses to see the AFTERGLOW of that glory, and even that glory was so tremendous that as Moses absorbed it into Himself, the people could not look upon Moses face for the awesomeness of this glory yet upon him. They placed a veil upon his face, not just to make it possible for the people to look at Moses, but also, "to the end that the sons of Israel should not fix their gaze upon the termination of that which is passing away." (2 Corinthians 3:13, Wuest). Gradually that glory-glow had faded away, just as the glory that once accompanied the giving of the Law also faded away, till the day came when it was abolished.
            But the NEW COVENANT "ministration of righteousness exceedeth in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious." (2 Corinthians 3:9-11).
            And so God says to us today, "There is a place BY ME..." And He would prepare us to be in that PLACE. "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." (Hebrews 12:6). We note the word "receiveth" from the Greek word "paradechomai" meaning: to receive beside. For He would receive us INTO HIMSELF-- that we might dwell "in the secret place of the Most High, and abide under the shadow of the Almighty." (Psalm 91:1). Received INTO THE CLEFT OF THE ROCK, into that cleft in His side, to share in that UNION, "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in Us." (John 17:21). It is IN HIM that the GLORY REMAINETH, and our abiding in Him brings us into that ALWAYS. Bless His name!
             Next, we read that the eagle was "upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place." The Hebrew word for "crag" literally means: a sharp point. This is a peak that is not easily accessible. There are heights, rare points of revelation, unique peaks of truth that are not gained by man 's climbing efforts, i.e. through all of man's diligent study, using many concordances, commentaries, translations, for they come by the sovereign lifting up by our God. He alone is "The Lifter up of mine head." (Psalm 3:3). It is by Divine Illumination! Even as Paul said, "For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." (Galatians 1:12). .
             You cannot live on a borrowed revelation. It is when HE quickens you by the Spirit, when HE becomes "The Lifter up of my head, "lifting you out of the realm of the carnal mind, beyond the creeds and traditions of man, that suddenly you can SEE AFAR OFF into a truth which has been hidden from the unsanctified gaze of religion. "Caught up... to hear unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." (2 Corinthians 12:4). Yet in your spirit you KNOW that it is truth which He has quickened to you.
             "For who is God except the Lord? or who is a Rock, save our God, the God who girds me with strength, and makes my way perfect? He makes my feet like hinds' feet (able to stand firmly or make progress on the dangerous heights of testing and trouble); He sets me securely upon my high places." (Psalm 18:31-33, Amplified).
             And so the prophet said, "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, (literally, Hebrew, SAY IN ME). -For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by His faith." (Habakkuk 2:1, 3-4).
             The man that would lift up his own soul is not upright. All of the do-it-yourself efforts of man do not make one spiritual. It is the divine inworking of God that transforms us from glory to glory, and we must needs live by HIS FAITH. "The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20).
             Now, assuredly, "the vision is for an APPOINTED TIME." But the eagle SEETH AFAR OFF, sees the reality of what it is looking for, and knows that though there be much time and space between it and what it sees, nevertheless the vision is true.
             One of our human characteristics is that when God imparts to us a certain revelation, we are prone to think it is for right NOW. We want God's vision in our now, rather than having our vision elevated to GOD'S NOW-- to His timing and purpose. So there is that inworking of patience as we learn to "wait for it." "For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise." (Hebrews 10:36). And so we learn to yield to the inworking, "Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." (James 1:3-4).
             Thus our prayer remains, "Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law." (Psalm 119:18). OPEN-- the Hebrew word here means: to uncover, to remove, to reveal.
            When our eyes are closed, there is a veil of FLESH that covers and it bespeaks of the things of this world that dim our vision to the realities beyond. How we need our eyes UNCOVERED, and all the things of earth REMOVED, so that we can clearly see that which He would REVEAL to us.
             As we noted in the previous chapter, Balaam went through quite an experience with his donkey, until God opened his eyes to see, and then "he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: I shall see Him, but not now: I shall behold Him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, - Out of Jacob shall come He that shall have dominion,..." (Numbers 24:15-17).
             "I shall see Him, but not now..." He was seeing AFAR OFF. He beheld the coming of the Christ, long before Israel even began to be a nation in their own promised land. They were still going through their wilderness experience. But God opened his eyes, and he saw-- saw that there would arise the One that would have dominion-- the true Kingdom of God. This Scepter would rise out of Israel, out of the people that Balak wanted him to curse, and he dare not curse that which was to become the womb for this Mighty One. For centuries men would look for that Star. Betimes a godly king would come on the scene, and I suspect some people wondered for a moment if this one was the Star, but time soon proved that he wasn't. Yet eagle vision saw afar off, and declared that HE would arise-- not now, not nigh, but coming nevertheless. Only the Revelator can impart such a revelation!
            We dare not pursue a self-inspired vision. This is not a self-induced vision, which we visualize and claim. Visualization is an INSTEAD OF working, instead of God's Divine Impartation. When GOD imparts the vision, you can cease from your own works, knowing that HE said it, and HE will do it. That is the very foundation of the new covenant, that God makes promise both for Himself, and for us, saying, "I will, and thou shalt."
             "And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward." (Genesis 13:14).
            LOOK FROM THE PLACE WHERE THOU ART! How often have you felt that if you could just get away, into a certain place, the right atmosphere, a good meeting, whatever, then you might get a hold of a renewed and greater vision. But God told Abram to LOOK right from the place where he was at. God imparts the vision, and He is not restricted to a certain place, certain conditions, certain times, etc. He meets us where we are at, that He might lift our vision to where HE IS. He is the Lifter up of our head!
             So God had Abram look in all four directions, and then said to him, "Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee." (Genesis 13:17). Ah, now finally we are getting somewhere, this is bringing it into our NOW. Now we can start walking through it, claiming it, right? Wrong! He saw the land, he could walk through it, but "He gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet He promised that He would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child." (Acts 7:5). That takes eagle vision, being able to see afar off.
             Look over, and walk through the land, for I will give it to you! But he never received so much as to set his foot on that he could claim was his, title deed and all. Furthermore, God promised that his seed would inherit it after him, and he didn't even have a seed. Yet it is written, "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith, giving glory to God." (Romans 4:18-20). But there was much to happen before this vision could be fully realized, including time Israel spent in Egypt for four hundred years. Yet in his NOW, God had him get out of his tent, "And He brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness." (Genesis 15:5-6).
            Why do we need ANOINTED VISION to see afar off? Because God established a principle, that you see, and then you BECOME WHAT YOU SEE. If you have no vision, you have nothing to become!
             The enticement was before her, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food... she took of the fruit thereof.." (Genesis 3:6). And what she saw she became-- birthing a Cain and an Abel, evil and good. She saw a tree of duality, and she partook and then birthed duality. She passed from one dimension into another, she was changed into an expression of the grossly material realm of this flesh. Then she gave to her husband, and he did eat, "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. (Genesis 3:7).
             Now her eyes were opened to see her present state of being, no longer seeing afar off, but now she saw her condition as it had become. She saw because she could not help but see, and she hated herself for seeing, but she could not help it now for she had become what she saw. You can see sin, and become sinful, but you cannot change yourself from that state. No longer could Adam and Eve see as they had before-- beholding things afar off. Now they could only see the things nigh at hand, after the ability of the flesh, and it is brutish.
             Surely much of Christendom "is blind, and cannot see afar  off.." (2 Peter 1:9). Because they have not yet had the VEIL OF FLESH removed from their eyes. Only the disciplines of God, and the inworking of His cross, can remove the carnality from us. As long as our own self-will clouds our vision, along with the many traditions of men, we cannot see.
             But when God truly opens our eyes, we realize that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18). And the vision of the glory which shall yet be known, has wiped away the tears and sorrows of the night, as if they were but shadows which are dissipated by the light.
             "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18).
             "When thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light." (Luke 11:34). And when He purges out our old carnal nature, and we are born anew with the bright nature of His light, we begin to see those things which are afar off, and give glory to God, worshiping Him for all His ways.
             "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4: 17 -18).
            Why can't we look on these light afflictions, if they are working for us? Why can't we see what they are doing? Because you become what you see, and if you see the negative, you become negative; if you see the temporal, the surface, the transitory, you become the same-- shallow and empty, superficial and given over to the immediate season. Certainly television has become a curse for many-- for they view and become. And it follows, you also become what you hear. And as soon as you become part of the worldly realm, you start to judge by the seeing of the natural eye, and by the hearing of the natural ear.
             Thank God, there are those who are able to say, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; --That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you..." (1 John 1:1,3). Thank God, there is a beholding Him who is invisible, and then sharing out of this reality words of comfort and hope for others.
             Like Abraham, we can look UPWARD AND BEYOND. Jesus said, "Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad. " (John 8:56). Out of the deepest trial of his life came a revelation that was tremendous. God had put Abraham to the test, asking him to offer up Isaac for a burnt offering. Obedient Abraham gather together some wood, some fire, a knife, and his son, and started off for the mount. "And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the Iamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a Iamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together." (Genesis 22:7-8).
            GOD WILL PROVIDE HIMSELF! "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." (2 Cor. 5:19).
             Abraham, seeing afar off, caught a glimpse of the Lamb of God that would take away the sin of the world. Yes, God also provided "a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him for a burnt offering in the stead of his son." (Genesis 22:13). But all of this became but a figure of the true.
            Isaac carried the wood. Jesus carried the cross. Abraham "accounted that God was able to rise up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." (Hebrews 11:19). Thus he saw the RESURRECTION. No wonder Abraham rejoiced to see HIS day-- and he saw it, and was glad.
             Again, "The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." (Galatians 3:8). Long before the gospel came, indeed, even before the law of the first covenant was given, God revealed to Abraham a vision so staggering that the vast majority of Christendom still cannot begin to comprehend it. Namely, that THROUGH CHRIST "shall all nations be blessed. " Total blessing, total reconciliation for all nations, because it would be an ACT OF GOD as He provided Himself to be that Lamb which taketh away the sin of the world.
             How often have past prophets prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: (Then) Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reopened unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." (1 Peter 1:10-12).
             Little did they know there was such a span of time between the "sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." Two thousand years have now passed, and we still wait for that marvelous manifestation of His glory. But our eyes of faith have caught a glimpse of that glory, and so we repeat, "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
             David was resting from warfare one day, enjoying some peace, and looking around he took note of the palace he lived in, but God was still in a tent. So he decided he must build God an  house. But God wanted David to have some eagle vision, and so God said to Nathan, "Go and tell My servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build Me an house for Me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?" (2 Samuel 7:5- 7). God had never asked anyone to build him an house, this He made very clear. But then comes the startling revelation to David, verse 11, "Also the Lord telleth thee that He will make thee an house."
             You want to build Me an house of cedar, Let Me open your eyes as from an high mountain, to see afar off, that I have ordained THE DAY WHEN YOU WILL HAVE BECOME MY HOUSE. But that was far down the road. So God enabled David to gather all the materials so that his son Solomon could build a temple. Then God allowed time to pass till that temple went into ruins. Later He sent Zerubabbel to restore the temple. And in time that went into ruin. And you keep looking past all of these interim buildings, present arrangements, and see where GOD IS BUILDING YOU-- "For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (2 Corinthians 6:16).
            Some see only the first covenant, negatively administered. Eagle vision sees the glory of the new covenant, and the gospel of the Kingdom.
             Some see only the religious structure, the form, the ceremony, the ritual, and so they try to keep all the feast days. But as one so beautifully stated it, "At best, this day we have kept is but a sign pointing us to Christ, and at worst it is idolatry." When religious form becomes an end in itself, it is idolatry. But if they are pointing you to Christ, you will only keep those ceremonies until you receive Him, then IN HIM all these things are fulfilled, and you don't need the sign when you have Him. Eagle vision sees the living temple indwelt by God in reality. Some see only the corruption, the decay, the sin, the evil of our times. It is negative, depressing, a gloomy vision indeed. But eagle vision sees that the REIGN OF CHRIST shall be so totally successful that "God shall be all in all -that is, be everything to everyone, supreme, the indwelling and controlling factor of life. (1 Corinthians 15:28, Amplified). So, while some are looking for damnation and utter chaos, Thank God, He has those whose eyes are open, and they are "Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." (Jude 21). Eagle vision sees God's mercy and grace as totally victorious, that "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." (Romans 5:20). Bless His name forever!
             Even in our daily, personal living, He can lift us up into those heights where by faith we see all of our loved ones are ONE IN HIM, filled with God. There may well be a long valley between here and there, but the eagle rests, nests, dwells in the high places on a Rock-- established and victorious, because seeing afar off, it knows that the end is secure in Christ. "Looking unto Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith,"  we need not fret at the processings necessary to bring the desired results. He is our security. The new covenant is clear-- "For all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest." (Hebrews 8: 11).
            We read of those who, "Not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." (Hebrews 11:13).
            HAVING SEEM THEM AFAR OFF-- they were persuaded, grasped those promises to their bosom, and walked out their present time confessing that they did not belong to this earth realm, for "their citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Philippians 3:20). When God gives you a vision of your true Fatherland, you can face your NOW on this earth with an elevated attitude, rejoicing in Him.

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