My preparation for today’s devotional left me with my mind blown. Most of you better hold on to your seats while others will say, “I already knew that.” With that in mind, brace yourselves!
On today’s date in 1782, Congress adopted the design for Great Seal of the United States of America. It only took Congress six years to discuss and debate the design but finally, they figured it out. Designed by Charles Thompson, “The front of the seal depicts a bald eagle clutching an olive branch in its right talon and arrows in its left. On its breast appears a shield marked with 13 vertical red and white stripes topped by a bar of blue. The eagle’s beak clutches a banner inscribed, E pluribus unum, a Latin phrase meaning “Out of Many One.” Above the eagle’s head, golden rays burst forth, encircling 13 stars…
“The reverse side of the seal bears the familiar … pyramid [which], like the new nation, is unfinished and frequently depicted as having 13 steps for the original states. The disembodied eye floating above the structure is that of providence, which Thomson believed had acted “in favour of the American cause.” Beneath the pyramid, the number 1776 appears in Roman numerals as a reminder of the year of independence. The phrase Annuit Coeptis or “Providence has Favored Our Undertakings” appears above the providential eye; Novus Ordo Seclorum or “A New Order of the Ages” appears beneath the pyramid.”1
Part of the slow process in designing the seal is attributed to a conflict between Benjamin Franklin against Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. In a 1784 letter addressed to Sarah, his daughter, Franklin wrote: “For my own part I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country. He is a bird of bad moral character…the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America.”2
Can you imagine eating eagle for Thanksgiving since the turkey would have been a protected species?!?
Ever since the bald eagle became a part of our Great Seal, the eagle has been our national bird. Or has it? I was today years old when I learned this! By 1789, the bald eagle had been chosen by Congress to represent America. Evidently, though, they never made it official through legislation.
In the 1900s, bald eagle populations diminished drastically, prompting the formation of the Bald Eagle Protection Act. After doing some research in 2024, Minnesota resident Preston Cook found out that the bald eagle wasn’t officially the national bird. Cook wrote a bill, submitted it to his Senator who headed up a bipartisan group which got the bill passed unanimously through the House and Senate in July of 2024. On Christmas Eve 2024 – a mere 242 years since the Great Seal was adopted with the eagle front and center – President Joe Biden signed into law a bill declaring the bald eagle as our national bird.3, 4
As Paul Harvey used to say, “And now you know the rest of the story!”
Thirty-four times, the Bible mentions an eagle. The first occurrence is in Exodus 19:3-4. “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.”
David Guzik writes in the Enduring Word Commentary, “An eagles’ wings are strong and sure; but they also speak of careful protection. It is said that an eagle does not carry her young in her claws like other birds; the young eagles attach themselves to the back of the mother eagle and are protected as they are carried. Any arrow from a hunter must pass through the mother eagle before it could touch the young eagle on her back.
“This metaphor is developed most extensively in Deuteronomy 32:11, where the loving compassion, protection, strength, and watchfulness of God is compared with the majestic 
bird’s attributes.” (Walter Kaiser)
If you go out to the retention pond in Bryan, you will catch a glimpse of our national bird. Take some time even today and watch them for a bit. Remind yourself of God’s love and protection as compared to an eagle. And revel in the truth of Isaiah 40:29-31. “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. (30) Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: (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.”
1https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-20/congress-adopts-the-great-seal-of-the-united-states
2https://www.livescience.com/benjamin-franklin-turkey-national-bird
3https://utkarsh.com/current-affairs/us-makes-the-bald-eagle-its-official-bird-after-250-years
4https://www.newsweek.com/why-it-took-248-years-bald-eagle-become-americas-national-bird-2005914
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