“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3).
While I was praying about what to write for this week, I thought it would be something about prophecy. Much is happening in the world that screams of prophecy being fulfilled, and the fact that the Rapture is literally at our doorstep, there should have been no problem choosing a subject.
Maybe the subject would be to encourage Christians to walk closer to Jesus. It’s never been more important to live our faith. Why, then, did my thoughts keep turning to the most ridiculous subject imaginable? Chickens! Really, I kept trying to come up with a deeper subject, but I kept returning to chickens. Then, I saw a video on YouTube talking about how chickens are proof of God. It seemed to confirm that chickens are a valid subject. So, I apologize to anybody who finds this a frivolous subject. God as creator is a basic truth that no Christian should deny.
Question: What came first, the chicken or the egg? I’ll give my thoughts at the end.
Chickens are useful for many things, not the least of which is eggs. My husband and I had a flock of chickens, but when he died, I had to sell them. Years later, my daughter thought chickens would be good to have, and I agreed. They lay eggs and eat bugs, so that’s very useful.
We started with two hens just to get eggs for breakfast and maybe baking. We named them Laverne and Shirley. Laverne liked people, and every time I went outside, she would come running from wherever she was in the yard just to be petted and told she was beautiful. As time passed, Shirley had a run-in with a predator and didn’t survive; that left Laverne alone. Chickens are social creatures, so we needed to get her some friends.
That’s not unlike Christians. We need to have friends like us. Friends who love the Lord, and who will encourage us in our walk with Christ, and friends we can encourage in their walk.
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness: and what communion hath light with darkness” (2 Corinthians 6:14).
My daughter works at a farm and home supply store, and it just so happened that they were selling chicks. We got six.
You don’t just get chicks and expect them to survive. They need to be nurtured and kept warm. Mother hens do that naturally, and Jesus used this as an example of how He had wanted to interact with the Jewish people when He walked this earth. Jesus wept over Jerusalem and the lack of faith found there. The Jewish leaders had prophecy and should have recognized that He was the Messiah, but they rejected Him. We have that same blindness today. We must accept Jesus and be born again in order to live forever with Him, but the lust of the flesh stops us. As Jesus rode into Jerusalem a few days before His crucifixion, He paused to lament the blindness of the leaders.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matthew 23:37).
As long as we have breath in our lungs, it isn’t too late to accept Jesus for salvation. Don’t wait until tomorrow; that may be too late. He will gather us under His wings for protection and comfort. Also, don’t be blind to prophecy. It’s being fulfilled now.
Along with the chicks, we also got three ducklings. Ducklings and chicks are very different from each other. Although they are both of the bird kind, each develops in their own distinctive way.
Ducklings can’t get enough water. They begin swimming at a very early age but need to be watched so they don’t drown. We kept these little chicks and ducklings in a plastic tote with a heat lamp over them for warmth. Laverne continued laying eggs and needing attention.
Eventually, our chicks were mature enough to be put outside with Laverne, who was very miffed. She didn’t like her new friends and decided that she wouldn’t give us any more eggs. I followed her one day and found that she was laying eggs under a bush. It seems she was punishing us for bringing in all these extra chickens.
Eventually, she settled in and accepted her new friends. This is much like many Christian congregations. They like their little “club” but have a very hard time allowing new Christians to join.
I once attended a church like that, and it was a sad, dying congregation. That was just one symptom of some very deep problems there. In the early days of Christianity, new people were joyfully welcomed into the congregation. On the day of Pentecost, Peter gave a very convicting sermon, and about 3,000 people came to faith and repentance that day. What a blessing! God’s truth, instead of New Age or politically correct speeches, brought salvation.
“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42).
They didn’t go off and start cults but listened to the words of the Apostles and lived accordingly as part of the congregation.
Meanwhile, the ducks were growing. We named them Quackers, Cheese, and Cheddar. Turns out we had one male and two females. When the duck hens were old enough to lay eggs, we discovered they were laying them in their swimming tub. We had to scoop them out daily with a fishing net. Eventually, the ladies figured out that they needed to lay the eggs on solid ground in order for them to survive. Again, this relates to Christian life. In order for us to be productive for Christ, we need to build our life on the Solid Rock, not on sinking sand.
“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock” (Matthew 7:24-25).
On the other hand, the foolish man built his house on sand, and it couldn’t stand during the storms.
Eventually, egg prices went through the roof! The chickens were giving me more eggs than I really needed, and stores sold eggs for a small fortune. So, we decided to sell eggs. Our prices are very low compared to the store because we are more interested in people having food than for us to get rich.
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12).
We sell eggs and use the money to buy chicken /duck food and bedding. So far, we haven’t made a profit of any kind with our eggs, but people are able to have food, and that’s very important. God blesses us in other ways.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). God is good.
Chickens lay eggs whether or not there’s a rooster around, but a rooster is a good investment for a healthy flock. God created everything male and female for a reason, and gender is not optional. Each has their own very important place in life. The male is the protector and provider, while the female is the one who bears the offspring and nurtures them. Neither is more important than the other, but both are necessary.
So, a friend gave us two roosters. We named them Rocky and Rudy. They are beautiful Rhode Island Red roosters, with sweet dispositions. Then, my older daughter, who lives far from me, decided to visit. Although we talk daily, I hadn’t seen her nor my grandchildren for many years. I was thrilled. My youngest granddaughter likes ducks, so I decided I needed to incubate some eggs so they would hatch while she was here. I felt more certain of getting fertile chicken eggs than duck eggs, so I chose six chicken eggs to hatch. Then I had to choose an incubator. Well, I’m not an expert on incubators, but I couldn’t afford a fancy one. I had to choose one that would keep the proper temperature and humidity, as well as turn the eggs every 90 minutes.
I finally decided on one, and hoped it would work. It has settings for chickens, ducks, quail, and geese. Each has their own temperature and humidity requirements, as well as a different length of time to hatch. Chickens take 21 days. After seven days, it’s a good idea to candle the egg. At this point, there’s a change in the yolk. It’s darker and veins can be seen developing.
After fourteen days, it’s obvious that there’s a chicken in the shell. After 19 days, they have to stop turning so the chick will be in the correct position to hatch. On day 21, a tiny hole appears in the shell, and the egg wiggles. Soon, a little beak begins poking through, and the hole grows. It may take hours, but eventually, a very exhausted chick is free. The yolk has provided food, and the chick doesn’t need to eat for a day or so.
When my granddaughter was here, it happened right on time, and we all watched in amazement and awe of God’s design!
When the chick dries, it’s ready for the brooder, where it keeps warm and has food and water when its ready. The amazing thing to me is that a chicken knows how to hatch chicks, and the chicks know how to escape the shell. God has put this knowledge into them; they didn’t evolve. Evolution cannot account for this.
If chickens evolved from dinosaurs (as some say), how did they learn to sit on the eggs and how to protect their young? Lizards don’t have the same temperature and humidity needs as a chicken or a duck, or a quail; they don’t sit on the eggs, nor do they nurture their young. There would have had to be more than one critter that would have mutated in the same way to become a chicken, or a goose, or a quail, etc. Then those two mutants would have had to mate, and have offspring identical to themselves. No, evolution did not happen.
“And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth” (Genesis 1:21-22).
They didn’t evolve; they were created.
The chickens and my cats get along just fine, as long as the cats do exactly what the chickens say. I have a box on my porch that the cats use to keep warm during the winter and also raise kittens. One day, one of my chickens decided to take over. She would allow the cats to share the box with her, and it was very amusing to look into the box and see a chicken looking up at me with 3 or 4 cats surrounding her. Chickens are very good at going to bed in their house around sundown every night, and I always count to see if they are all there.
I started to be short one chicken at night. Turns out it was the one in with the cats. So, I would carry her to the chicken house and then collect her egg from the box. One of the amazing things that God did when creating birds is put a protective coating around the egg. This allows eggs to not spoil. God is good at protecting people, too.
“That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:12-14).
When a person finally repents and puts faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for salvation, that person is sealed with the Holy Spirit. The seal is necessary in protecting Christians. A chicken will begin laying eggs in a nest, and when she decides that’s enough, she will sit on them, keeping them at the right temperature, humidity, and turning them at the right time. This goes on for 21 days, and the egg doesn’t spoil because it’s sealed. The hen stays on her nest and seldom leaves for any reason. I finally realized that my hen was trying to hatch her eggs! How does she know exactly what to do? God put this knowledge in her.
I began leaving her in the box at night, but I did put a dish of food and water in with her. I also have 9 eggs in the incubator right now, and they should hatch two or three days after the chicken hatches her eggs.
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
Just an amusing side note; I had a mother cat who had 5 kittens and put them in the box with the chicken. The chicken wasn’t bothered by this one little bit. She would keep the kittens warm while the mother cat got food and water. I did find another box for the kittens because I didn’t want the chicken to smother them, and it was crowded in the box with a sitting hen, 5 kittens, and a mother cat, all trying to share the same space. God’s creation is amazing.
Jesus used a mother hen as an example of how He had desired to protect the Jewish people. He also used a rooster as a convicting sign to Peter of his denial of Christ. The account is told in all 4 Gospels.
“And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me” (Luke 22:34).
Peter had great intentions of defending Jesus, but Jesus knew he would fail. Peter did deny knowing Jesus three times…and then the cock crowed. Every time my roosters crow, I ask myself if I’ve denied Christ with thoughts, words, or deeds. Jesus still loved Peter, just as He loves us when we fail. There’s no sin so big that it can’t be forgiven. Remember that when you lose your temper, tell a lie, or commit some worse sin. Jesus will always forgive if you repent. The trick is, when you repent, mean it and ask God to help you be more like Him.
When a chicken lays an egg, she announces it to the world. I call it her “egg song.” I think of the joy in Heaven when a lost sinner turns to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation.
“Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:10).
New birth is something to sing about. Whether chicken or human, God has created an amazing world. When a repentant sinner comes to salvation, Christians should rejoice because it’s a new birth of a lost soul for salvation.
We’re drawing near to the Rapture, and prophecy is being fulfilled quickly. We need to share the Gospel with as many people as we can, then rejoice when they accept Christ. Don’t be blind to the truth of God’s word, and don’t be afraid to defend God’s truth. Believe Scripture from Genesis through Revelation. It’s all written for our edification, and the more you study, the more in awe of God you’ll be.
Evolution is not truth, and simply looking at God’s creation will help you to understand it couldn’t evolve. A dinosaur did not become a chicken; a monkey did not become a human. Evolution didn’t happen.
My answer to the riddle above is that they were created at the same time. A hen has a conveyor belt of eggs waiting to be laid. When she lays one, the others move up a notch in the line. They all contain the genetic information to be a chicken. That first hen was ready to lay a chicken egg, then another chicken egg, etc. Every egg-laying creature is the same.
Evolution is a joke that isn’t funny.
God bless you all,
Nathele Graham
Recommended prophecy sites:
www.raptureready.com
www.prophecyupdate.com
www.raptureforums.com
All original scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.
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“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).
Pray for Israel and for the military. I hope it doesn’t drag on and on. I keep hoping that a stray Iranian rocket will hit that mosque. That would really upset the Muslim world.