Friday, April 10, 2020 -
I read an article in The Sword of the Lord called “The Mysteries of the Hen Egg,” which put awe in my heart of the greatness of God’s creation.
Our family has been raising our own eggs for probably a couple dozen years, and on occasion has even hatched chicks from our own eggs. But I never knew the facts about the chicken egg that I’d read here.
The shell on the small end of the egg is much thicker than on the large end. The baby will emerge from the shell through the large end; therefore, God has arranged and designed the shell so that the baby can easily peck its way through where the shell is thin.
“At the large end of the shell, there is an air chamber. This may be seen when the shell is removed from the hard-boiled egg. When the baby chick is formed in the egg, it is so placed that its head is in the big end and its little beak is in the air chamber.
“No matter how much the mother hen may turn the egg over and over during the three weeks of the hatching period, she never disturbs the position of that baby. This is another miracle of God. Man could not arrange it so and neither can we understand how God does it.
“No matter how many times the egg has been turned or played with by the child, spinning it on a plate, the contents of the egg are not disturbed. The baby will always be formed with its nose in the air chamber of the large end.
“The formation of the yolk should be observed. It is built like a battleship. The lower part of the yolk is rather dense and heavy, while the upper part is light and thin. This causes the yolk to float upright at all times.
“In addition to this, there is a rope of albumen, which is attached to the two sides of the yolk and on the other end is attached in a mysterious way to the inside of the shell. This attachment is a very slippery joint – so slippery, in fact, that no amount of spinning the egg will cause the yolk to turn over.
“These ropes hold it upright. It is because of these ropes that the cook must, with her finger scrape out this part of the ‘white’ of the egg.
“This little beak of the baby chick is so soft that it cannot peck its way through the hard shell. For this reason, God makes a special tool, which is to be used only once. This is in the form of a tiny cone, made of a very hard substance, which exactly fits over the beak of the baby chick.
It is with this hard cone that it breaks through the shell. There is just enough air in the air chamber to last the little thing two days. As the baby chick starts to breathe and the hours go by, there comes the time when the last breath of air is taken.
“The air causes the little one to swell up somewhat and as the chick lunges forward to get another breath of air, which is not there, the impact forces a hole through the shell and the swelling of the body cracks the shell sufficiently so the chick can emerge.
“Within two days after it is born, the hard cone falls from its beak. It is of no further use. Sometimes the farmer must pick it off with his fingers. How kind God is to little chickens!”
When one learns the intricacies and exactness of a simple hen egg and the amazing way it is hatched, how can he deny that God is its creator and designer? We serve a mighty God, and He holds you and me in the palm of His hand! Praise His holy name!