Are you a chicken...or an eagle?

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. Isaiah 40:31 KJV  

The story is told of an early American pioneer who found an eagle’s egg and put it into the nest of a prairie chicken. The eaglet hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them.

All its life, the eagle, thinking it was a prairie chicken, did what the prairie chickens did. It scratched in the dirt for seeds and insects to eat. It clucked and cackled. And it flew in a brief thrashing of wings and flurry of feathers no more than a few feet off the ground. After all, that’s how prairie chickens were supposed to fly.

Years passed... the eagle grew very old. One day, it saw a magnificent bird far above in the cloudless sky. Hanging with graceful majesty on the powerful wind currents, it soared with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.

“What a beautiful bird!” said the eagle to its neighbor. “What is it?”

“That's an eagle - the chief of the birds,” the neighbor clucked. “But don't give it a second thought. You could never be like him.” So the eagle never gave it a second thought and it died believing it was a prairie chicken.

Hens are referred to but once in the Bible, when Jesus mentions them symbolically as a “type” of people in Jerusalem who could not/would not hear His message nor heed His call. This mass of people lived lives that kept them earthbound, with eyes locked on things of this world, scratching out an existence, unaware of the One who is above us all.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her own brood under her wings, and ye would not! Luke 13:34 ASV

Female prairie chicken

Chickens are afraid of life, seldom bothering to fly or reaching any potential they might have. They are lazy birds, content with the mediocre, satisfied with grubs and grains. The eagle, however is a different character altogether… it is an A+ waiting to happen. The eagle, for its size is the most powerful bird alive, a 2kg eagle can kill an animal weighing 6x its weight.  

Eagles are born to be monarchs of the sky, fearless of storm, beast or man. It is a bird of war, yet they mate for life and are devoted to their chicks, going to great lengths to provide for and protect them. Our Lord likens Himself to an eagle… “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall rest under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of Jehovah, my refuge and my fortress; my God; in Him I will trust. Surely He will deliver you from the fowler’s trap and from the destroying plague. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall trust. His truth shall be your shield, and buckler.” Psalm 91:1-4

Haast's Eagle, full size model.

The eagle has been used as a symbol of nationalism since humanity first "clubbed" together in nations: its attributes have always been recognized, and envied. The tribe of Dan, one of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel had an eagle as its standard. I don't know of one nation today that has a chicken as a national bird; at least 13 modern nations incorporate eagles or another member of the raptor family as part their national "symbol". The biggest eagle in the world, Haast's Eagle, once ruled supreme in the skies of New Zealand's South Island. It went extinct about 1400 A.D

Why an eagle? The eagle has swiftness of flight. The eagle can fly higher than most birds, and can, in level flight, fly up to 60 kph and dive in excess of 240 kph . The eagle is a symbol of strength, and builds her nest in inaccessible places, often on or near the tops of mountains. The eagle has powerful vision, their eyes are about the same size as ours, but their vision is 8 to 10x more powerful than ours. The eagle is a fierce fighter, and a powerful defender of her offspring. Eagles are monogamous and usually mate for life. What the lion is to the animal kingdom, the eagle is to the avian world.

God uses the analogy of an eagle to challenge us as believers; no one will ever train a chicken to catch fish, yet He made eagles experts at catching fish, and He has made us fishers of men and women… if we will but “mount up with wings as eagles”.