Divine Providence In the Origin of America
Posted: Thursday, February 17, 2011
by John Waddey
firstcenturychristian
Christians know and believe "the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will" (Dan. 4:25). We call this Divine Providence.
Patriotic Americans have always believed their country to be an exceptional nation, blessed of God and offering freedoms, liberties and opportunities yet unknown in many nations. When the Puritans founded their colony in New England, John Winthrop said, "We must consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us." While most of us believe that God had a hand in the discovery and founding of our nation, few can cite the evidence for that belief.
J. Merle D’Aubigne, in his History of the Reformation, wrote, "In history, God should be acknowledged and proclaimed. The history of the world should be set as the annals of the government of the Sovereign of the universe. God is ever present on that vast theater where successive generations of men and nations struggle. ...Shall we not recognize the hand of God in those grand manifestations, those great men, those mighty nations which arise and start as it were from the dust of the earth...do they not all declare aloud a God in history? Who, if not God?"
George Bancroft in his History of America observed, "The principles that govern human affairs extending like a path of light from century fo century, become the highest demonstration for the superintending providence of God. Universal history does but seek to relate the sum of all God’s works of providence."
In the lines that follow we will consider some of the unusual events that played a role in bringing our nation into existence. Me thinks you will conclude with me that God’s over-ruling hand was supervising the whole process.
Our national was first settled by English Protestants. Had Columbus landed on our shores, he would have claimed the nation for Catholic Spain. His original course would have taken him to the shores of our Carolinas. His crew mutinied, intending to throw him into the sea and return to Europe. Before their evil deed was accomplished someone thought he spied land to the southwest. The mutiny was suspended and they headed for the land only to find it was an illusion caused by clouds. A few days later the mutiny resumed, but a flock of birds were seen heading southwest and the helmsman turned to follow them thinking land was near by. Shortly thereafter, they made landfall at San Salvador in the Bahama Islands. They claimed the Caribbean islands for the king of Spain, imposing their Catholic religion on the inhabitants. Our territory was thus left to be colonized primarily by English Protestants.
The French came close to claiming the territory of our nation. In 1592 Pierre DeMonts made three attempts to gain a foothold in the what we know as New England. On his first attempt, a storm drove two of his ships away from the coast. In another attempt his ships were destroyed near Cape Cod and DeMonts perished with them.
After the English had planted their colonies, heavily armed French ships under the command of the Duke D’Anville, carrying a sizeable army, sailed from Nova Scotia. Their mission was to destroy the British Colonies and take New England for France. A powerful gale arose that destroyed the Duke’s fleet and troops. Seeing the disaster, the D’Anville took his own life. Providential events like these remind us of Psalm 107:24-25, "These see the works of Jehovah, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves thereof."
In 1609, the French general, Samuel de Champlain, who was stationed in Quebec, made war upon the Iroquois Indians, slaughtering many of them. By his action, he so angered the Iroquois against the France and her representatives that in succeeding conflicts with the Iroquois sided with the English settlers. This helped the colonists survive against a much stronger foe.
When the Pilgrims set forth for America, God was with them all the way. Their ship, the Mayflower, was formerly used for transporting wine. Over the years wine, leaking the casks had soaked into the wood in the hole of the ship. The alcohol evidently helped to sanitize the inside of the ship and keep disease from overtaking the crowded passengers. Only one person died on the voyage. He was a wicked crew member who was hateful to the Pilgrims.
The Mayflower lost her way. Instead of landing at James town, she made landfall in Massachusetts. The region where they landed had been inhabited by a fierce tribe of Indians who would most likely have slaughtered them. But three years prior to their arrival, the tribe was decimated by a plague. The survivors abandoned their territory, leaving behind a sizeable amount of corn, they had stored for the hard winters. The hungry Pilgrims found that corn and it help them to survive that first winter. This reminds us of Jesus’ words, "Behold the birds of the haven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they?" (Matt 6:26).
It is conceded by all that George Washington was the key player in the success of our Revolution against England. In Washington’s life we see a clear demonstration of God’s protecting providence. During the French and Indian Wars, young Washington participated in a fierce battle near Pittsburgh. In that battle, all the American and British officers perished except Washington. An Indian, armed with a gun, was hiding in ambush. As Washington passed by the Indian shot at him but missed. The incredible thing is he was less then 10 feet from him. Two horses were shot from under Washington. He later found four bullet holes in his clothing. But he was uninjured. Afterwards Washington wrote, "Death was leveling my companions on every side of me; but, by the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected." The psalmists wrote, "Ye that fear Jehovah, trust in Jehovah: He is their help and their shield" (Ps. 115:11). If Washington had been killed or disabled in that earlier battle, who would have been able to lead our fathers in the Revolution?
In 1776, the British Army had trapped Washington’s troops at Brooklyn Heights, New York. With the red-coats on either side and behind them and the British fleet lying offshore, their condition looked hopeless. That night a dense fog settled over the entire area and the entire American army escaped by boats and barges. To add to the remarkable event, a British sympathizer learned of Washington’s plan for escape. She quickly sent her servant to report this to the British. In the darkness he approach a camp of German mercenaries who fought with the British. The servant spoke no German and not one of them understood English. They kept him in ward until daybreak. By then Washington’s men were gone.
Washington’s army was again trapped at Trenton, New Jersey. The area had been soaked by rain and the heavy artillery could not be moved on the muddy roads. The British general assumed the Americans could not possible move, so he decided to wait until daylight to attack them. That night a bitter cold wind blew over the region causing the wet ground to freeze solid. The Yanks were able to move their artillery over the frozen ground and escape.
In the decisive battle at Yorktown, (1781), General Cornwallis found himself trapped by Washington’s men. He planned to evacuate his men in the night by boats. When the bulk of his troops were in the water, a howling storm swept over them, swamping them. The proud red-coat had no choice but to surrender.
That the Colonial armies, hungry, ill-clothed and poorly armed, were able to defeat the well-equipped forces of the most powerful nation in world is a vivid display of God’s powerful intervention on their behalf.
Years later, Washington wrote to Samuel Langdon, "...The man must be bad indeed who can look upon the events of the American Revolution without feeling the warmest gratitude towards the great Author of the universe whose divine interposition was so frequently manifested in our behalf. And it is my earnest prayer that we may so conduct ourselves as to merit a continuance of those blessings with which we have hitherto been favored."
In the final paragraph of our Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson expressed the faith of the fifty-six men who signed it, "...with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
When the representatives to the Constitutional Convention found themselves locked in discord, aged Benjamin Franklin said, "I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth–that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?"
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* The events cited here were found in, What if America Were a Christian Nation Again? by D. James Kennedy. The quotes from The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States by Benjamin F. Morris and Our Sacred Honor by William J. Bennett.
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