Columbus II

The lyrics to the old gospel song go, “Blessed quietness, holy quietness, what a feeling in my soul.  He speaks peace to me, o’er the stormy sea, and the billows cease to roll.”  We are living in tumultuous times.  We are living in what appears to be the very end of times.  If we ever ran the race, it’s time to run it now.  Follow the link to read the Twenty-One Signs of Doomsday series.  Read one each day; it’s information that’s needed now.  In the midst of global chaos, there is a place of quiet rest, and it’s reserved for those who have made a covenant by sacrifice.  Romans 12:1-2:

1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

This place of quiet rest is reserved for those who mix the Word of God with faith.  Hebrews 3:19 & 4:1-2:

3:19  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

4:1  Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

This place of quiet rest can only be accessed by the born-again.  Have you been born again—born a second time?  Would you like to find this quiet rest?  Would you like to have all your sins forgiven and your shame expunged?  Would you like to have the assurance of eternal life?  Would you like to experience the love of God that only expands with time?  You can have all these things today.  Click onto “Further With Jesus” for instructions to find immediate entry into the Kingdom of God.  NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

This feature is part two of three of a deeper profile of the man Christopher Columbus.  GodSaidManSaid briefly addressed the record of Columbus in the GodSaidManSaid series that chronicles the history of the Americas and the United States in particular.  For more information, review the features listed below:

In Jesus’ Name

Is America A Christian Nation? – Part One

Is America A Christian Nation? – Part Three

Is America A Christian Nation? – Part Two

Round Earth and Christopher Columbus

Split Down the Middle and Choosing Sides

GOD SAID, I Samuel 3:1-10:

1  And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.

2  And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;

3  And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;

4  That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.

5  And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.

6  And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.

7  Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.

8  And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.

9  Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10  And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

GOD SAID, I Kings 19:7-14:

7  And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.

8  And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.

9  And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

10  And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

11  And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:

12  And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

13  And it was so, when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

14  And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

GOD SAID, Deuteronomy 28:9-10:

9  The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.

10  And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.

MAN SAID: The idea that God speaks to man and interacts in his affairs and the affairs of the world, is ludicrous—absurd!  There is no God.  He only exists in the small minds of the uneducated and the easily-led.

Now THE RECORD.  Is the United States of America a Christian nation?  Does God intervene in the affairs of men?  Will God hear and answer prayer?  Can man—you and I in particular—hear the voice of God and literally converse with Him?  Did God cut the U.S. out of the rock and anoint it from on high?  Has this country been directly blessed by the God of Creation?  Has God used America to save the nation of Israel multiple times?  (See Jesus Saves the Jews Again and Again and Again) Has God used America and its people to spread the Gospel, like no other nation before, to send out more missionaries, feed more hungry, house more homeless, clothe more poor, sustain more orphans, care for more sick, build more hospitals, educate the masses, and defend more nations than any other nation or group of nations?  The answer to the question is yes, and the history bears record.

Lately the U.S. has begun to fall on hard times and the worst is still to come.  May God have mercy on us.  May the people of the nation cry out unto God as directed in the promise of restoration.  II Chronicles 7:14:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

After much tribulation, Christopher Columbus and his crews landed in the Americas.  The first official words spoken were recorded in last week’s feature:

O Lord, Almighty and everlasting God, by Thy holy Word Thou hast created the heaven, and the earth, and the sea; blessed and glorified be Thy Name, and praised be Thy Majesty, which hath deigned to use us, Thy humble servants, that Thy holy Name may be proclaimed on this second part of the earth.  [End of quote]

Let’s pick up with Columbus and his men at their first landing in America.  This information is from Marshall and Manuel’s book, The Light and the Glory:

The men were impressed with the beautiful scenery of the island and even how blue the water was.  The natives of the island immediately spotted Columbus and his crew coming out of the giant canoes which were pulled by white clouds.

The inhabitants of the land (whom Columbus referred to as Indians, believing he reached the Indies) soon showed themselves to the strange looking white gods.  Columbus gave the natives some red caps and glass beads which they hung around their necks, for as Columbus puts it: “So that they might be well-disposed towards us, for I knew that they were a people to be delivered and converted to our holy faith rather by love than by force...At this they were greatly pleased and became so entirely our friends that it was a wonder to see...I believe that they would easily be made Christians, for it seemed to me that they had no religion of their own.  Our Lord willing, when I depart, I shall bring back six of them to your Highnesses, that they may learn to talk our language.”

Columbus noticed that some of the natives had gold jewelry, and after some communication with the natives, he found out there was a great king to the south who possessed much of it.  At that, Columbus set sail looking for gold and visiting the different islands and erecting large wooden crosses wherever they went, commanding his men not to mistreat any of the natives, for fear of the bad reputation it would leave them throughout the islands.  The Pinta separated from the rest of the fleet and sailed off; Columbus believed that gold fever had overcome her captain, Martin Pinzon, and he went on his own in search of gold.

It was not long after that that Columbus’s flagship, the Santa Maria, crashed into the shore while Columbus slept and a small boy was at the helm.  The ship was sunk and the natives of that island helped them in getting their stuff to shore.  They were so kind that Columbus decided to leave a settlement there and 39 of his men volunteered to stay behind and see if they can’t find where the gold was coming from.  After that, Columbus set sail in the Nina and within a few days they caught up to the Pinta again.  Columbus was angry with her captain, Martin Pinzon, and he was full of excuses as to why he split off from the rest of the fleet.  Columbus was not very convinced of his reasons but was ready to forget that for sake of the voyage.  So on they sailed back home with the two remaining ships and fair weather most of the way.

But again, as the smoothness of the trip over was short-lived, so was the smoothness on the venture back.  For unbeknownst to the Admiral and his crew, there waited in the waters ahead, the worst storm that any of the men had ever experienced.  It arrived on the night of February 12, and the waves were so huge that they were slamming the ship from both sides and leaving freezing cold sea water in their paths.  They were forced to let the sea carry them where it would, and they soon lost sight of their sister ship, the Pinta.

Columbus later related in his journal that he knew God had a reason for allowing the storm, but Columbus failed to understand exactly why.

Calling the crew together, he suggested that they should appease God with a sacrificial offering in the form of a solemn vow, jointly undertaken.  If God would deliver them, one of their number would make a pilgrimage to Santa Maria de Guadalupe in Estremadura.  The men quickly agreed.  So Columbus took thirty-nine dried beans (one for each crew member), cut a cross on one of them, and put them into a hat, shaking them together.  The Admiral himself drew the marked bean.  Everyone marveled at this, and took it as a sign that God’s hand was upon him. 

When it became obvious that the storm was not dying down, Columbus proposed another pilgrimage, and a second drawing.  This time the lot fell to another, and there was still no change in the weather.  They agreed upon yet a third pilgrimage, and miraculously Columbus drew the marked bean for the second time and took quiet pride in the fact that God was requiring more of him than of any of the others.

It wasn’t until the next evening that the storm finally died down, and to the crew’s delight, land was sighted and correctly identified by Columbus as one of Portugal’s Azores.

In the morning, Columbus and his crew prepared to disembark.  However, at the last minute something made Columbus decide to send his men in two groups.  It was a providential decision, for the commander of the island had taken prisoner all those who had first gone ashore. 

In a delicate gambit of threat, bluff, and counter-threat, Columbus finally outmaneuvered his adversary and regained his full crew intact.  It was then that he learned that the commander of the island was acting under direct orders from King John in Lisbon.  The king had sent word to Madeira, the Cape Verde Islands, and all other Portuguese possessions, if Columbus put in at any of them on his way back to Spain from a successful voyage, he and all this men were to be detained incommunicado, while Portugal readied its own expedition.  Columbus took delight in imagining the consternation of John II, when he would learn that the Admiral of the Ocean Sea had slipped his net!

But scarcely had they cleared the Azores and set their course at last for home than another monstrous winter storm struck them.  This one sprang up so suddenly that it tore off all their sails, and left them totally at the mercy of the howling gale – and God.  For five straight days they were driven northeast under bare masts, their pumps slowly losing ground.

Once again they prayed, vowing another pilgrimage, and drawing lots.  For the third time Columbus picked the bean with the cross carved on it.  (Coincidence? The odds against it were 60,880 to 1!) 

Their vow apparently had no effect; if anything, the storm increased in its fury.  On the sixth day, they sighted land.  This time, it was the coast of Portugal, and Columbus alone correctly estimated them just above the River of Lisbon.  This river, less than a day’s journey from the court of John II, was the last place in the world Columbus would have chosen to seek refuge from the storm.

All morning long a growing crowd on the shore watched the progress of the little vessel, as it was blown ever closer to its doom.  The storm was peaking in intensity.  In minutes they would be dashed to pieces on the rocky coast.  With huge waves breaking on the shore, there was no way any one them would survive.  One slim chance remained, if they could make it to the river’s mouth.  But that would mean they would have to take the wind almost broadside – dangerous enough under the best of conditions, suicide without sails.  The crew prayed with the knowledge that only God could save them now.

And save them He did, with Columbus shouting out constant corrections to the pilot until they finally reached the mouth of the river.  When Columbus finally reached a safe port, he had learned that the ships at that port had been stuck there for four months by the worst storms they had ever known.  Twenty-five ships had gone down off the coast of Flanders alone!  Columbus sent numerous trust-worthy messengers to send word to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of the success of their voyage.  It was then that Columbus received an invitation to meet with the king of Portugal (who up to this point had been trying to imprison him).  With his message safely sent, Columbus decided to accept the invitation.  The following discourse between Columbus and his would-be captor is taken from Las Casa’s Historia de las Indias:

While the king was speaking with the Admiral, he commanded that a bowl of beans should be placed on a table beside them, and then indicated by signs that one of the Indians who was there should arrange the beans in such a way as to show the many islands in that kingdom which Columbus claimed to have discovered.  The Indian immediately showed him Espanola, Cuba, the Lucayos Islands, and others.  The king watched this sullenly, and a short while later brushed the beans away, as if by accident.  He then told another Indian to replace the beans, and this one arranged them as quickly, and as readily, as the first Indian had done, and went on to lay out more countries and islands, explaining all the reasons in his own language, which of course, nobody could understand.  And when the king fully realized the extent of the new discoveries, and the wealth they contained, he could not conceal his sorrow at the loss of such invaluable treasures, but beat his breast and cried out in passion: “Oh, man of little understanding!  Why did you let such an enterprise fall from your hands?”

Having taken his leave from there, Columbus set a course for Spain to personally give word to the king and queen of his exploits.  Upon reaching Palos, Columbus learned that their sister ship, the Pinta, had not been lost at sea after all and was on its way to Spain.  After fulfilling his vow, Columbus received a message from the king and queen naming him as Admiral of the Ocean Seas and Governor of the island he had discovered.

A grateful Ferdinand and Isabella had Barcelona decorated as if for a festival.  What a splendid entrance Columbus must have made!  We can see him riding at the head of a small column, tall and erect in the saddle, one hand holding the reins, the other resting proudly on his hip...His dream was coming to pass, and more richly than he had ever dared hope!  How he must have loved every element of it, down to the chinking of the spurs and silver-adorned saddles – which soon could no longer be heard above the cheering of the people lining the streets.  All the way to the Alcazar, the crowds grew larger.  From upper balconies draped with colorful capes, dark-eyed senoritas showered the procession with rose petals.  As he reached the entrance of the palace, a tremendous roar of acclamation went up, and he could not help raising his hand to acknowledge it. 

It was a moment too vivid ever to be forgotten.  Yet what transpired that evening surpassed it.  As Columbus made his entrance into the grand throne room...Respectfully he approached the throne of his beloved Sovereigns.  As he did so, they did something no one had ever seen them do before: they rose to meet him.  And when he knelt to kiss their hands, they raised him up and ordered a chair brought for him—another unprecedented honor.  At their invitation he began to tell his spellbinding story.

Ferdinand and Isabella were no doubt thrilled to hear of the beauty of the new found land along with the mysterious inhabitants and creatures that dwelt there.  Columbus called for the Indian interpreters and they came out carrying parrots and other exotic creatures, much to their astonishment.  What interested them the most however, was the valuable goods that the land produced, especially the gold. 

As the excitement and whispering died away, a silence fell upon the court.  Then, without warning, the Sovereigns fell on their knees, and all others did the same.  Lifting their faces heavenward, Ferdinand and Isabella thanked God for all His bountiful mercy, and the Te Deum was sung.  At the last line, the Sovereigns were in tears and so was Columbus: “O Lord, in thee have I trusted, let me never be confounded.”

From that time forth, whenever the king went out in his carriage, there was Columbus seated beside him, a honor hitherto accorded only to royalty.  [End of quote]

The following paragraphs are from the GodSaidManSaid feature, “Is America A Christian Nation? – Part One:”

According to Columbus himself, the Americas were discovered in the name of Jesus.

The first colonial grant made to Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584...and the grant authorizing him to enact statutes for the government of the proposed colony provided that they “be not against the true Christian faith...”

King James the VI of Scotland who was also King James the I of England, was the founding monarch of the United States.  During his reign, the first successful colonies in America were established.  The King himself authorized and wrote the charter to settle the Colony of Virginia.  The charter was titled, The Evangelistic Grant Charter.  Part of the charter that was written in 1606 follows:

To make habitation...and to deduce a colony of sundry of our people into that part of America, commonly called Virginia...in propagating of Christian religion to such people as yet live in darkness...to bring a settled and quiet government.

Pilgrim pastor John Robinson wrote the following letter in 1620 to the Mayflower pilgrims:

Thus this holy army of saints is marshaled here on earth by these officers, under the conduct of their glorious Emperor, Christ.  Thus it marches in this most heavenly order and gracious array, against all enemies, both bodily and ghostly: peaceable in itself, as Jerusalem, terrible too the enemy as an army with banners, triumphing over their tyranny with patience, their cruelty with meekness and over death itself with dying.

Thus, through the Blood of that spotless Lamb, and that Word of their testimony, they are more than conquerors, bruising the head of the Serpent; yea, through the power of His Word, they have power to cast down Satan like lightning; to tread upon serpents and scorpions; to cast down strongholds, and everything that exalteth itself against God.

The provisional government of Connecticut, instituted in 1638 and 1639, began with the following declaration:

And well knowing where a people are gathered together, the Word of God requires that to maintain the peace and union...there should be an orderly and decent government established according to God...to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess...of the said Gospel [which] is now practiced among us.

One hundred twenty three of America’s first 126 colleges were founded on Jesus Christ.  Princeton University, founded in 1746, originally called, “The College of New Jersey,” was headed up by Reverend Jonathan Dickinson who said, “Cursed be all that learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ.”

The Americas were discovered in Jesus’ name.  The United States was colonized in Jesus’ name.  Here, governments were established in Jesus’ name, and America’s people were educated in Jesus’ name.  The glorious blessings of God have been bestowed upon this land in Jesus’ name.  [End of quote]

Is America a Christian nation?  Does God speak to the hearts of men?  Of course.

GOD SAID, I Samuel 3:10:

And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

GOD SAID, I Kings 19:11-13:

11  And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:

12  And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

13  And it was so, when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

GOD SAID, Deuteronomy 28:9-10:

9  The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.

10  And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.

MAN SAID: The idea that God speaks to man and interacts in his affairs and the affairs of the world, is ludicrous—absurd! There is no God. He only exists in the small minds of the uneducated and the easily-led.

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

 

References:

Authorized King James Version

Marshall, P., D. Manuel, The Light and the Glory, Revell, 1977

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