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CHAPTER FIVE THE PILGRIMS FIND A NEW HOME “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well,” Matthew 6:33. On November 9, 1620, the Pilgrims had their first look at the new land. Before leaving the ship the leaders drew up an agreement that they all signed. The agreement was called the “Mayflower Compact”. This compact included the same principles that years later would form the cornerstone of the American Republic. It marked the first time, in recorded history, that free men voluntarily agreed to create their own new civil government. The Pilgrims began their long journey by kneeling on the dock at Delfthaven and asking God’s blessing; they ended it on the sands of Cape Cod, kneeling to thank Him for that blessing.23 (23Peter Marshall/David Manuel, The Light and the Glory, Fleming H. Revell, Division of Baker Book House Co., Grand Rapids, MI., 1977, pp. 120,121.) The Pilgrims intended to settle just north of the Virginia Colony but were providentially blown off course. Since they were not able to sail further south, they made landfall at Cape Cod. If they had arrived a few years earlier, the Patuxet Indians would have surely killed them all, for they hated the white man and had murdered all those who had previously come ashore. A mysterious plague, however, had come in 1617 and killed the complete Patuxet tribe, with the exception of one brave named Squanto. This plague frightened the neighboring Indians away from their land because they feared that a great spirit might destroy them also.24 (24Mark A. Beliles & Stephen K. McDowell, America’s Providential History, The Providence Foundation, Charlottesville, VA., Copyright 1989, p.69.) Sixteen Pilgrim men went ashore to find firewood and to explore. As the afternoon light began to fail, the ship’s boat returned. All the passengers crowded onto the main deck to hear the news. The men reported that they had found a large iron pot buried with 36 ears of corn in it. Thus, the Pilgrim’s had their first taste of Indian corn.25 (25Peter Marshall/David Manuel, The Light and the Glory, Fleming H. Revell, Division of Baker Book House Co., Grand Rapids, MI., 1977, p. 122.)The Pilgrims were deeply grateful and determined that when they found those who had buried the corn, they would pay for it. On December 6, 1620, ten men set out to explore the land and find a place where the people could build a town. Their pilot, Robert Coppin, who had been there once before, told them of a good harbor at the mouth of a creek. They should have reached this harbor at about 2 P.M. But at about one o’clock, God providentially sent such heavy snow that their vision was blurred and they sailed right past the harbor. They eventually found a small island that was free of Indians and decided to spend the night. Although they were very anxious to locate the place where they could build their new village, the next day was the “Sabbath” so it was used as a day of resting and worship of God.26 (26Peter Marshall/David Manuel, The Light and the Glory, Fleming H. Revell, Division of Baker Book House Co., Grand Rapids, MI., 1977, pp. 123,124.) When the Pilgrim men awoke Monday morning, they were soon to have a day of discoveries. They learned that there was a natural harbor between the island and the mainland. The channel was deep enough to accommodate ships twice the size of the Mayflower. The mainland gently sloped upward from the waters edge and the soil was rich. There were 20 acres of cleared ground and four spring-fed streams close by. These wonderful discoveries showed this to be an excellent place to build a village. The cleared land had signs that it had been planted at one time but that no planting had been done for several years. John Smith had previously named this area New Plymouth on his map, but the Pilgrims named it Plymouth, not because of John Smith but because that was the name of the last town they had left in the old country.27 (27Peter Marshall/David Manuel, The Light and the Glory, Fleming H. Revell, Division of Baker Book House Co., Grand Rapids, MI., 1977, p. 125.) One Friday in mid-March the Pilgrims experienced one of the clearest examples of God’s providence. Miles Standish was training the men on how to perform military maneuvers when someone shouted, “Indian coming!” Standish went to the window and looked out. There, coming up the main street and heading straight for the common house was an Indian who was wearing only a leather loincloth. The Indian stopped at the door and stood like a statue. Suddenly, in a booming voice he said, “Welcome!” The Pilgrims were so startled they could hardly speak. They finally squeaked out a weak “Welcome.” The Indian spoke again in perfect English, “Got any beer?” The Pilgrims replied that their beer was gone and then offered him brandy. (Note: Because of the unsafe condition of the water supply in much of England and aboard ship, the common drinks were beer and brandy.) The Pilgrims then learned that the Indian was a chief of the Algonquians, and his name was Samoset. He told them that he had learned English from the fishing captains who had come to these shores over the years. Samoset then told the Pilgrims that the Indians in the area had always been the Patuxets. Samoset talked to the Pilgrims for a long time and then spent the night with them. Although the Pilgrims would liked to have questioned him further, Samoset left the next morning but returned the following Thursday with another Indian. The second Indian was named Squanto and he also spoke English. Squanto had been captured with four other Indians in 1605 by Captain George Weymouth and taken to England. In England, Squanto was taught the English language and then questioned about the coast of America, the fertility of the land and the type of people who lived along the coast. Squanto lived in England for nine years. Captain John Smith took Squanto back to his people in 1614 and dropped him off at a place that Smith called New Plymouth. Sailing with Smith on another ship was Captain Thomas Hunt. Shortly after dropping off Squanto, Smith and Hunt parted ways. Hunt sailed back to the place where Squanto had been put ashore and then tricked him and 20 Nausets Indians to come aboard. Hunt then took these Indians to Malaga, a notorious slave-trading port on the coast of Spain. Squanto was purchased by a monk who introduced him to the Christian faith. He soon became a friend of a wealthy Englishman who was heading for London. Squanto traveled with the Englishman to England and lived in London until he set sail back to America with Captain Dermer in 1619. This was the same trip in which Dermer had picked up Samoset in Maine and had dropped him off at Plymouth.28 (28Peter Marshall/David Manuel, The Light and the Glory, Fleming H. Revell, Division of Baker Book House Co., Grand Rapids, MI., 1977, pp. 130,131.) Squanto arrived home just six months before the Pilgrims landed. While he was away, a mysterious disease had killed every person in his village. All that he found were skeletons and ruins of the homes where his people had lived. Squanto told the Pilgrims that he had now returned to his village to aid the helpless white man. He showed them how to find corn. The Indians laid small heaps of corn on the ground and then covered them with small mounds of dirt. The Pilgrims were soon searching for this plentiful supply of food. Sometimes, they were shocked and disappointed when they dug into the promising little mounds because the Indian burial mounds looked almost exactly the same as the small hills that covered the corn. Squanto showed them how to catch eels and how to plant corn with fish underneath. The Pilgrims were not fishermen. In four months, they had caught exactly one cod, and they couldn’t see how they could ever catch enough fish to put several of them under every hill of corn. Squanto cheerfully encouraged them by saying, “In four days, the creeks will be overflowing with fish.” Can you imagine the Pilgrim’s curiosity at such an unlikely prediction? Squanto then taught them how to build stake fences in the water to catch these promised fish. Obediently, the men did as Squanto told them. As predicted, in four days the creeks for miles around were clogged with fish making their spring run.29 (29Peter Marshall/David Manuel, The Light and the Glory, Fleming H. Revell, Division of Baker Book House Co., Grand Rapids, MI., 1977, pp. 130-133.) The extraordinary chain of “coincidences” in the life of Squanto is, in its own way, no less extraordinary than the saga of Joseph’s life when he was sold into Egyptian slavery. There was no doubt in the minds of any of the Pilgrims that Squanto was prepared for them and sent to them by God. Certainly, this story clearly illustrates the providential care of God. Governor Bradford declared a public day of thanksgiving to be held in October.30 (30Peter Marshall/David Manuel, The Light and the Glory, Fleming H. Revell, Division of Baker Book House Co., Grand Rapids, MI., 1977, p. 135.) At the thanksgiving, the Indians taught the Pilgrims how to pop corn. In April of 1623, the time came to plant the year’s corn, but the Pilgrims lacked motivation to do the work. They had been working on the “all share in the common pot” theory, but they were beginning to see that some people were not doing their fair share of the work. “Why should I work hard when my lazy neighbor gets as much as I do?” seemed to be the question of the day. William Bradford had the courage and wisdom to shift from ‘labor in common’ to the responsibility of individual enterprise.31 (31Mark A. Beliles & Stephen K. McDowell, America’s Providential History, The Providence Foundation, Charlottesville, VA., Copyright 1989, p. 94.) Individual lots were given out with the understanding that the corn grown on these lots32 would be for the planters’ own private use. Suddenly, new life was infused in the Pilgrims.(32Peter Marshall/David Manuel, The Light and the Glory, Fleming H. Revell, Division of Baker Book House Co., Grand Rapids, MI., 1977, p. 141.) In the summer of 1623, a 12-week drought threatened the entire corn crop so the Pilgrims sat a day apart for prayer and fasting. On the morning of the prayer meeting, the sky was clear and all indications were that the drought was likely to continue. The Pilgrims prayed for eight or nine hours that day. Before they finally departed, they noticed that the sky had become overcast and soon clouds gathered on all sides. The next morning, rain began to fall very softly and it continued raining softly for 14 days. The Indians also received rain, but their rain was mixed with a stormy wind which knocked down much of their corn crop. The yield that year was so abundant that the Pilgrims had a surplus. All the neighboring Indians admired the goodness of the God that had brought such a great change in such a short time.33 (33Peter Marshall/David Manuel, The Light and the Glory, Fleming H. Revell, Division of Baker Book House Co., Grand Rapids, MI., 1977, p. 142,143.)
Study Guide Chapter Five 1. What does God promise us in Matthew 6:33 if we put the kingdom first in our lives? 2. What was the name of the agreement that the Pilgrims drew up before they left the Mayflower? 3. What is significant about that agreement? 4. How did the Pilgrims begin their journey to the New World? 5. What was the first thing the Pilgrims did as they set foot in the New World? 6. Why didn’t the Pilgrims settle near the Jamestown colony as they had planned? 7. What might have happened to the Pilgrims if they had come four years earlier? 8. Do you see the providential hand of God in keeping the Pilgrims in Holland for a few years? 9. How did God providentially prepare farmland for the Pilgrims? 10. Why didn’t the Indians claim the cleared farmland? 11. What did the Pilgrim men find in a large pot? 12. How did God providentially keep the Pilgrims from settling in the place Robert Coppin had chosen for them? 13. What showed the Pilgrim’s devotion to God on December 7, 1620? 14. Did the Pilgrim men put the kingdom of God before their own desires? 15. How did God reward their devotion? 16. What did the Pilgrim men find on December 8, 1620? 17. How did Samoset learn the English language? 18. Name five ways God providentially prepared Squanto to be the Pilgrim’s caregiver? 19. What person in the Old Testament seems to parallel the story of Squanto? 20. What did William Bradford do to motivate the Pilgrims to plant more corn? 21. What lesson can we learn from the Pilgrims and William Bradford which shows the futility of communism? 22. What event caused the Indians to admire the goodness of God? 23. Since it worked for the Pilgrims, do you think keeping Matthew 6:33 would work for you? 24. In what ways have you placed the kingdom before your desires and seen God’s hand at work? 25. List five of the most outstanding ways God providentially intervened in the lives of the Pilgrims.
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