History from Scripture

The Book of Jonah is about repentance. All the men in Jonah’s ship repented and made vows to God after Jonah was thrown into the sea and the storm ceased. Jonah repented in the whale’s belly. Nineveh a city of 120,000 people repented in sackcloth and proclaimed a 3 day fast from food or water. They even refused food and water to their animals. The king ordered the fast so that the nation would not perish. God changed his mind and did not destroy Nineveh. Repentance brought revival.

Solomon knew when the people turned from God, God would lift his hand and the enemies of Israel would attack them. He prayed that if the people who sinned turn back to God, that God would hear the people and return back to them.

Daniel fasted and prayed for Israel knowing that they were captive in a land of their enemies because they had sinned against God. While he was confessing his sin and the sin of Israel, the angel Gabriel visited him.

The Lord speaks to the prophet Jeremiah, “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.”

If the people would amend their ways and their doings, and obey the voice of the LORD; then the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against this nation.

Ezekiel pleads with the people to repent and turn back to God, for why would you want to die.

Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.

God sent the prophets to Israel to warn them to repent lest their enemies would overtake their country in war.

Jesus said repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He told the people to sin no more. He said be as your Father in heaven, be perfect. Be without sin.

Paul said, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:  Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

History from America

America: Mayflower Compact

In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith, etc.:

Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith, and the honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another; covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; for our better ordering, and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.

In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, 1620.

This document became the foundation for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

George Washington played a leading role in the American Revolution and the nation’s founding. His solid character and firm convictions were key factors in molding the nature and outlook of America. However, the fact that he lived to lead this young nation appears due to what was called Divine Providence—the intervention of God in mankind’s affairs for a purpose. In 1755, during the French and Indian War, 23-year-old Colonel Washington was one of 1,400 British troops under the command of General Braddock marching to capture Fort Duquesne, near Pittsburgh, when they were attacked by a French and Indian force. During the battle, “Braddock was killed and every officer on horseback was shot, except Washington.” The young colonel later wrote to his brother, “But by the All-Powerful Dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me.” A Native American who fought in the battle later stated, “Washington was never born to be killed by a bullet! I had seventeen fair fires at him with my rifle and after all could not bring him to the ground” (Miracles in American History, Federer, pp. 17–19).

Years later, during the early spring of 1776, with the British in control of Boston, Washington ordered cannons brought through the snow from Fort Ticonderoga (some 300 miles away) to fortify Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston harbor. Seeing the danger, British General Howe ordered an amphibious assault on the American position. However, the night before the assault was to begin, “a hurrycane or terrible storm… a southeaster of gale proportions” hit the Boston area and disrupted Howe’s plans, so he called off his attack on the American position due to “the badness of the weather.” As a result of the sudden storm and the strength of the American position commanding movement in and out of Boston harbor, General Howe ordered the British troops to evacuate Boston (see The Weather Factor, Ludlum, pp. 33–34). Wise Washington again wrote to his brother, “this remarkable Interposition of Providence is for some wise purpose, I have not a doubt.

In the summer of 1776, General Howe had a British force of more than 400 ships and 32,000 troops stationed around Staten Island in New York Harbor. George Washington gathered about 8,000 American troops to Brooklyn Heights on the western edge of Long Island. The British were able to land about 15,000 troops behind Washington’s lines and inflict heavy losses on the Americans, who were encircled on Brooklyn heights with their backs to the East River. However, the weather again proved to be a deciding factor. Strong winds, an ebbing tide, and incessant rain kept the British from further attacks on the American position, and from moving their warships into the East River to cut off an escape route. Washington, realizing the danger of his position, ordered a nighttime evacuation of Long Island. That evening, at about 11:00 p.m., the wind died down and a thick fog developed, shrouding the American evacuation—and when the fog lifted later the next morning, the British were surprised to find that the American soldiers were nowhere to be found (Seven Miracles That Saved America, pp. 9–11)! One American soldier wrote, “Providentially for us, a great fog arose, which prevented the enemy from seeing our retreat” (The Weather Factor, pp. 36–37). The outcome of this battle has been described as “so astonishing that many (including General Washington) attributed the safe retreat of the American army to the hand of God” (America’s Providential History, Mark A. Beliles & Stephen K. McDowell, pp. 158–161). If the wind, rain, and the fog—termed the “heavenly messenger”—had not intervened for the Americans, they would have been captured, Washington would have been hanged, and the Revolution would have come to an early end.

In December of 1776, with morale low and the American Army dwindling to about 2,000 at Valley Forge, Washington decided to cross the ice-filled Delaware River and launch a surprise attack on the British in Trenton, New Jersey. The Americans attacked at sunrise on December 26 during a driving snow storm, with the wind at their backs and blowing into the faces of the mercenary Hessian troops, who had been celebrating Christmas the day before. In less than an hour, the Americans captured nearly a thousand Hessians and lost only a few men. Artillery officer, Henry Knox wrote of the victory at Trenton: “Providence seemed to have smiled on every part of this enterprise” (America’s Providential History, pp. 161–162).

Following the surprising American victory at Trenton, General Cornwallis was sent to engage Washington and his troops, who had re-crossed the Delaware River and were deployed around Trenton. Traveling over muddy roads due to rain and a January thaw, Cornwallis eventually pinned Washington and his troops with their backs against a little creek. Believing he had Washington trapped, Cornwallis decided to wait till the next day to “bag the fox.” However, during the night there was another “providential change in the weather.” The temperature dropped, freezing the ground and allowing for easier movement of men and materials. Washington’s troops left their fires burning and evacuated their camp. They were able to move over the frozen roads to attack and defeat British troops in Princeton, behind Cornwallis, endangering his supply lines (The Weather Factor, pp. 41–44). This surprising turn of events in favor of the Americans happened because of a “providential” change in the weather. The escape from a trap and victory at the Battle of Princeton were seen as evidence of God’s hand in these events.

Another crucial turning point occurred in the summer of 1777. British General John Burgoyne was marching down the Hudson River Valley from Canada with a force of 7,000 men to join General Howe, who was supposed to be marching north to Albany, New York. However, Burgoyne was stopped at Saratoga by a force of more than 15,000 Americans, who were angered by the brutality inflicted by Burgoyne’s Native American allies. Failing to defeat the Americans, Burgoyne and his troops began a retreat, only to be caught in a rainstorm that turned the roads into a slimy bog. When the Americans crossed the Hudson River ahead of him and blocked his escape, Burgoyne and 6,000 of his troops surrendered. General Howe never made the trip up the Hudson, as his reinforcements and supplies coming from England were prevented from reaching America for three months due to contrary winds. The defeat of one of Britain’s best generals in North America by colonials was a shock to London, but it was viewed as a “miracle” in Paris—as it was a turning point in the Revolutionary War that brought France into the conflict on the side of the Americans (50 Battles that Changed the World, William Weir, pp. 55–59). General Washington wrote of this event, “I most devoutly congratulate my country, and every well-wisher to the cause, on this signal stroke of Providence,” and Roger Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence wrote, “This is the Lord’s doing, and marvelous in our eyes” (Miracles in American History, pp. 55–57).

The President of the Continental Congress and famous Declaration signatory, John Hancock said, “Let us humbly commit our righteous cause to the great Lord of the Universe … Let us joyfully leave our concerns in the hands of Him who raises up and puts down the empires and kingdoms of the earth as He pleases.”

In the fall of 1780, the treasonous action of General Benedict Arnold, the hero of the Battle of Saratoga, was discovered by a surprising turn of events. Arnold was plotting to turn the American garrison at West Point—a key position for the control of the Hudson River—over to the British in return for a payment of 20,000 pounds (about a million dollars in today’s money). Several American sentries happened to stop Major John Andre, dressed as a civilian, as he attempted to return to British lines. In a hollow space in his boot they found a map of West Point and details of an impending attack. The unexpected apprehension of Major Andre and the discovery of Benedict Arnold’s treachery was widely viewed as an act of “Divine Protection” (America’s Providential History, pp. 163–165). Yale President Ezra Stiles wrote in 1873, “A providential miracle detected the conspiracy of Arnold… [T]he body of the American army, then at West Point, with his excellency General Washington himself, were to have been rendered into the hands of the enemy” (Miracles of American History, pp. 63–66).

The Continental Congress attributed the discovery of Benedict Arnold’s treason to “Almighty God, the Father of all mercies.” They “recommended to the several states to set apart Thursday, the seventh day of December next, to be observed as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer” where the people should praise and thank God, ask Him to pardon their sins and to smile upon their endeavors, petition Him for peace and blessings, and “to cause the knowledge of Christianity to spread over all the earth.”

After the pivotal Battle of Yorktown, Yale President Ezra Stiles wrote, “Who but God could have ordained the critical arrival of the Gallic (French) fleet, so as to… assist… in the siege of Yorktown?” Several years later, George Washington wrote, “it will not be believed that such a force as Great Britain has employed for eight years in this country could be baffled in their plan of subjugating it… The singular interpositions of Providence in our feeble condition were such, as could scarcely escape the attention of the most unobserving, while the perseverance of the Armies of the United States, through almost every possible suffering and discouragement for the space of eight long years was little short of a standing miracle” (Miracles in American History, pp. 71–72)

The general feeling during and after the Revolutionary War was that God had blessed the American effort for independence, and the Hand of God had intervened again and again to guide events at this critical time—but few remember this today. In 1787, when 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin urged the Continental Congress to begin their daily deliberations with prayer, he commented, “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”—as the Bible states in several places (America’s Providential History, p. 172). Many modern Americans and citizens of the world have forgotten this important lesson of history that is plainly revealed in the Scriptures.

But it was the success of a D-Day weather forecast (June 6, 1944) that may have played a critical role in winning the war. You might say it was the most important weather forecast in world history.

D-Day was originally set for June 5. The Allied forces’ invasion of France across the English Channel would give them the foothold needed to defeat the Germans by the following May.

However, forecasted storms on the 5th forced allied leader Gen. Dwight Eisenhower to reconsider the timing of the invasion. Without a break in the weather, D-Day would have to be put off two weeks until tides and moon were right again.

Critical decisions about when to send the Allied forces across the channel were based on weather forecasts compiled by Allied meteorologists, which predicted a break in the unfavorable weather on June 6. It was Eisenhower’s chief meteorologist, Group Capt. James Martin Stagg, who had advised the postponement of the the invasion of Normandy by one day over protests from his fellow meteorologists; they felt the weather would be good enough for the mission to take place.

Eisenhower launched the invasion for June 6 with a simple: “OK, we’ll go.” The Allies made the right call. It turns out that June 5 did indeed bring high winds, heavy seas, and stormy conditions which would likely have caused the invasion to fail and set world history on a different course. And if they had waited the two weeks later (for the right tides and Moon), they would have been faced with an unforecasted heavy gale. It’s very possible that the Allies’ victory would have been delayed by a year or the Soviet Union would have taken control of the continent.

In addition, the Allies had broken Germany’s secret Enigma code, which enabled them to gather and use weather observations from German territories in making their forecasts, as well as to see that the Germans had forecast weather conditions to remain unsuitable for an Allied assault on June 6.

This gave the Allies’ meteorologists extra information to advise that conditions would be marginal but sufficient to launch the invasion.

Years later, when President Eisenhower was asked why the Normandy invasion had been so successful, his answer was:  “Because we had better meteorologists than the Germans!”

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WORLDWIDE CASUALTIES*