Topics: Bible; Deliverance; Devotional Life; Faith; False Beliefs; Mistakes; Protection; Providence; Rescue; Safety; Spiritual Disciplines; Testing God; Trust; War
References: Psalm 91; Matthew 10:16–17; Mark 13:9; Acts 12:1–12; 2 Timothy 4:15
Although the first Pilgrims established a peaceful relationship with the natives in America, the following generation struggled with bloody warfare. The war between Pilgrims and Indians, known as King Philip’s War, began in 1675 and lasted fourteen months.
In March 1676, a group of nearly fifteen hundred Indians attacked the village of Rehoboth. Nathaniel Philbrick writes, “As the inhabitants watched from their garrisons, 40 houses, 30 barns, and 2 mills went up in flames. Only one person was killed—a man who believed that as long as he continued reading the Bible, no harm would come to him. Refusing to abandon his home, he was found shot to death in his chair—the Bible still in his hands.”
—Based on Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower (Viking, 2006)