America...Born by Providence
This weekend we celebrate America‘s birthday. I hope you join me in boldly and unashamedly celebrating America’s birth this weekend. There are many today trying to weaken America and undermine God’s intentions when founding her. History is being rewritten, lies perpetuated. Some are sincere in their deception; others are simply liars. Even some spiritual leaders attempt to discredit the fact that God founded America for His purposes of propagating the gospel to the ends of the earth and fighting for justice around the world. They call this belief in God’s role and intent “American Nationalism.”
I asked my friend and retired Army Major William Ostan, who also introduced me to the Appeal to Heaven flag, to write on America’s birth this 4th of July weekend. He does a brilliant job of pointing out God’s role in our founding.
“It used to be unquestioned that our nation’s founding, while imperfect due to the original sin of slavery, was exceptional in the history of the world and worthy of adulation. However, some so-called scholars have recently tried to literally rewrite the date and reframe the context of America’s inception.[1] They have virulently espoused the false ideology that our nation is completely evil and should be scorned. This has caused segments of the citizenry to ponder, ‘Is America’s birthday even worth celebrating?’
“The answer is a resounding yes, for innumerable reasons, but I will focus on the most important one - that the United States of America is the only country, ever, (including ancient and modern-day Israel), to be founded on an idea, not an ethnicity. This idea is best summarized in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence where our Founders boldly proclaimed, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.’[2]
“This single sentence is what makes America exceptional. It is what makes her beautiful. It is what makes her praiseworthy. But how did the idea become a reality? How did the rag-tag Continental Army led by General George Washington that was made up of colonial farmers and part-time patriot ‘minutemen’ defeat the British Empire which boasted the world’s mightiest military? Put simply, but powerfully - America was born by Providence.
“What is ‘Providence’? Theologian R.C. Sproul teaches us:
“The word providence is made up of a prefix and a root. The root comes from the Latin videre, from which we get the English word video. Julius Caesar famously said, “Veni, vidi, vici“—”I came, I saw, I conquered.” The vidi in that statement, “I saw,” comes from videre, which means “to see.” That is why we call television “video.” The Latin word provideo, from which we get our word providence, means “to see beforehand, a prior seeing, a foresight.” However, theologians make a distinction between the foreknowledge of God and the providence of God. Even though the word providence means the same thing etymologically as the word foreknowledge, the concept covers significantly more ground than the idea of foreknowledge. In fact, the closest thing to this Latin word in our language is the word provision.”[3]
“Our founding fathers and mothers were very learned, highly literate leaders who understood what providence meant and accurately used it to describe the active interventions that the God of the Bible made on behalf of our emerging nation. They knew then, as we do now with 20-20 historical hindsight, that the God of Providence was providing a way for the United States of America to be born. The Lord was literally our provision.
“A revisionist history agitator might contend that this is mere hyperbole or a misapplication of ‘Providence,’ a seemingly forgotten word. Their line of argument is disproven by two rebuttals.
First, it is disproven by the many descriptive phrases from the Declaration of Independence – to include ‘Creator,’ ‘Supreme Judge of the World,’ ‘Nature’s God,’ and ‘Divine Providence’[4] – which prove that clear cognition of and credit to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was firmly embedded in the 18th century’s social consciousness. Our entire founding generation, including even skeptical men like Ben Franklin, all understood that without God, there would be no United States of America.
“Second, it is disproven by the countless writings of both the founders and historians.
“In his private journals, George Washington gave credit to the ‘finger of Providence’ when it came to both the formation and successful ratification of the Constitution in 1787.[5]
“John Adams said,
‘I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth.’[6]
“Emma Willard, the historian and leading educator of women, stated,
‘In observing the United States, there is much to convince us, that an Almighty, Overruling Providence, designed from the first to place here a great, united people.’[7]
“John Dickinson, one of the 39 signers of the Constitution, left nothing to doubt by writing, ‘Our cause…is nothing less, than to maintain the Liberty with which heav’n itself hath made us free.’[8] Thomas Jefferson’s pastor, the Reverend Charles Clay, summarized all of the above by stating, ‘the sacred cause of liberty [is] the cause of God.’[9]
“There are hundreds of thousands of quotes like the ones above in our National Archives and Libraries. The evidence is irrefutable that Divine Providence was present in the rise of our democratic republic that has now lasted for almost 250 years. This truth begs the question – ‘If our nation was birthed by God, then what does He require of us to keep His beloved country alive?’
“Because you are reading or listening to Give Him 15, then you are already doing the most important thing – praying! But we must also vote for politicians who will legislate from a Biblical worldview (anyone can say they are a Christian – check their voting record and/or stances on issues), find ways to be ‘salt and light’ in our local communities, and be completely resolved to have our families stand strong for Christ’s truth in every sphere of culture from our house to the White House.
“Let’s recommit today to play our part in fulfilling God’s providential plans for America by repeating what the 56 signatories to the Declaration of Independence bravely proclaimed on the 4th of July 1776 - ‘with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.’”[10] Amen!!
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen as His heritage.” Psalm 33:12 (ESV)
Pray with me:
Heavenly Father - Thank You for providentially writing the story of the United States of America. We look back at the birth of this nation, we acknowledge Your provision and protection, and we honor the men and women You used to create a biblical foundation of freedom and democracy. We acknowledge You still have a providential plan for this nation, and we want to partner with You to see it through to completion. We believe that this nation, born by providence, has a great destiny yet to fulfill.
Father, we ask for Your hand of favor to continue to guide us, protect us, and bring us back to a place of unity – one nation, under God, indivisible.
We join our prayers with those of the founding generation and ask that You would bring a new birth of Freedom to the United States of America.
In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.
Our Decree:
I decree that the United States of America will fulfill the destiny pre-ordained for her by the God of Providence. This nation shall be turned back to God!
BIO:
William J. Ostan is a retired Army Major and the recipient of two bronze stars. He is the founder and CEO of Arc of Justice, a nonprofit organization that advocates for wounded warriors. He is the co-author of the Wounded Warrior Bill of Rights, which is bipartisan legislation being considered in Congress. You can find out more about his efforts at arcofjusticeusa.org.
Click below to watch the prayer.
[1] The debunked 1619 project.
[2] The Declaration of Independence, Action of Second Continental Congress, July 4th, 1776
[3] What is Providence?, R.C. Sproul, May 5, 20201. Accessed at https://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-providence/ on June 27, 2021
[4] Declaration of Independence.
[5] Christianity and the Constitution, Stephen McDowell, foreword to the Constitution of the United States - American Family Association pamphlet.
[6] The Bible: America’s Source of Law and Liberty, Stephen McDowell, Providence Foundation, 2015. Page 12.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid. Page 181.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Declaration of Independence.