The history of Thanksgiving

As we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, let us remember the true story.  And let us be truly thankful to GOD for His many blessings! (Compiled by: Nate Krupp)

God’s sovereignty in the birthing of America

The Pilgrims were a godly people who left the Church of England to start something they considered more simple and more biblical. They left Plymouth, England, on August 5, 1620, on the Mayflower ship enroute to an English colony in today’s Virginia in search of religious and political freedom. They were blown off course to today’s Cape Cod Bay on the East Coast of Massachusetts. Before disembarking on November 21 they drew up the Mayflower Compact, which was the first time in history that free and equal men voluntarily in writing covenanted with GOD and each other to create their own civil government.

On shore they discovered twenty acres that was already cleared and ready for planting!  In March an Indian chief, Samoset, appeared and greeted them in English. He explained that the land had been cleared by a warring tribe, the Patuxets, before they had all died from a mysterious plague four years earlier.  He returned a week later with Squanto, who had lived in Spain and England for nine years, where he had learned English, and had just returned from England six months earlier.  He stayed with the Pilgrims and taught them how to fish, hunt, plant, etc., and greatly increased their chances of survival. Samoset and Squanto introduced the Pilgrims to Massasoit, the chief who controlled the entire area and with whom a peace treaty was arranged.  In October the Pilgrims invited the Indians for a time of celebration and thanksgiving to GOD, which lasted three days.

In 1789 President George Washington proclaimed November 26 as a day of national thanksgiving.  President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November, 1863, as “a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father.”  In 1941 Congress ruled that the fourth Thursday of November would be observed as Thanksgiving Day.

Consider God’s words to the Israelites as their nation was founded

"You shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you….

"You may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.' But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish. Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God. (Deut. 8:6-20)

God’s word to our nations today

• “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chron. 7:14)
• Rejoice evermore.  Pray without ceasing.  In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1 Thess. 5:16-18).

Action

Lord, we thank you for Your hand of providence that makes a way for us to walk in. We ask for Your spirit to be poured out upon the nations of the world and for a worldwide revival to spring up. Send your angels to battle the forces of wickedness and bring them down. Let us draw close to You and live in intimacy with Your Spirit so we can be used by You to usher in the reformation that is coming. Thank You, Lord.