God’s Means to An End
“The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, 1682,” by Mary Rowlandson, illustrates how God uses the enemy in an overall design to get his people, the Christians, to realize their transgressions for eventual redemption in his eyes The premise of Rowlandson’s story is based on the observations she makes about her time with the Indians, which correspond with the Puritan belief that everything happens for the glory of God through his will and timing. This idea is established towards the end of Rowlandson’s captivity when she discusses “a few remarkable passages of providence” that clearly exhibit God’s rejection of his people during this period (203). Powerless against godless captors and without the mercy of her own God, Rowlandson comes to recognize the importance of humility and the irrefutable truth of man’s inability to rely on themselves
Though Rowlandson retains the hope of being restored to her people throughout the narrative, she quickly discovers this will not happen without God’s favor bestowed upon them. During an early encounter between the English and the Indians, Rowlandson describes the English Army as being, “…so numerous, and in pursuit of the Enemy, and so near as to take several and destroy them, and the Enemy in such distress for food that our men might track them whilst they were flying for their lives” (203), which serves to set the scene and give us a sense of who is likely to win based on their circumstances However, the advantage for the English quickly develops into overconfidence as Rowlandson notes that, despite being at the cusp of victory, “then our Army [the English] should want Provision, and be forced to leave their pursuit and return homeward” (203). Common sense should dissuade one from giving up while they are ahead, but such was not the case on this occasion. With lowered defenses from the English, it was now easy for the Indians to attack the English town “like Bears bereft of their
whelps, or so many ravenous Wolves, rending us and our Lambs to death. But what shall I say? God seemed to leave his People to themselves, and order all things for his own holy ends…” (203). Rowlandson attributes this vicious defeat to God’s dismissal of his people, and it is plausible since there seems to be no evidence that the English prayed for God’s assistance against the Indians during this period Witnessing the enemy’s swift victory, though previously inconceivable, allows Rowlandson to start noticing how God’s approval has turned against the English and in favor of the Indians.
We are further convinced of God turning his back on the Christians, Rowlandson included, by the sheer improbability of the Indians’ survival if not for the divine assistance being rendered to them Rowlandson tells of an instance where the heavily armed English set out to pursue the enemy once again, “…and they [the Indians], understanding it, fled before them till they came to Bacquag River, where they forthwith went over safely, that that River should be impassable to the English” (204). Though not explicitly mentioned, the Indians crossing the river safely, while the English could not, seems to allude to the Bible story of Moses leading the Israelites out of captivity from Egypt, with the Israelites crossing the Red Sea and the Egyptians attempting to do the same but dying in the process, a feat the Israelites were only able to do with the help of God. Similarly, in Rowlandson’s narrative God helped the enemy pass safely across the body of water but prevented his people from doing the same due to their insolence. Furthermore, the English tried to eliminate the Indians’ primary means of sustenance when “all their Corn that could be found was destroyed, and they driven from that little they had in store into the woods in the midst of Winter,” but efforts were thwarted once again. Though all their corn was gone, Rowlandson says, “Strangely did the Lord provide for them, that I did not see (all the time I was with them) one Man, Woman, or Child die with hunger” (204). Rowlandson then
goes on to describe all the different provisions that the Indians consumed, which “many times they would eat that, that a Hog or a Dog would hardly touch” (204). However, Rowlandson was convinced that the Indians’ revolting diet was what God “strengthened them [with] to be a scourge to his People” (204). Rowlandson then takes notice of their seemingly endless supply of food, despite personally seeing “the generality of them [Indians] would eat up all they had” (205), and likened it to the Bible verses of Psalm 81:13-14, where God lamented over his chosen people’s vagrant ways and proclaimed, “Oh, that my People had hearkened to me, and Israel had walked in my ways, I should soon have subdued their Enemies, and turned my hand against their Adversaries” (205). With this passage, Rowlandson expresses wonder at seeing God’s helping hand towards her enemies but also anguish over what she now understands are her people’s transgressions against God; they have strayed from his guidance and have yet to ask forgiveness and help from him. God’s people have essentially become independent from him, which is an offense so great he has readily chosen to help the enemy as a means of punishment.
Finally, Rowlandson considers God’s will and timing as it pertains to his ultimate exaltation. Up to this point in the narrative, the Indians have been steadily preserved and aided by God’s will for the purpose of punishment, or rather discipline, of his people. However, Rowlandson mentions that as the Indians have not been defeated once during her length in captivity, “They would boast much of their Victories; saying they had destroyed such a Captain and his Company at such a place…Again they would say this Summer that they would knock all the Rogues in the head…thinking surely, Agag-like, “The bitterness of Death is past” (205-206). With this new display of attitude, we begin to see a strong similarity between the English prior to being chastised, and the Indians after eleven weeks of constant support from God. The two groups showed arrogance in their thinking and actions, which led them both to grievous
consequences. As noted previously, Rowlandson witnessed how her people, though close to victory, became overconfident in their abilities and abandoned their initial objective of capturing the Indians, which led to their defeat after the transfer of divine assistance to the Indians. Likewise, Rowlandson is seeing this brash behavior at the hands of her captors. By calling them ‘Agag-like,’ she is saying they have become too confident and no longer show any fear of defeat or death, just as the overly proud Biblical character, Agag, did when called upon by his enemy. However, just as this character wrongly assumed he was safe, the “Heathen [Indians] begins to think all is their own” (206). Arrogance is not condoned by God, hence his willingness to forgive his people and answer their pleas of help against the Indians once “their [the English] eyes are more to God, and their hearts sigh heavenward” (206), for they realized the error of their ways Through the forgiveness of her people, Rowlandson realizes that her captivity and the constant defeat of the English at the hand of their enemy was God’s will the entire time for she proclaims, “When the Lord had brought his people to this [lowest point], that they saw no help in any thing but himself, then he takes the quarrel into his own hand…And the Lord had not so many ways before to preserve them [the Indians], but now he hath as many to destroy them” (206). God’s timing in helping his people was always contingent on the repentance of their sins towards him. We also come to understand that during God’s time assisting the Indians, they showed no appreciation or devotion to him since they didn’t accept the God of the English as their own, which is why they praised themselves. It was essentially a reversal of what had occurred to the English since God would now direct his wrath towards the ungrateful Indians. In straying from the path of righteousness, the English Christians took for granted the goodness of God. This neglect towards their piety angered God, and thus, he removed his protection from his people and placed it upon their enemy, the Indians, who eventually acted in
the same manner as the English, once again angering God. Both groups had the opportunity to worship God accordingly when they had his favor, but instead chose to disregard him, and reaped the consequences of that disrespect at different times. The difference, however, is that in the face of continued adversity at the hands of their enemy, God’s people finally displayed humility by repenting and imploring him to help save them, therefore regaining his favor and protection. His people now understood that without God, they would not succeed on their own. Thus, “The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, 1682,” by Mary Rowlandson, illustrates how God uses the enemy in an overall design to get his people, the Christians, to realize their transgressions for eventual redemption.
Philbrick, Nathaniel, et al. “The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, 1682.” The Mayflower Papers: Selected Writings of Colonial New England, Penguin Books, New York, NY, 2007, pp. 203–206.