Plucking the Eagle's Wings

Plucking the Eagle's Wings

kingdom by allowing its people to propagate the Gospel and support his special people, Israel. If this is true, we should not be surprised to learn that there are parallels in American history with the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah. In the mid-to-late 1500s, Queen Elizabeth I of England was known as the Virgin Queen. Until this time, England had been very hesitant to follow up on Cabot's initiative. England had been intimidated by the Spanish and did little to explore the New World. Elizabeth I changed this policy and initiated spiritual and material expansionism. Vessels flying Elizabeth's ensign traveled as far away as present-day San Francisco and several points in between. However, efforts to colonize always fell short. (Note: Elizabeth's cousin was Mary Queen of Scots, mother of King James I. James is the English version of Jacob/Israel.) In 1578, Sir Walter Raleigh, Elizabeth's favorite courtier, sailed with his half brother Sir Humphrey Gilbert to America. It was probably this voyage that stimulated Raleigh's plan to found an English empire in the New World. On the Hebrew calendar, this year means to stretch out, to extend—apparently just what Raleigh planned. This year can also mean to initiate or launch something as well as to send a plague. Raleigh's materialistic motives seemed to have plagued many English expeditions. In 1585, Raleigh, authorized by Elizabeth I, sent out an expedition of 100 people to settle on Roanoke Island, in present day North Carolina. The group included a Bohemian Jew named Joachim Ganz. Ganz was sent to prospect for minerals but this expedition was short-lived. In 1587, Raleigh sent out another expedition of over 100 men, women, and children. This colony could have survived had England successfully supported it. At the time, the Spanish invaded England. The English won, but this distraction delayed sending support to the colony for over two years. When Raleigh finally sent ships to Roanoke Island, they found nothing but the word "CROATOAN" carved on a tree. To this day, nobody knows what became of the Lost Colony. The Lumbee Indians of North Carolina claim that the colonists' blood runs in their veins. Coincidentally, 1587 on the Hebrew calendar means the desolation, the ruin. Raleigh and the English learned a valuable lesson about New World colonization. A better job of supplying the new outposts was required if colonies were to survive. Though she never saw an English colony survive in the New World, Elizabeth I was responsible for 60