E-Letters

The Last of the Mohicans

By Jeff Andrechyn
Sep 02, 2009

Whenever I enter my library I listen for God. As I reach for a book I wait to hear a "yes" or some confirmation. Passing all the books I should read I am drawn to an old favorite, The Last of the Mohicans, by James Fenimore Cooper. It feels right and I am not sure why; maybe it's the prose and the beauty it offers:

"At length the sun set in a flood of glory, behind the distant western hills, as darkness drew its veil around the secluded spot... the trees cast their deeper shadows over the mounds and rippling streams and a silence soon pervaded the camp, as deep as that which reigned in the vast forest by which it environed... the forest at length appeared to swallow up the living mass which had slowly entered its bosom." (page 13)

In 1757, the sun was indeed setting on a nation and a way of life. The story opens finding three men; Hawkeye, a hybrid born of white parents but raised by Indians, Chingachgook, and his son Uncas who are the last of the Mohicans.

The story is a romance in the context of warfare just like the gospel. These men will engage the encroachment of "civilization" pressing in from the English and French. Three men with a deep love for one another who are alive and oriented to impending invasion. Three men who are wearing war paint.

Coming into their camp is a traveling English party lead by a subversive Indian, Magua, and in his wake are English soldiers and in their midst the prize--Alice and Cora.

Upon hearing the approaching footsteps Hawkeye yells, "Who comes hither, among the beasts and dangers of the wilderness?" (page 34)

The worst of news comes back to this trinity of warriors as the English party calls out, "Believers in religion, and friends to the law and to the king."

Let me pause here and ask you a question. Of all the sins you can think of in the world, what would be the worst? The Apostle Paul once defined this for us. He said he was the chief of sinners, he was a "Pharisee".

This is hard for us to understand.

Born under the Law, Paul grew up in Jerusalem and learned its culture. One fateful day, however, Paul was born with the Life of God and found out there was another Jerusalem that was above. One city was bondage but the one from above was free. Paul was now a hybrid. He was born with the DNA of an earthly father but now had the life of his heavenly Father living inside him. Paul's new DNA oriented him towards a city whose builder and architect is God.

Paul one day has to speak to his countrymen and say, "For all who rely on the works of the Law are under a curse." (Galatians 3:10). When he does, he becomes a rock of offense to them just like his Lord as he pleads with them to cast off their bondage.

When the Mohicans come face to face with the English party they observed their condition. The travelers were "without nourishment and were sadly tired of their wayfaring." (Page 34)

The English are so disoriented that Hawkeye must tell them they are being lead by Magua (a satan figure) and that his intension is to ambush. The path they are traveling does not lead to the English fort. This news comes as a shock to them.

I am only on page 60 and I am riveted to see how this drama will play out. If any of the English are going to make it through the dangers of the wilderness they will have to reorient and listen to these three warriors. Religion and laws will not lead them home.

I put the book down... I am on holy ground. I can sense an offer in this realm and why He wanted me to read this book. His offer is to guide, for I am leading a small expedition (my family) and I am deep in a dangerous wilderness and I know the sound of hungry beasts at night. I don't think my expedition will survive without His lead. I must forget all my instincts for survival and listen to Him. He is a hybrid; fully God, but He ran a rescue mission for me and became fully man. He knows the way, and when I pray to Him I feel His strength and if I am not mistaken there is not just One, but rather Three, and they are wearing war paint.

Jeff