Saturday 1 October 2011

Bible Provides Plan for WWI Battle

I came across a very interesting World War I story. One of that war's theatres of conflict was in the Holy Land where the British and other Commonwealth forces, under accomplished General Allenby, were fighting the Turkish forces who were allied with Germany and Austria. 

Sheer cliffs of Michmash
In 1917, General Allenby, along with his Sixtieth British Division,  entered the plain surrounding Megiddo and Mischmash (these lie north of Jerusalem) en-route to attack Jericho and drive the Turkish army back across the Jordan River. Directly in their path was the small town of Michmash which was located on a high, rocky hill overlooking the plain of Megiddo, also occupied  by the Turks. It was an almost impregnable with its sheer cliffs. 

Where is Michmash?

Jonathan and
armour-bearer climbing
cliffs at Michmash
The British forces were faced with a problem. How on earth would they penetrate that town? But General Allenby and his Brigade Major Vivion Gilbert, knowing their Bibles well, remembered that the name of that town was mentioned in I Samuel chapters 13 and 14. Here it describes how Prince Jonathan, along with his armour-bearer, found a secret rocky passage on the hillside that lead to the top of the town that was being used as a fortress by the Philistine army. With God's help, Jonathan and his armour-bearer, were able to surprise the Philistines and in the confusion the Philistines fought each other and were quickly and easily defeated. 

Jonathan and armour-bearer


General Allenby
General Allenby and those with him discovered that the topography of the area was still very similar. They managed to find that secret passage. His troops scaled these same sheer cliffs that Jonathan climbed thousands of years before and took the Turkish garrison by complete surprise. It was a decisive victory for General Allenby and the Commonwealth forces. Being victorious at Megiddo, Jericho, and Jerusalem, he finally broke the power of the Turkish army, a very important development for the future of the Holy Land, the Middle East, and the outcome of the war. 

At the end of the war, General Allenby was decorated as Lord Allenby 'Viscount of Megiddo'. 

This story shows how much God is at work in the affairs of man and the workings of history. The relevency of  His word is shown also in this story for guiding the details of modern day history. 

God Bless







*************************
Reference: 


Katherine Pollard Carter, The Mighty Hand of God, Missouri: Impact Books, INC., 1991, pp. 87-89. 
(other references for that chapter in the book)


7 comments:

Joy said...

What an amazing story, Sarah!
Thank you for sharing :). It is amazing how, after all those years, the landscape was still the same, but what is more is that General Allenby remembered the Scripture and the story of Jonathan!

I am always amazed at the wonder of the Lord in His works throughout History. It is a wonderful thing to know that the Lord cares and works in wonderful and mysterious ways!
Lots of love,
Joy

Sarah C. said...

Yes, Joy. It is an another amazing story from history showing God's providence and hand moving quietly but surely. The story really caught my attention.

Love,
Your sister Sarah

Anonymous said...

This is an amazing story, Sarah! Yes, it is a true witness of how God is at work guiding the details of modern history, and this is very encouraging. We can only imagine the conviction which fell upon the hearts of those soldiers... we would hope that through this great victory they gave the glory to God... through His Word, He showed them the way and granted them victory!

God bless and thanks so much for sharing.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing!

Your sister,

Maddy

Sarah C. said...

Dear Maddy,

I'm glad it has blessed you.
It is an amazing story.
As you said, I hope they did give God the glory.

I can't wait to see you, tomorrow, Lord willing...I can't wait!

Your sister in the Lord,
Sarah

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

Hi Sarah loved this post so much when it came in as an email to my email address, I sent it to few Christian friends here who love history too, (hope you dont mind? - only select few) great post! and sent also the prayer request below to all my prayer buddies. Am sorry have not been online as much and was not logged in for your blog over 10 days as was away from computer, things are busy! Email address kept me up to date though! trust you're all keeping well, Shaz.xx

Sarah C. said...

Hi Shaz,
I'm glad this post has blessed you. I don't mind at all that you shared it with your friends. In fact, if your friends would be interested to give me their e-mails, I could maybe send them invitations to my blog.

Thank you, also, for sharing the prayer request for the suffering Church.

I haven't been online much lately either. But, as you say, email really helps.

You are a dear friend, Shaz. The Lord bless you abundantly.
love,
Sarah

Caitlin M said...

I providentially stumbled upon this article while researching the topic for my own history blog. Thanks for sharing! This is a great story and goes to show that God's Word is just as relevant today as it ever was. Feel free to log onto my history blog at www.providentialhistory.org.
God bless you!!!

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