The prayer behind the peaceful surrender of Jerusalem in 1917
There’s much more to how God used the Doolittle Raiders and Esther Anh Kim. I planned to talk more about them but I need to do more research on the Doolittle Raiders. So I decided to share the story of the peaceful surrender of Jerusalem.
A while back I shared how Anna Spafford provided the white flag the Turkish mayor of Jerusalem used to surrender to Allenby’s troops. After hearing that, I recalled that Allenby was also a Christian. I remembered thinking, “Wow, that means…
Two Christians played a crucial role in the ending of the 400-year rule of Jerusalem by the Ottoman Turkish Empire.
That’s exactly what happened when the Ottoman Turks surrendered Jerusalem to Allenby. They had been in control of Jerusalem since 1517. How amazing, right? Anna Spafford provided the white flag and General Allenby officially accepted the surrender of the city. End of story, right? Well, it was the end but it wasn’t the whole story either. Prayer played a vital role in this chapter of His story.
The backdrop to the surrender.
During WW1, the Turks were allied with the Germans. Consequently, the British found themselves fighting the Ottoman Empire as well.
Initially, Allen was not the one tasked with conquering Jerusalem. Allenby was a Lt. General at the time and in charge of the Third Army stationed on the Western Front. He was under the command of Field Marshal Haig. As they readied their troops for the Arras offensive, Haig laid out his strategy. Allenby disagreed with it but complied with Haig’s orders. The offensive fell apart with Allenby’s Third Army suffering heavy casualties.
A criticism like that from a superior could be the death knell for a person’s military career. However, God, not Haig or the British Military, was in charge of Allenby’s career. He had another assignment for him, one far more important than winning the Western Front - the retaking of Jerusalem.
While Allenby was bogged down on the Western Front, Sir Archibald had been leading the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) into Palestine but things were not going well. He failed to take Gaza not once but twice. His superiors believed that the problem lay in the location of his headquarters. He set it up in Cairo, Egypt, far from the front lines. To his superiors, that was not the way to run a military campaign and they relieved him of his command.
Prime Minister David Lloyd George initially offered the command to Gen Jan Smuts, but the South African declined, seeing it more as a sideshow.[i] The Chief of the Imperial General Staff William Robertson recommended Allenby, believing he was the right man for the job. It turns out he was.
Allenby leadership style differed greatly from Murray’s.
"Allenby went through the hot, dusty camps of his army like a strong, fresh, reviving wind."
He moved his general headquarters close to the front lines in the city of Rafah. Allenby kept up a vigorous pace during his first few weeks in theater, visiting units, making corrections, and developing a general framework for his first campaign.
His strategy worked and he won the battle for Gaza. That win cleared the road to Jerusalem.
PM Lloyd George ordered Allenby to take Jerusalem without firing a shot.
Allenby couldn’t imagine this happening and voiced his concerns to his superiors but they provided no guidance. They just wanted it done. As he mulled it over, God gave him the answer.
“Pray,” and that is just what Allenby did. Judging by his success, God indeed answered his prayer.
On the evening of December 8, 1917, the Turkish troops stationed inside Jerusalem began leaving. By morning, they were completely gone, allowing Allenby’s troops to enter the city unimpeded.
Allenby won the hearts of the people of Jerusalem because of the humility he displayed during his triumphal entry.
On December 11, 1917, he approached the Jaffa Gate where he dismounted his horse and removed his hat. He entered the city on foot and humbly declared:
“I come not as a conqueror but as a pilgrim.”
Because he saw himself as a liberator and not a conqueror, he did not raise the British flag. Instead, he ordered his troops to safeguard all religious sites. He ensured that the people were free to practice their faith as well, something not possible under the Ottoman Empire.
They were grateful too for his efforts to restore order and care for the people. (He tasked Anna Spafford with administering aid to the people.)
Allenby’s handling of the situation was admired by people the world over. However, Allenby wasn’t doing all of this for men’s applause. He was simply obeying God.
‘Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might’ (Ecclesiastes, 9:10)
He learned that verse from his mother and it guided him throughout his life. [iii]
Call unto me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things that you do not know.
Think about his orders. PM Lloyd George ordered him to take Jerusalem without firing a shot, something everyone deemed impossible. The British expected to meet considerable resistance from the entrenched Turkish army. No one ever imagined the Turks leaving on their own! Why did they leave?
Sadly, many would simply dismiss it as a pragmatic military decision but that doesn’t explain the perfect timing. Is it possible the Turks knew of Allenby’s plans to enter the city on December 9? Yes. Still, it’s too coincidental to dismiss and I’ve learned that coincidences don’t happen in history. God makes them happen, timing everything perfectly. Moreover, as I dig deeper into history, I keep discovering that at least one person was praying for God to act. In this case, it was the person at the center of it, Allenby who asked God to do the impossible – let him take Jerusalem without harming anyone or anything.
Incredibly, the city was so anxious to surrender that some officials ran around as early as 5 a.m. looking for someone – anyone - to surrender to. They even tried to surrender to a couple of army cooks who were just out looking for eggs. [iv] No one foresaw the Turks welcoming the British with open arms, making it nothing short of a miracle.
Lastly, Allenby exceeded Lloyd George’s orders. He ordered Allenby to take Jerusalem by Christmas. Allenby entered the city 16 days before Christmas. God indeed answered Allenby’s prayer in a great and mighty way.
Was the story of the flag also an answer to Allenby’s prayer?
It’s quite likely. The mayor wanted Anna Spafford to be the first one to know of his plans to surrender. Consequently, he decides to stop by the American Colony before meeting up with the British. She gives him a white flag. That flag kept the British from accidentally firing on him and his delegation or anyone else, thus allowing them to take the city without firing a shot - exactly what Allenby had prayed for.
“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Even though the British High Command desired a surrender without bloodshed, they knew it was highly improbable. Allenby knew that as well. He needed a miracle. He turned to the only Person who could make that happen - Jesus and He answered him, making what was impossible with men possible.
However, Allenby wasn’t the only one who was praying.
Some hours before the Official Entry I was walking in David Street when a Jewish woman, seeing that I was English, stopped me and said: 'We have prayed for this day. To-It day I shall sing "God Save our Gracious King, Long Live our Noble King." We have been starving, but what does that matter? Now we are liberated and free.'[iv]
Witnessing the event firsthand, the people of Jerusalem saw God’s hand in it.
“And while war had wrought this beneficent change the population saw in this epoch-marking victory a merciful guiding Hand, for it had been achieved without so much as a stone of the City being scratched or a particle of its ancient dust disturbed.” [v]
Indeed, only God could ensure such a peaceful surrender. There can be no other explanation and prayer played a vital role in it. The prayers of Allenby and the people moved the hand of God to bring about this epochal event that altered the world’s geopolitical landscape. When the Ottoman Turks surrendered Jerusalem, the balance of power shifted in the Middle East. It freed Jerusalem, setting the stage for Israel to once again become a nation, the next chapter in His story of Israel.
Yes, the peaceful surrender of Jerusalem had far-reaching implications for Israel and the world. That it happened without any harm to people or the holy city was a miracle, a miracle wrought by prayers.
[i] Apparently, a lot of people saw the Middle East engagement as a sideshow, believing that the European theatre was more important but the War Cabinet saw it as vital to stopping the Germans. Moreover, they wanted to free Jerusalem from the Ottomans.
[ii] Massey, W. T. How Jerusalem Was Won: Being the Record of Allenby’s Campaign in Palestine. 2012.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Ibid.