100 years ago: British forces capture Jerusalem

As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it. Isaiah 31:5

On December 11, 1917, British Army General Sir Edmund Allenby marched into Jerusalem through the Jaffa Gate and declared martial law, two days after Hussein al-Husayni, the Ottoman Mayor of Jerusalem, surrendered to British troops, ending 400 years of Ottoman Empire rule of the city. General Allenby was reportedly a Bible-believing Christian, prayed that his forces would be able to take Jerusalem without damaging any holy places, and marched into the city rather than entering on horseback, as an expression of his respect for Jerusalem's status as a city revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. I can't verify it, but it has been reported that General Allenby claimed that Isaiah 31:5 was being fulfilled on that very day, with the Lord using British Royal Flying Corps planes to defend and preserve Jerusalem.

The British capture of Jerusalem was another event leading to the establishment of the modern state of Israel. A disproportionate number of the major events before and after the establishment of modern Israel have occurred in years ending in "7;" I don't believe that to be prophetically significant, but I find it interesting, and it helps one to memorize a timeline of events:

1897: Theodor Herzl, the founder of the modern Zionist movement, convened the first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, which concluded by adopting a program to pursue the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.

1917 (November): British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued the Balfour Declaration, stating the British government's support for the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine.

1917 (December): General Sir Edmund Allenby led British forces in the capture of Jerusalem, ending 400 years of Ottoman rule of the city, and beginning 30 years of British rule, most of that time under a League of Nations Mandate.

1947: The United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 181, partitioning Palestine into Jewish and Arab states by October 1, 1948.

1967: Israeli forces inflicted a stunning defeat on Egyptian forces in the Six-Day War and took control of old Jerusalem.

1977: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat accepted Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin's invitation to come to Jerusalem and address the Knesset, and severed relations with other Arab countries that weren't willing to join him in pursuing peaceful relations with Israel.

2017: U.S. President Donald Trump declared Jerusalem to be Israel's capital, and announced that the United States will soon move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.