Australia has long been resistant to the idea of celebrating Halloween because it has been traditionally viewed as an American holiday that is out of place in our culture. However, Halloween has been steadily gaining popularity in Australia, much to the disappointment of Christians in our nation. So, to give us all something to be encouraged by come 31 October, let us be reminded of the Lord’s marvelous hand in the events of 31 October 1917 in a small desert town in the south of Israel.
In the lead up to what became known as the Third Battle of Gaza, the British and allied armies were engaged in heavy fighting throughout the Sinai Peninsula. Their aim was to ensure that the shipping corridors along the Suez Canal remained open to Britain and its allies. The commanders of the allied forces turned their attention to Beersheba, which was located at the southern edge of the Turkish defensive line. Although many of the Turkish forces were stationed in Gaza, Beersheba was heavily fortified by 1,000 Turkish riflemen, supported by nine machine guns and two aircraft. Maintaining the element of surprise would not be easy. So, the 40,000-strong Desert Mounted Corps travelled closer to Beersheba under cover of darkness on 30 October 1917.
The name “Beersheba” (Be’er Sheva in Hebrew) means “well of the seven” or “well of the treaty” and is derived from a treaty between Abraham and Abimelech involving seven lambs. Genesis 21:30-31: And he said, “You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that they may be my witness that I have dug this well.” Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there. The presence of the wells is an important part of the liberation of Beersheba, which I will expand upon shortly.
Beginning at dawn on 31 October 1917, the troops mounted an offensive, intending to take Beersheba by nightfall. However, they met heavy resistance at a town three kilometers east of Beersheba. The enemy forces were overcome by mid-afternoon, but this left few precious hours of daylight for the assault on Beersheba. It was important that they take Beersheba by nightfall because its wells were the only source of water available in the region and both troops and horses were desperate for water. At 4:30pm on 31 October 1917, with only 20 minutes of daylight remaining, the men of the Australian Light Horse Brigade (numbering 800) mounted up and began their charge. The horses had been without water for more than 48 hours, which worked to the troops’ advantage. As soon as the horses smelled water from the Beersheba wells, they bolted over the trenches, trampling the enemy. With the sun in their eyes and gunsights not calibrated to trench warfare, bullets from the enemy soldiers soared over the heads of the horsemen.
So important was the Battle of Beersheba, that it was a pivot upon which turned the fortunes of Allied efforts against the enemy. Just days later, on 2 November 1917, then-British Foreign Secretary Lord Arthur James Balfour had reached out to Lord Baron Rothschild with the famed Balfour Declaration, assuring him that the British government would work toward establishing a Jewish state in Israel’s ancient homeland. Good men and good horses were lost in that battle, but God performed a miracle, eventually leading to the re-establishment of the State of Israel just as He declared He would do.
In commemoration of the effort of the Australian horsemen in Beersheba on that fateful day, there now stands a memorial at the Beersheba Memorial Park. It depicts a horseman atop his horse, reins in one hand and bayonet in the other. The horsemen would not have had any idea of the prophetic implications of their charge. But through dusty trails, starving horsemen and thirsty horses, God brought about a miracle at Beersheba because He is faithful to His Word. Now that is something worth celebrating.
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