Arrival and First Night
We arrived at Ben Gurion Airport and were welcomed by our guide and a bus to a beautiful hotel, the Resort Ramada in Hadera, Israel. It is a short trip up the coast from Tel Aviv which is the modern city built over the Biblical city of Joppa.
A unique feature of the Israeli coast is the lack of natural harbors. Until the Romans built Caesarea on the sea, Joppa was the only significant harbor for the nation of Israel. It was in Joppa where the timbers for Solomon's tempe came from Lebanon and then were hauled up to Jerusalem (2 Car 2:16). It was also the harbor where the cedars used in the second temple came (Ezra 3:7). In the book of Acts we read it was Joppa where Dorcas (Tabitha) lived and was raised from the dead (Acts 9:40).
Yet for us Gentiles, two events that happened at Joppa has significance. First it is the port from which Jonah attempt to escape the call of God to preach to the Gentiles of Ninevah (Jonah 1:1-3). Second it was the city in which Peter saw a sheet lowered from heaven and was told to "rise, Peter, kill and eat" (Acts 10:13). In Joppa Peter was invited to visit Cornelius, a Gentile in Caesarea on the Sea.
What do these have in common? Both remind us that salvation has never been limited to the Jews but God has always wanted His people to have a burden for all men.
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