First stop on the trip was Jaffa, also known as Joppa, which is now incorporated into the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo. Believed to be more than 10,000 years old, Jaffa is one of the oldest port cities in the world. Here's a photo taken from Jaffa showing how close it is to Tel-Aviv.
The prophet Jonah left Jaffa on his voyage to Tarshish. Jonah 1:3. I doubt that the great fish he encountered was as cute as the statue commemorating his journey that we saw there.
Jaffa also is mentioned in the New Testament as the city where Peter raised Tabitha (or Dorcas) from the dead (Acts 9: 36-42) and where Peter had the vision about unclean foods that led him to convert Cornelius, the first Gentile convert to Christianity. (Acts. 10:10-16). Of course there is a St. Peter's Church near the traditional site of the home of Simon the tanner where Peter was staying when he had the dream.
From this area Peter (and we) can look across the Mediterranean to the home of Cornelius, Caesaria, and reflect on the spread of the gospel message to the world.
Next stop: Caesaria.
4 comments:
Nicely done. So glad you are doing this! Peggie, a trip companion.
Keep 'em coming, QG. They are fascinating. A town that has existed in some form or another for 10,000 years boggles the mind!
Its a fact, that Americans think that something that has been around for 300 years is old.
Then you head to Europe and the Middle East and realized that 300 years is nothing at all !!
Yep, 10,000 years of history really boggles the mind!!!
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