July 22, 2014

In preparation for our trip, Lynette and I would like to send a weekly Insight to Israel that will wet our appetite for what is to come.

First Stop - Joppa – The Port of Gentile Salvation!

Arriving at Ben Gurion Airport on April 15^th, we will be bused to the Dan Panorama hotel on the Mediterranean Shore in Tel Aviv. After a nights rest we will go to Jaffa, the modern name of Joppa.

A unique feature of the Israeli coast is the lack of natural harbors. Until the Romans built Caesarea Maritime, Joppa was the only significant harbor for the entire region and for goods that would eventually go to Jerusalem. It was:

• in the region given to the tribe of Dan (Josh 19:40-46)
• where the timbers for Solomon’s temple arrived from Lebanon and then hauled up to Jerusalem (2 Chr. 2:16)
• the port for cedars to be used in the second temple (Ezra 3:7)
• where Dorcas (Tabitha) lived and was raised from the dead (Acts 9:40).

Yet for us as Gentiles 2 events that happened there speak to us. First, it is the port from which Jonah tried to escape the call of God to preach to the Gentiles of Nineveh (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” (Act 10:13). It was here that Peter was invited to visit Cornelius, a Gentile in Caesarea Maritime.

What do these have in common? Both events remind us that salvation has never been limited to the Jews and that God has always wanted His people to have a burden for even the Gentiles of the world. Aren’t you glad we with Peter realize:

“Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears Him . . . is acceptable to Him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ.”

Acts 10:34ff.