Sea Side Arrival—Day One

The waterfront at Tel Aviv as the day gives way to Shabbat.

We traveled from all over, arriving at different planes, times, even days. But we all ended up eventually on the shores of the Mediterranean in Tel Aviv, where soft breezes kissed sun-warmed skin on a beautiful afternoon. It was the day Shabbat begins. The city bustled with last minute activity as observant Jews prepared for the Sabbath to start at sunset.

Often deemed the most cosmopolitan of Israeli cities, Tel Aviv is an amalgam of the modern and ancient. A 30-minute walk south along the waterfront lands you in Joffa (called Joppa in the Bible). It stands in stark contrast to the high-rise luxury hotels in Tel Aviv, and Israel's tech-savvy cousin to Silicon Valley located outside Haifa just to the north. If you remember the story of Peter's missionary work in Acts 10, he stayed with Simon the Tanner in Joppa before visiting Cornelius.

The city of Joppa seen from outside our hotel.

Joppa's market still hums with the ancient energy you’d imagine of Peter’s day. Not far from the stands of produce and fresh underwear (yes, you can get practically anything at the market), you'll find a small plaque located on a private residence designating it as Simon the Tanner’s house. Looking up, you can imagine Peter, on the roof, gazing out at the expansive sea and feeling those first pangs of hunger after prayer. He began to think of filling his stomach, but God had other plans as Peter was told to “kill and eat.” Resisting the vision, Peter needed some repetition before God drove home his point, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

A knock at the door revealed Cornelius’ servants, who would lead the apostle to Caesarea where the Holy Spirit was about to be poured out on gentiles.

Israel has a way of making the Bible come alive. Printed words on a page begin to wear flesh, bone, and rock—the solid stuff of life. Tomorrow will bring the first of many such days as we head up the coast the Herod the Great’s Caesarea Maritima, and whatever God has for us here.