2011 - 1st Journey, Day 1

 

DAY 1 (April 27, 2011): First Journey, Day 1

Jaffa (Joppa)

Israel!  Promised land.  Land of milk and honey.  Hope of Abraham, his children, and the Israelites while in Egypt and in Babylon.  Israel – we are here!

After 41 verses in which the Psalmist urges God’s people to give thanks, sing, and praise God because He keeps His promises, the 105^th Psalm ends with a REASON why God gave the Jews this land in which I will sleep tonight:

“He remembered His holy word With Abraham His servant; and He brought forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with a joyful shout. He gave them also the lands of the nations, that they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples' labor, so that they might keep His statutes and observe His laws. Praise the Lord!”  (Psalm 105:42)

It is a beautiful land indeed, and well worth the “cost” of keeping His statutes and laws (though His commandments are not burdensome). 

As our enormous Boeing aircraft swept across beautiful white-sand beaches and banked over Tel Aviv under a partly cloudy 70+ degree day our tour group could see a land very much like San Diego, California.  The weather, the terrain, the vegetation, the beaches, are all reminiscent of San Diego.

We touched down at 1:20 in the afternoon and required only an hour to collect our bags and pass through customs. Climbing up into a very comfortable 45 seat bus which will be our only conveyance (besides feet) for the next two weeks, we needed only one more hour to reach Joppa (as it’s usually spelled in the Bible) or Jaffa (as it is often designated today).

So, at 3:45 the group debussed (is that a word?) and began the leisurely stroll up brick and stone paved walkways onto the hill under which ancient Joppa’s ruins lie. Perhaps my readers are familiar with 2 Chronicles 2 (which records the promise of Huram to send the cedars of Lebanon by ships to Joppa for the construction of His great temple) and how this same shipping of cedars to the port of Joppa was repeated when the temple was rebuilt according to Ezra 3. Who among us doesn’t know it was in Joppa where Jonah took ship in his very ill advised attempt to escape God’s plans for him? It’s likely you’ll remember that Tabitha (Dorcas) was raised from the dead here (Acts 9) and most certainly you’ll all know that Peter’s vision of the unclean animals in something like a sheet and his receiving an invitation from Cornelius the centurion to preach the gospel to the Gentiles both occurred here.

Today the ancient site is a public park with shrubs, flowers, lawns, and walkways. It is strikingly beautiful, and apparently a fine site for wedding parties since we quite unwittingly walked right into the middle of one as we were coming up the street toward the hill.

Here are a few pictures from the hill itself and one of Tel Aviv as viewed from the tel. You all know what a tel is, don’t you?  If not, ha ha, look it up – I’m getting tired.

Ancient Joppa's site

 Tel Aviv as seen from Joppa

Sunset over the Mediterranean as seen from hotel bedroom window.

So, what would YOU want to do more than anything else on your first day in Israel?  Me?  I wanted to swim in the Mediterranean Sea.  So, I can tell you with all the certainty of personal experience, I was the only swimmer as far as the eye could see as it grew quite dark at 7:30 this evening over the beach at Netanya.  It was warm and wonderful!  I had to force myself to leave so I could grab a bite to eat before 8 pm.  There is a brick sort of cobblestone walkway (for at least the one mile I used it) all along the waterfront which was populated with numerous people strolling, some hand in hand, and all apparently blissfully happy – or so it seemed to me since that was the condition I was in!

I’m ten hours ahead of myself here. In other words, when it’s 2:30 in the afternoon back home in the Pacific Standard Zone it’s 12:30 (just after midnight as I write in a motel room in Netanya, two hours drive north of Joppa). So, I’m pretty really ready for bed. Tomorrow, I think, will be an awfully busy day beginning with Caesarea Maritima (from which Cornelius sent his message in Acts 10:1-6).  We’ll see if I have any energy left to be writing blog entries after tomorrow’s expedition…