The weather was 75 degrees. As we entered the tour bus, Gary Chapman prayed for our tour and also prayed for those back home that were probably entering worship at 930 - 1000 EST.
Our tour began immediately with our guide Saliba, who speaks english, but whose native tongues is Aramaic, which is the language Jesus spoke.
Our first stop was Joppa. The Architecture was what I expected. Beautiful stone buildings overlooking the the port. Joppa has some very significant biblical history. In the time of Joshua, it was known as Japho. It was part of the original inheritance of the tribe of Dan (Joshua 19:46). In Solomon's time, Joppa became a chief seaport (II Chronicles 2:16). More notably, Joffa is the town where Jonah, trying to escape God's will, boarded a ship for Tarshish (Jonah 1:3)- not a good idea. In the New Testament, Dorcas (Acts 9:36) lived in this seaside town. Peter came to Joppa and stayed at Simon the tanner (Act 9:43). It was here that peter, while praying on the housetop, received a vision of the great sheets containing all kinds of animals. This was the official entrance of Gentiles into God's family.
Our tour guide was truly awesome today. Every turn we would make, there would be some factoid of the Christian faith. He shared with us about the 5th Gospel. Im sure you bible students are scratching your head like I was. Saliba said that this land and its geology is the 5th gospel. Seeing the places written about in the testaments, he's right!!! This area is a validation to scripture.
We walked the boardwalk of Joppa and ended up dinner and watching the sun fading slowly into the west over the Med. What a sunset! For supper, my favorite was the hummus and the roast peppers!!
We have some serious jet lag going on so I will cut it short tonight! Attached you'll find see Dr. Gary Chapman guiding our group with God's word pointing out all the "Joppa" points in the word. Also, our a photo of Liz and I in front of the Mediterranean Sea.
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