3 Minute Read

Prepare Your Heart

To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.

Read God’s Word

2 Chronicles 35-36
Acts 9:31-10:8

A Verse for Today

Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.

Acts 10:1 (CSB): “There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment.”

Acts 10:5-6 (CSB): “Now send men to Joppa and call for Simon, who is also named Peter. He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

Reflecting on God’s Word

Rather than write a devotion article today, I want to share some pictures and video to give an idea of where the events in today’s reading took place. Of course, 2,000 years seperate the events of Acts 9-10 from today, and the city looks completely different. But these and more areas of the Biblical accounts came alive when I visited Israel in 2018.

First of all, let’s look at a map. In Acts 9-10, we read that the Apostle Peter was in Joppa and Cornelius was in Caesarea. The following map shows where those places were/are. You can see the Dead Sea at the bottom right of the picture and the Sea of Galilee at the top right. Google says that it would take over 12 hours to walk from Joppa (Jaffa) to Caesarea.

Source: Google Maps

Peter was in Joppa. It’s where Jonah hopped on a boat and headed west on the Mediterranean Sea. He raised a woman from the dead and then stayed at Simon’s house, a leather tanner.

I took the following picture and video from the top of our hotel in Tel Aviv about 3 1/2 miles north of where Joppa was located.

View of Mediterranean Sea

I took the following pictures and videos from Caesarea. It was called Caesarea Maritima or Caesarea by the Sea to distinguish it from Caesarea Philippi. Some of what you will see are the ruins that are hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. Some of what remains was rebuilt by the Crusaders when they were in this place, roughly between 1,100 AD and 1,300 AD.

Caesarea Amphitheatre
Caesarea Maritima Hippodrome

Spend Time in Prayer

Going Deeper

If you want to dig a little deeper into the biblical cities of Joppa and Caesarea, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:

“What is the significance of Joppa in the Bible?”

“What is the significance of Caesarea in the Bible?”

Sharing

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Matt Ellis is the pastor of White Hall Baptist Church in Richmond, Kentucky (whitehallbaptistchurch.org)