Joppa

Location

Joppa (modern Jaffa) is an ancient Mediterranean sea-port, about thirty-five miles north-west of Jerusalem. It was Judea's principal port. The Bible names it as the port where cedars from Lebanon were landed for Solomon's temple (2 Chronicles 2:16) and again for the second temple (Ezra 3:7).

Biblical importance

Joppa is a Scripture of two commissions. From here Jonah fled the LORD, boarding a ship for Tarshish (Jonah 1:3). Centuries later, on a rooftop in the same city, Peter saw the great sheet let down from heaven and heard, 'What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common' (Acts 10:15). Where Jonah refused to preach to gentiles, Peter was sent to preach to them.

Important biblical events

• Jonah 1:3 (KJV) 'Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish.'
• 2 Chronicles 2:16 (KJV) Hiram of Tyre floats cedars 'to thee in flotes by sea to Joppa.'
• Ezra 3:7 (KJV) Cedars come again to Joppa for the second temple.
• Acts 9:36-43 (KJV) Tabitha (Dorcas) is raised from the dead by Peter at Joppa.
• Acts 10:9-16 (KJV) Peter's rooftop vision of the sheet let down from heaven.
• Acts 10:23-48 (KJV) Peter goes with the messengers to Cornelius the centurion; the Holy Ghost falls on the gentiles.

Related People

• Jonah — the prophet who fled.
• Peter — the apostle who obeyed.
• Tabitha (Dorcas) — the disciple raised from the dead (Acts 9:36-43).
• Simon the tanner — Peter's host on the seashore (Acts 10:6).
• Cornelius the centurion — the first gentile household to hear the Gospel from Peter's lips.
• Christ Jesus — who compared his sign to Jonah's (Matthew 12:39-41).

Connected Places

• Jerusalem — thirty-five miles up from Joppa.
• Caesarea — where Cornelius lived, thirty miles to the north.
• Tarshish — Jonah's intended destination, probably in Spain.
• The Mediterranean — the sea Joppa faces.

Christian tradition

• Byzantine and Crusader churches marked the tanner's house and Peter's rooftop.
• The Franciscan Church of St Peter in Jaffa stands over the traditional site of the rooftop vision.
• The tomb of Tabitha is still shown in Jaffa.

Household reflection

Joppa teaches the household that we can flee or we can rise. Jonah went down to Joppa, down to the ship, down into the sea, down into the fish — down is the direction of flight from God. Peter rose to pray on the housetop and was lifted up in vision. When the household stops fleeing and starts rising — even just to pray — heaven opens.

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Read (Library) — Read Jonah 1 and Acts 10 in one sitting; notice how many times the Spirit says 'Arise, go.'
• Pray (Chapel) — Pray on a rooftop (or by an open window) at the sixth hour, as Peter did.
• Family (Kitchen Table) — At one meal, name a person the household has been avoiding, and pray for them.
• Sing (Choir Room) — Sing 'O Church of God, Arise!' — an English hymn to the Church's calling.
• Learn (Workshop) — Compare Jonah 1:3 with Acts 10:5 — the same city, opposite calls.

Further reading

Jonah 1–4 in the KJV.

Acts 9:36-43; 10:1-48; 11:1-18.

Matthew 12:38-42 — the sign of Jonah.

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Peter
• Christ Jesus
• Jerusalem
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas's main room.