Caesarea, Israel~Day Five

Welcome back to Israel, friends! The day after we returned from Jordan, we sort of had a "down day." Dallas and I went and had Cappucinos at this little sidewalk cafe in Tel Aviv in the morning. Next, we ran over to the US Embassy with Stewart. Then, it was off to the quaint town of Caesarea (pronounced "Kay-saw-ria")-a 20 minute drive north of Tel Aviv.

Caesarea is mentioned multiple times in the book of Acts. In Biblical times, Caesarea would have been a Roman port...a MAJOR Roman port. True to form, King Herod had a massive palace that jutted out into the gorgeous Mediterranean Sea complete with a Hippodrome in the "front yard" where they would race chariots by the sea! The views? True to Israeli form, phenomenal! The architecture? You got it, unbeatable!

Below is a Bosnian Mosque. I don't have an explanation about this, but I'm assuming that it was built well after King Herod's time!

In this ancient bustling town turned modern artsy-fartsy, a man named Cornelius took up residence in Biblical times. Cornelius was called a "God fearing man," and he had a vision that called him to send for Peter in Joppa, modern day Jaffa. The Bible specifically says, "Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea." Acts 10: 5, 6 So Cornelius sends three of his servants to Simon the Tanner's house (which I wrote about several days ago) to find Peter. The next day, Peter, six "brothers" from Joppa and these three servants headed North to Caesarea. They walked for about a day and a half to get there (Caesarea is probably about a 35 minute drive due north of Jaffa). When they reached Cornelius's house, "Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people." Acts 10: 27 So he asked why they sent for him. Cornelius tells him of the events that led up to his sending for Peter and then says, "...it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us." Acts 10: 33 Peter proceeds to tell them about the man Jesus. "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message...Then Peter said, 'Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.'" Acts 10: 44-47

I just love that God put a large group of believers in this bustling sea town-right in the middle of all the action!

With water absolutely abounding in this gorgeous sea town, it makes you wonder where this "large gathering of people" went to be baptized...here, maybe?

These columns (replications) would have been near the entrance to Herod's massive reef palace.
Another significant event that happened in Caesarea is Paul's imprisonment as he awaited trial by Caesar. You can read about that in Acts 23-26.

Every corner of Caesarea has majestic views!

The hippodrome

Our friend, Stewart, with the seating for the hippodrome in the background.

Have a look at the Roman Theater!

Two of my favorite men in the whole world!

Atop the aqueduct that supplied water to Caesarea from 7 miles up the road!

As the sun set on day five of our Israeli adventure, we were met by a stunning sunset, tainted only by this ancient artifact.

Caesarea~a true jewel.
Beauty beyond beauty.
Every step a new jaw dropping view.

Day Six of our trip to Israel may take me a few days to put together. We went to Nazareth and around the entire Sea of Galilee which is steeped in Biblical history!