Caesarea -- Salvation for All!
Our Israel/Greece tour was canceled due to the coronavirus. We have postponed it to November 2-16, 2021. For each day that we would have been traveling, we will post an article about where we would have been that day. Today we would have been visiting Caesarea.
Caesarea is one of my favorite places to visit in Israel. The Mediterranean Ocean is beautiful! Caesarea was a huge, impressive port city on the shores of the Mediterranean. It offered a theatre, baths, and pagan temples. The city was built by King Herod in 22 B.C.E. in a Roman style. Herod dedicated the city to the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus and named it after him. Both Jews and Gentiles lived here.
According to the New Testament, the Apostle Paul passed through the port of Caesarea a few times during his missionary journeys. Paul was imprisoned for two years in Caesarea until he presented his case before Felix the Governor (Acts 21:27-24:26).
Caesarea was a significant city to the New Testament apostles, particularly Peter and Paul. In Acts 10 we learn that Peter was called up from Joppa (in modern Tel Aviv) to Caesarea to meet with the household of Cornelius. This meeting marked the first time in Scripture where gentiles received the Holy Spirit. Peter heard them speaking in tongues, praising God, and reasoned, Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. (Acts 10:47)
What is really important to me, a Gentile, is that it was in Caesarea that the first Gentile became a believer in Yeshua. Please read about what is called “Cornelius’s Vision” from Acts 10:
Now there was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household… About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. He is lodging with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.” And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually. So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa. The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again. While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”
Then Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius, and said, “Yes, I am he whom you seek. For what reason have you come?” And they said, “Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house, and to hear words from you.” Then he invited them in and lodged them.
On the next day Peter went away with them, and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself am also a man.” And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me?”
So Cornelius said, “Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea. When he comes, he will speak to you.’ So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God.”
Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom [m]they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision [Jews] who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.
Many people misinterpret this chapter of Scripture. They use it to teach that food that was declared in the Bible to be unclean is now clean. However, that is not the focus of this Scripture. Don’t miss the beauty of it! This Scripture is teaching that Jews and Gentiles can now both be saved because of the blood that was shed for all by Yeshua! Verse 28 interprets the vision for us and says “God has shown me [Peter] that I should not call any man common or unclean.” It is confirmed again in verse 45 when we are told that “the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.” Why did the vision include clean and unclean meat? Today in our culture, this is not as obvious, but in that culture it was absolutely clear! It was an example that the Jewish people would clearly understand referencing Jew and Gentile. Jews in that day were to avoid the Gentiles. Remember the story about the Samaritan [Gentile] woman? Now both Jews and Gentiles would be of the same family in Yeshua!
Praise God that He has provided salvation for all. During this time where so many are panicking about the coronavirus, about the stock market crashing, about the shelves in the grocery store being empty—reach out to your neighbors by phone and share some good news with them! Share your surplus with them. Share your love and let them see the peace of God in you. Share the love of Yeshua and pray for the salvation of many!
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