I was reading today about King Solomon making an agreement with King Hiram of Tyre for logs to use for the building of the Temple. Israel had an abundance of food and King Hiram had an abundance of wood, known as cedars of Lebanon, so they made a trading agreement that benefited both of their people. This was an example of wisdom and good common sense on both of their parts (as it appeared Tyre already purchased food from Israel on a regular basis and Israel had little wood).

Because Solomon was needing so much wood for the Temple, though, King Hiram offered for those cutting the wood to take the logs to the coast, build rafts out of the cedars, and float them down the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to the town of Solomon’s choosing. This town happened to be Joppa; present day Jaffa. This might not have caught your eye in your reading of the Bible, but this Jaffa sounded strangely similar to Haifa (which Brian and I visited while in Israel). So my historical research began early as I tried to figure out if it was the same coast we had visited. It was not. But, greater things were left to be discovered!

The town of Jaffa continued to show up in the same place I remembered present-day Tel Aviv to be. Tel Aviv is where you fly into Israel and the main metropolitan area on the coast of the Mediterranean. I then Google-Mapped Tel Aviv and Jaffa. I found they were basically one and the same. Tel Aviv was built on the northern part of Jaffa to the point where Google Maps actually says “Tel Aviv-Yafo”. The port of Jaffa was already in commission when Solomon was around and bringing the logs here meant an easier 30 mile trip inland to Jerusalem. It’s the same place we know about today just a different time.

My digging didn’t stop with Solomon, though, I soon found Jonah in this story. The port of Jaffa, Joppa, is where Jonah left for his trip to Tarshish, as he was avoiding going to the Ninevites. What? Jonah was there in Jaffa; Tel Aviv! Same place, different time.

Yeah, so this is all Old Testament stuff, right? Wrong. Peter was there in Jaffa when he had a dream about a sheet and some animals; indicating he needed to minister to the Gentiles. This town where he was to head to talk to the Gentiles was 30 miles north on the shore at Caesarea; a town I did go and see. Same place, different time.

Here’s why this is important to all of us. We all live in a town somewhere on this great earth. We are in the same place people were before us but we are in a different time. Solomon, Jonah, and Peter all had different stories from this same place, Jaffa. We, too, have a different story we are all called to live out in our place God has put us “for such a time as this”.

What story are you writing in your same place, different time? Allow God to challenge you this coming Advent season on how he desires to write through you. What things are you doing well and what things need God’s leading and direction? Ask Him for wisdom.

© 2016 Susan M. Sims

Follow me on Twitter or Facebook.

Looking for a small group Bible study?

Look no further: Being Transparent: With Yourself, God, and Others with the Leader’s Discussion Guide!