THE city we see in the picture is Joppa, and is in the northern part of Judea, i n Palestine. If you, read t he book of Jonah, you will find how Jonah once went to this place when God told him to go to Ninevah. His disobedience caused him much trouble. If you have not heard the story of Jonah, read it for yourselves from the Old Testament.
What I want to tell you today is something that happened in Joppa about nine hundred years after Jonah was there, and just a few years after the Lord Jesus was on earth.
There was a woman living in Joppa whose name was Dorcas. She was very kind to the poor and made them many garments and helped them in other ways. But after a while she got sick and died.
At this time the Apostle Peter was in a town called Lydda—not far from Joppa. The disciples in Joppa knew this, and sent two men to Lydda to bring Peter to Joppa. When he reached the room where the body of Dorcas lay, he found poor widows there weeping. Dorcas had been very kind to these women, and they loved her, and were very sorrowful to think they had lost her. They showed Peter the coats and garments she had made for them while she was living. Then Peter had them all leave the room, and he kneeled down and prayed. Do you think God answered Peter’s prayer? Yes, dear children, He did. For when Peter spoke to Dorcas, she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter there, sat up. So she was restored to life again. The weeping friends were called, and were made very happy by seeing kind Dorcas alive.
You will find this story in God’s own word,—the ninth chapter of Acts, beginning with the 36th verse.
Messages of God’s Love 4/2/1911