ISR A E L L IV E S AGAIN! Fourth in a Prophetic Series
By George T. B. Davis*
D URING our stay in Israel we looked forward with pleas ure to revisiting Tel Aviv. We greatly enjoyed our visit there in 1937, and we wondered what changes we would find in the metropolis of Israel. Tel Aviv is built along the Mediterranean seashore and is much warmer than Jerusalem. Mrs. Irish, always helpful and generous, kindly offered to motor us down to Tel Aviv in their car. She was returning the same day, while we were remaining for several days. A young American missionary went with us, and a Hebrew-Christian girl from Hungary, both of whom were very kind to us during our stay in Israel. We started off one beautiful morning, and as we motored over the hills of Judea, we greatly enjoyed seeing some ancient places spoken of in the Bible, as well as new villages. Across the valley we saw Nebi Samuel, the birthplace of the prophet Samuel, who served God from childhood to old age. We passed the ancient village of Ain Karim, the birthplace of John the Baptist. Near it was a new little village, with very small, plain, pre-fabricated houses, in which some of the Yemenite Jews were living. There are many such villages springing up all over the land. And many more are needed for the hundreds of thousands of homecoming Jews. There are also many temporary “tent villages” in Israel, where the dwellings are only tents, as building cannot keep pace with the great influx of new Jewish citizens. At length we reached the well-known agricultural experi ment station near Rehovoth. It has been much enlarged since our previous visit thirteen years ago. And nearby there now stands the large and beautiful building of the Weizmann Institute which is devoted to scientific research. Finally, Tel Aviv and Jaffa came into view. Tel Aviv, long known as the all-Jewish city of Israel, is now joined with Jaffa, which up until 1949 was almost one hundred per cent Arab in population. Jaffa is ancient Joppa of Bible times, where Peter “tarried many days” with Simon the tanner. In the Jewish-Arab conflict of 1948, the Jews captured Jaffa, and most of the Arab inhabitants fled. Those that remained are friendly to the Jews. Soon we were threading our way through the streets that were crowded with traffic. Tel Aviv-Jaffa now has a combined population of 300,000 inhabitants. It is far the most densely populated center in Israel. We were surprised at the growth of Tel Aviv since our last visit. There are many streets and avenues built up with modern stores. The residential area is filled with beautiful, modern apartment buildings. We visited a park at the seaside, where there are lovely gardens filled with flowers. After Mrs. Irish had returned to Jerusalem, we visited the old city of Jaffa, which is in striking contrast to modern Tel Aviv. As we went here and there by car, the drivers were delighted to receive New Testaments. But one driver stands out clearly in my memory. We had finished our journey, and paid the fare and were about to leave the car. I offered the driver a copy of the Hebrew New Testament. He told us he was a Roumanian Jew and could not yet read Hebrew fluently. We did not have a Roumanian Testament with us, but when we learned he could read French, we offered him one of the beautiful little French Testaments with Old Testament •Executive Secretary of the M illion T estaments C ampaigns . Reprinted from the hook, I srael R eturns H ome A ccording to P rophecy , obtainable at 1505 Race Street, Philadelphia, Pa. D E C E M B E R , 1 9 5 1
Prophecies in the front of it. His surprise and delight at the gift were almost unbounded, as he gladly received the little Book. He said: “ Is this for me?” When we assured him it was for him, he said: “ It is cer tainly most kind of you to give me this Book. Now I must not charge you anything for your ride.” “ No,” I replied, “We insist on paying our fare. The little Book is a gift to you. Be sure to read it each day.” In fluent English he said: “ I do not know how to thank you enough! I deeply appreciate it!” He beamed on us a happy goodbye as we went on our way. May he be truly born again as he reads the Life-giving Word! When we were in Tel Aviv in 1937, we stayed at a hotel conducted by Mrs. Fish, formerly of Brooklyn, New York. So before going to Tel Aviv this time, we phoned the hotel and they kindly reserved a room for us. We again enjoyed the gracious courtesy and the good food of the hotel, which is now called The American House. One day we were talking to
Carrying Eggs to Market in Israel
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