Acts 9:38
And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them.
Lydda was near Joppa. When the disciples and believers in Joppa heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men, that is messengers, asking him to come to them without delay because they urgently wanted his help. They wanted him to come because they had heard of the remarkable, marvelous cures he had performed in Lydda. They sent urgently after Dorcas died.
Tabitha, called Dorcas by interpretation, was a worthy and greatly beloved disciple of Jesus who lived in Joppa, whose life was filled with acts of kindness, charity, and zeal for the truth. She knew who needed comfortable clothing and who needed sympathy and freely ministered to the poor and the sorrowful, working quietly with skillful fingers and hands more active than her tongue or words, with patient, prayerful, persevering fidelity. When she lay dead in Joppa the young, infant church felt her loss deeply and grieved the loss of her charitable service, mourning and lamenting with tears over her lifeless body as a great loss it could not well spare.
She was of such great value that by the power of God she was called back from death so that her skill and energy might still be a blessing to others by continuing to make garments for the poor. Her patient, prayerful, and persevering fidelity is held up as an example of steadfast, God-fearing faithfulness that is rare yet needed for the church to prosper and needed in the church, the Sabbath school, and society.
The call connects with the Dorcas work for needy believers, a line of labor among little churches that have heard the truth that lasts as long as time lasts, with work still to be done without end and very little to show for it even when strength and money are spent. It is not duty to keep carrying the financial and religious loads for such people much longer when testimony is needed elsewhere, but to plead with the Lord to indicate where to go to bear testimony so souls are benefited and to stay in touch with workers and people who do not know the truth.