Sailing on the Sea of Galilee

Sailing on the Sea of Galilee was, without a doubt, one of the highlights of our trip. We had a wonderful boat Captain, Daniel Carmel (http://www.hebrewworshipsongs.com/), who was adopted and raised in a secular Jewish family. He came to be a believer through working on a boat at the Sea of Galilee and hearing the tourists praying and singing. He now captains his own boat and, in his words, is now "fishing for men." He began recording music, and as I write this blog, I am playing his CD, Sailing on Faith, peaceful, beautiful worship songs sung both in English and Hebrew.



The above picture shows us sailing out from Tiberius on the calm, perfect waters of the lake. Absolutely beautiful, the weather about 70, a slight breeze, not a cloud in the sky. The Sea of Galilee, also named the Sea of Tiberius in the New Testament or Sea of Kinnereth in the Old Testament, is fed primarily by the Jordan River and is the lowest fresh-water lake in the world, about 300 feet below sea level, about 13 miles x 7 miles large. Much of Jesus' ministry occurred around the Sea of Galilee. Our Captain said that the lake is extremely calm, but because of the geography of the region, violent storms can come with little warning and can be quite dangerous.

The pass between the hills (above) leads from the lake to Nazareth, which historians believe had a first-century population between 500 to about 2000 people. So easy to imagine Jesus walking from his hometown to the Sea. Our guide mentioned that Israel also is a bird watchers paradise, as Israel works as a "funnel" for the millions of birds that can't fly across the Mediterranean, and so fly from Europe and Asia through Israel on their way to Africa. These thousands and thousands of birds are a real threat to the aviation community, which has conducted intensive research to pinpoint what day in what month various flocks of these birds will be migrating. According to our guide, the birds migration can be estimated down to the exact day. Amazing, isn't it, how our Lord planned everything down to the last detail.

We stopped sailing in the middle of the lake and sang worship songs together, then Pastor Ron gave a brief talk (hey dad, probably about ten minutes) that, as always, made the Word so real in this setting. Pastor Ron talked about the day the Lord learned of John the Baptist's beheading (Matthew 14), mourning his loss, yet not focusing on His own needs but preaching to all those who were following, then feeding these 5000. At the end of this day, they sailed over to the other side of the lake, where there were 7 pagan villages (Joshua Chapter 3). It was interesting to consider how there was a sudden squall on the Sea as our Lord sailed to this pagan shore, which he rebuked and the lake became calm again, and as they were getting out of the boat they were met by a man who lived among the tombs and who was possessed (Mark 4). This man immediately approached and recognized our Lord. I personally had never considered or put these events together, but with the sudden storm on the Sea and being met by this demon-possessed man, was Satan attempting to discourage our Lord from coming to these pagan villages? It is also interesting to consider that our Lord sent the demons into the pigs, as they had requested, the pigs being valued by the pagans. Right afterwards, the people pleaded with our Lord to leave the area and He does so, but first directs the man who had been possessed to spread the word. So, although the Lord doesn't stay in the area, His story begins to be told. Jesus returns to this region later on, but this was His first start into this pagan area. So fascinating, and such a privilege to be on the Sea and to see that shore and visualize how it all occurred.

Other things I learned that I don't want to forget? When our Lord fed the 5000, there were 12 baskets of bread left over, one for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. When he fed the 4000 later in the scripture over in the pagan area, there were 7 baskets of bread left over, one for each of the 7 pagan nations.

The picture, below, is the best shot I could get of the "city on the hill" mentioned in the scriptures. This city is in the middle of the picture, not so sure you can see it with all the sand in the air. Might be easier to see if you double-click on the picture.

We landed at The Gardens of the Lord, then back on the bus for the trip to the Mount of Beatitudes.