Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Fishing on the Sea of Galilee

Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to fish on the Sea of Galilee  during the time of Jesus?

If you love fishing and fishing stories you might want to visit  this 
land-locked sea (lake) some day. It is a beautiful lake actually some 20.92 kilometers  or 13 miles long by 11.27 kilometers or 7 miles wide and had a thriving fishing industry during Jesus' day.

The area around this sea is quite picturesque but rugged. Like the Dead Sea it lies at the bottom of the Great Right Valley -- not quite as low as the Dead Sea which is 1400 feet below sea level -- but still quite deep at 690 feet below with rock shores surround much of it and Mount Hermon at its northern end.

Here the fishermen of Jesus day  cast their nets either from boats or from the shore. Sometimes the water was calm but during the winter cold winds often whipped up choppy waves and in the summer powerful storms frequently roared down the slopes and across the warm waters creating havoc for unwary sailors as described in Mathew 8: 23-27 just as it does for fishermen and sailors in these waters today, although now of course they are much better equipped.

Next we'll take a quick look at some of the boats and equipment of these early fishermen.