By Dr. Randall Smith
Courtesy of Christian Travel Study Programs, Ltd.
Since the beginning of time, the Sea of Galilee has provided its fishermen with a plentiful source of sustenance. Some of the apostles were fishermen:
“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ?Come, follow me,? Jesus said, ?and I will make you fishers of men.? At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him” [Matthew 4:18-22].
The most famous fish of the 23 family varieties found in the Galilee is now commonly named for Simon Peter ? “the St. Peter?s fish.” The fish is actually the “telapia” a so called “mouth breeder.” This fish protects its young by scooping them into her mouth in times of peril. Some have suggested that this fish may have been the type that scooped the shekel tax in the story of the fish with the coin. (Mt. 17:24:27)
Biblical figures lived and worked on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Two millennia ago Jesus lived, sojourned, and preached on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and in its neighboring towns, making Capernaum the center of his ministry.
Mary Magdalene was from Migdal, and three disciples were born in Bethsaida.
One city survives today, the city of Tiberias was built during Jesus? lifetime, to honor the Roman Caesar Tiberius.
Shaped like a harp, some eight miles across (E-W) and 13 miles (N-S), the Sea of Galilee (in Hebrew Kinneret) is the most important body of fresh water in the land of Israel. The Kinneret provides the modern State with nearly one third of its water needs. It is Israel?s only sweet-water lake, and averages over 180-200 day at center. There are 23 family varieties of fish in the Sea.
Seen from almost any vantage point the Sea of Galilee is a delight. Sometimes it shimmers in the sunlight, giving the waters a beautiful glow. At others it waxes cloudy ? enigmatic and mysterious. The sight of the Sea of Galilee by ancients who crossed parched deserts in the region must have moved the onlooker to tears.
In the modern era, the first collective settlements (kibbutzim) in the modern Jewish State of Israel were established in the southwestern corner of the Sea of Galilee. Among them was Kibbutz Degania, forerunner of the hundreds of settlements that were yet to come.
© Christian Travel Study Programs, Ltd.
