National Baptist world., 1894-10-12
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
International Lesson for October IL, 1894
The Draught of Fishes-Luke 8: Ill.

mont, at No 5 in the list Of events given in our
last lesson. 1t is q preparation for the new
development of HIS work in making tours
around Galilee with His disciples and training
them in and for their worl1-our next lesson.
TIME.-April, A D. lS soon after our last
lesson
PLACE-On the shores of the Sea Of Galilee,
near Capernaum, wherC Jesus made His nome |
and the center of His Gospel work.
THE SEA OF GALILEE.-As this sea was the |
center Of Cnrists teachings for nearly half Of |
His ministry, it may be we'll to give as vivid a |
picture Of 1t as possible. Stanley calls it the |
most sacred sheet Of water which the earth |
contains JoscphuS says that it might be |
called the ambition Of nature The rabbis said
that Of the seven seas of Canaan it was the
only one which God had reserved for Himself
Renan happily calls it "a fifth Gospel" torn,
but still legible, because its associations with
the life of Christ give new meaning TO His words
and deeds. Josephus, in passage Of glowing
admiration, after describing the sweetness of
it's waters, and the delicate temperature of its
air, its palms. and vines, and oranges, and figs,
and almonds, and pomegranates, and warm
springs, says that the seasons seemed to COM
pete for the honor Of its possession. The lake
is of oval shape, from twelve to fourteen miles
long, and about half as broad. It is formed by
the river Jordan. and is 653 feet below the level
OF the Mediterranean. 1t is one hundred and
sixty-fve feet deep in some places In our
LOrd'S time it was covered with gay and nu-
merOus feet of four thousand vessels, from
ships of war down to fishing boats. The neigh
borhood Of this lake was the most thickly peo-
| pied and most prosperous part of Palestine.
| 1t was surrounded by the summer mansions of
the rich, like the Thames above London. or
| many of our seaside resorts.
LESSON NOTES.
The Eager Multitudes. And it
came to pass, that, as the people
pressed upon Him." The friends and
acquaintances of Jesus at Nazareth re-
jected Him and His teaching; but there
were great multitudes who did wish
to listen to His marvellous words, and
almost as soon as He left Nazareth
crowds pressed to hear Him. ''To hear
the word of God" Truths which had
Divine authority and were filed with
Divine love. He taught them with the
authority of one who had perfect
knowledge. God bore witness to His
words by signs and miracles; and these
miracles were examples and object les
sons of the love and power, health and
blessing, which the gospel brought tc
men.
Jesus breaches to Them from Fish
ing Boat.-''He stood by the lake
of Gennesaret." The sea of Galilee
Probably Gennesaret is a modification
of the old Hebrew name Kinneroth, o.
Kinnereth.
"And saw two ships" Rather
boats. Probably fishing boats withou
decks. ''Standing by the lake" Moore(
to the shore or drawn up on the sand
But the fishermen peter, Andrew
; John and James, and those employed
by them; see Marl) were gone out o
them" Probably not far off, for Jcsu
speaks to Peter ". 81. and wer
washing their nets" To cleanse theI
from mud or stones, Or matter accumu
t lated from the bottom of the lake O
along the shore. They were also memo
t ing their nets Mark 1:19). All this wa
3 required by the previous nights fisl
!. ing referred to in verse 5.
: And He entered into one of til
l ships (boats), which was Simons-" S
r mon Peter. Simon is contraction {
S Simeon (''hearing'), and Peter mean
e "a rock" The boat belonged to hil
S and his brother Andrew (Marlz). jest
G entered this boat, perhaps because
d was nearest, and without doubt b.
S cause Peter was one Of His disciple
). and had been with Him before Ooh
n 1:4o-42) and He we'll knew that Pete
S would be glad to have Him make sue
f use of his boat.
s An Object Lesson from Draught {
J. Fishes-'Now when He had lie:
" speaking" He had finished all E
a wished to say at that time to the pc
1. pie They must now mediate on al
j. inwardly digest the truths that ha
Is been taught. Launch out into tt
Is deep'-verb in the singular, address,
e, to Peter as captain-''and let dow
y your nets'-plural, of the crew.
to t'And Simon . said Ma
re ter, we have toiled all the night" ct
a The night was the best time for ce
ID tain kinds of fishing, either because,
le Pliny suggests, the fishes cannot
10 as well then, and thus are not frigE
Of ened away by the boats and nets,
as most probably because that is t.
I'd feeding time of the fishes. At al
rate, the fact that they had failed
re catch anything in the best time for fis
es ing was reason for not expecting a
lv special results from fishing in the ola
RI | J1Ine. NcVtiULlClCSo 0C AAf "OAU -
10 will let down the net" This was
40 act, not Of dependency, but of fait
A Peter knew something about Jes'
Nv He had believed that He was the NJ
~ siah John 1:41) and had seen His N
IA acle at Cana of Galilee John 2:1-1D,
he that, although he may not have
q, pected miracle, he had reason
trust in the wisdom and knowledge
no Jesus.
,ao They inclosed (in their metz gre
- multitude Of fishes" That mira
-, is intended is unquestionable. IL
-, wrought, whether by a Divine I
drawing together at this time and pl;
af a shoal of fishes, or by a Divine kno7
edge perceiving the shoal that v
there, the narrator does not indlca
"And their net brake" Was brea1i1
,r i. e., began to break, was on the po
- of breaking, but did notactually bre
~ Their partners" Fellow-worl1e
~ James and John ". 10), and pr
- -. ably their hired men Mark 1:20). "a
A. filled both the ships (boats), so t.
"a they began to sink" They were
~ ~ SO that they could just float
md when Simon Peter saw it."
in. full name is here given, for this is
the turning point IN his life; he enters n
=, no1,, oaroar in which the n