2 Chronicles 20:36 - "He joined him in building ships to go to Tarshish, and they built the ships in Eziongeber."

Although many of us enjoy the sea and a great many Americans own and sail boats of many kinds, if we stop to think about the contrasts between our country and Palestine, perhaps we will be able to understand the reasoning behind a statement that the Jews were not a sea-minded people. Look at a map of Palestine, and compare it with our own country, and look at the differences in coastal area! And, with little experience, or necessity, to use ships, the Jews couldn’t have cared less about the sea!

In fact, even Josephus admits that the Jews had to be in the midst of the direst circumstances before they would consider going to sea. However, he also tel…