Towards the evening of the 27th, it pleased Him, "who gathereth the wind in his fists," gradually to suppress the storm, till there was a perfect calm. Men were encouraged to leave the retreats in which they had taken refuge, and view the "desolations which God had made in the earth."[72]
Though the winds are produced by the operation of natural causes, and seem to move in natural courses, yet there is a first Cause, whose efficiency is necessary to their existence, motions, and continuance. We shall select the following remarkable instance as an illustration of the truth of this assertion.
The disciples of Christ were once in imminent danger from a storm at the sea of Tiberias, which is also called the Sea of Galilee, and the Lake of Gennesaret, and, according to Pliny, is sixteen miles long, and six broad. It is said, "Behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea," <<seismos megas>>, a great concussion or shaking. The same expression is frequently used, both in the Scripture and in other writings, for an earthquake; but here it is applied to the sea. Luke calls this tempest "a storm of wind;" Mark, "a great storm of wind;" and both of them use the word <<lailaps>>, which the philosopher says is a particular kind of wind, or rather a conflict of many winds. The most probable derivation, says Mr. Parkhurst, seems to be from <<la>> or <<lian>>, _very much_, and <<laptô>>, _to lick_ or _lap up_, as wolves do water in drinking; for a whirlwind _violently licks up_, as it were, the dust of all light bodies in its way. Hence <<lailaps>> is a wind that is suddenly whirled and rolled about downwards and upwards. Aristotle explains the word by _a violent whirlwind, moving from beneath upwards_. Hesychius, a learned Grecian, defines it to be a storm or tempest of wind, with rain. It seems to have been a whirlwind and hurricane in which the disciples then were. Luke says, that this storm of wind _came down_; it descended with great force into the sea, and lifted up its waves, which beat into the ship, and pressed it much, so that it was in great danger of being swallowed up and sunk by them. All the views given us of this tempest show the disciples to have been in imminent danger. It is said, "that the ship was covered with the waves," which "beat into it, so that it was now full of water," as Mark expresses it. Nay, Luke says, "they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy," or in great danger. The ship was immersed, or just sinking into the deep. So that the disciples were brought to the utmost extremity. The great distress they were in is expressed in these words, "We perish, <<apollymetha>>, _we are lost_."[73] This way of speaking is still in use among sea-faring men, and indeed among others. Nothing is more common than for men to say, Such a vessel, or such a ship's crew, or such a person, was lost at sea, in such a place, and at such a time. It is also to be observed, they do not say, We are in danger of being lost, or we are ready to be lost, or we shall be lost, but, _we are lost_. Which shows what apprehension they had of their condition; they saw no probability of escaping by any naturally rational method; they looked on themselves as lost.