What does Ellen White write about...
Adventistische Schriften über: "Story of Joseph Bates and the Shark"
Answer
Joseph Bates recounts in his autobiography an incident at sea in which a large shark persistently followed the ship and would not be lured away. When Bates later lost his balance while working on the mast and fell backward into the open sea, the crew feared in great terror that the shark would devour him. By throwing a rope, Bates was rescued, while the shark, in a miraculous way, had at that very moment swum to the other side of the ship and had not noticed the incident at all.
A Large Shark Follows the Ship
»A circumstance occurred on our homeward journey, about eighteen days after departing from Land’s End in England, which I would like to recount here: In the morning (Sunday) a large shark followed us. A large piece of meat was attached to a rope and thrown over the stern to lure it closer so that we could catch it with a shark‑hook iron made for such purposes; but none of our bait seemed to impress it. It held its position, from where it could seize anything that fell from either side of the ship.«
Bates’ Fall into the Sea and Miraculous Rescue
»In the evening of that day ... I climbed up to the great Bramstengen top ... On the way down, when I was about fifty feet from the deck and sixty from the water, I missed the spot I wanted to grasp with my hand and fell backward ... into the sea. As I was tossed upon the waves ... I saw that the captain, the officers, and the crew had rushed to the stern of the ship. The first officer hurled a rope coil with all his might, the end of which I caught with my hand. ... until they pulled me through the sea back to the ship and set my feet on the deck. ... When asked, "Where is the shark?" I began to tremble ... I then went to the other side of the ship, and lo, it glided calmly alongside us, not far from the side of the ship, seemingly unaware of our gaze. ... But the wonder for all was how it came to move its position to a place where it could neither see nor hear what was happening on the other side and at the stern of the ship.«
Original Sources (English)
Stephan Krol
Founder of EGW Vision
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