Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.
The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.
Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. So Paul warned them, “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.
When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure, so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”
On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep. Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.” So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.
Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. Altogether there were 276 of us on board. When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.
When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.
The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.

• Acts 27:1-44

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Acts 27 ‘Overview’: “The Jews were not (except for some fishermen) a seafaring race. They left that to the Egyptians to the south and the Phoenicians to the north, not to mention the Greeks. For the Jews, the sea was a monster. Yes, the one God had made it just as he made everything else, and it was his, and did his bidding. But all the same the sea was seen as a dark force, a power in its own right and a place from which dark powers might emerge. Paul, unusually for a Jew, was a seasoned sea traveler. He would have been under no illusions about what might await him on the long voyage to get to Rome from one of its farthest outposts. He had lived much of the last few years in that in-between stage, knowing that the sea was still potentially a great enemy while believing that all enemies had been defeated by Jesus the Messiah.”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 27:1 ‘we’: “The use of the pronoun ‘we’ marks the return of Paul’s close friend Luke, who has been absent since 21:18. He had likely been living near Caesarea so he could care for Paul during his imprisonment. Now, he rejoined the apostle for the journey to Rome. centurion of the Augustan Regiment. A cohort (regiment) of that name was stationed in Palestine during the reign of Agrippa II (see note on 25:13). Iulius may have been on detached duty, performing such tasks as escorting important prisoners.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 27:2 ‘Adramyttium’: “A city on the northwest coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) near Troas, where the centurion planned to find a ship sailing to Italy. we put to sea. From Caesarea, the ship sailed seventy miles north to Sidon. Aristarchus … with us. He had been seized by the crowd during the riot at Ephesus (19:29), while accompanying Paul to Jerusalem with the offering (20:4). Aristarchus would be with Paul during the apostle’s first Roman imprisonment (Col. 4:10).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 27:4 ‘sailed under the shelter of Cyprus’: “They kept to the lee side of the island (passing between it and the mainland), seeking shelter from the strong winds.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 27:9 ‘the Fast was already over.’: “See … Zechariah 7:3; cf. Leviticus 23:26-32. Travel in the open sea was dangerous from mid-September to mid-November, after which it ceased altogether until February. Since the Fast (the Day of Atonement) of late September or early October was past, further travel was already extremely hazardous.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 27:17 ‘used cables to gird the ship’: “A procedure known as ‘frapping.’ The cables, wrapped around the hull and winched tight, helped the ship endure the battering of the wind and waves. Syrtis Sands. A region of sandbars and shoals off the coast of Africa, much feared as a graveyard of ships. Struck sail. This phrase could best be translated ‘let down the sea anchor.’ The sailors undoubtedly did both, since putting out an anchor with the sails up would be self-defeating.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 27:23-25 ‘Paul and Jonah’: “The reader with an alert biblical memory may be thinking, ‘Where have I heard something like this before?’ And the answer, which Luke certainly intends us to pick up, is the story of Jonah. Jonah was running away to Tarshish to avoid having to go and preach to the great imperial city of Nineveh. When the great storm came, the sailors did what Paul’s sailors did: they threw the cargo into the sea (Jonah 1:4-5). At that point Jonah was in the hold, fast asleep, but they woke him up and ended up throwing him overboard. And of course part of Luke’s point is that Paul is not Jonah; he is not running away; he is being faithful to his calling to preach in the great imperial capital to which he is bound; he is certainly not going to be thrown overboard. Instead, in a dramatic reversal, he tells the ship’s company to cheer up. Paul’s vision (Acts 27:23-25) is the turning point in the story.”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 27:23-24 ‘same sea – ever changing weather’: “Every new year is an uncharted and unknown sea. No ship has ever sailed this way before. The wisest of earth’s sons and daughters cannot tell us what we may encounter on this journey. Familiarity with the past may afford us a general idea of what we may expect, but just where the rocks lie hidden beneath the surface or when that ‘tempestuous wind called Euroclydon’ may sweep-down upon us suddenly, no one can say with certainty. …
“Now more than at any other time in generations, the believer is in a position to go on the offensive. The world is lost on a wide sea, and Christians alone know the way to the desired haven. While things were going well, the world scorned them with their Bible and hymns, but now the world needs them desperately, and it needs that despised Bible, too.
“For in the Bible, and there only, is found the chart to tell us where we are going on this rough and unknown ocean. The day when Christians should meekly apologize is over—they can get the world’s attention not by trying to please, but by boldly declaring the truth of divine revelation. They can make themselves heard not by compromise, but by taking the affirmative and sturdily declaring, ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ ”

• A. W. Tozer, This World: Playground or Battleground?

Acts 27:25 ‘Paul exhibition of Faith’: “In this episode we see Paul as an avowed believer. He did not conceal his confidence, but he proclaimed it even before those who did not share his belief.
“First, he begins the statement of his faith by saying that he believed God. Second, Paul’s firm faith was grounded in revelation. Nothing is so sure as the revelation in God’s inspired book. The person who quibbles with the revelation of the Word of God has given up the foundation of faith. We should boldly proclaim what God has said. Observe, third, that Paul’s faith went on to a conviction of the absolute certainty of that revelation. We can apply this to whatever promise God has made. Whatever declaration he has set forth in his Holy Word, it will be just as it was told. Here is the joy and certainty of the believer.
“Finally, Paul believed God when to outward appearances ‘all hope was fading that we would be saved’ (v. 20). Paul’s faith hoped against hope. When hope mourns, ‘I cannot find rest for the soles of my feet,’ faith cries, ‘Use your wings.’ When there seems nothing for faith to rest on but the bare Word of God, then faith is glad, for now she can commune with her Creator without being entangled by outward means and artifacts. Did not the Lord hang the world on nothing but his word? And cannot we hang our souls there, too? It is grand to stand like the arch of heaven, unpillared and yet unmoved, resting only on the invisible God. Did I say ‘only’? ls not that resting on everything that is worth trusting, since God is all in all?”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

Acts 27:27 ‘fourteenth night’: “Since they sailed from Fair Havens (v. 13). Adriatic Sea. The central Mediterranean Sea, not the present Adriatic Sea located between Italy and Croatia. The modern Adriatic was known in Paul’s day as the Gulf of Adria. sensed. The sailors probably heard the sound of waves breaking on a shore.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 27:33 ‘without food’: “Because of seasickness and the difficulty of preparing and preserving food, the passengers and crew had eaten little or nothing in the two weeks since they left Fair Havens.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Acts 27 ‘Taking up one’s cross’: “Luke’s Gospel begins by addressing the book to Theophilus. So does Acts. In Luke Jesus went on a journey and eventually arrived in Jerusalem. So did Paul in Acts. In the Gospel, Jesus was picked up by the Jewish authorities and handed over to the Romans. In Acts, Paul was too. Jesus was interrogated by the Roman governor, who at one point brought him before Herod Antipas. Paul was interrogated by two Roman governors and brought before Herod Agrippa. Jesus was sent to his death. Paul was sent to Rome.
“In particular, Paul was sent to Rome via the sea. We must note that the ancient Jews viewed the sea as a dark force, a place from which dark powers might emerge (see, for example, Job 7:12; Psalm 69:14-15; 74:13-14; 77:16; 144:7; Daniel 7:3; Habakkuk 3:15-—and the book of Jonah, of course). Acts 27 is, in other words, the equivalent of Luke 23. Paul’s shipwreck corresponds to Jesus’ crucifixion within Luke’s narrative structure. Why does Luke do this?
“This is how he conveys to us the meaning of the cross—not so much through a formula like Mark 10:45 but through the very texture of his entire narrative. In Luke there is a long buildup of warnings against Israel. Then we discover that Jesus identifies with the nation of Israel. To our horror, we watch as the judgment Jesus had prophesied for the nation, at the hands of the Romans, falls on himself.
“Likewise there are clear signs and warnings building in Acts. Late fall is no time to be out on the open sea. There are strong contrary winds making travel difficult and dangerous (27:7-9). Paul himself gives a warning which was ignored (27:10-11). Then Paul breaks bread and gives thanks to God in the midst of a huge storm (Acts 27:27-35)—so reminiscent of Jesus breaking bread as a different type of storm arose around him.
“Luke is not saying that Paul’s experience was redemptive too or that Jesus’ death was merely exemplary. Rather Luke is asking us to watch as the story unfolds, to see this narrative as it were superimposed on the story of the cross, not as just another example of suffering and vindication but as a sign of the way the unique event of Jesus’ death is implemented in the mission of the church to the world, the world as it yearns for its new creation.”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

Acts 27 ‘Reflection’: “The idea of the church as a little ship was probably not invented at this stage, but Luke was there already. The storms do not mean that the journey is futile. They merely mean that Jesus is claiming the world as his own, and that the powers of the world will do their best to resist.”

• N. T. Wright, Acts (from the For Everyone Bible Study Series)

My Thoughts

Have you ever had a bad travel experience?

I have had plenty.  I once arrived in Beijing, China and my driver/host was not there.  After a couple of hours of making phone calls, someone said he was stuck in traffic, but by then, my companion (a consultant) and I were ready to take the next available flight back home.  We waited another two hours and they showed up with a sign that had my name on it.  Many years before, I was on the flight that made national news.  I was in Seattle (SeaTac) and due to the below zero temperatures, the refueling hose indicated that it was locked in place, but when they started pumping fuel into the wing, it broke loose like a garden hose whipping around.  Only problem was that it was jet fuel and the entire plane had to be “de-iced” in order to wash away the fuel.  Of course, I had a front row seat outside my window.  What they said over the intercom was a lie.  On another flight about six months later, we were in a much smaller plane.  The smaller engine blocked my view from the window seat.  The intercom said there was a delay due to being out of order on the taxi way.  Our connecting flights had been held up.  Both were lies.  The engine outside my window was partially disassembled to get to a leaking O-ring, a tiny piece of rubber.  It was leaking.   Very little jet fuel sprayed this time, but some did.  And the only way that we made our connecting flight was that our flight taxied behind our connecting flight.  They had already closed the jetway, but the pilot saw the four of us run to the window and bang our heads against it.  He pushed back to the jetway and allowed us on.

But none compares with leaving at the wrong time of the year and having every kind of bad weather work against you.  Sure, the loose fuel hose that sprayed over everything was a weather issue, but nothing like the cargo being thrown out and 276 people having to swim or use wooden planks as a floatation device.

But starting at the beginning of this chapter, the centurion is Julius, but it never says whether he accepted Jesus as his Savior.  He was a kindly centurion, allowing Paul to go ashore at Sidon so that friends could attend his needs.  Julius also refused to allow the soldiers to kill the prisoners.  The Scriptures say that Julius was protecting Paul.

The chapter says that Aristarchus attended to Paul, but the pronoun used is “we” and this means that Luke was there also.

In a jet airplane, horrible headwinds might cause you to change altitude or redirect the flight path, but the only big problem is that you might run out of fuel and not reach your destination.  For those who worry about such things, they figure headwinds into their calculations and have extra fuel.  In Paul’s case, they are aboard a sailing ship.  At one point, they switched ships to an Alexandrian ship.  This was probably a much larger ship, since it started from Egypt. Paul did a lot of island hopping in his mission trips, probably on smaller boats that did not charge as much for the passage.  Now with a larger boat, they felt safer, but they were not.

It was after the Day of Atonement (thus the Fast was over), and it was not a good time to go sailing in the Mediterranean Sea.  They were in a harbor called Fair Haven, but it was not set up for staying there for the winter.  Paul prophesied that the ship would be destroyed, but the centurion took the advice of the pilot and the ship owner.  They saw a gap in the weather and went for it, but then a hurricane force storm tossed them about.  They threw over the cargo.  They ran ropes under the hull to try to hold the ship together.  They brought the lifeboats on deck.

Paul again prophesied that all who remained on the ship would be saved.  Not a hair lost.  But the soldiers first tried to save their own skin by dropping down a lifeboat and leaving the sailors to their fate.  Paul told the centurion that only if they stayed with the boat would they be saved, so they cut the lifeboat free.

Paul told them to eat something.  When Paul himself took bread and broke it, the others gained courage and ate something also.

As it looked like all was lost, the soldiers wanted to kill all the prisoners, but Julius forbid them in doing so, wanting to protect Paul.

They ran aground on a sandbar.  Those that could swim swam to the island, but those that could not had to use planks from the ship to float onto shore.  As Paul had prophesied, all 276 people on board were saved.

So many opportunities were there for someone to not make it, but God led Paul in the prophecies, and the centurion, who had ignored Paul’s first prophecy, was allowing Paul’s further prophecies to come true.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Acts 27 : 1. When have you felt caught in a ‘northeaster,’ driven along by the wind? What happened? What did you learn from the situation?
“2. In terms of a weather report, how would you describe your life at present? Your life five years ago?
“3. In a crisis, Paul reacted with urgent forewarnings, maintaining hope, counseling, common sense, giving thanks, remaining calm, persevering to the end. In comparison, how do you react to crisis?
“4. What is the greatest pressure situation you’re facing now? How can Paul‘s example and the principles you‘ve learned from this story help you in your situation? What is your part and what is God’s part in the resolution of your storm?
“5. When have you been tempted to bail out of a stormy situation, to sneak away in a lifeboat? What happened? What did you learn?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Acts 27 has one set of questions.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.