Acts 27:1-27:44
We are now up to the last two chapters of the Book of Acts. Before we begin going through Acts chapter 27, let me bring you up to speed. Paul had been arrested in Jerusalem and brought to Caesarea. After spending two long years in jail, he finally had the beginnings of a trial, and Paul chose to “appeal to Caesar” rather than continue on trying to get a fair trial among people who lived by political favors without much regards for real justice. What this meant is that his trial would be taken up in Rome.
Rome is a long, long way from Caesarea, about 1500 miles one way. That distance is as a straight line; an actual journey, unless by air, is significantly longer. The most direct route at the time of Paul was by ship.
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. – Acts 27:1-2
It says that Paul went for Italy with “some other prisoners.” Recall that Paul had not been found guilty of anything; he was going to Rome for his trial. What about the other prisoners? It is unlikely that many, or even any, of the other prisoners were in the same situation. It is more likely that they had been found guilty and were being set to Rome to become “entertainment” in the arena as combatants against gladiators or food for lions, in other words, to die.
Also with Paul was Aristarchus the Macedonian. Who was he? Aristarchus was mentioned back in Acts 19:29 where he, along with Gaius were seized in the riot of Ephesus where people shouted for hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Aristarchus was also mentioned in Acts 20:4 where he is listed as one of Paul’s traveling companions through Macedonia and Greece.
How is it that Aristarchus was with Paul? Although it is possible he too was a prisoner, the wording of the passage doesn’t sound like it. Instead it sounds like he was a paying passenger. He probably arranged this in a last minute way so as to be able to accompany Paul to Rome.
In addition to the centurion named Julius, and his fellow soldiers of the Imperial Regiment, who else is with Paul on this journey? Luke. Notice that once again the people are described as “we.” Why was Luke there? Perhaps he was also a paying passenger, or perhaps he was hired aboard as the ship’s doctor. Either way, it had to be extremely comforting to Paul to have Aristarchus and Luke traveling with him, even if Paul alone was in chains. Let me mention that some commentators have suggested that they came “under cover” as Paul’s “slaves” – this is possible.
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. – Acts 27:3-5
The map above shows the details of Paul’s journey in chains. I want to point out how the details of this journey make complete sense from a nautical perspective. Verse 9 indicates that the time frame here is early fall. The prevailing wind at this time of year was from the west. The distance from Caesarea to Sidon is 67 land miles, a doable journey in one day if the prevailing winds help you.
Why did they go to the north of Cyprus? It says because the winds were against them. Why did this help? It is because there they could take advantage of currents running along the coast that would help them to make progress despite the winds being in the wrong direction. This route is backed up by other ancient sources.
Note that going to Rome is long and dangerous journey. Paul, in chains, no doubt was not prepared for such a voyage. Already fall, and winter coming, he would need clothes to protect him against the elements and perhaps more suitable food and other provisions. In Sidon, it says that Julius was kind to Paul and let him go to his friends (Luke and Aristarchus) to help him become appropriately provisioned for the journey.
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. – Acts 27:6-8
A later verse indicates that this Alexandrian ship was a huge cargo ship, and coming from Alexandria, Egypt, it is highly likely that it was a grain ship. Egypt was the source of most of the grain in Rome. The map shows this portion of the journey. It was slow going because of the prevailing winds.
If you are wondering why a grain ship from Alexandria is way up at Myra, the answer is that it is for the same reason that Paul’s first ship went north: to find some currents to make headway against the prevailing winds. Myra, by the way, had a large port and was the most natural place to switch ships to find one headed to Rome. (Note that verse 1 indicates that the first ship was only going to various ports in the province of Asia.)
The following explanation of the reasons for what was going on in the journey at this point is from the book “Evidence and Paul’s Journeys” by Jefferson White:
"The distance from Myra to Cnidus is 130 land miles. The ship could have covered that distance in a single day with a favoring wind. Luke says that it took several days, which again confirms that the prevailing wind was against them. In sailing west to Cnidus, they were leaving the shelter of the Turkish land mass.
"Finding it impossible to proceed any farther west at Cnidus, the ship turned to the southwest to get behind Crete. This change in course is an important piece of evidence. It tells us that the wind had shifted, though Luke does not actually say that this occurred. The wind must now have been blowing from the northwest, since if it had been blowing from the west they could have crossed the Aegean Sea north of Crete. More importantly, a westerly wind would have made it impossible for them to sail to the southwest to get behind Crete.
"Luke does not mention this change of wind direction, but he records its consequences. Meteorological evidence reveals that in late summer and early fall the prevailing wind often shifts to the northwest in the Mediterranean. Since this was the time of year they sailed, this is a further confirmation that the wind was now blowing from the northwest. […]
"After Paul’s ship reached Cape Salome on the eastern edge of Crete, they ran along the southern coast and used the island as a shelter from the wind. Luke records that it was with difficulty that they reached the harbor of Fair Havens. He then states that they halted there, but does not say why.
"Meteorological and nautical evidence tells us why. Looking at the map of southern Crete, you will see that Cape Matala lies just miles west of Fair Havens harbor. At the Cape, the coast curves to the north. Had their ship sailed past Cape Matala, they would have been exposed to the northwest wind and would have found it impossible to continue westward. The reason for their halt at Fair Havens was to wait for a change in the wind. Luke’s statement that they made the harbor at Fair Havens with difficulty also fits the evidence. A sailing ship working its way westward against a northwest wind, even under the shelter of Crete, would have had problems reaching Fair Havens."
Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. 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. – Acts 27:9-12
“The fast” refers to the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, a fall holiday. This was one of the “High Holidays” described in Exodus.
Now, once it became winter, the winds and storms made it impossible to sail any distance on the Mediterranean Sea. So the decision about whether to winter here are go on to Phoenix was really decision about whether to hope for good winds and sail all the way on to Rome. All would acknowledge it was dangerous. So why would the pilot and owner of the ship want to do this?
The answer is money. According to the Roman writer Seutonius, during these years the city of Rome had shortages of food every winter. For this reason the Emperor Claudius offered major financial rewards to those ship owners who would take the risks and bring in food late in the fall.
There has been a TV show on cable this year that is strikingly similar to this situation. It is called Ice Road Truckers. I saw this recently while on vacation. It is about truckers driving extremely heavy loads across large frozen bodies of water in Alaska in the early spring, trying to get it done before the ice melts and the road disappears. If they can’t get their loads through in time, the people who want the goods have to wait for another year. This is the ultimate “guy” TV show. The show combines all the things guys love: driving fast and noisy, an extreme environment, really large equipment (they are in big rigs hauling humongous pieces of machinery), and plenty of danger. The issues here are exactly the same as those facing that ship two thousand years ago. There are huge financial rewards for truckers who are crazy enough to try to bring their loads in even as the ice is melting. The potential consequences are dramatic – you risk your rig and your life – but the rewards are as much money as you could make in a year.
You may wonder why the centurion had the final say in deciding whether to stop or sail on. The answer is that ships like this were licensed as “agents” of the Roman government. In effect, the owners of the ships were only owners because Rome “allowed” them to remain as owners. The centurion, as the highest ranking representative of Rome present, would have the final say.
Luke says that Fair Havens was not a suitable place for staying for the winter. This meant they would have to reverse course somewhat to find a safer place. They didn’t want to do this, and so they went on. If this were a work of fiction, we would say that Paul’s warning was an example of foreshadowing. Well, sometimes foreshadowing happens in real life. This is especially true when people want to do risky things, and sensible people warn them beforehand.
When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; 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. – Acts 27:13-15
The gentle south wind was “finicky” – there was no guarantee how long it would remain. But this is what they were hoping for. If it remained long enough, they could go all the way to Rome. Crete is a mountainous island, and strong winds do sometimes rush down the mountains directly towards where Paul’s ship was. This still happens often in late fall today. This wind had a name, the same name we give to winter storms here in America that sometimes have extreme wind on the East coast: northeaster. If a ship tries to run “sideways” against such a strong wind, it will certainly capsize; so they either pointed in the direction of the wind or opposite it.
As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. When the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. – Acts 27:16-17
This small island gave them a tiny bit of shelter, so they took advantage of the temporary situation and hauled in their trailing lifeboat, a practice common to ships of that era. They also “passed ropes under the ship itself” – this was also a common practice. Ropes were wrapped around the entire ship to give it more structural integrity. The sandbars of Syrtis, by the way, are in Africa. If they had pointed the ship in the direction that would let the wind carry it, they would have faced wrecking the ship on the northern coast of Africa. Instead, they faced the ship into the wind. This was harder on the ship. But it allowed the ship to be mostly carried by currents rather than the wind.
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. – Acts 27:18-20
It is hard to imagine days and days of constant storming. Yet this is what they went through. They were so in fear of drowning that they threw overboard much of the cargo – the grain that was the whole point for them making this risky journey. That says a lot about how scared they were. The next day, to lighten the ship a bit more, they threw overboard the ship’s tackle – the ropes and other materials used to support the sails. It sounds like even Luke himself was one of those throwing this stuff overboard. And then more of the same, day after day: terrible storming, the ship beginning to fall apart, severe seasickness, and it says they gave up all hope.
This experience makes the experience of the disciples on the boat in the storm on the lake look like a children’s boat ride in comparison. For the non-Christians on the boat, they had long since given up calling on their personal gods, or the gods of the sea, or any other gods they could think of. The situation was more like the one with Jonah. But although Jonah was running away from God, and God’s punishment encompassed the men around him, the exact opposite situation was true here, as we shall see.
After the men 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 whose I am 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." – Acts 27:21-26
I wonder what the men thought at this speech. Perhaps they thought he had lost his marbles. But it was all true. After an apparent silence of more than two years, God again spoke to Paul, this time through an angel, who again confirmed that Paul would go to Rome. And furthermore, because Paul was serving God, God’s grace was extended to those around him, to all of those in the ship.
Paul uses some phrasing that I absolutely love. “Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve…” Isn’t that great? Often we turn the possessives around the other way. “My God will provide for me.” The implication is that God is “ours” whereas Paul says he is God’s! And the other implication in “My God will provide for me” is that God serves us, whereas Paul says he serves God! The people on the ship who didn’t know the Lord all thought about it the other way. They gave offerings to their gods so that the gods would serve them. They had little statues of “their” gods – this was the mindset. And this mindset even creeps into Christianity if we are not careful. You are His. You serve Him. Like Paul says in his letters, we are glad and willing bondservants or slaves of Christ.
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. – Acts 27:27-29
In the middle of a storm it is dangerous to drop “four anchors.” Normally they will not hold, but if they do, the strain may be so great on the ship that it tears it apart. Yet, with the water rapidly becoming shallow, they didn’t know what else to do. How did they sense the approach of land? Perhaps the wind sounded different, or the waves, or perhaps they could hear breakers off in the distance. Why did they anchor from the stern? Normal is from the prow, the front. They did it so that the ship would swing around, pointing towards land, so that if they did run aground, the front would do it – this part was more capable of surviving than the back.
It is an interesting phrase to “pray for daylight.” I am sure they prayed for more than that, but that strikes me more as a prayer of desperation rather than a prayer expecting an answer. It would be a pretty big miracle for daylight to come sooner than it always does – not impossible, mind you, but not the type of thing one normally prays for. It reminds me of when people pray about a test grade as the tests are being returned. Wouldn’t it have been better to pray while you were studying, or to pray while you were taking the test, or even to pray while the professor was grading the test? But praying as the tests are being returned strikes me as a similar type of prayer of desperation. I don’t want to sound too critical here – I doubt my prayers would have made much sense either after two weeks of going through what they had gone through.
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 fall away. – Acts 27:30-32
Why would the sailors try to navigate in a lifeboat in the dark in the middle of a terrible storm? This is a pretty suicidal thing to do, but it must have seemed equally suicidal to stay on the ship overnight, so close to land. The sound must have been terrible – the strain of the ship under the anchors – you would have heard terrible groanings and creakings and perhaps the sound of wood cracking. Would you want to stay on that through the night?
Note how Paul, the prisoner, is almost a leader here! The centurion trusted Paul. Why? It must be because he has spent time with him and seen his character and his faith. And his argument was also logical – they needed the men to stay on the ship so they could navigate the ship in the morning. Cutting the ropes to the lifeboat is a “no turning back” kind of decision. That’s the end of the lifeboat and the end of any “Plan B.”
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. – Acts 27:33-38
Probably Paul did not just give thanks for the bread but for their coming deliverance. Paul’s absolute faith in the storm was contagious. It says they were all encouraged. Mostly these were unbelievers, although no doubt they were quite open to the gospel at that point. I want you to try to picture 276 haggard, exhausted, encouraged men, sailors, soldiers, and prisoners, eating a meal together in the dark in the middle of a horrible storm, in a ship that is falling apart.
When finished, they through away the rest of the grain to lighten the ship as much as possible. Remember that the grain was the reason they had taken this risky voyage – for riches. Now they saw that riches were worth nothing compared to their lives. It is a message our present society would do well to learn, especially when they compare present riches to eternal lives.
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. – Acts 27:39-41
The nautical details make sense here. Now that they could see that the beach was sandy, and not a deadly rocky shore, they could try to run the ship aground and get as close to land as possible. They cut loose the anchors so they could move and then untied ropes holding the rudders. They were held by ropes the night before so they would not break in the storm. The small foresail was raised to get the boat to move with the wind, slowly, and note that probably the mainsail yard-arm (the long horizontal bar) was long gone in the storm. So then they “hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach.” That sounds pretty pirate-y, doesn’t it?
But it says the ship struck sand, and combining the force of the pounding of the surf and the previous damage and weakening of the ship, this was the end of the ship.
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 pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety. – Acts 27:42-44
Miraculously there was no loss of life. And the book I mentioned earlier indicates that they are pretty certain where all this happened: at a place now called, appropriately enough, St. Paul’s Bay. From the book:
“The fast” refers to the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, a fall holiday. This was one of the “High Holidays” described in Exodus.
Now, once it became winter, the winds and storms made it impossible to sail any distance on the Mediterranean Sea. So the decision about whether to winter here are go on to Phoenix was really decision about whether to hope for good winds and sail all the way on to Rome. All would acknowledge it was dangerous. So why would the pilot and owner of the ship want to do this?
The answer is money. According to the Roman writer Seutonius, during these years the city of Rome had shortages of food every winter. For this reason the Emperor Claudius offered major financial rewards to those ship owners who would take the risks and bring in food late in the fall.
There has been a TV show on cable this year that is strikingly similar to this situation. It is called Ice Road Truckers. I saw this recently while on vacation. It is about truckers driving extremely heavy loads across large frozen bodies of water in Alaska in the early spring, trying to get it done before the ice melts and the road disappears. If they can’t get their loads through in time, the people who want the goods have to wait for another year. This is the ultimate “guy” TV show. The show combines all the things guys love: driving fast and noisy, an extreme environment, really large equipment (they are in big rigs hauling humongous pieces of machinery), and plenty of danger. The issues here are exactly the same as those facing that ship two thousand years ago. There are huge financial rewards for truckers who are crazy enough to try to bring their loads in even as the ice is melting. The potential consequences are dramatic – you risk your rig and your life – but the rewards are as much money as you could make in a year.
You may wonder why the centurion had the final say in deciding whether to stop or sail on. The answer is that ships like this were licensed as “agents” of the Roman government. In effect, the owners of the ships were only owners because Rome “allowed” them to remain as owners. The centurion, as the highest ranking representative of Rome present, would have the final say.
Luke says that Fair Havens was not a suitable place for staying for the winter. This meant they would have to reverse course somewhat to find a safer place. They didn’t want to do this, and so they went on. If this were a work of fiction, we would say that Paul’s warning was an example of foreshadowing. Well, sometimes foreshadowing happens in real life. This is especially true when people want to do risky things, and sensible people warn them beforehand.
When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; 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. – Acts 27:13-15
The gentle south wind was “finicky” – there was no guarantee how long it would remain. But this is what they were hoping for. If it remained long enough, they could go all the way to Rome. Crete is a mountainous island, and strong winds do sometimes rush down the mountains directly towards where Paul’s ship was. This still happens often in late fall today. This wind had a name, the same name we give to winter storms here in America that sometimes have extreme wind on the East coast: northeaster. If a ship tries to run “sideways” against such a strong wind, it will certainly capsize; so they either pointed in the direction of the wind or opposite it.
As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. When the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. – Acts 27:16-17
This small island gave them a tiny bit of shelter, so they took advantage of the temporary situation and hauled in their trailing lifeboat, a practice common to ships of that era. They also “passed ropes under the ship itself” – this was also a common practice. Ropes were wrapped around the entire ship to give it more structural integrity. The sandbars of Syrtis, by the way, are in Africa. If they had pointed the ship in the direction that would let the wind carry it, they would have faced wrecking the ship on the northern coast of Africa. Instead, they faced the ship into the wind. This was harder on the ship. But it allowed the ship to be mostly carried by currents rather than the wind.
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. – Acts 27:18-20
It is hard to imagine days and days of constant storming. Yet this is what they went through. They were so in fear of drowning that they threw overboard much of the cargo – the grain that was the whole point for them making this risky journey. That says a lot about how scared they were. The next day, to lighten the ship a bit more, they threw overboard the ship’s tackle – the ropes and other materials used to support the sails. It sounds like even Luke himself was one of those throwing this stuff overboard. And then more of the same, day after day: terrible storming, the ship beginning to fall apart, severe seasickness, and it says they gave up all hope.
This experience makes the experience of the disciples on the boat in the storm on the lake look like a children’s boat ride in comparison. For the non-Christians on the boat, they had long since given up calling on their personal gods, or the gods of the sea, or any other gods they could think of. The situation was more like the one with Jonah. But although Jonah was running away from God, and God’s punishment encompassed the men around him, the exact opposite situation was true here, as we shall see.
After the men 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 whose I am 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." – Acts 27:21-26
I wonder what the men thought at this speech. Perhaps they thought he had lost his marbles. But it was all true. After an apparent silence of more than two years, God again spoke to Paul, this time through an angel, who again confirmed that Paul would go to Rome. And furthermore, because Paul was serving God, God’s grace was extended to those around him, to all of those in the ship.
Paul uses some phrasing that I absolutely love. “Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve…” Isn’t that great? Often we turn the possessives around the other way. “My God will provide for me.” The implication is that God is “ours” whereas Paul says he is God’s! And the other implication in “My God will provide for me” is that God serves us, whereas Paul says he serves God! The people on the ship who didn’t know the Lord all thought about it the other way. They gave offerings to their gods so that the gods would serve them. They had little statues of “their” gods – this was the mindset. And this mindset even creeps into Christianity if we are not careful. You are His. You serve Him. Like Paul says in his letters, we are glad and willing bondservants or slaves of Christ.
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. – Acts 27:27-29
In the middle of a storm it is dangerous to drop “four anchors.” Normally they will not hold, but if they do, the strain may be so great on the ship that it tears it apart. Yet, with the water rapidly becoming shallow, they didn’t know what else to do. How did they sense the approach of land? Perhaps the wind sounded different, or the waves, or perhaps they could hear breakers off in the distance. Why did they anchor from the stern? Normal is from the prow, the front. They did it so that the ship would swing around, pointing towards land, so that if they did run aground, the front would do it – this part was more capable of surviving than the back.
It is an interesting phrase to “pray for daylight.” I am sure they prayed for more than that, but that strikes me more as a prayer of desperation rather than a prayer expecting an answer. It would be a pretty big miracle for daylight to come sooner than it always does – not impossible, mind you, but not the type of thing one normally prays for. It reminds me of when people pray about a test grade as the tests are being returned. Wouldn’t it have been better to pray while you were studying, or to pray while you were taking the test, or even to pray while the professor was grading the test? But praying as the tests are being returned strikes me as a similar type of prayer of desperation. I don’t want to sound too critical here – I doubt my prayers would have made much sense either after two weeks of going through what they had gone through.
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 fall away. – Acts 27:30-32
Why would the sailors try to navigate in a lifeboat in the dark in the middle of a terrible storm? This is a pretty suicidal thing to do, but it must have seemed equally suicidal to stay on the ship overnight, so close to land. The sound must have been terrible – the strain of the ship under the anchors – you would have heard terrible groanings and creakings and perhaps the sound of wood cracking. Would you want to stay on that through the night?
Note how Paul, the prisoner, is almost a leader here! The centurion trusted Paul. Why? It must be because he has spent time with him and seen his character and his faith. And his argument was also logical – they needed the men to stay on the ship so they could navigate the ship in the morning. Cutting the ropes to the lifeboat is a “no turning back” kind of decision. That’s the end of the lifeboat and the end of any “Plan B.”
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. – Acts 27:33-38
Probably Paul did not just give thanks for the bread but for their coming deliverance. Paul’s absolute faith in the storm was contagious. It says they were all encouraged. Mostly these were unbelievers, although no doubt they were quite open to the gospel at that point. I want you to try to picture 276 haggard, exhausted, encouraged men, sailors, soldiers, and prisoners, eating a meal together in the dark in the middle of a horrible storm, in a ship that is falling apart.
When finished, they through away the rest of the grain to lighten the ship as much as possible. Remember that the grain was the reason they had taken this risky voyage – for riches. Now they saw that riches were worth nothing compared to their lives. It is a message our present society would do well to learn, especially when they compare present riches to eternal lives.
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. – Acts 27:39-41
The nautical details make sense here. Now that they could see that the beach was sandy, and not a deadly rocky shore, they could try to run the ship aground and get as close to land as possible. They cut loose the anchors so they could move and then untied ropes holding the rudders. They were held by ropes the night before so they would not break in the storm. The small foresail was raised to get the boat to move with the wind, slowly, and note that probably the mainsail yard-arm (the long horizontal bar) was long gone in the storm. So then they “hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach.” That sounds pretty pirate-y, doesn’t it?
But it says the ship struck sand, and combining the force of the pounding of the surf and the previous damage and weakening of the ship, this was the end of the ship.
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 pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety. – Acts 27:42-44
Miraculously there was no loss of life. And the book I mentioned earlier indicates that they are pretty certain where all this happened: at a place now called, appropriately enough, St. Paul’s Bay. From the book:
For a wooden ship to embed itself in a sandbar without breaking apart, it must run into a mud that will slow it down, and then its hull must lodge in clay tenacious enough to hold it in place. […] St. Paul’s Bay possesses clay capable of this. However, it is unusual to find mud at the depth of a ship’s hull close to a shore. Mud can be found where a creek empties into the sea, but even then it is usually carried away by the current. Only under certain conditions is the water close to shore calm enough for a deposit to form at hull level. As it happens, St. Paul’s Bay contains two creeks, as well as the necessary conditions for mud to form near the shoreline.
If the entire ship had broken apart when it grounded, there would almost certainly had been some loss of life. You can see God’s guiding hand to bring this ship to the perfect spot where all can be saved.
And there is another miracle – the one in the heart of the centurion. If one of the prisoners escaped, he and his soldiers could lose their lives as punishment, because the prisoners (except for Paul and perhaps a few others) were condemned men. But God, through Paul, has touched his heart, and he takes another risk – this one for the good of those around him.
So what lessons can we take away from this amazing adventure on the high seas?
1. Know that even in the middle of the storm, God is in control.
We see that here. God directed that ship to a place where the people would be safe. “The storms of life” is an overused phrase, but it is something we will all go through. Some of us, to varying degrees, are going through it right now. This message has been a repeated theme in Acts but we need to be reminded of it again and again. God sees. God knows. God cares. God is in control.
2. We can have peace in the storm.
Paul had peace because he clung to God’s promises. We too have promises from God – the Bible is filled with them. They don’t include a promise that we won’t experience pain, or suffering, or death; we will experience these things, unless Jesus comes soon. But we have a promise that He will never leave nor forsake us. If you are a Christian, if you have called on Jesus to save you from the never-ending “storm” that we deserve for our sins, then we have a promise of an eternity of peace without storms, enjoying Him “whose we are” forever. Even just remembering that we are His can give us peace. He bought us with a price beyond imagining. We can have peace because we know He will take care of His possessions.
3. Do not shipwreck your faith.
The shipwreck we read about was avoidable. If they had not gone on this risky venture for money, if greed had not gotten the better of them, they would not have gone through what they went through. The same is true for us. What can shipwreck our faith? As Paul tells Timothy in I Timothy 1:19, we can shipwreck our faith by abandoning our faith. How do we do this? We do it little by little. If you want to shipwreck your faith, here are some things to do. Don’t spend time in prayer. Don’t read your Bible. Don’t spend time in fellowship with other believers. Don’t ask God for forgiveness when you sin, and keep on sinning. Fill your time and your mind with godless pursuits. Spend your time with the wrong kind of friends. Pursue lust, or greed, or your own ego. These are sure-fire ways to shipwreck your faith. But don’t do this! As Paul says in I Timothy 1:18, fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience.
And there is another miracle – the one in the heart of the centurion. If one of the prisoners escaped, he and his soldiers could lose their lives as punishment, because the prisoners (except for Paul and perhaps a few others) were condemned men. But God, through Paul, has touched his heart, and he takes another risk – this one for the good of those around him.
So what lessons can we take away from this amazing adventure on the high seas?
1. Know that even in the middle of the storm, God is in control.
We see that here. God directed that ship to a place where the people would be safe. “The storms of life” is an overused phrase, but it is something we will all go through. Some of us, to varying degrees, are going through it right now. This message has been a repeated theme in Acts but we need to be reminded of it again and again. God sees. God knows. God cares. God is in control.
2. We can have peace in the storm.
Paul had peace because he clung to God’s promises. We too have promises from God – the Bible is filled with them. They don’t include a promise that we won’t experience pain, or suffering, or death; we will experience these things, unless Jesus comes soon. But we have a promise that He will never leave nor forsake us. If you are a Christian, if you have called on Jesus to save you from the never-ending “storm” that we deserve for our sins, then we have a promise of an eternity of peace without storms, enjoying Him “whose we are” forever. Even just remembering that we are His can give us peace. He bought us with a price beyond imagining. We can have peace because we know He will take care of His possessions.
3. Do not shipwreck your faith.
The shipwreck we read about was avoidable. If they had not gone on this risky venture for money, if greed had not gotten the better of them, they would not have gone through what they went through. The same is true for us. What can shipwreck our faith? As Paul tells Timothy in I Timothy 1:19, we can shipwreck our faith by abandoning our faith. How do we do this? We do it little by little. If you want to shipwreck your faith, here are some things to do. Don’t spend time in prayer. Don’t read your Bible. Don’t spend time in fellowship with other believers. Don’t ask God for forgiveness when you sin, and keep on sinning. Fill your time and your mind with godless pursuits. Spend your time with the wrong kind of friends. Pursue lust, or greed, or your own ego. These are sure-fire ways to shipwreck your faith. But don’t do this! As Paul says in I Timothy 1:18, fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience.
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