Acts: The Expansion of the Church
Session 14
Estimated reading time: 25 minutes
Almost Shipwrecked
Prayer Changes Things
In this chapter, “Almost Shipwrecked,” we will be looking at the subject regarding Paul’s shipwreck while being transported to Rome, which is the subject of Acts 27. I thought a fitting subtitle on this subject would be “Prayer Changes Things.” We will be spending the majority of our time on this subject in Acts 27.
Acts 27:1 APNT
And Festus commanded concerning him that he should be sent to Caesar to Italy. And he delivered Paul and other prisoners with him to a certain man, a centurion from the Augustan cohort, whose name was Julius.
This was a centurion from the Augustan band; a band was about 400 to 600 soldiers. This was probably a small portion of that cohort. The centurion responsible for this band was named Julius. As we read this story, we will see he was a really wonderful man who was very kind and very caring of Paul during this entire time.
Acts 27:2 APNT
And when it was ready to sail, we (There is a “we” indicating that Luke had joined them at this point.) went down to a ship that was from the city [of] Adramyttium and was traveling to the region of Asia. And Aristarchus, a Macedonian who was from the city [of] Thessalonica, came on the ship with us.
From this verse we learn Luke was with Paul. Aristarchus, who was from Thessalonica, was also accompanying Paul on this ship for his journey to Rome. I have included a map; which is also available on the Light of the Word website, from which you can follow the discussion on Paul’s journey, which began in Caesarea. This first ship was sailing to Asia Minor.
Acts 27:3 APNT
And the next day we arrived at Sidon. (Sidon is in Phoenicia, which is north of Israel, about 67 miles north of Caesarea.) And the centurion treated Paul with compassion and allowed him to go to his friends and to be refreshed.
The centurion allowed him to go to his friends, perhaps get supplies and some necessary things so the journey could be a bit more comfortable. Remember, he had only recently been released from being imprisoned for two years in Caesarea. He had some freedom, but not very much. We see the believers in Sidon, his friends, “refreshed” him. They probably gave him supplies, some money, and other items he may have needed. They cared for him, and because of this he was encouraged as he began his journey that there would be provision for him.
Acts 27:4 APNT
And we sailed from there and because the winds were contrary to us, we followed a course near Cyprus.
The winds were from the west and northwest. You can see from the map; the winds are coming from the northwest down. They were contrary to the direction in which the boat needed to travel. The boat needed to head east. However, instead of sailing straight across, which they would normally do in good weather, they sailed in what is called “under the lee” of Cyprus. “Under the lee” is a nautical term which means “against the wind,” in which you would put the land between the wind, the land, and then the boat. This caused the land to break up the wind and allow the boat to travel easier. Much of this description of the journey to Rome is filled with nautical terms; with detailed descriptions of how the boat traveled, what it looked like, what was going to happen to it.
We are following this outline exactly how Luke described it. He included so many details in this record, and we will see why, at the end of this chapter, when we read through the entire record. There were many other records in the book of Acts that were skimmed over, where months were simply described in two verses. Yet this voyage was described in very minute detail.
Acts 27:5 APNT
And we crossed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia and arrived at the city [of] Myra, of Lycia.
Myra is located in Asia Minor and was famous for its grain business. There was also a large harbor in which ships anchored then sailed laden with grain bound for the Roman Empire. Myra was not a small city, and it was here that their ship, which set sail from Adramyttium, first landed. This was also where they changed ships.
Acts 27:6–7 APNT
And there the centurion found a ship from Alexandria that was traveling to Italy and they settled us on it. (This was a grain ship; and was a much larger ship. We will learn later that there were 276 people on board this ship.)
And because we were sailing under heavy [seas], after many days we barely reached the island [of] Cnidus. (If you look at the map, you can see it was not very far from Myra to Cnidus, up the coast. Cnidus is the farthest western point of Asia Minor. They were sailing between the island of Rhodes and Cnidus. What should have taken only one day, took them many days because the seas were heavy.)
And because the wind did not allow us to proceed by a straight course, we kept a heading near Crete towards the city [of] Salmone.
(Instead of attempting to go into the Aegean Sea, they go under Crete. It is describing it again as “under the lee” of Crete. They sailed past the northernmost point of Crete, which is called Salome, and around the southern part of Crete where the wind would be blowing from the northwest across the land. Then they could sail into the harbor at Lasea.)
Acts 27:9–10 APNT
And we were there a long time until even the day of the fast of the Judeans was past. And it was dangerous for anyone to travel by sea and Paul counseled them
and said, “Men, I perceive that our voyage will occur with calamity and with much loss, not only of the cargo of our ship, but also of our own lives.
The phrase “the fast was past,”, it is referring to the Feast of Tabernacles, which was in mid to late September. This journey took place in early October. It was extremely dangerous to travel in the Mediterranean Sea from about mid-October to mid-March. You did not sail in the open seas unless you were willing to risk inclement weather or heavy seas or the winds to be against you. So far, the winds have been from the north and west.
While they were in Crete, and Paul said, “I perceive.” That is a very typical way of saying that he received revelation. It is one way the word describes revelation. Paul said to them, “Men, I perceive that our voyage will occur with calamity and with much loss, not only of the cargo, but also of our own lives.” We will see that did not actually come to pass. They did lose the cargo and the ship, but not the people’s lives. However, this was the first revelation that Paul received. Remember, the subtitle of this section is: “Prayer Changes Things.” That is exactly what we are going to see. In addition, we will see that there is going to be a miraculous intervention of God to change this revelation.
Acts 27:11–12 APNT
But the centurion listened to the shipmaster and the captain of the ship, rather than the words of Paul
And because that port was not suitable to winter in foul weather, many of us wanted to travel from there and if possible, to reach and winter in a certain port that was in Crete and was called Phenice and looked to the south.
If you look at the map again, you will see that Phenice is just a little bit farther over on the island of Crete. It was probably only about 35 miles from where they were, but it faced the south, and so it would be protected. The ship would be protected in the harbor from the winds coming either from the northwest or from the northeast, where the majority of the weather was in the Mediterranean. That was where they wanted to winter.
Acts 27:13 APNT
And after the south wind blew and they thought that we would arrive according to their desire, they followed a course on the side of Crete.
A south wind was a good wind, because a south wind would take them directly up the coast. They could hug the coast so therefore, it would not be necessary to go out into the Mediterranean, and only sail those 35 miles to Phenice. They think they have a good plan that will work out. But now…
Acts 27:14–15 APNT
And shortly after we left, a sudden blast of wind [came] on us that was called a typhoon Euroclydon.
And the ship was caught up and was not able to bear up against the wind and we yielded control of it.
First of all, this was a typhoon, meaning the winds were blowing in a circular or cyclonic motion, whipping around, which caused the waves to be going in all different directions. The Euroclydon is sometimes called “euroaquilo,” which is a combined word, in Latin, of east, “euros” and north, “aquilo”. In other words, it was a northeaster or nor’easter. This storm’s winds were howling down from Crete and from the mainland, across Crete. As a result, it agitated the whole Mediterranean Sea, because it was hitting the warm air coming up from the south, and the nor’easter that is coming down and it stirred up a massive typhoon. As a result, immediately they could not control the ship, because it happened so suddenly! Can you picture the scenario? Perhaps they are thinking, “We are simply going to go off the coast. This would be a really nice day trip.” Then, suddenly, the wind came down like a whirlwind in the sky. That caused the ship to become absolutely uncontrollable!
Acts 27:16–17 APNT
And as we passed by a certain island that was called Cauda, (It is sometimes called Clauda.) we were hardly able to keep hold of the longboat.
(There was a boat they would tow behind the ship, usually it was in the water. They were not able to hold on to the longboat.)
And after we had taken it up [on board], we undergirded and prepared the ship. And because we were afraid, lest we should fall in the downward rapids of the sea, we pulled down the sail and so we drifted.
There were several things that happened at this point. You can now how they began to see God’s intervention. They passed near the tiny island of Cauda, which is close to Crete. They had a very, very brief period of time where the wind was coming across the island, giving them enough protection which allowed them to do several things. The first thing they did was haul the longboat onto the deck and secured it. Then they took ropes and undergirded the ship. They threaded the ropes all the way under the hull and up over the ship. They then would have secured the ropes as tightly as possible so that when the ship started leaking, (which it probably already had with the pressure of the winds on it), it would hold the hull together. They really only had a miniscule window of time, on this tiny island, to do this.
In addition to securing the hull, they also took down the sails. They then turned the nose of the ship to the north. In doing this it prevented the ship from being blown directly down to the African coast. If you look on the map once again, you will see an area called Syrtis, which was known to have very dangerous quicksands. The phrase, “the downward rapids of the sea” is referring to this. If they had simply allowed the ship travel in the direction in which the wind was pushing it, it would have gone directly into those quicksands and the ship would have totally destroyed and everyone on it would have perished. They had this extremely small window of time in which to do these things: take down the sails, take care of the ship, undergird the ship, and then let the ship drift.
Acts 27:18 APNT
And as the violent storm raged against us, the next day we threw goods in the sea.
(Anything extra they did not need, they threw into the sea.)
And the third day, we cast overboard the ship’s own riggings with our hands.
They cast into the sea things they did not need to lighten the ship. Doing this allowed it to ride higher in the water, so it would not be battered. Because in this kind of a storm, the hull would be lifted up on the wave then plunged down into the sea hitting the water with great force. In addition the wind would have been blowing it across. The ship was turned north, and yet the wind was pushing it to the west. You can pretty much assume at this point Paul, Luke, and Aristarchus were really starting to pray fervently! This was the third day already, and they were probably thinking’ “How could we drink water? How can we eat? What is going to happen to the ship?” At this point the ship was in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, with the storm preventing them from seeing any stars or having any way to guide the ship at all. They did not know where they were, and they did not know where they were going. It was definitely time to pray.
Acts 27:20 APNT
And as the tempest continued more days and the sun was not visible nor the moon nor stars, all hope of our living was completely cut off.
There was no hope! In a storm of this magnitude, the ship would be tossed, turning one way then turning back. They would totally lose the direction in which they were going. They did not even know whether they were still pointed north or not. They were at the point of desperation when the miracle of this journey began happening. You begin to really get the picture that when they were praying, and they were focusing on God’s answer to them. We are going to see that God completely guided the ship from the island of Clauda all the way across the Mediterranean, to the island of Malta. However, it took 14 days!
Acts 27:21 APNT
And as no one had eaten anything, then Paul stood up among them and said, “If you had been persuaded by me, men, we would not have sailed from Crete and we would have been spared from loss and from this calamity.
Paul, in a way, was saying, “I told you so. But now that we are here, we are all in danger of losing our lives.” Remember, that was the revelation he had received initially. However, he also has a promise from God from before, that he was going to preach the word in Rome; that he was supposed to go to Rome. He had that promise, and then he had this revelation. You can see a conflict. You can also see how he truly had to stay his mind: “All right. God, there is a way out of this. Please help us!”
Acts 27:22–24 APNT
And now, I counsel that you should be without distress, for not one of you will be destroyed, but only the ship. (The revelation changed just like that; and this is what happened.)
For there appeared to me in this night, an angel of that God whose I am and whom I serve.
And he said to me, “Fear not, Paul, it is prepared for you to stand before Caesar and behold, God has given to you [as a] gift, all who sail with you.”
This is amazing! One of the really outstanding things to note about this record: if Luke had died in this shipwreck, we would not have the book of Acts or the Gospel of Luke, because they had not yet been written. We would also not have many of the greatest epistles that have ever been written. We would not have Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon,
1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and probably Hebrews. We would not have any of those books in our Bible if Paul and Luke had died in this shipwreck.
God had a lot to do to get them out of this plight. So it is absolutely astounding that an angel came and appeared to Paul so he would be completely assured that the previous revelation he had received was going to be changed.
Acts 27:25–26 APNT
Because of this, be encouraged, men, for I believe in God that it will be so even as it was communicated with me.
Nevertheless, we have to be thrown on a certain island.
He had no idea what island they would be thrown on to; the angel only told him they were going to go onto an island. That was so wonderful how God encouraged Paul so he, in turn, could encourage everyone else on the ship. The next verse tells us that the time in the storm was 14 days.
Acts 27:27 APNT
And after fourteen days that we were wandering and were buffeted in the Adriatic Sea, at midnight, the sailors thought that they were coming near land.
If you look at the map, this is a very straight course. If I were to attempt to reproduce their course, I, most likely, would have drawn a jagged line because they probably were going up and down. However, experts retraced the course of this ship. If you calculate how many miles it is from Clauda to the island of Malta, it is 476 miles. In order to get there at a semi-straight course, they would travel eight degrees north. The wind was pushing them in the exact direction to allow them to arrive safely on that island. This was not really possible, sense-knowledge wise. That is why you know it had to be God who intervened in this entire situation. It was midnight; and the sailors thought they were coming near land. They were approaching some kind of land; however, they still could not see. They could not see the moon. They did not know where the stars were. Consequently, they did not know what island they might be approaching. There is the other thing I would like to point out. If you look on the map, this was the only island between where they were and the African coast they could have landed on. The last island they could have landed on, below Italy, was Malta. If they had not hit that island, they would have kept on going through the Straits of Gibraltar, into the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Acts 27:28–29 APNT
And they put out the anchors and found twenty fathoms, and again they went forward a little, and found fifteen fathoms. (It is obvious they are getting near to land, but what land?)
And being afraid lest we should be found the places where there were rocks, they put out four anchors from the stern of the ship and prayed that it would be day.
At this point, ALL the people began to pray along with Luke, Aristarchus, and Paul. Now they have heard what he said, and they were grasping on to it, especially after hearing Paul say, “God has given all of you to me as a gift, IF you listen to what I say.” So they put out anchors on the stern so that the boat would not continue to drift towards the land and potentially get caught on the rocks.
Acts 27:30–34 APNT
Now the sailors tried to flee from the ship and they lowered the longboat to the sea on the pretext that they would go in it to secure the ship on the land. (I would say that was a bit of a false pretense.)
And Paul seeing [this], said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “If these do not remain in the ship, you will not be able to be saved.”
Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the longboat from the ship and allowed it to go adrift.
But Paul, when it was almost daybreak, convinced all of them to take [some] nourishment, saying to them, “Behold, today [it has been] fourteen days since you have eaten anything on account of the danger.
Because of this, I beg you to take food for the strengthening of your life, for not a hair from the head of any of you will be hurt.”
Can you imagine what great comfort and encouragement these words would have been to these people? They had no hope of being rescued. They had no hope of the ship surviving. The ship must have sprung many leaks by this time and was tilted over because of being against the wind. It was carrying grain and the ship was pointed north, and the winds were coming from the east. Because it was leaning against the winds, the grain would have shifted over to one side. The entire ship would have been leaning, and springing leaks everywhere. Quite possibly it was only staying together because of the ropes that were securing the hull. They were close enough to land, to give them hope. now we’ll see what happened next.
Acts 27:35 APNT
And as he said these [things], he took bread and praised God before all of them and he broke [the bread] and began to eat.
(Paul is praising God before the rescue happens, which is a really great principle about prayer. When prayer changes things, you get new revelation and a new direction of exactly which way to go.)
Acts 27:37–38 APNT
Now there were two hundred and seventy-six people in the ship.” (276 people who would have died if Paul and Luke and Aristarchus had not been praying!)
And when they were satisfied with the food, they lightened the ship and took the wheat and threw [it] in the sea.
Up until this time, the grain was still on the ship. However, at this point, they took all the grain and threw it in the sea. This would allow the ship to be turned right again, and it would be considerably lightened. They were thinking doing this would lighten the ship, thus it would sit high enough in the water so that it could safely make its way towards the island without hitting the rocks.
Acts 27:39 APNT
And when it was day, the sailors did not recognize what land it was, but they saw by the shore of the dry land a certain bay of the sea, where they thought that, if possible, they could thrust the ship.
There is a bay on the island of Malta, called St. Paul’s Bay. It is on the northeast side of the island, and they would have been coming past this point where they could have heard the breakers, then seen a bay that opened up, a very small bay, but one into which they could bring the ship.
Acts 27:40–41 APNT
And they cut off the anchors from the ship and they left them in the sea. And they released the bands of the rudders and hoisted the small sail to the wind that was blowing and they proceeded toward the dry land.
(They had enough of a sail to put up so that it would push the ship into the bay.)
And the ship struck on a place that was high between two deep [parts] of the sea and it was stuck on it. And the forward part of it stayed on it and was not to be moved, but the back part of it was broken to pieces by the violence of the waves.
There they were; so close to land. This particular bay on the island of Malta is made up of both silt and heavy clay. There are two parts of it where there is heavy clay and heavy silt. As they were moving into the bay, the ship became wedged in the heavy clay. The bow of the ship caught in the clay, and the stern of the ship was breaking up because of the waves.
Acts 27:42–44 APNT
And the soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners, so that they would not jump in swimming and would escape from them.
And the centurion prevented them from this, because he wanted to save Paul. And those who were able to jump in swimming, he commanded to swim first and to pass over to the land.
And the rest crossed over on boards and on other wood pieces of the ship. And so all of them escaped safely to the land.
Divine intervention! This is an absolutely amazing record of how prayer took place and what it contributed. We can also see, with such minute detail, God diligently watching over that ship so they could get to the island safely. Will not God intervene in our storms of life? That is the question of the hour.
Now we can see what happened on the island.
Acts 28:1–7 APNT
And afterwards, they learned that the island was called Melita. (or Malta)
And the barbarians who were living on it showed us many kindnesses and they kindled a fire and called to all of us that we should warm ourselves, because there was a great rain and [it was] cold. (It was a great rain, and it kept on raining.)
And Paul picked up a large bundle of sticks and placed [them] on the fire and a viper came out of them because of the heat of the fire and bit his hand.
And when the barbarians saw that it was hanging on his hand, they said, “Perhaps this man is a murderer, so that even though he was rescued from the sea, justice will not allow him to live.”
But Paul shook his hand and threw the viper in the fire and it did not harm him.
Now the barbarians expected that immediately he would swell up and fall dying on the ground. (He survived the shipwreck, but to be bitten by a viper!) And after they waited a long time and saw that it did not harm him, they changed their words and said, “He is a god.”
Now there were fields in that place [that belonged] to a certain man, whose name was Publius, who was the ruler of the island. And he gladly received us in his house [for] three days.
We see in the next verse that Publius’ father was sick, and Paul healed him. The people of the island took care of them for three months, until approximately the middle of February, when the seas become calm enough to sail up the coast, through the “boot of Italy”, and from there all the way to Rome.
Receiving words like Paul did when the angel appeared to him; that was certainly a phenomenon. He was given specific words that everyone would survive; only the ship would be lost along with its cargo, and you will go to a certain island. The angel’s words gave enough detail in the revelation, and enough words of encouragement for Paul to truly grasp hold of and say, “I trust what God has said to me will come to pass. If you listen to these words too, then you also will be encouraged.” This is also what are able to share with other people whenever there are storms and challenging situations in life. We can intercede and truly give the words God gives to us to provide encouragement for them as well. It will then affect so many other people.
The following is a short, final passage I think is appropriate at this time. It was taken from a book entitled “The Life of St. Paul.” It takes place when Paul has finally arrived on the soil of the Roman Empire. His ship moored on the seacoast at a city called Puteoli, where they disembark from the ship onto dry land. From there they would be traveling by land from the coast to the city Rome.
At length the dangers of the deep were left behind, and Paul found himself approaching the capital of the Roman world by the Appian Way, the great highway by which Rome was entered by travelers from the East. The bustle and noise increased as he neared the city, and the signs of Roman grandeur and renown multiplied at every step. For many years he had been looking forward to seeing Rome. But he had always thought of entering it in a very different guise from that which he now was. He had always thought of Rome as a successful general thinks of the central stronghold of the country he is subduing, who looks eagerly forward to the day when he will direct the charge against its gates. Paul was engaged in the conquest of the world for Christ, and Rome was the final position he had hoped to carry in his master’s name.
Years ago, he had sent to it the famous challenge. When he wrote the book of Romans, he says, “I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.” (This is what Paul wrote in the book of Romans.) But now, when he found himself actually at its gates, and thought of the abject condition in which he was, old, gray-haired, broken, a chained prisoner just escaped from a shipwreck, his heart sank within him, and he felt dreadfully alone.
At the right moment, however, a little incident took place which restored him. Believers, Christians from Rome, came forty miles outside of Rome, where they met with him, and hearing of his approach, had come out to welcome him. And then ten miles farther on, he came upon another group who had come out for the same purpose. The sight of these brethren and their interest in him completely revived him. He thanked God and took courage. His old feelings came back in their strength, and when in the company of these friends, he reached that shoulder of the hills from which the first view of the city is obtained, his heart swelled with the anticipation of victory, for he knew he carried in his heart the force which would yet lead captive that proud capital.
We will end by reading Acts 28:15:
Acts 28:15 APNT
And when the brothers who were there heard [of our coming], they went out to meet us as far as the square that was called Appii Forum and as far as the Three Taverns. And when Paul saw them, he gave thanks to God and was strengthened.
King James says, “he took courage.” He was strengthened in his heart to go forward from this point.
In our next and final chapter, we will going to be looking at “Prison Outreach.” In spite of the fact that although he was in prison and still in captivity, God provided so many avenues for Paul to be able to preach the word at Rome. God rescued him through that amazing storm, and brought him all the way to the capital of the Roman Empire.
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