PAUL’S FOURTH JOURNEY

SHIPWRECKED

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

CHAPTER 27

          So, you guessed it, Paul is off to Italy. When they decided that they should sail there, Paul was put in the care of a man named Julius, a centurion of Cæsar Augustus’ army. (If you read the text in your Bible, you’ll find that Luke is using the word “we” again, indicating that he was traveling with Paul.) They set sail on a ship sailing for Adramyttium, meaning to sail along the coasts of Asia, because Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with them. (Aristarchus is one of the fellows who has been traveling with Paul since he left Greece on his third journey.) The next day, they landed at Sidon. Julius treated Paul courteously and allowed him to go to his friends to rest. When they launched from there, they sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary (blowing against them).

          Let’s have a little Daily Bread Crumb here! If you look at any map of Paul’s journeys, you’ll see that on the way to Rome, they in fact sailed north of Cyprus, which most would say is above it, not under it. Actually, the term under, in this case, means near. Also, the words up and down, seem to be transposed at times in Biblical text, for example, when Luke talks about going from Cæsarea to Jerusalem, he says, ascended (going up) from Cæsarea, when Jerusalem is really south of Cæsarea. However, consider also that Cæsarea is on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea where the land is flat, and Jerusalem is more mountainous, so Luke may have been speaking of the terrain, rather than the direction.

          When they had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, they came to Myra, a city of Lycia, and there, Julius found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy; and he put them on it. When they had sailed slowly for many days, and had barely reached Cnidus, because the wind wouldn’t allow them, they sailed under (near) Crete, over against Salmone; and, just passing it, came to a place which is called The Fair Havens; near the city of Lasea.

          Much time had passed since they left Cæsarea and it was a dangerous time of year for sailing, because the fast was now already past. (The fast was the Day of Atonement, which is the 10^th day of the 7^th month.) Paul advised them, saying, Sirs, I think this trip will be a disaster with much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives. Nonetheless, Julius believed the captain and owner of the ship more than the things that Paul said.

          The accommodations at the harbor weren’t suitable to stay the winter, so other passengers advised to leave there too, if by any chance they could get to Phenice (also called Phoenix on some maps) and spend the winter there, which is also a port of Crete. They would first have to travel southwest, and then northwest to get there. When the south wind blew softly, they thought they got their wish, and leaving there, they sailed close by Crete. But not long after, there beat against the ship, a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. When the ship was caught up in the wind and couldn’t bear it, they let her (the ship) drive. And running near an island called Clauda, they had to work hard, using people to assist in securing the boat (the lifeboat) and bracing up underneath the ship. Afraid of falling into the sandbars, they stretched sail and were driven.

          When the fourteenth night had come, as they were driven up and down in Adria, at about midnight the shipmen estimated that they were coming near land. They sounded (measured the depth) and found it to be twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. Then fearing that they might fall upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the daylight. As the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the lifeboat into the sea, acting like they wanted to cast anchors out of the foreship, Paul said to the Julius and to the soldiers, Unless these remain in the ship, you can’t be saved. Finally, believing Paul, the soldiers cut off the ropes of the lifeboat, and let it fall off.

          While the day was dawning, Paul urged them all to eat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that you’ve waited and continued fasting, having eaten nothing. So I ask you to eat some food, this is for your health: because there shall not one hair fall from the head of any of you. And when he said this, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.

          Then they were all in good spirits, and they also ate. There were 276 people on the ship, and when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and threw the wheat into the sea. When it was daylight, they didn’t see the land: but they discovered a certain bay with a shore, into which they thought, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship. And when they had taken up the anchors, they loosed the rudder bands, and hoisted up the mainsail to the wind, and headed toward shore.

          They ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck firmly, and remained unmovable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. The soldiers' advice was to kill the prisoners, in case any of them should swim out, and escape, but Julius, willing to save Paul, kept them from their idea; and commanded that those who could swim should first jump into the sea, and get to land, and the rest should float in on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they all escaped safely to land.