The Acts of the Apostles
Chapter 27
St. Paul Fourth Journey Map
Paul's Journey Adventure
Paul Letters & Journey of Paul Path
Glad to have you here to share today's Daily Bread. You may have
gathered this already, that Paul, indeed, wanted to go to
Rome. Remember several studies ago, in Chapter 19, the Lord worked
special miracles through Paul, when Paul first said he must also see
Rome. And after that, in Chapter 23, when the Lord stood by Paul in
the castle, when the Jewish people first accused him, He told Paul to
cheer up, because he must testify in Rome about Him, just like he did
in Jerusalem.
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 Caesar 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).
Paul's Journey Truth
Paul Letters & Journey of Paul Facts
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 Caesarea to Jerusalem,
he says, ascended (going up) from Caesarea, when Jerusalem is really
south of Caesarea. However, consider also that Caesarea 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. Oft times if a person is going to a
capital city, no matter the geographical position, it is referred to
as "ascending" to it, or going "up" to it.
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.
Paul's Journey For The Lord
Paul Letters & Journey of Paul Perils
Much time had passed since they left Caesarea 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 10th day of the 7th
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.
Paul's Journey Saga
Paul Letters & Journey of Paul Reason
The next day, being tossed violently with a tempest, they threw the
cargo off the ship, and the third day, they threw out the tackling of
the ship with their own hands. Neither the sun or the stars appeared
for many days, and as the tempest loomed over them, all hope that
they would be saved, was given up.
After a long time without food, Paul stood up in the midst of them,
and said, Sirs, you should have listened to me, and shouldn't have
left Crete, and suffered this harm and loss. Now cheer up, because
none of you will lose his life, but only the ship. Because, this very
night, there stood by me, the Angel of God, whose I am, and whom I
serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar:
and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee (that is,
their lives would be spared with Paul's). So, be grateful: because I
believe God, that it will happen just as it was told to me, but we
will be tossed up onto an island.
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 bow, Paul said to 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.
Paul's Journey Voyage
Paul Letters & Journey of Paul Purpose
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 front stuck firmly, and remained
unmovable, but the rear 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.
Paul's Journey Conclusion
Paul Letters & Journey of Paul Summary
What an adventure! It's a shame that you don't hear about this story
very often, but if 276 people died, instead of surviving such a
dilemma, then surely it would be a more popular story. You certainly
won't want to miss the next Daily Bread, as it is the last chapter of
the book of the Acts of the Apostles, so you're about to find out
just exactly what happened to Paul. See you soon!
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