Acts 27:1-44
1 And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band.
2 And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.
3 And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself.
4 And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.
5 And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.
6 And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy; and he put us therein.
7 And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete,a over against Salmone;
8 And, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called The fair havens; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea.
9 Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fastb was now already past, Paul admonished them,
10 And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurtc and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives.
11 Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.
12 And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west.
13 And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete.
14 But not long after there arosed against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.
15 And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.
16 And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat:
17 Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven.
18 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;
19 And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship.
20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
21 But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.
22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.
23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
26 Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.
27 But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country;
28 And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms.
29 Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.
30 And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship,
31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.
32 Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.
33 And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing.
34 Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.
35 And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.
36 Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.
37 And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls.
38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.
39 And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship.
40 And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore.
41 And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.
42 And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.
43 But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land:
44 And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.
Acts 27:2. Adramyttium, a town of Egypt, at the eastern mouth of the Nile; also a town of Mysia of the same name, where the ship touched.
One Aristarchus, a Macedonian, being with us. The numeral adjective injudiciously supplied, degrades him: one Aristarchus. Better as the vulgate, “and persevering with us was Aristarchus:” or as all the versions read, “having, or entering with us.” He was a Greek by name and by birth, had laboured two years with Paul at Ephesus, and had nearly lost his life when Paul, speaking after the manner of men, fought with beasts in that city. He accompanied Paul to Rome, as in Acts 19:29; Acts 20:4. He was also a minister in that city, and sustained imprisonment there for a time. Colossians 4:10. Calmet adds, that he was bishop of Apamea in Syria, and finally suffered martyrdom with Paul at Rome, under Nero.
Acts 27:7. Salmone, a promontory of Crete, according to Tremellius, on the east of the island.
Acts 27:8. The fair havens are a port lying on the north of Crete, and was open to Levanters, or Euroclydion tempests.
Acts 27:9. The fast was now already past. The great day, or anniversary of the atonement, the tenth day of the seventh month. See the calendar in Exodus 12; Leviticus 23:27; Isaiah 58. The jews this day wore white garments, and wept for their sins.
Acts 27:10. Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt, and much damage. It is dangerous to touch the Lord's anointed, or to treat them with injustice and cruelty. Heaven would chastise the wrongs done to Paul; and the ship was made a total wreck. Satan wished to destroy the three ambassadors of Christ, who would raise the infant church of Rome to glory, but he was disappointed. The centurion honoured Paul as a great and good man, but did not believe in him as a prophet.
Acts 27:14. Euroclydon. St. Luke, according to the Alexandrian copy, is supposed to have written, ευρακυλων, a north-east wind. Jerome reads, qui vocatur euro-aquilo, which is called a burning north wind, a wind of Typhon; a levanter, as described by Dr. Edward Clarke, our accredited traveller, and quoted on Psalms 48:7.
Acts 27:15. When the ship was caught in the tempest, we let her drive, which was the easiest method to weather the gale.
Acts 27:17. Undergirding the ship with ropes to hold her together, that she might make less water, and to prevent the starting of the planks. Add to this, they lightened the vessel by throwing much of the cargo and tackling of the ship into the sea. Sic jubet necessitas, durum telum: so necessity required, a hard weapon.
Acts 27:31. Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. Persons in danger must be calm, have presence of mind, and use all lawful means of safety. He who loses his courage in the time of danger is hardly worth saving. A sailor-boy, during a wreck, once threw himself into the sea, and pleasantly said, “I am cruising about to seek a better berth.”
Acts 27:34. There shall not a hair fall from the head of any of you, the Saviour having especially repeated his promise to Paul. Matthew 10:30; Luke 12:7. Assuredly the angels of God had charge of this ship, to punish the crew, to destroy their goods, and save their lives, solely for the sake of Paul, that they might instruct tyrants on the danger of persecuting the church. But when our Saviour made the above promise, it was understood of a special preservation only till their work should be done, for he told the sons of Zebedee that they should drink of his cup; and Peter, that he should be bound and led to martyrdom. Good men sometimes fall that all may watch.
REFLECTIONS.
How strange is life, how uncertain are its vicissitudes. Here is a most faithful servant of the Lord, excelling the world in worth, hurried away in chains to an unknown land, and before pagan tribunals. All his spiritual children in the east, dear as his own bowels, he must never see again; no, nor water the yet tender plants of grace. But why do I feel emotions? It is thy pleasure, oh Holy One. We too, like him, are all embarked in the voyage of life. Of the places and persons most dear to us we are losing sight, and shall see them no more. Our hopes and our treasures are all in the ship. Henceforth may our expectations and our hearts be in a better country; and let us pray for those we leave behind.
In the voyage of life, we embark with a mixed multitude. Paul was accompanied by Luke, his faithful friend, and by Aristarchus, another minister of Christ, who had not flinched in the time of tumult. The centurion was also a man of probity and honour, and exhibited marks of reverence for God; the rest, two hundred and seventy six in all, were of various nations, and mostly wicked men. So it is now: those who are faithful in temptation's hour are truly few, and the wicked are a great company.
In the voyage of life we are, like the mariners, exposed to tempests, dangers, and shipwreck. Who can count the natural, the civil, and moral disasters of our passage to another world?
In danger, men must use all lawful means of safety. When the heavens grew black, when the hurricanes blew, when the waves washed the decks, and when the labouring ship admitted the water at every plank, the crew begirt her with ropes, and threw much of the cargo into the sea. Let all men, trembling at first, learn to become great in danger: and even when all hope is apparently gone, let the soul compose itself with the calm dignity of prudence, for providence often sends unexpected aid. But here virtue alone is great, and vice, though bold for awhile, betrays a criminal soul in the issue. Good men only are great in the time of danger, being cheered by the presence of God and his angels, while the wicked are abandoned to gloom and despair. Paul, when his advice was rejected, had confidence that all things would work together for good to him and his cause, and awaited the issue with a patient calm. But the wicked were affrighted with a thousand fears; their crimes came to their remembrance, and their apprehensions were renewed by every incident of encreasing danger. Nor was it a small reproach to have believed the nautical opinion of the captain, in preference to the divine admonition of Paul. So in the day of visitation sinners will be pierced with anguish for the contempt they have evinced to sermons, and all divine admonitions; yea, God himself will upbraid them with rejecting his calls, and refusing his reproofs. Proverbs 1:25.
The devotion of wicked men in a time of danger is of a doubtful nature. It is, in the most candid view, an untried devotion. These seamen, these soldiers, and this mixed multitude, had for fourteen days lived on the brink of a watery grave, and their danger daily encreased. For fourteen days they had fasted and prayed, eating but once in the day. For fourteen days they had been instructed by the greatest apostle of Christ, and by two other most admirable men. And were they not all converted, all sanctified, and become the best of saints? You shall hear. The sailors, knowing nothing but self-love, were about to steal the boat, and leave the poor unskilful passengers to the mercy of the waves. The soldiers, no better, but rather worse, agreed to kill the prisoners, lest they should be punished for letting them escape. Thus when the ship had taken ground in a cove, and when the danger was past, their devotion was no more. And are all thy hopes, oh procrastinating sinner, deferred to a deathbed repentance? Then thou also wilt be a hypocrite on the verge of the grave, and thy repentance will resemble the fastings of these ungodly men.
But the wicked we see are often spared for the sake of the good. Had Paul and his brother ministers not been in this ship, perished they surely had: for God said to Paul, Lo, I have given thee all the souls that sail with thee in the ship. Happy is the man for whom prayer is made; he may yet live, he may yet be saved.
The distressed condition in which this wrecked and weather-beaten crew reached the shore, may remind us that it is with wading through the Jordan, with many throes and conflicts of fainting nature, that saints sometimes reach the celestial shore. No matter, if we may but all escape safe to land. However, it often pleases God that Jordan divides, and we pass over dryshod. Sometimes a saint, like Moses, dies on the mountain top. In reality it is then not dying, but living. We leave the shell below, and spread our wings in the regions of liberty and of life. Or, in a moral view, if we improve this landing of St. Paul, of a deliverance from sickness and danger; let us learn of him to improve our future life to greater holiness and usefulness in the Lord. Let us be instructed that all things waste with time, and that the things of eternity alone are realities, and worthy of our whole heart.