Acts 27:34-44

34 It is practically impossible to prepare meals in such a storm as they had encountered and the constant toil and apprehension would take away all desire for food. But now that land was near they doubtless remembered Paul's predictions and were more than willing to listen to him as he cheered and encouraged them. We hear no more of the navigator and the owner of the cargo, and even the centurion obeys Paul, who acknowledges his thankfulness to God before all and gives them an example of faith by taking his fill of food.

38 The lighter they could make the ship the better chance they had of beaching her near the shore. To do this it was necessary also to control her course, so they hoisted a sail to the wind and unlashed the rudders, which had probably been securely fastened, as steering was impossible. Unlike modern vessels, the ships of that day had two rudders, which they would now use to steer the ship for the beach.

41 It would seem that some current carried them into a channel, or the place "where two seas met," and hindered them from reaching the beach they were headed for. They ran aground in the channel itself.

41 Every detail of this description fits perfectly with the environs of what is now called St. Paul's bay on the northern coast of Malta. The depth of the sea, a channel made by the island of Salmonetta, and the evidences of a beach at the mouth or the Westara creek, all identify this as the probable location.

42 As a Roman guard was ordinarily responsible for his prisoners with his own life, we can better understand the inhuman suggestion of the centurion's soldiers. Once again Paul becomes the saviour of the prisoners even as he had been used but a few hours before to prevent the sailors' desertion and thus saved the lives of the very soldiers who now wished to despatch him. The centurion was too just to kill the one to whom he and the rest owed their very lives.

1 There was an island in the Adriatic called Melida or Melita, which some suppose was the scene of the shipwreck. It is in the gulf of Venice. The ancient Adria, however, included more than the present Adriatic, and was applied to all of the Mediterranean between Sicily and Greece. The modern condition of Malta is no index of what it was in those days. "Barbarians" (for which we have no English equivalent) was applied by the Greeks to any who did not speak Greek, and their conduct makes it clear that they were far from being barbarous or savage, There are no vipers in Malta today, but venomous reptiles always disappear with the increase of population. The Venetian Melita could not possibly be reached with the wind blowing so as to drive them toward the Syrtis quicksand and there is no reason to think that it changed. They would pass innumerable islands on the way as if by a miracle. And their subsequent journey would have been overland or by a different route from Melita.

1 Just as Matthew, who gives us the rejection of the kingdom as proclaimed by our Lord Himself, closes with a millennial foreview when He told them, in anticipation of that day, "all authority in heaven and on earth is given unto Me," so here, where we have the rejection of the kingdom as proclaimed by His apostles, we are regaled with a millennial scene to remind us that the kingdom is merely delayed, and wl1l come in its proper time. First the serpent is destroyed, corresponding to the binding of Satan at the beginning of the thousand years, then blessing flows out to the nations. Paul, as a herald of that day, is able to pick up serpents without any harm coming to him, but lays hands on those who are ailing, and they have ideal health (Mar_16:18).

7 By healing the father of the chief man in the island, his fame and message would be immediately spread. Thus the very place or the shipwreck was chosen to suit his purpose.