Paul in the Storm Acts 27

Acts 27 opens with Paul as a prisoner, not in charge of anyone or anything, but by the end of the chapter, Paul, the prisoner, had become the acknowledged leader over all.

The overarching theme of the shipwreck narrative is the providence of God. The central verse is 27:24: God delivered Paul and all who sailed with him for the ultimate purpose of the apostle’s witness before Caesar. Paul’s witness in Rome has been a central focus since he first conceived of it in Ephesus (19:21). While imprisoned in Jerusalem, the Lord assured him in a vision that he would surely witness in that city (23:11). Now, in the midst of the howling storm, Paul was given a final assurance that in God’s providence the testimony before Caesar would take place.

There is a triumph in Acts, but it is not a human triumph. It is God-triumph, a triumph of his word in Christ. Nowhere is this clearer than in the shipwreck narrative. Paul was delivered, but he was delivered to bear witness. He was still a prisoner in chains when he bore his witness in Rome. The book closes with his bold, unrestricted proclamation in the capital city. The gospel had reached its ultimate destination as set forth in Jesus’ commission to the apostles (1:8). It had reached the “ends of the earth.”

It all starts

Acts 27:1 And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they proceeded to deliver Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan cohort named Julius. And embarking in an Adramyttian ship, which was about to sail to the regions along the coast of Asia, we put out to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica. And the next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul with consideration and allowed him to go to his friends and receive care. And from there we put out to sea and sailed under the shelter of Cyprus because the winds were contrary. And when we had sailed through the sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. And there the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy, and he put us aboard it. And when we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, since the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of Crete, off Salmone; and with difficulty sailing past it we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

The journey began when Paul and some other prisoners bound for Rome from Caesarea were placed in the custody of a centurion of the Augustan cohort named Julius. There is evidence that such an Augustan cohort was stationed in Palestine during the reign of Agrippa II.

Julius put his party of soldiers, prisoners, and servants on board an Adramyttian ship, which was about to sail to the regions along the coast of Asia, near Troas. From Asia Minor they would have little trouble finding passage to Italy. They put out to sea, making port the next day at Sidon, seventy miles to the north.

Leaving Sidon, Paul and his traveling companions put out to sea and sailed under the shelter of Cyprus because the winds were contrary. They passed between Cyprus and the mainland, keeping to the lee side of the island for shelter from the prevailing westerly winds.

The ship continued its voyage across the northeastern Mediterranean, sailing along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia. Those regions were very familiar to Paul; he was originally from Cilicia (Acts 22:3) and had traveled extensively in those areas on his missionary journeys. the ship worked its way west along the southern shore of Asia Minor, making port at Myra in Lycia and disembarking.

Myra was a chief port for the Imperial grain fleet, whose ships made the circuit between Egypt and Rome. There the centurion, needing to find transportation for the rest of the way, found an Alexandrian grain ship sailing for Italy, and he put his party aboard it. When the travelers arrived off Cnidus, they left the shelter of the mainland and the strong, contrary wind did not permit them to go farther west. The ship was forced to turn south toward the island of Crete.

Reaching the shelter of Crete, the ship again with difficulty sailed along the coast. Rounding the southeast corner of the island, it finally arrived at a certain place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea. There, weary from fighting the weather, the travelers entered the bay.

Paul’s Advice not Heeded

And when considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the fast was already over, Paul began to admonish them, and said to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be attended with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” (27:9–12)

The ship was delayed for a considerable time in Fair Havens, apparently waiting for a change in the winds. For ancient sailing vessels, travel was problematic and dangerous from mid-September to mid-November.

Apparently, the sailors and Julius had a discussion to plan their course of action. Paul, an experienced traveler, was allowed to speak. At the meeting, Paul began to admonish them, and said to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be attended with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” The apostle wisely counseled them not to gamble; he had already experienced three shipwrecks (2 Cor. 11:25)

The centurion was more persuaded by the pilot and the captain of the ship, than by what was being said by Paul. Probably, because the ship belonged to the imperial grain fleet, the centurion, not the pilot or the captain, was the ranking officer on board.

Here Comes the Storm

And when a moderate south wind came up, supposing that they had gained their purpose, they weighed anchor and (27:13–26)

Not long afterward, when a moderate south wind came up, the sailors decided they had received the conditions they were looking for. They weighed anchor, left Fair Havens, and began sailing along the south shore of Crete, close inshore.

Before very long, roaring down from the mountains of Crete came the dreaded, violent, east-northeast wind, the ship was caught in it, and could not face into the wind, the sailors had no choice but to give way to it, and let themselves be driven along. Out of control, the ship was just being pushed by the wind.

The travelers gained a brief respite from the fierce storm under the shelter of a small island called Clauda, about twenty-three miles southwest of Crete. Making good use of the temporary shelter Clauda provided, the sailors took what steps they could to rig the ship to bear the storm.

The lifeboat and tender

After they had hoisted the dingy on board, the crew members used supporting cables in undergirding the ship. This procedure, known as frapping, involved wrapping cables around the ship’s hull and then winching them tight.

Fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the sea anchor, and so let themselves be driven along. The Syrtis was the dreaded graveyard of ships off the North African coast. Lowering the sea anchor would act as a drag and help prevent the ship from drifting that far south.

During the following days, the crew took further steps to help the ship ride out the storm. On the next day, with the ship still being violently storm-tossed, they began to jettison some of the cargo; and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. The ship’s tackle refers to miscellaneous equipment not crucial to sailing the ship.

All the sailors’ efforts were to no avail, however. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days rendering navigation impossible, it became apparent that no small storm was assailing them. From then on all hope of being saved was gradually abandoned

And when they had gone a long time without food (due to seasickness, the difficulty of preparing food in the storm, and perhaps the spoilage of some of their provisions), then Paul stood up in their midst.

Paul urged them, “keep up your courage, for there shall be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.” That may have seemed wishful thinking and small comfort to passengers and crew, who certainly did not see any hope. But Paul had received divine revelation!

Paul confidently continued, “For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’ ”

The Shipwreck

But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to surmise.” Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat, and let it fall away. And until the day. (27:27–44)
The fourteenth night since their departure from Fair Havens Paul and his fellow travelers still being driven about in the Adriatic Sea. The Adriatic Sea mentioned here is not to be confused with the modern Adriatic Sea.

In Paul’s day, that body of water was known as the Gulf of Adria. The Sea of Adria (Adriatic Sea) referred to the central Mediterranean. they could only guess that they were somewhere in the central Mediterranean.

After two weeks of effort and terror, their ordeal showed signs of ending. About midnight on that fourteenth night, the sailors began to surmise that they were approaching some land, presumably because they heard the crashing of surf on a shore. Though they did not recognize it in the dark, they were approaching the island of Malta, south of Sicily.

The nineteenth-century British yachtsman James Smith made a detailed study of the voyage recorded in this chapter. His research, published in his classic book The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul, confirms the remarkable accuracy of Luke’s account. F. F. Bruce relates Smith’s findings:

Smith relates how he made careful enquiries of experienced Mediterranean navigators in order to ascertain the mean rate of drift of a ship of this kind laid-to in such a gale. The conclusion which he reached was a mean drift of about thirty-six miles in twenty-four hours. The soundings recorded in v. 28 indicate that the ship was passing Koura, a point on the east coast of Malta, on her way into St. Paul’s Bay. “But the distance from Clauda to the point of Koura … is 476.6 miles, which, at the rate as deduced from the information …, would take exactly thirteen days, one hour, and twenty-one minutes.” And not only so: “The coincidence of the actual bearing of St. Paul’s Bay from Clauda, and the direction in which a ship must have driven in order to avoid the Syrtis, is if possible still more striking than that of the time actually consumed, and the calculated time.” Then, after carefully reckoning the direction of the ship’s course from the direction of the wind, from the angle of the ship’s head with the wind, and from the lee-way, he goes on: “Hence according to these calculations, a ship starting late in the evening from Clauda would, by midnight on the 14th [day], be less than three miles from the entrance of St. Paul’s Bay. I admit that a coincidence so very close as this, is to a certain extent accidental, but it is an accident which could not have happened had there been any inaccuracy on the part of the author of the narrative with regard to the numerous incidents upon which the calculations are founded, or had the ship been wrecked anywhere but at Malta, for there is no other place agreeing, either in name or description, within the limits to which we are tied down by calculations founded upon the narrative.” (The Book of the Acts, The New International Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971], 514–15)

To confirm their suspicions, the sailors took soundings. The decreasing depth of the water showed that they were, in fact, approaching land.

Since hitting a strange shore in the dark in a violent storm was not what the sailors had in mind, they cast four anchors from the stern to hold the ship in place and keep the bow pointed toward the shore and wished for daybreak.

You cant jump ship

Paul noticed the events and exercised leadership by warning the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.” God’s promise that all would be saved (v. 24) assumed they would stay together; the sailors’ treachery threatened that unity. Nor did God’s promise negate human responsibility. God uses natural means, and He was there using Paul, the centurion and his soldiers, as well as those wicked sailors. The sailors’ skills would be needed the next day, when escape from the ship actually took place.

Finally, the long night of anxious waiting ended. As day was about to dawn, Paul began encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken nothing. Therefore I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your preservation; for not a hair from the head of any of you shall perish.”

Then, leading by example, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all; and he broke it and began to eat. Inspired by Paul’s calm, reassuring attitude, the rest were encouraged, and they themselves also took food—all two hundred and seventy-six persons on board.

Striking a reef where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground; and the bow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern began to be broken up by the force of the waves. The ship was hopelessly caught; the bow could not be freed from the reef, and the stern was being battered to pieces by the thunderous breakers.

Instead of allowing his men to slaughter the prisoners, he ordered all soldiers, prisoners, crew, and passengers to abandon ship. Julius commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land, and the rest should follow, some on planks, and others on various things from the ship. And thus it happened that all 276 people on board were brought safely to land—just as God had promised. God’s power and providence had triumphed, and His glory had been displayed.

We have to remember more than ever, God is in control of this crazy world that we live in, and especially of his children’s lives.