November 11, 2012
Lesson: Acts 27:33-44;
Golden Text: “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 27:44).
INTRODUCTION. It’s easy to trust God when things are going well.However, things don’t always go well for us.We may lose our jobs because of a shift in the economy.Serious illness or injury may even come upon us.Disease and death can take a loved one from us. When these things happen, does our faith help us survive or overcome?Ever since the time of Job, saints have wrestled with the hard questions that suffering brings.Yet Scripture tells us of many who not only weathered their storms, but also greatly matured in faith through them.In this week’s lesson we will see how Paul came through a literal storm at sea.His remarkable faith in the midst of it is an example for us of how faith can survive in hard times and make us a blessing to all those with whom we associate.
A. Paul’s words of encouragement (Acts 27:33-34).
1. (vs. 33). After sailing on the Mediterranean Sea in the midst of the storm for a number of days, Luke writes “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.” As dawn was approaching on one of those days, Paul begged everyone to eat since it had been 14 days since anyone had eaten anything. There was food, but no doubt everyone was so concerned about the storm that they couldn’t eat and being in a storm made it almost impossible to prepare food. The angel had told Paul that the ship was going to be destroyed and they would end up on a certain island (see Acts 27:22-26), so Paul knew that they would all need their strength to make it to shore once the ship was destroyed in the storm. At this point the storm had probably eased up enough to prepare food. As a result, Paul encouraged all who were on board to eat. 2. (vs. 34). He continued to say “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.” In the phrase “I pray you to take some meat” Paul was saying “I beg you all to eat some food.” Then he gives them the reason why this was so important. He said “for this is for your health.” The word “health” here can mean salvation, rescue or deliverance. Paul was telling everyone, the sailors, the soldiers and the prisoners that they would need to eat to gain the strength they would need for going ashore. Gaining physical strength would be good for their “health” or their rescue.
B. Partaking of Food (Acts 27:35-36).
1. (vs. 35). Luke now tells us that “when he (Paul) 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.” Paul took a leadership role and set an example for his shipmates. Paul “took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all.” His desire was to cause everyone to eat, so in front of everyone he took some bread and thanked God for it. He did this “in the presence of them all” because he wanted everyone to recognize his God as the One who was providing for them.
2. (vs. 36). This verse says “Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.” Paul’s actions had a positive effect on all the others. Seeing him eat bread prompted them to do the same.
C. The number of people on the ship (Acts 27:37). This verse says “And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls.” Now Luke tells us that the number of “souls” or people on the ship was “two hundred threescore and sixteen.” In other words, there were 276 people on board. A “score” is twenty and therefore, threescore is sixty. The words “we were in all” indicates that Luke, the writer of Acts was also among those on the ship.
III. PREPARATIONS FOR DISEMBARKING (Acts 27:38-40)
A. Lightening the ship (Acts 27:38). Luke now writes “And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.” Once all the individuals on bard the ship had eaten enough to fill them up, they had the strength to carry out a strenuous task: “they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.” They made the ship lighter by throwing the wheat overboard into the sea. Remember, this was a grain ship from Egypt and the cargo was wheat destined to be sold in Rome. However, losing the wheat was irrelevant because the whole ship would eventually be destroyed by the storm.
B. Heading for shore (Acts 27:39-40).
1. (vs. 39). This verse says “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.” Now Luke tells us that when daylight came “they knew not the land.” This means that the sailors looked out at daybreak and didn’t recognize the land that was ahead. However, they saw a creek with a beach. They decided to try to “thrust” or run the ship to “shore” or beach, if they could. 2. (vs. 40). Luke continues to write “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.” After they decided to try to guide the ship to the shore, they cut the ropes to the anchors and “committed” or let them drop into the sea. Since they were going to try to run the ship up on the shore, the anchors would not be needed. At the same time they untied the ropes that were holding the “rudders” or oars and dropped them into the water. The oars would be needed to help guide the ship into the beach area since the anchors were gone. Ancient ships were guided by two large oars, or paddles on either side of the stern, or the rear part of the ship. Then they “hoised up” or raised the “mainsail to the wind” and headed to the beach. Even though there was a short distance to the shore, the sail would be useful in guiding the ship in the wind.
IV. ABANDONMENT OF THE SHIP (Acts 27:41-44)
A. The ship broken up (Acts 27:41). This verse says “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.” As the sailors continued to try to steer the ship, it ran into a “place where two seas met.” This probably refers to a sandbar, a bar of sand that connected the bay to the ocean. In that area, the ship hit ground and the front of the ship “stuck fast” or tightly, and couldn’t move. But the rear of the ship was broken in pieces by the raging waves of the storm.
B. The prisoners spared (Acts 27:42-43a).
1. (vs. 42). Luke then tells us that at this point “the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.” As if the storm wasn’t dangerous enough, the soldiers who were in charge of the prisoners instinctively determined to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping.
2. (vs. 43a). The first part of this verse says “But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose.” Realizing what the soldiers intended to do, Julius the centurion in charge of Paul and other prisoners (see Acts 27:1), wanting to save Paul, intervened and “kept them (the soldiers) from their purpose” which was to kill the prisoners. The term “save” here means to bring someone safely through something and that was the centurion’s intention for Paul.
C. The voyage saved (Acts 27:43b-44).
1. (vs. 43b).Still referring to the centurion, the second part of verse 43 says “and (the centurion) commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land.”In addition to intervening to save Paul from the soldiers, the centurion commanded everyone who could swim to jump into the sea and swim to land.
2. (vs. 44).The centurion then said “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.” The centurion commanded those who couldn’t swim to go after those who could by clinging to “broken pieces of the ship.” As a result they all made it safely to land.Note: God’s promise to Paul earlier in Acts 27 was fulfilled in every detail.The ship was lost or destroyed (see Acts 27:22), they were cast upon an island (see Acts 27:26), and all their lives were spared (see Acts 27:22, 34).For sure, God had honored His servant Paul’s faith.It was God’s providence alone that had brought everyone safely through the storm.Paul had good reason to trust God’s promise because the Lord had already committed to bring Paul’s witness to Rome (see Acts 23:11).
Conclusion. Our lesson this week shows how those who trust God completely can weather storms, both literally and figuratively.Only God knows how many other lives are drawn to Him as we demonstrate faith in the midst of our storms.This lesson challenges us to trust God when we go through the most difficult times in our lives.Yes, the storms of life may severely test our faith, but remember, the Lord is there in the darkness of our storms and the daylight hours will reveal that He has never left us.
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