Acts 27 - Paul is the Eye of Hurricane and the Men on the Ship Look to Him to Save Them!

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Paul Sails for Rome

"When it was decided that we would sail for Italy."

The first verse in this chapter reminds us that Luke accompanied Paul on this trip. Luke was writing as an eyewitness to all of these events. 

Julian, the Roman Centurion, shows favor to Paul by letting him visit some friends at Sidon, which is on the coast. They changed ships, finding an Alexandrian ship, which was going to Italy. This was a huge ship, 50 yards long, by 12 yards wide. It was a freight ship which took grain from Egypt to Italy. It had a huge mast and square sail and was guided by two rudders in the back of this ship. The structure of the ship was why it struggled sailing into the gale force winds. (Guzik)

The time was past the "Day of Atonement", which meant it was approaching the winter season, which often brought fierce storms. God enabled Paul to see that the voyage was likely going to end in a disaster. But the Centurion refused to listen to Paul and instead heeded the pilot's advice. Normally this would have seemed to be a reasonable way of determining what decision to make, but Paul was being guarded by a different pilot. 

The Storm

As they sailed from Crete, a gentle wind was replaced by a hurricane wind, called a "Noreaster". Experienced sailors knew this type of wind was not to be messed with. Since they could not navigate in the high winds, they simply let the boat be taken along with the wind.  As the weather turned worse, they pitched all their supplies overboard and tied ropes underneath the boat to try and hold it together. 

To get a better understanding of the situation, this was written by Steven P. Wickstrom. First he give a little bit of background on himself. 

When I was an active duty member of the U.S. Coast Guard (I retired after 30 years of service), I participated in many rescues that involved a shipwreck. In some of the shipwrecks there was a loss of some or all of the lives onboard. In all of the shipwrecks there was a tremendous monetary loss in property. Take my word on this; a shipwreck is something that no one wants to go through.

Then he gives us further understanding to what was really going on. 

The wind was extremely strong, the waves were higher than the boat, and the crew thought the boat would be swamped. The Captain knew that he had to lighten the ship to prevent it from taking on water (and sinking) and he must have agonized over the decision to jettison his valuable cargo. The loss of his cargo would be the loss of all of his profits. Not only would he make no money, but he would be unable to pay the crew. They tossed the cargo (and their dreams of becoming rich) overboard and hoped for the best.

Three days into the storm they realized that the ship was still sitting too heavy in the waves. Tossing the cargo overboard had not been enough; they had to find even more weight to go over the side. Luke notes that the crew threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. This shows the seriousness of the decision. Without the tackle, the crew would have no way to easily raise and lower the sails. The water logged ropes and lines, blocks and pulleys all went overboard in a last ditch effort to lighten the ship even more. Anything that was not immediately needed was thrown overboard. This would also have included any weapons for defense that the ship may have been carrying. www.sp.wickstrom.com

The Shipwreck

Two weeks later (that's quite a storm!) Luke writes meticulously about the measures they took to keep the boat from getting completely wrecked. The details he includes proves he was not just making this stuff up. Just before daylight Paul started taking leadership on the boat.

Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” Paul knew two reasons why they had to stay together. First, the ship’s passengers desperately needed the crew’s expertise, and it would be fatal if the crew abandoned the passengers. Second, Paul probably sensed that God’s promise to give him the lives of the whole ship’s company assumed that they would stay together. The soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off: At this point, it seems the soldiers had great trust in Paul. - Guzik

When he had gained their trust, he urged the men to eat knowing they hadn't eaten for 14 days. Reminiscent of the Lord's Supper, he took the bread he had, broke it, and gave thanks and fed 276 people on board. It says they ate as much as they wanted. What does this sound like? Jesus feeding the five thousand on a few fish and loaves of bread. The people had enough to eat and there were leftovers. 

When daylight came, they saw a sandy beach in a harbor and were able to sail to the beach, but when they hit the beach, the hull stuck in the sand, and the wind broke the stern into pieces. The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners, but the Centurion intervened to save Paul's life. Perhaps having seen how Paul's leadership had already saved all of their lives, he knew Paul's value. The Centurion showed even more character, when he let those who could swim jump overboard and swim to shore and left the planks of wood for those who needed them to get to shore. 

God gave Paul favor in the eyes of this Roman centurion, and that favor kept Paul and all the prisoners alive – in fulfillment of the word spoken to Paul, God has granted you all those who sail with you (Acts 27:24). God’s word never fails.

Most of us have not gone through what Paul and the men went through onboard the Alexandrian ship that fateful day. But many of us have gone through or are going through storms in our lives. We might feel like we are being driven along by this storm, as if we had no control at all over our lives. But God sends people like Paul into our lives to help us make it safely to shore. Because Paul trusted in God for his leadership, the people trusted Paul as their leader. 

Who are the spiritual leaders in your life? Who has God called you to be a spiritual leader for? Are you being led by your leader, Jesus, and by His Spirit?