Acts 27:1-12
Have you been to Rome? I have not and yet it is one of the places in
this world I have always wanted to visit.
We find in these twelve verses doctor Luke’s account of Paul’s travels
and we might call it Paul’s travel log, and doctor Luke gives such great detail
that it seems as if we are on the boat to Rome with Paul. But before you sign up a few disclaimers are
needed, Paul did not pick the time to travel to Rome, it was decided by those
who put him in chains, nor did he choose his travel companions, it was not his
itinerary, but you might say he was a guest of the Roman government.
As we look at the journal look at the detail that the Holy
Spirit gave us through doctor Luke. “And when it was
decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other
prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius. And embarking in
a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of
Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from
Thessalonica. The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly
and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for. And putting out to
sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were
against us. And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of
Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found a
ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board. We sailed slowly for
a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did
not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone.
Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near
which was the city of Lasea.
Since much
time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was
already over, Paul advised them, saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will
be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of
our lives.” But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner
of the ship than to what Paul said. And because the harbor was not suitable to
spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the
chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both
southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.” (Acts 27:1-12
ESV)
I have kept travel journals both in business and family, but
I have never been this detailed, the good doctor has made sure we are in the
boat with Paul. Have you ever perceived
something and prayed that those over you would listen. The one example that comes to my mind was as
a child walking to church on Navigation Blvd. and I was up by mother and my
brother and sister were walking about twenty yards behind us, when mother
turned and said children run to me, now!
And they did and about the time they reached mother and I, a large truck
passed us and it's trailer came free from the truck and went right in the field
where they had been. Mother spent
sometime telling us that God had spoken to her about that truck and what was
going to happen, and the importance of listening to God’s voice and obeying as
Fred and Doris had done when she called.
Paul also was listening but doctor Luke tells us that the
centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to
Paul. So they set sail to Phoenix, a
harbor of Crete. These facts need to
come to the surface; God had arranged an appointment for Paul before Caesar, so
no matter what ship he got on he was going to end up in Rome, at some
point. But when God speaks and we do not
listen, there is always a price that must be paid.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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