Acts 27:14-26 – Shipwrecked but assured

Deceived by the gentle southerly wind, Julius, the centurion, his prisoners and the whole entourage set sail, thinking that they could make the journey to Phoenix safely. Shortly and without warning, the wind situation changed. They encountered Euraquilo, a tempestuous wind. The ship was caught up in the gale and lost control. They were helpless and had no way of making it to Phoenix. The wind took them to a small island of Cauda. Even under the shelter of the small island they had great difficulty securing the lifeboat. This was a small open boat towed behind the ship during calm weather. When they were struck by hurricane Euraquilo and water had probably filled the boat, making it difficult for them to bring the lifeboat on board.

Their problem was far from over, even with the life boat hoisted on board. For when they passed Cauda their ship was once again driven by the storm. They had to strengthen and fasten the hull of the ship with ropes to give additional support to the timber that was being pounded by the rough waves. Then they next had to worry about the shallow water at Syrtis. There the water would be shallow and full of dangerous changing sandbars. Ships caught in them would be broken to pieces. The sailors lowered the sea anchor to prevent it from driven into that direction. Their hope was for the storm to halt before they had reached the dreaded Syrtis.

What they did was only of little help. To further protect the ship that had been so severely battered by the storm, they discarded their spare cargo that was on board on the next day. These were probably the heavy cargo on the top deck. They, however, did not throw the grain which was only dumped just before the ship went aground in Acts 27:38. Even with that move the situation did not improve. So on the third day, they began to throw some of the ship’s equipment overboard.

But the heavy storm continued to assail them. And dark clouds were masking the light of the sun and the stars, so they were engulfed by darkness for many days. They were at the mercy of the storm being tossed and driven, not knowing where they were. So eventually they abandoned all hope of being saved. The pronoun “we” indicate that Luke also concurred with the pessimism of the other passengers. 

In battling the storm, many of them went on without food for a long sustained period of time. In their desperation, Paul stood up to encourage them. He recalled the advice he gave them at Crete. He recounted this not to make them feel guilty for not listening to him then, but to enforce what he was soon going to say. In despairing moments like this, Paul knew he needed to be more positive to lift up their low spirit. He also needed them to be able to accept his encouragement. Hence he brought back what he said before they set out from Crete to lend credibility. 

His opening word to them was to take courage. This was precisely what they needed in a situation where morale was at its lowest ebb. Remember, they went on for a long time without food. They were probably also tired and weak. This encouragement would spur them to act at the crunch time. Paul’s first piece of good news was that none of them would lose their lives. He told them that only the ship and all the cargo would be gone. Paul assured them that what he said was not just a wild, hopeful, optimistic statement. He had a visitation from an angel sent by the God he served. That angel stood beside him and assured him that he would stand trial before Caesar. Furthermore God promised him that all who were with him in the ship would be spared. What he said must have greatly assured them. The only bit of bad news was that the ship would be aground on a certain island.   

 

There’s a great tendency in tough moments for people, even seasoned Christians, to have a sinking morale, and become depressed and discouraged. We need to be assured that God has a great destiny for us. Like Paul, God’s plans for our lives can never be thwarted. However, on our journey with Him, we may need to jettison the spare and less important things of life. It may be painful as we discard them but it is needful to do so in order for us to reach our destiny.