Strength in the Storm

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Nate Roten / Acts Series / Acts 27:1–26

Main Idea

Christians can endure difficulty with confidence knowing that God is with them in the storm.

FAMOUS SHIPWRECKS: What comes to mind?

1.     Titanic – struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage, killing 1,517.

2.     USS Arizona – attacked during the attack on Pearl Harbor, killing 1,177 officers.

3.  Spanish Armada – 130 ships invading England in 1588 that wrecked off the coast of Scotland, claiming over 5,000 lives.

Do a quick Google search, and you can learn about dozens of other famous shipwrecks. Do you want to know what they all have in common? Death. Each one I researched had victims.

Today, we will learn the details about the most famous shipwreck in scripture and discover if it keeps to the historical pattern.

Passage

Acts 27:1–26 ESV

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.

Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat. After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along. Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on some island.”

People

Paul

Luke – The “we” and “us” pronouns tell us that the author is on board.

Aristarchus – Paul’s traveling companion from Thessalonica. A trusted leader in the Church (mentioned among the regional leaders in Acts 20, Colossians, and Philemon as a fellow worker and prisoner) and one who was persecuted in Ephesus during the city-wide riot.

Julius the Centurion of the Augustan Cohort —“Augustan” means “his majesty,” which implies that Julius was from the Imperial Guard and commanded 100 soldiers as a centurion.

The Prisoners – 276 of them, according to verse 37.

The Angel of God – Not Jesus, but one of God’s messengers.

Geography

Destination: Rome, Italy

Port of Caesarea in an Adramyttium ship – a ship from that city in Asia Minor. These ships were likely grain vessels that took the commodity around the Empire. These ships were usually 60 feet long and standard vessels making port-to-port calls. You could think of these as the smaller planes for connector flights within the US.

Sidon – brief stop where Julius was kind enough to Paul to allow his friends to care for him. After Stephen’s death, persecution pushed Christians into the region of Phoenicia, where Sidon is. Paul and Barnabas also traveled there, so assumably, Paul already knew believers there who would be eager to see and care for him.

Lee of Cyprus – The northeastern tip that looks like an animal tail. They followed the coastline, minimizing their fight against the problematic seasonal weather.

Coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia—Cilicia is the region of Paul’s hometown, and Pamphylia was visited during Paul’s first missionary journey. Both are in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey).

Myra in Lycia – The region just beyond Pamphylia. They took a brief stop and ship transferred to an Alexandrian ship. Myra is a crucial port between Alexandria, Egypt, and Rome for grain ships. Because Egypt was a primary granary of Rome, Alexandrian ships were much larger than Adramyttium ships. They were between 140 and 180 feet long and 36 to 48 feet wide. They were the largest ships then but weren’t as agile as the smaller ones. Grain was stored in the entire length of the holds. They were huge, heavy, vital to Rome’s economy, and the ship’s owners were awarded special recognition from the Empire.

Cnidus – a port at the end of a peninsula between the islands of Rhodes (to the south) and Cos (to the north).

Lee of Crete – the eastern end, where the port of Salmone was located.

Fair Havens is a modest port on the southern coast of Crete near the city of Lasea.

When they landed at Fair Havens, the time of the ‘Fast’ was over. This would have been the fast during the Day of Atonement, the only one of Israel’s annual observances that requires a fast. This occurs in the fall, usually between September and October, which aligns with their desire to hunker down before winter.

The best time to sail is during spring and summer. Fall brings dangerous weather patterns, and winter travel is prohibited, so they are at the tail end of the sailing season. However, they find themselves in a difficult situation because Fair Havens is not a great place to spend the winter. A larger, more resourced port in a more advantageous place would be a far better place to weather the bad weather months.

Paul’s advice

Paul spoke from the vantage point of a seasoned traveler. “Don’t go any further! The weather is constantly against us, and we’ve navigated from Caesarea to here with great difficulty. If we keep going, we could lose the cargo, the ship, and even our very lives!”

Julius ignored Paul, listening to the pilot and ship owner since they were also seasoned travelers and the ones with special recognition from the Empire. Their advice carried more wait. And there was the reality that the port wasn’t the best place to spend the winter, one of the benefits being that its harbor faced southwest and northwest.

Majority Rules

But even then, evidently, they still put it up for a vote. The captain/owner, Julius, Luke, Paul, Aristarchus, and 276 prisoners voted. The majority voted, and the larger share of voices decided to set sail for the western Cretan port of Phoenix, which was a better harbor to ride out the winter.

Driven by the Storm

With the majority rule and the gentle southern winds blowing, they took the risk. Unfortunately, their gamble didn’t pay off. They got caught in a storm called the ‘Northeaster.’ As you can imagine, the mixture of southern winds and a northeastern wind produced a whirlwind and tempestuous storm (or winds that are strong and turbulent).

There is also another interesting dynamic at play. The locals called this storm Euraquilo or Euroclydon, and they thought of it like a looming destroyer from the famed Mount Ida, or the “mountain of the goddess,” where many stories of their Greek gods take place. In the minds of many of the Gentiles, this wasn’t just a storm but a divine destroyer. Their gods were at work in this storm.

Island of Cauda – a tiny island southwest of Crete, where they reined in their safety boat.

Not only did they need the safety boat for… well, safety… but it could have done irreparable damage to the ship. Had the storm slammed it into the ship’s hull, it could have penetrated it.

Once that was secured, the crew frantically attempted to save themselves by:

a.     undergirded the ship – wrapping large ropes around it to hold it together.

b.    They lowered the gear – sails, etc.… because they were afraid the storm would drive them southward toward Syrtis (northern Libya), where there were sandbars that made it an infamous ship graveyard.

c.     jettisoned the cargo – including large amounts of the grain supply. This would make the ship lighter but also prevent the grain from potentially getting wet, which would cause it to expand and rupture the hull.

d.    threw the ship’s tackle overboard – all ropes, sails, anchor… anything to lighten the vessel and keep it from capsizing and sinking.

On top of all that, navigation is impossible due to the lack of visibility of the sun and stars. They didn’t have GPS back then and used the sun and the constellations to navigate. This reminds me of a date night Kelly and I had when we were dating. We took my laptop to an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. After sunset, we watched a movie, like a mini drive-in. Afterward, when it was time to drive home, a thick fog had settled in. Thankfully, it wasn’t raining, but the fog was so dense, and it was so dark outside that I couldn’t even see the painted lines on the road. I was completely disoriented. What should have taken 10 minutes to drive home took nearly an hour, and my body was so fatigued from being tense that I dropped like a rock in my bed. It was a terrible experience. I can’t imagine what it would have been like for these men at sea for days on end with zero visibility in a violent, stormy whirlwind.

Can you blame them for thinking that all hope of rescue is lost?

Paul’s Confidence

No doubt, this was the darkest day of their lives. They were adrift at sea, being driven and tossed by a notoriously dangerous storm, with no visibility, hungry, soaked, and terrified. Could we even begin to imagine the depths of hopelessness they were experiencing?

And yet, in literally the darkest hour of their lives, God was with them. As Paul recounts to the rest of the crew, an angel of God appeared to Paul, encouraging him, and through that encouragement, Paul could encourage everyone in these ways, which is utterly contrary to how any average person would react in such a circumstance:

•       take heart x2

•       confirmation that there will be no loss of life, which would have seemed utterly impossible at this point.

•       don’t be afraid. This is the other side of the coin from taking heart confidently and cheerfully.

•       Paul proclaims a steadfast faith in the God he belongs to and worships. Remember how many on board were concerned about being destroyed by their gods? This is Paul’s counter. “MY GOD, the one I worship and cling to… this God will save us all. Don’t put faith in false gods. Put faith in the one true and living God who will demonstrate his steadfast love.”

•       Behold how God has granted protection of life for all. His sovereign hand will protect us, even when we are hopeless, terrified, and can’t see any way out.

Next week, we will see how this will all unfold. But, for today, I want you to see these truths:

Takeaway

1. God doesn’t keep you out of the storm. He never promises that. Believers are not exempt from hard times. Daniel had to go into the lion’s den, and the three Hebrew men had to be thrown into the furnace. You might be wondering why you have to go through such hardships. You might be asking yourself, “What’s the point?” Let me encourage you that with God as your Father, everything He does and allows is for a purpose.

2. Even in the worst of times, when your very life feels threatened… when everything is “with great difficulty,” when you feel completely out of control and driven along by life’s challenges, and the storms keep pounding you to the point of utter hopelessness, God is with you. He is your strength in the storm. While He doesn’t keep you out of the storm, He promises to be with you in the storm, and His presence is an anchor of hope and confidence, which leads to joy and increased faith.

So, in those moments, listen to the words of the living God:

• Take heart,
• Don’t be afraid,
• Keep faith in ME,
• I will keep you and take you to your intended destination.

Questions to Consider

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1. What statements did Paul make to encourage the crew during the storm? How did Paul express his faith in God’s protection during the crisis?

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2. What practical advice can we take from Paul’s experience with the shipwreck regarding listening to wise counsel and making decisions under pressure? How can we cultivate a mindset of listening to godly advice and discerning God’s will amidst conflicting opinions or influences?

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3. How can we remind ourselves of God’s presence and promises when we feel overwhelmed or hopeless in difficult situations?

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4. How can we encourage others in our own lives with the same reassurance and faith that Paul showed to the crew during the storm?

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5. Who were some key people mentioned in the passage about the shipwreck in Acts, and what roles did they play in the events described?