Lessons from "Paul’s Shipwreck"

 

There are many lessons to be learnt from Paul’s final sea voyage to Rome which turned out to be a major disaster due to crew’s disobedience to God’s word and yet a salvage due to God’s grace. This voyage tells how God sustains a fallen world through his people though they remain a thin minority. It tells how much leadership Godly people can demonstrate in a hostile world if they are led by the Spirit from the example of Paul.

Paul was undergoing a trial under procurator Felix after Jews accused him of being a ringleader of the sect of Nazarenes and stirring up riots among them (Acts 24:5). The case dragged on for more than two years. Festus who replaced Felix did not declare his innocence to please the Jews though no charges could be proven. Meanwhile Paul made an appeal to be tried before Caesar. Festus consented as Paul was a Roman citizen and was taken to Rome for a trial. A centurion named Julius was given the charge to escort him to Italy. Paul was accompanied by Luke as well. They began the journey from Caesarea where Paul was stationed for trials. They passed by Sidon, Cyprus and landed in Myra in Lycia.

There they boarded an Egyptian ship bound for Italy. There were other passengers and sailors totaling 276 people. They sailed slowly for several days. The wind did not allow them to follow a straight path and they had to take up a circuitous route vide the lee of Crete. With much difficulty they reached a place called Fair Heavens. Much time had passed. The journey was arduous and tiresome. The winter was setting in which was the most unsuited season for seafaring.

Led by the Spirit Paul stepped in timely and gave them some advice. “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only for the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives (Acts 27: 9). But the centurion Julius paid more attention to the captain of the ship. Even the owner of the ship advised the centurion against Paul’s advice. Why would the centurion listen to a prisoner while he had the captain and the very owner of the ship for advice?  

But God is the creator of the oceans. He knows best the behavior of the oceans, better than a captain or an owner of a fleet of ships. Our first choice should be to seek God’s counsel at all situations.  

The Fair Heavens was declared as an unsafe haven by the majority on board. Nobody wanted to winter in Fair Heavens. They put out to sea hoping to reach a nearby harbor Phoenix somehow (Acts 27:12). Everyone would have argued that they must rush to Phoenix and camp there opposing Paul publicly. They were desperate to reach a safe place to winter there not knowing that the safest spot in this universe is being in the will of God.  

 

The south wind began to blow gently. The gentleness of the wind would have filled the ship’s crew with lot of pride about the wisdom behind their decision. They would have held celebrations on the deck. They all believed they would make it to Phoenix sooner than later. They pulled up the anchor and sailed along Crete staying close to the shore (Acts 27:13). If they sail by the shore and if the wind remains gentle, they are bound to reach Phoenix by any human standards.

But when they put out to the sea, they had put themselves out of the will of God. A tempestuous wind named ‘northeaster’ began to blow. It blew the ship out to sea against their plans. The ship was terribly caught in the wind and it was beyond their means to get back to the shore.

They ran along the lee of a small island called Cauda (Acts27: 16). But the violent storm tossed the ship like a piece of a raft. How much they would have longed to step into Cauda? Besides, the ship’s boat (used for transporting people to shore) was being towed behind. Probably it was full of sea water by now. Seeing no hope in getting to shore in Cauda, they pulled it up with great difficulty hoping that it would come in handy for some rescue operations in future. Then they banded the ship with ropes to strengthen the hull (middle portion of a ship) (Acts 27: 17) to prevent the body of the ship from falling apart.

 

They were facing a major crisis now. The ship was driven along the turbulent waters against their wishes. The captain had no control of it anymore. They feared the ship would hit the sandy beaches of Africa in Syrtis (Acts 27:17). Syrtis was known as the graveyard of ships where many a ship ran into those sandy mounds which rose from the seabed abruptly.

The following day, the sea grew higher, and the crew began to throw the cargo overboard (Acts 27: 18). They wanted to lighten the ship to raise the ship by throwing away the grains, the very source of their pride, so that it does not hit any sandy patches. Thus, food supply was getting eliminated. Then they threw off the tackle of the ship (Acts 27: 19) which are important tools for the sail to lighten the ship further. Such actions are adopted in the marine world when saving lives becomes a priority at the cost of the cargo. Surely this decision would have been taken between the captain and the Egyptian owner. The storm continued to rage unabated until all hope was gone (Acts 27: 20).

Paul stepped in once again. He called the crew together. He stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set the 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 the ship” (Acts 27:22). Paul delivered a scary message that their lives would be spared, yet the ship would not be. How could this be possible? How would people survive without the ship and with one lifeboat? What is impossible for man is possible for God.

Paul continued, “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 (Acts 27:23-26). Paul echoed the Words of Jesus here, “take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Yes, through faith and faith alone this journey would be overcome.

About fourteenth night, the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. They took a sounding and found the depth to be 20 fathoms. A little later they found the depth to be 15 fathoms. They realized that they were approaching a shore yet they feared they might run on the rocks. It was dark and they had to wait for the day to break. Suddenly sailors tried to escape through the lifeboat. Paul declared to the centurion, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved”. Having received assurance from God, why do men still seek their own way? Man should live by the Word and not by bread nor by lifeboat. This step would have brought them again out of the will of God and those sailors would have perished in the waters like the soldiers of Pharaoh in the Red Sea. The soldiers listened to Paul and abandoned the lifeboat.

By now Paul had become the captain of the ship on moral and spiritual grounds if not technical. As the day dawned, Paul urged them to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food. Therefore, take some food for it will give you some strength for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you” (Acts 27:34). Paul echoed the words of Jesus yet again.  Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows (Mathew 10:30-31).

Then Paul took the bread, gave thanks to God and began to eat. He kept imitating Jesus at every step. Then all were encouraged and ate some food themselves (Acts 27:36). The ship was about to fall apart, the lifeboat had been dismissed, very little food was left over, yet they were encouraged because there was a man of faith onboard. All 276 people ate enough (Acts 27:38). They ate enough because they knew they would live beyond this shipwreck. Men and women who are going to die in few minutes would never go for a fill. But they had hope now. They dreamt of a life beyond. They were sure of reaching the beautiful city of Rome because there was a man of faith onboard. Once they had their fill, they threw the remaining wheat into the sea (Acts 27:38) to lighten the ship to minimize the impact of the ship ramming onshore.

They noticed a shoreline that curved inward, though they did not recognize the land. The land on either side could have been rocky terrains. They decided to run the ship ashore through this narrow strip. They ran the risk of dashing against the rocks. Yet they decided to move ahead. They threw the anchors off to sea, lowered the rudders, raised the foresail, and made for the beach. The ship pounded on a sandbar and ran aground. The bow of the ship was stuck fast, while the stern was exposed to the violence of the waves (Acts 27:41). With one end of the ship stuck on the ground and the other pounded by waves, the ship broke up. The bolts gave way, the planks fell out and the ship submitted to the fury of the ocean before it turned into a pile of wreckage.

Soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners because they feared that they would escape (Acts 27:42). Julius wanted to spare Paul’s life and said no. Julius owed his life to Paul. Why would he kill Paul now? The man who brought Paul to Rome for trial wanted to save his life now. The journey brought considerable transformation to the life of the centurion Julius. He ordered all who could swim to jump overboard and make for land and the rest to pick up the loosened planks and debris from the broken ship. So, everyone escaped safely ashore (Acts 27:44) as per angels’ prediction. Once they reached safely through, they realized they had reached the island of Malta.

 

Please note, Malta is a tiny dot on the ocean. Who has guided this ship into this tiny dot through the darkest nights and the ferocious days over the Adriatic Sea? If the path was changed by a few degrees few miles before Malta, they would have missed Malta and we would have lost Paul and Luke in the waters and the most notable portions of New Testament and even the details of this shipwreck.  They made it to Malta because God implements his plans even in a fallen world.

History has seen many shipwrecks. Pride of men has sunk many ships than the turbulence of waters. Man is the creator of ship, but God is the creator of the oceans and the source of every plank for building a ship. Let not a ship fill men with pride. Here we have the faith and obedience of one man salvaging the lives of 276 people.

So lets worship him who made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all its sources (Rev 14:7).

 

Author – Prakash T John