WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson
commentary
For Sunday
November 11, 2012
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PAUL SAILS TO ROME
(Faith can lead us through the storms of life)
(Acts 27)
Here in Acts 27, Paul’s long sought
after appeal to argue his case before Caesar in Italy, is finally looking like
it’s going to happen. Paul, Luke,
Aristarhcus, who was a Macedonian from Thessalonica, along with some other
prisoners, all set sail on a cargo ship to Rome, under the guard of the Roman
centurion, Julius.
Luke’s accurate description of this Mediterranean scene, impresses even
today’s scholars, as he gives us a vivid account of the ports, sea vessels, and
weather conditions in that area of the world in late October, and early
November. There can be no doubt that this biblical account has to be based on
the experiences of someone who had actually traveled these waters, during this
particular season, at some point in their life. Luke tells us that they set
sail from Caesarea on a ship that had come from Adramyttium (Add-rah-MITT-
ee-um), an important sea port in northeastern Asia Minor. It was scheduled to
make several stops along the coast of the province of Asia.
The following day they docked at Sidon, an ancient Phoenician seaport on
the Mediterranean coast of northern Palestine. There we get a glimpse of the
kindness that Julius shows to Paul as he permits him to go ashore and visit
with friends, who were able to provide for some of the needs of this, now
famous, apostle (v. 3).
After leaving Sidon the crew encountered some strong headwinds that made
it very difficult to keep the ship on course. As a result, they were compelled to
sail farther north between the island Cyprus and the mainland. They sailed
along the coasts of Cilicia and Pamphylia, coming to shore at Myra, in the
province of Lycia, a mountainous country in southwest Asia Minor. It was there
where they changed ships, and boarded an Egyptian vessel from Alexandria, that
would take them on to Italy (Vs. 4-6).
After several days of very rough waters they finally came near Cnidus
(NYE-dus), a city of the province of Caria, which is situated on the extreme
southwestern tip of Asia Minor. But, unfortunately the winds were too strong
against them for them to land. As a result, they had to sail down the
wind-sheltered side of Crete, past the cape of Salmone, where they struggled
along the coast, finally arriving at Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.
This detour caused the crew to lose a great deal of time, and it was now
becoming more and more dangerous with early winter approaching. Paul, who had
traveled these waters before, went and spoke to the officers of the ship, because
he believed that if they continued on their journey, they would no doubt meet
with disaster. However, the officers made the decision to go on, in spite of
Paul’s admonishments. They reasoned that Fair Havens was a port that was badly
exposed to the winter elements, and that the port of Phoenix, which was located
farther up the coast, would be a much safer place to spend the winter (Vs.
9-12).
And so they ignored the voice of the man of GOD among them, and they
sailed away into peril. When a light wind began to blow from the south, the heads
of the ship thought for sure that they could make it to Phoenix. However, the
weather then changed abruptly, and a wind, of typhoon strength, caught the ship
and blew it out to sea. All they could do was surrender helplessly to the power
of the wind (Vs. 13-15).
Having nothing else constructive that they could do, they pulled in the
lifeboat to keep it from being damaged, and then girded up the battered ship
with ropes to strengthen its hull. They were afraid of being driven across the
sand bars of Syrtis on the African coast, and so they lowered the anchor as
they were being helplessly pushed by the wind. The gale force winds continued
on for several more days, blotting out the sun, and the stars, until all of
their hopes (not Paul’s) were dashed (Vs. 16-20).
Then the man of GOD, Paul, stepped forward one more time, to say “I told
you so”. Then he encouraged the frightened crew by telling them that they would
lose the ship, but none of them would lose their lives. Paul goes on to tell
them that an angel of “the GOD he served” had come to him the previous night,
and assured him that they would all live, and he himself would stand trial in
Rome, before Caesar. However, Paul disclosed to them that they would be
shipwrecked on an island (Vs. 21-26), and they were (Vs. 39-44).
By this time Paul had garnered so much credibility that he was, quite
literally, in charge of the ship. The lesson that can be learned here is that, authority
is not something that rests on position alone, but rather, it is something that
comes with integrity, and demonstrated competence. Once again Paul had been
proven right by GOD before men, and now, he represented the hope of the entire
276-man crew.
Even before this dramatic voyage, Paul had become accustomed to facing
life-threatening situations that would more than buckle the average person. However,
the apostle always believed what GOD told him, and that gave him strength to
continue on with his work, and his calling. And so I find it appropriate to end
this lesson by leaving you with the four anchors of faith;
·
Anchor yourself in GOD’s presence
(believe)
·
Anchor yourself in GOD’s promise
(believe)
·
Anchor yourself in GOD’s plan (trust)
·
Anchor yourself in GOD’s power (trust
and believe)
Whenever we are in danger of being overwhelmed by the storms of life,
GOD, will keep in perfect peace, the mind that stays on HIM, because we trust
HIM. GOD will always bring the person who believes in HIM, through the storms
of life, but not always necessarily on a sound, well-put-together ship. JESUS
comes to us from across the storms of life, with HIS hands stretched out to
save, speaking in a calm, clear voice, that bids us to “have no fear” (have
faith). And sometimes when HE delivers us, HE may just have to bring us in on
shipwrecked, broken pieces, because we were too prideful to consult with HIM,
during fair weather.
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
larrydalexanderbiblestudies.blogspot.com
LARRY D. ALEXANDER-
Official Website
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