We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.

What is the significance of Acts 27:10-44?

This is the passage deal with Paul’s ill-fated voyage to Italy as a prisoner. The ship ran into very bad weather and Paul announced, “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also” (vs. 10). As he reminded them later on, he was trying to get the sailors to stop sailing (vs. 21).

Unfortunately, the sailors didn’t listen (vs. 11). Why would they? They’re seasoned sailors and Paul’s a missionary prisoner. But several days later their ship encountered a hurricane force wind (called “the Northeaster”, vs. 14) which eventually caused the seasoned sailors to abandon any hope of survival ( vs 20). But an angel of the Lord appeared to Paul and told him that God was mercifully going to protect him and everyone else on the ship (vs. 24). Paul told the men they should have listened to him (vs. 21), but now that they found themselves in this mess, he told them to have faith in God and remain courageous (vs. 22). They’d lose the boat, but all on board would be saved.

When it looked like the ship might run aground, some sailors tried to escape on a lifeboat (29-30). Interestingly enough, Paul then told the captain, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved” (vs. 31). The ship eventually crashes, and some of the soldiers planned on killing the prisoners to prevent them from escaping (vs. 42). But the captain, now very impressed with Paul, wanted him spared so he did not allow the soldiers to kill him (vs. 43). In this way “everyone reached land safely” (vs. 44).

It’s important to notice all the contingencies involved in this story. Unless we suppose that Paul had better sailing skills than the seasoned sailors, it seems it was by divine inspiration that Paul announced that the voyage would be disastrous if they kept sailing (vs. 10). So he tried to get them to stop. It seems like it was God’s will that they stop when Paul told them to, and Paul himself chastises them for not listening to him (vs. 21). Once they found themselves in trouble, however, God sent an angel to reassure them they were going to be safe. Yet, even this promise was conditioned on whether or not all the men would have faith, stay courageous, and not abandon the ship (vs. 29-31). A straightforward reading of the passage suggests that, had the sailors not stayed with the ship, the promise of the angel would have been revoked and lives would have been lost.

So, while it seems it was a pre-settled certainty that Paul would sooner or later stand trial before Caesar (vs. 24), the passage indicates that there were a number of variables which affected when and how Paul would end up there, as well as who would or would not survive the trip with him. The passage, in other words, suggests that the future is partly settled, but also partly open.

Category:
Tags: ,
Topics:
Verse:

Related Reading

Terror in the Night

I’ll never forget the night it first happened to me. I was thirteen, sharing a bedroom with my older brother. I woke up in the middle of the night and felt as if something was pinning me to the bed, choking me, and electrocuting me, all at the same time.   The wind was blowing through…

What is the significance of 1 Chronicles 21:15?

“And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; but when he was about to destroy it, the Lord took note and relented concerning the calamity; he said to the destroying angel, ‘Enough! Stay your hand.’” This powerful passage tells us why God sent the angel and why he changed his mind. If God…

Topics:

Reflecting on Open2013

T. C. Moore has posted some of his reflections from the Open Theism conference. T. C. was one of several people who pulled this conference together and he did a great job. He’s also incredibly smart and very active in the open view community. Also, he’s a young church planter in Boston and I’m sure he’s…

An Omni-Resourceful God

It is quite common for us to talk about the attributes of God as omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing) and omni-present (present everywhere), but what about God’s unlimited resourcefulness? Consider the story of Moses’ commission in Exodus 3 and 4. Here the Lord instructs Moses to tell the elders of Israel that the Lord has heard…

Why Did Jesus Curse The Poor Fig Tree?

 Why Did Jesus Curse The Fig Tree?  One of the strangest episodes recorded in the Gospels is Jesus cursing a fig tree because he was hungry and it didn’t have any figs (Mk 11:12-14; Mt 21:18-19).  It’s the only destructive miracle found in the New Testament. What’s particularly puzzling is that Mark tells us the…

What is the significance of Psalm 106:23?

“Therefore he said he would destroy them— had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.” Moses (on several occasions, we have seen) persuaded God to change his mind regarding his plan to judge Israel. This inspired verse explicitly says that God “would destroy…

Topics: