Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From ACTS #46 - 27:27-44)
3. 27:27-44 FULFILLMENT OF PAUL'S VISION
a. 27:27-28 LAND AT HAND THROUGH SAILOR'S TESTING
Hos de tes-sa-re-skai-deKAtonux eGEne-to, di-a-phe-roMEnon [1308]heMON en toHaDRIa,
But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven to and fro in the Hadrian Sea,
kaTA MEson tes nukTOS hu-peNOoun hoi NAUtai [3492] proSAgein tiNA auTOIS CHOran:
about :midnight the sailors surmised they were drawing near to some country:
kai boLIsan-tes [1001], HEUron or-guiAS [3711] EIko-si;
28 and they sounded, andfound twenty fathoms;
braCHU de di-aSTEsan-tes [1339]kai PAlin boLIsan-tes, HEUron or-guiAS DEka PENte.
and after a little space they sounded again, and found fifteen fathoms.
b. 27:29 ANCHORS RELIED ON BECAUSE OF UNCERTAINTY OF SHORE
phoBOUmeNOI te MEpou kaTA traCHEIS [5138]TOpous ekPEso-men [1601],
And fearing lest haply we be cast on rocky ground,
ek PRUMnes [4403]'RIpsan-tes agKUras [45]TESsa-ras, EUchon-to [2172]heMEran geNESthai.
they let go four anchors from the stern, andwished for the day.
c. 27:30-31 PAUL WARNS CENTURION: ALL SAILORS NEEDED TO STAY ABOARD
Ton de nauTON zeTOUNton phuGEIN ek tou PLOIou,
And as the sailors were seeking to flee out of the ship,
kai cha-laSANton [5465]ten SKAphen [4627]eis ten THAlas-san, proPHAsei [4392]
and had lowered the boat into the sea, under color
hos ek PROras [4412]agKUras melLONton ekTEInein,
as though they would lay out anchors from the foreship,
EIpen ho PAUlos tohe-ka-tonTARche kai tois stra-tiOtais,
31:Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers,
E-AN meHOUtoi MEIno-sin en to PLOIo, huMEIS soTHEnai ou DUnas-the.
Except these remain in the ship, YOU cannot be saved.
d. 27:32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.
TOte aPEko-psan [609] hoi stra-tiOtai ta schoiNIa [4979]tes SKAphes, kai EIa-san auTEN ek-peSEIN.
e. 27:33 PAUL'S EXHORTATION: DESIST FROM FASTING
Achri de hou heMEra Emel-len GInes-thai, pa-reKAlei ho PAUlos HApan-tas me-ta-laBEIN troPHES, LEgon,
And while day was coming on, :Paul encouraged all to partake of food, saying,
Tes-sa-re-skai-deKAten SEme-ron heMEran pros-doKONtes Asi-toi di-a-teLEIte, meTHEN pros-laBOme-noi.
Today is the fourteenth day that you wait andcontinue fasting, having taken nothing.
f. 27:34 FOOD NEEDED FOR STRENGTH AND SAFETY
di' HO pa-ra-kaLOhuMAS me-ta-laBEIN troPHES: TOUto gar pros tes hu-meTEras so-teRIas huPARchei:
Therefore I encourage you to partake of food: for this is for your :safety:
ou-deNOS gar huMON thrix [2579]aPO tes ke-phaLES a-poLEItai [4098].
for not a hair shall perish from the head of any of you.
g. 27:35 PAUL SETS AN EXAMPLE IN BREAKING FAST
EIpas de TAUta, kai laBON ARton, eu-chaRIste-sen [2168]to TheOeNOpi-on PANton;
And when he had said this, and had taken bread, he gave thanks to :God in the presence of all;
kai KLAsas [2906], ERxa-to esTHIein.
and he broke it, andbegan to eat.
h. 27:36 Then were all of good cheer, andthemselves also took food.
EUthu-moi [2115]de geNOme-noi PANtes, kai auTOI pro-seLAbon-to troPHES.
i. 27:37 And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen :souls.
Eme-tha de hai PAsai psuCHAI en toPLOIodi-aKOsi-ai hebDOme-kon-ta hex.
j. 27:38 And when they had food enough, they lightened the ship,throwing out the grain into the sea.
ko-resTHENtes [2880] de troPHES, eKOUphi-zon to PLOIon, ek-balLOme-noi ton SIton eis ten THAlas-san.
k. 27:39 A BAY PERCEIVED
HOte de heMEra eGEne-to, ten gen ouk e-peGIno-skon [1921]:
And when it was day, they knew not the land:
KOLpon DE ti-na ka-teNOoun [2859] Echon-ta ai-gi-aLON [123], eis hon e-bouLEUon-to
but they perceived a certain bay with a beach, and they took counsel
ei DUnain-to ekSOsai [1856] to PLOIon.
whether they could bring the ship safe to shore.
l. 27:40 ANCHORS AWAY - SO SHIP CAN APPROACH BEACH
kai tas agKUras pe-ri-eLONtes [4014], EIon eis ten THAlas-san,
And casting off the anchors, they left themin the sea,
HAma aNENtes [447] tas zeuk-teRIas [2202] ton pe-daLIon [4079];
at the same time loosing the bands of the rudders;
kai ePAran-tes ton arTEmo-ma [736] te pneOUse [4154], kaTEIchon [2722] eis ton ai-gi-aLON.
and hoisting up the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.
m. 27:41 THE SHIP GROUNDED IN A DANGEROUS POSITION
pe-ri-peSONtes de eis TOpon diTHAlas-son [1337], ePEkei-lan [2027] ten naUN;
But lighting upon a place wheretwo seas met, they ran the vessel aground;
kai he men PROra [4408] ePEIsa-sa [2043] Emei-nen aSAleu-tos [761],
and the foreship struck andremained unmovable,
he de PRUMna [4403] eLUe-to [2089] huPO tes BIas [970].
but the stern began to break up by the violence of the waves.
n. 27:42 SOLDIERS COUNSEL THE KILLING OF PRISONERS
Ton de stra-ti-oTON bouLE eGEne-to HIna tous desMOtas a-pokTEIno-sin,
And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners,
ME tis ek-ko-lumBEsas [1579], di-aPHUge [1309].
lest any one swim out, and escape.
o. 27:43-44a THE CENTURION OVERRIDES THIS COUNSEL
ho de he-ka-tonTARches, bouLOme-nos di-aSOsai [1295] ton PAUlon,
But the centurion, desiring to save :Paul,
eKOlu-sen [2967] auTOUS tou bouLEma-tos; eKEleuSEN te
stayed them from theirpurpose; and commanded
tous du-naMEnous ko-lumBAN [2860] a-poRIpsan-tas [641], PTOtous ePI ten gen e-xiEnai;
that they who could swim should jump overboard, andget first to the land;
kai tous loiPOUS, hous men ePI saNIsin [4548], hous de ePI ti-non ton aPO tou PLOIou.
44aand the rest, some on planks, and others on some things:from the ship.
p. 27:44b And so it came to pass, that all escaped safe to the land.
kai HOUtos eGEne-to, PANtas di-a-soTHEnai [1295]ePI ten gen.
NOTE: 27:30-31 - Paul seemed to be always alert to problems, and had for each one a word of wisdom. He seemed to discern what the sailors were about to do, escaping the ship, and leaving all the rest aboard to drown! Paul had sailed so often in ships in the past, though he wasn't a sailor; yet being alert, he immediately discerned what was necessary to do to save all their lives. It is good to have someone aboard always watchful, and always alert to unsuspected danger. George Muller was also this type of man. He noted how a cab driver on the continent had put luggage in the “boot”, and except for Mr. Muller's alertness like Paul, would have driven off with 3-4 pieces of luggage! We cannot assume honesty with all human beings about us!
Then in 27:33 we see the apostle Paul wisely counseling all aboard to break their fast, so that they would have strength to make it ashore upon the soon breaking-up of the ship. So - though Paul exercised his apostleship in the founding of 14 city churches - yet at the same time he exercised wisdom in meeting the needs of natural emergencies!
27:43 - Then note how God used the centurion to override the counsel of the soldiers, and spare the life of Paul along with the lives of the other prisoners. God used this to fulfill the prophecy He gave Paul - that not one aboard this ship would lose his life. And - this prophecy wasfulfilled!
So we can conclude that we should not be so heavenly-minded - that we are no earthly good! J.A.W.