This narrative of Paul's journey gives us a glimpse of what travel was like in the first century. Sea travel, at least, was usually sharply curtailed in the winter. The boats were shallow and not made to hold up in strong storms. The Mediterranean Sea could be stormy in the winter time. It was therefore the practice of most to put in on the coast when Winter set in. 

Luke will go into detail concerning those who will accompany Paul, the places where they stopped, the difficulties they encountered. 
 
 

Verses 1-6 And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan Regiment. 2 So, entering a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, meaning to sail along the coasts of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us. 3 And the next day we landed at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care. 4 When we had put to sea from there, we sailed under the shelter of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. 5 And when we had sailed over the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy, and he put us on board.

A. And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan Regiment.

1. Festus finally quit putting off the inevitable and took care of the paperwork that was necessary to send Paul to Rome.

2. He was entrusted to an officer from the Augustan Regiment. The name would suggest that this was an elite force, perhaps Festus' personal guard, since it carried and imperial name. From this man's later character we can see that he was no ordinary man.

B. "So, entering a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea..."

1. Adramyttium was a seaport on the northwest coast of modern Turkey in Roman province of Asia.

2. This ship was evidently making a return run from Egypt or some other seaport with supplies for their home port. It was hardly the accommodations suitable for transporting an important prisoner to Rome, but such was the desire of the centurion to transport Paul before Winter set it that he would book passage of this "freighter" with hopes of finding more suitable transportation on the way.

C."Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us."

1. Commentators are uncertain whether Aristarchus was also a prisoner or not. It was likely that he was traveling with Paul, just as Luke. He is mentioned in Colossians 4:10 and Philippians 1:24.

D. "And the next day we landed at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care."

1. Their merchant ship stopped at Sidon to load/unload supplies. This was approximately 65 miles distance traveled on the first day. The centurion showed a remarkable measure of confidence in Paul to allow him to go visit with his friends there. He must have been sure that Paul had no intention of escaping. Paul had evidently made a very good impression on this man.

2. There is little doubt that one of the things Paul would do is to visit brethren there. Some commentators suggest that Paul might have gotten sick during the brief voyage and that he was needing care. This seems to be a matter of speculation.

E. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy, and he put us on board.

1. The Alexandrian ship here was probably one of the great fleet of grain ships which regularly made it's run to Rome. Egypt had become the breadbasket of Rome long before.

2. These boats were under the direct supervision of the Roman government, so it would have bee a simple matter for the centurion to secure passage on this ship for him and his prisoner and companions.

A. "When we had sailed slowly many days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus..."

1. Instead of being able to skirt Asia Minor and pass by Crete on it's northern side, they were forced to sail by the southeast coast of it. This would make the journey even more dangerous.

2. It seems that they held a conference to decide whether to go on or not.

B. "Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over..."

1. The fast described here was the Feast of Atonement. That would put the date at sometime in the middle of October. It was getting late in the season for travel, the Mediterranean being too dangerous for safe traffic between October and the end of February.

2. It seems quite likely that Paul's input was probably asked for, since he had a great deal of worldly experience and displayed a great deal of wisdom. His advice was to stay put for the winter, because it would dangerous to both cargo and passengers.

C. "Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul."

1. Because this was a government chartered ship, the centurion seemed to be the highest ranking official aboard and would make the final decision.

2. In the end he was swayed to go on for three reasons.

a. There was better facilities to winter further on, it Phoenix. Coffman makes the observation that people will often risk severe danger in the name of having a little more comfort. Their destination was just a scant 30 miles away.

b. The helmsman and captain were in favor of traveling on.

c. The majority of those participating in this brief conference were also in favor of going on.

3. A more suitable port was only a few more hours away, so they decided to go on a little further.

A. "When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete."

1. Sure enough, almost as if an answer to pagan prayer, the wind became favorable for their continued travel. It would now be useless to remind the sailors that the weather was dangerously changeable during this time of year. They were sure that this was the answer that they wanted.

2. This is much like us. We will grasp at "signs" if they are reinforce what we want to do in the first place. And how many times have people become lulled into making mistakes that affect them the rest of their lives by the soft winds of enticement.

B. "But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon"

1. It wasn't long, however, until Paul's warning were borne out. The gentle wind turned tempestuous.

2. Sailors of ever age have names that they call certain winds that happen regularly. This one was called Euroclydon, or literally "east, north wind."

a. When they reached the cape there came from 7,000 foot high Mt. Ida a sudden typhonic squall. The winds come down from those mountains fit to blow the ship out of the water, said a skipper to Sir William Ramsey, in Ramsey's great work on Paul's travels .

3. It would soon be a matter of survival, not arriving at Rome that would dominate all on board.

C. "So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive."

1. The sailors quit trying to steer in their desired direction. They simply let the wind take the ship where it desired.

D. "And running under the shelter of an island called Clauda..."

1. They were able to make the temporary shelter of a small island called Clauda.

2. There they began to make preparations for rough seas travel.

a. The secured the skiff, lifeboat, which usually traveled behind them.

b. They undergird the ship with cables, to make it more secure and leakproof.

c. They struck their sail. This was a precaution against being driven toward the Syrtis sands, a huge sand bar that was constantly changing position off the north African coast.

A. "Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days..."

1. Reese determines this a eleven days that they had been in the storm.

2. We can see how they had lost all hope of escape from the storm. They had done everything that sailor of their day could do to ride out the store and navigate in it.

B. But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said..."

1. One can imagine the scene in the little boat. They were probably all huddled in the hold. They were swaying back and forth, wondering if the next wind would break up the ship. The last thing on their minds was food. There was also likely sea sickness on the part of some because of the storm.

2. Paul begins by reminding them that they might have been safe in the harbor now, albeit a desolate one, if they had only listened to his advice.

3. But this is more that an, "I told you so", speech. He had encouraging words for the men.

a. An angel had delivered a message to him that very night. In it the angel told him that God, for Paul's sake, had granted the life of all those on the ship. There would be the loss of the ship and cargo, but not a man would lose his live. They would, however, have to run aground on another island.

b. This would not be the first time when God would save sinners for the sake of His elect. He would have done so for Lot.

4. The phrase "I believe God" has been the beginning point of many sermons. It shows that Paul trusted God and His Word, no matter how bad things looked. It was a sign of Paul's faith.

A. "Now when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea..."

1. This was fourteen day since they had left Fair Haven, their last safe port.

2. The "Adriatic Sea" is likely the gulf Adria, which would include more that the present day Adriatic Sea and include the large area south of the mouth of the Adriatic.

B. "about midnight the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land."

1. It is likely that the watchmen, who were on duty for such emergencies, were able to hear breakers, thus convincing them that they were nearing some kind of land.

2. Sure enough, when they started taking soundings, they were first 20 fathoms, then 15 fathoms.

a. A fathom is about six feet. Notice that they would have fairly quickly moved from 120 feet to 90 feet in depth. This was proof positive that they were nearing land.

b. Soundings were taken bay dropping a rope with a heavy weight on the end overboard and measuring the depth to the bottom. It was likely that there were knots tied for each fathom, thus making it relatively easy to determine depth.

3. It was this point that the sailors lost their nerve. Fourteen days fighting a terrible storm had taken their toll. They were likely exposed to the full fury of the storm most of the fourteen day, due to the nature of their work. Their plight would have been far worse that the passengers.

a. Knowing that the sure must surely be close by, they make preparations to abandon their passengers and make their escape in the lifeboat.

b. This would have been disastrous to Paul and the rest of the passengers. They were not experienced seamen. It would have been impossible for them to guide the boat for what was going to be absolutely, running the boat aground.

c. They made an excuse for letting down the lifeboat. But instead of doing some necessary action, they intended to leave the boat and not come back.

4. Somehow Paul became aware of their plan. He approached the Centurion and told him of it. He also reminded the Centurion that they would need the sailors if they were to come out of this voyage alive.

a. The Centurion took immediate, drastic action. He ordered the soldiers on board to cut the ropes and let the lifeboat drop into the sea. No all, sailors and passengers alike would be "in the same boat." There would be no escape, short of working together on the ship.

A. "And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying..."

1. Paul had earlier urged them to take some food, but they had not. He now tells them that they will need the nourishment for the coming ordeal that they must now face.

2. They will all be saved, but it also means that they will need nourishment for the coming time.

B. "And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all..."

1. Paul's example of calm and courage would encourage them all. After giving thanks to the Lord for the food he gave it to all, and they ate.

2. Their courage was renewed at the example of Paul and they were now prepared for whatever needed to be done.

3. We are told how many were on board. There were 276, including passengers and crew.

4. After eating they threw overboard the last remaining cargo, so they would be able to guide the ship toward the shore.

A. When it was day, they did recognize the land..."

1. What they had surmised was correct. They were close to land

2. When it grew light they were able to see a small inlet with a beech. Here would be the best place to run the ship aground. This would give the best chance for survival to most.

B. Now the began to make preparations to run the ship aground.

1. They cut themselves loose from the anchors.

2. Then they hoisted the sails and began to sail for the shore.

C. But all did not go well for them.

1. Instead of coming aground in the sandy beach, they hit a rock or mud bar at the mouth of the bay.

2. They were now stuck and it became obvious that they would go no farther.

D. It was at this point that the ship began to break up.

1. It seems likely that they soldiers met for a quick conference at the bow of the boat and decided that the prisoners needed to be killed, so the soldier could avoid having to die for allowing some of them to escape. This would, of course, include Paul.

2. But the Centurion gave orders that no such thing be contemplated.

3. He ordered the swimmers ashore first. Likely the soldiers would go first, then wait for the prisoners to come ashore so they could make sure that none escape.

4. Then, all the rest could follow, grabbing pieces of drift wood or anything that would float.

5. The result was just as Paul had predicted, not a single man had been lost.