Here is a teaching on chapter 27 of the book of Acts. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters going forward, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.
First I want to say a quick prayer... Lord, I pray that you lift up every single person reading this right now, Please give us knowledge and understanding to know exactly what it is that we're reading and the wisdom to implement it in our daily lives. Lord, I pray that whatever it is that we're supposed to get out of this Bible study that we receive it and our eyes are open to it. And Lord I can't thank you enough for every single thing that you've done. I love you with every ounce of my being. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Acts Chapter 27:
1 When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. 2 We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.
3 The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. 4 From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.
5 When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia,
we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7 We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. 8 We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.
9 Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. So Paul warned them, 10 "Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to the ship and cargo, and to our own lives also." 11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. 12 Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.
So in verses 1-8, we see in verse 1 that Luke said "when it was decided that we would sail for Italy," so here luke sailed to Italy with others and Paul and other prisoners. It seems that Luke and the other believers sailed to Italy to be there for Paul. Then there were strong winds and maybe a storm was brewing so it was difficult to sail. So they got on another boat going to Italy and they finally came to a place called Fair Havens. In verse 9 where it says "the Fast," this was the day of Atonement or Yom Kipper, and this was commanded by Moses in Leviticus chapter 16 verses 29-34.
So I'm just going to go in Leviticus really quick and read those verses here:
29 "This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month
you must deny yourselves and not do any work--whether native-born or an alien living among you-- 30 because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins. 31 It is a sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. 32 The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments 33 and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the community. 34 This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites." And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses.
So those verses are about the day of Atonement or Yom Kipper, or the "Fast" that Luke was talking about here in verse 9 of chapter 27 of the Book of Acts. Then we see here that Paul warned them that the voyage would be disastrous to the ship, their belongings, and their lives, and the centurion didn't listen to Paul
but listened to the pilot and the owner of the ship instead. So the majority of the people decided to sail on.
13 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the "northeaster," swept down from the island. 15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind, so we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. 17 When the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. 18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
21 After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: "Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an Angel of the God whose I am, and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.' 25 So keep up your courage men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island."
So in verses 13-20, they sailed along the shore of Crete when a gentle south wind began to blow, and then there was a wind of hurricane force that swept over the island. So they gave up hope of being saved after the storm raged for many days and neither sun or stars appeared. Then in verses 21-26, Paul had told them that they should have listened to him, but to have courage because only the ship would be destroyed, but no one would be lost. He said that an Angel had told him that he must stand trial before Caesar and that God had given him the lives of all who sail with him. Then he told them that they must run aground (or get their ship stuck on the ground so it could float on the island.)
27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. 28 They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep. 29 Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. 30 In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. 31 Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved." 32 So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall away.
33 Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. "For the last fourteen days," he said,
"you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food--you haven't eaten anything. 34 Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head." 35 After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36 They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38 When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.
39 When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground If they could. 40 Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. 41 But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.
42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. 43 But the centurion wanted to spare Paul's life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. 44 The rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety.
Alright, so those are all the verses of Chapter 27 and the book of Acts, but I'm going to discuss these verses with you guys here. So in verse 28 where it says "take soundings," this means to use some type of material to measure the depth. In verse 29, they were afraid that the ship would hit the rocks so they dropped four anchors and prayed for daylight. Sailors were trying to escape so they let down a lifeboat and acted like they were lowering down anchors. In verse 31 Paul told the centurion and soldiers that they couldn't be saved unless the sailors stayed on, so the soldiers cut the ropes. Then we see in verses 33-35 that Paul urged them to eat and he gave thanks and broke the bread. In verses 41-44, the shipwrecked and everyone was to swim to shore.
So in all these verses here, the shipwreck could have been avoided if they would have just listened to Paul, but an Angel had come to Paul and said that no one would be hurt but he had to sail to Caesar. So again, we see that Paul is letting the Holy Spirit guide him and he's not letting anything stop him from doing what God's will for his life is and going where the Holy Spirit guides him to go and where the Angel of the Lord tells him that he needs to go. And we see through these verses during this huge storm where everyone's panicking, Paul is staying calm, he's letting them know that everything's going to be okay, he's urging them to eat, and he is just keeping a calm presence and that's all because he is being guided by the Holy Spirit. The Angel told him that no one was going to be hurt and that he had to go to Caesar, so he had nothing to fear or worry about because he knew that no matter what happened during those storms or on that ship that everyone was going to be okay and he was staying submitted to the will of God.
Acts Ch 27 Study Guide
What is the “Fast” that Luke is referring to in verse 9?
Why did Paul tell them to keep up their courage in verse 22?
In verse 26, what does it mean to “run aground?”
In verse 28, what does it mean to take “soundings?”
Did Paul let the Holy Spirit guide him through sailing to Rome and the shipwreck?
Why do you think that Paul stayed so calm during the storm and encouraged the others?
What is your biggest takeaway from this Bible study?
So that concludes this Bible study on Chapter 27 of the book of Acts. Next week we're going to go into chapter 28, which is the last chapter of the book of Acts, so make sure you stay tuned for that.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights
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