Holy Scriptures and Israel

Gideon Levytam: Shalom. Holy Scriptures and Israel is a ministry designed to share with the Jewish people the good news of the Lord Jesus Yeshua the Messiah, and to instruct Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith. And now, teaching God's Word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective. Here is Gideon Levytam.

Gideon Levytam: Shabbat Shalom. Let us turn to the 27th chapter of the Book of Acts. We are going to try by the grace of God to finish today Chapter 27, which deals with the journey of Paul, Shaul, along with Luke, along with the centurion, the soldiers, the prisoners, on the way to the city of Rome, right in the midst of the time where there was a great experience of stormy weather.

And ultimately, we can see how the Lord preserved Paul and the people that took journey with him from Caesarea on the way to Rome. And they find themselves in an island that is called Malta. They are going to arrive at the end of Chapter 27. Now follow me as we are reading today from verse 27 to verse 44.

But when the 14th night was come. As we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight, the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country. And sounded and found it 20 fathoms. And when they had gone a little further, they sounded again and found it 15 fathoms.

Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks. They cast four anchors out of the stern. And wished for the day. And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under color as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship. Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, except these abide in the ship, you cannot be saved.

Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat and let her fall off. And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat. Saying this day is the 14th day that you have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I pray you to take some meat, for this is for your health. For there shall not a hair fall from the head of any of you.

And when he had thus spoken, he took bread. And he gave thanks to God in the presence of them all, and when he had broken it, he began to eat. Then were they all of good cheer. And they also took some meat. And we were in all in the ship 200 threescore and 16 souls.

And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and cast out the wheat into the sea. And when it was day, they knew not the land. But they discovered a certain creek with a shore into the which they were minded if it were possible to thrust in the ship.

And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea. And they loosed the rudder bands and they hoisted up the main sail to the wind and made toward shore. And falling into a place where two seas meet, they ran the ship aground. And the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmovable. But the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.

And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose. And commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea and get to land. And the rest, some on boards and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass that they escaped all safe to land.

I like this expression at the end of Chapter 27, they escaped all safe to land. This is a beautiful expression here on that journey that our Apostle Paul took as a prisoner from Caesarea on the way to Rome. He's not yet arrived to Rome, he's just a portion of the way to Rome. He's just in the midst of the sea and the wind was contrary, there was a storm on the way to go to Rome. And the experiences that this group of people, 276 souls on that ship, the experience that they have gone through was tremendous. And we see here in this chapter, how they all eventually arrived safe to shore.

Now, brothers and sisters, as we are here together, just imagine that this event that happened in the 27th chapter of the Book of Acts is often time illustrating to us the journey of the believers, the body of Christ, the believers. Though all the people on that ship were not believers, even just a few of them were truly belonging to the Lord, the Apostle Paul, of course, himself and Luke, we have read of him. And of course, the one, the servant that came along with them from Macedonia, they were truly children of God. But because of who they were and the promises of God, protection and blessing came for all the rest that came on that journey, heading towards the city of Rome.

Now, what we find here in this chapter, that this is the second part of the journey. Actually, it was the second ship that they have taken heading towards Rome. And the storm that they have experienced, as I mentioned earlier, is a picture of the storms of life that we all experience as believers. We know how difficult sometimes the Christian pathway, the believers' pathway is. We are just ending a year and we are going to start a new year and we know very well and we look back and how the challenges and the trials and the problems that came across our pathway in the last year, and we don't even know what is awaiting for us in the next year, but we do know that the Lord is faithful to keep his promises to his own people and to use us for blessing wherever we are.

And so we see now in the second half of this chapter from verse 27 to verse 44, how the Lord's promises to Paul came to fruition. He had promised, if you remember, Paul stood on the ship there in the midst of the storm, and he said to the people on the ship in the middle of the storm. He said, listen, I want to tell you that stood by me the angel of God. This is verse 23. Whose I am and whom I serve. And he said to me, fear not, Paul. You must be brought before Caesar. And lo, God has given thee all them that are sailing with thee. This is verse 24 of this Chapter 27. And God gave him a promise that he will preserve the people and that he will arrive to the city of Rome.

And now, brothers and sisters, we are here in the midst of this condition, and we find Paul saying to the people, I believe God. He truly trusted the word of the Lord. I believe God. He trusted what the Lord will fulfill in the coming couple of weeks that are ahead. And so, here we can see, we begin, of course, in verse 27 in our reading today. And we can see now in verses 27 to verse 32, that Paul warning all of those that were on the ship to keep themselves on the ship and not to leave the ship, not to go overboard. Because some of them, you notice that in verse 27, we read that when the 14th night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria. This is the sea of Adria. About midnight, the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country. And they sounded and found it 20 fathoms. And when they have gone a little further, they sounded again and found it 15 fathoms, and so on.

And we can see, brothers and sisters, now that they were driving, notice this expression in verse 27, they were driving up and down in the storm, up and up and down in the storm. Apparently, when they let the sails go, when they let all, they started to cast things overboard, the ship was moving with the waves up and down, and up and down. And it had been said that they had been driven for about 500 miles without controlling the ship. For nearly 500 miles, they were driven by the waves and the wind without any way to control the ship.

And so, this expression here, driven up and down in the Adria, this is the sea of Adria. It's still a portion at the end of the Mediterranean Sea. They have been moving from fair haven all the way to the island Melita. For nearly 500 miles, they were driving up and down without any control of the ship. And it says here in verse 27, when the 14th night was come. Can you imagine for nearly two weeks, they were in no control of the ship at all. The ship was totally at the mercy of God.

14 days, if you just noticed how the 14 days have passed, notice in verse 14, that's where they began their journey. It says, not long after. This is the first day. There arose against it a great strong wind called and he gave us the name in verse 14. Notice in verse 18, the next day, they lightened the ship. This is the next day. Look at the third day in verse 19, the third day, we cast out with our own hands all the tackling of the ship. In verse 20, and when neither sun nor stars were there for many days. So many days have passed by. By the time we get to verse 27, we notice that there were 14 days in total that the ship was totally at the mercy of God for nearly 500 miles without any human control. It was totally at the mercy of the Lord.

So now, at midnight, finally the shipmen, the sailors realized, we really getting closer to land somewhere. And so we read that they drew to some land. They didn't know where they were, but they were arriving closer to shore, tossed by the waves and by the wind. And so they wanted to check how close they are to the bottom of the sea. So it says here in verse 28, that they measured the depth to the bottom of the sea. There is this expression sounded and found it 20 fathoms. It's about 120 feet to the bottom of the sea. And then they measured again, and they found that they're getting closer to the land. And they found that there were 15 fathoms, about 90 feet. As they were measuring, they were getting closer and closer to a land that they did not know where they find themselves.

So, in verse 29, they cast anchors. We find out in verse 29, fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern. This is the rear part of the ship. And they wished for the day. Now when you are in a storm such as this, you do not know where you are heading. You're getting closer to the lower part of the sea, 120 feet, 90 feet, and closer and closer. You began to be afraid that something will happen. So they threw out the anchors, four of them from the rear part of the ship, in order that the ship will stop. And they wished for the day because you notice that in verse 27, it was midnight.

They were wishing for the day to break through so they will see what they're doing and where they were. And so those 14 nights have been driven to and fro at sea without any human control, entirely at the mercy of God. What an awful state and condition to be in. But remember, the Lord had promised, the angel of God had appeared unto the Apostle Paul and he says, Paul, do not be afraid. I am, he has also gave all these people to you to be safe and protected alive with you. But you might say, how is it possible? Look where we are. We are in the middle of the sea. For hundreds of miles being driven without human control, we are at your mercy. How is it possible? And yet Paul said, I believe God. And it shall be even as it was told unto me.

So, in verses 30 to 32, look what we read in this portion of Acts Chapter 27. As the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under color as though they would have cast anchors out on the front of the ship, Paul said unto the centurion, listen, and to the soldiers, except these abide in the ship, you cannot be saved. You see, the mariners, the shipmen realized that they are at their end. They assume that they are going to lose their life. So what did they do? It says that they were ready to flee the ship and to leave everybody on the ship. And just make sure that they take care of themselves first.

I don't know if you remember, just recently, there was this big, huge ship that have turned sideways. If you remember, we just saw it on the news just recently, that we have just heard that the captain, of course, at that time when it happened, left the ship and the people that were on the ship. I think there were nearly 1,000 people on that ship. Left them all on the ship and I think about 20 to 30 people have end up dead. But the captain wanted to preserve his life. He left ship. And he left everybody to avenge for themselves instead of giving instruction and leading everybody to leave the ship. But instead of being the real captain who take care of the ship, he left the ship. That's what we are told. We are not sure.

But here we can see that it happened here in those who are the mariners, the shipmen, they themselves knowing what's going to happen, they wanted to leave ship. And they wanted to do it in a crafty way that nobody will know that they are actually seek to spare their lives, not caring for the others who were on board with them. So the shipmen were about to flee the ship. They let down the boat. This is the lifeboat that earlier, in verses 16 and 17, they brought it into the ship because they thought it will be lost with the storm. So they let down the lifeboat, and they wanted to go into that lifeboat to save their own lives.

And it says here under the pretension or deception, as if they were going to cast more anchors at the beginning, at the front of the ship. So here we can see that they wanted to save their life. They knew the condition that existed at that time right at that sea. So they wanted to spare their life. But remember again, beloved brothers and sisters, Paul was told by the angel of God that he and the others will be spared. I have given thee all them that sail with thee, the angel of God said unto Paul.

But of course, they were not believers. They didn't accept what Paul had said. They wanted to spare their own lives. So they sought to leave the ship and to go into this little boat, the lifeboat and to take it in order to they're going to get to shore safe and sound. But the Apostle Paul came and he said what the angel of the Lord said to him. He said to the centurion in verse 31, Paul give them a clear warning. And he's saying to them, except these shall abide in the ship, you cannot be saved.

You know, this is also a very beautiful illustration. You know, the ark that Noah was finding himself and his family, his wife and his children and his daughters-in-law. This was the place of safety. That was a place where all the family of Noah, who believed in the God of creation, could be protected when they remain inside. And be safe and sound with all the flood that have happened. We call it in Hebrew the Mabool, historically in the history of creation. How the only ones that were safe are those that were remaining in the ark in obedience to the Lord.

For us, the ark is a picture also of the church, of the assembly, of the person of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. He is our protection. He is our safety from the storms that the enemy seek to pour out upon the people of God. And so it is so important to see right here that when God gave an instruction to the servant of the Lord, how important it is for those following him or at least going along with him to submit to what the Lord is saying. Except these abide in the ship, you cannot be saved.

He said it to the commander, to the centurion. He said it to the soldiers, listen, those people who are going to be leaving now the ship, those shipmen, he says in verse 30, and if they are not remaining in the ship, they are ultimately going to lose their lives because this is the word of the Lord. He says, I believe what God had said. And so, you can see in the next verses here, beloved brothers and sisters, Paul's warning was adhered to. Because it says in verse 32, they loose the lifeboat and they let it go.

Notice verse 32, it said, then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat and they let her fall off. In other words, they now did not have anything to take them to safety. That little lifeboat was supposed to be used by those who would need to go off ship, so they can get into shore safely. But Paul received an instruction from the angel of God that all are to remain on the ship. And therefore, beloved brothers and sisters, the soldiers apparently listened to what Paul have said unto them.

And you can see it throughout the whole journey that Paul must have had an influence upon the very centurion and the soldiers that were taking him as a prisoner to Rome. We can just imagine what Paul was talking over with people during the journey. He must have shared with them the gospel. He must have shared with them about Yeshua the Messiah. Of course, we don't read this here in a text, experiences of weeks that have gone by from Caesarea, Cesaria, on the way to Rome. He must have spoken to people on the boat, on the ship and shared with them the message. And it seemed to be that they have listened to what he had to say. And the very fact that they cut the rope, verse 32, to allow the only source of life for them to be taken out and to be dropped, to let it go, to fall into the sea, shows that they must have listened to the counsel of the Apostle Paul.

And you can see the confidence that he have. I don't know where we will be in a time such as this, when the storm is coming and fear coming upon us. What will we do? How will we react in a time such as this? We know ourselves very well that unless the Lord will help us to react in a way that is, without the help of the Lord, we will probably will react in the same way that the shipmen may have done, like trying to save our life, trying to find a way to protect ourselves because that is the nature of the human heart. That is the nature of man. But Paul had a complete trust in God. Except these abide in the ship, you cannot be saved.

You notice, except these, meaning the mariners, the shipmen, then you, soldiers, you, centurion will not be remain alive. Because their being remaining on the boat will depend on the protection of the life of the rest of the group. So, very interesting the commitment and the faithfulness of Shaul. So, in verses 27 to verse 32, Shaul's warning to all, abide in the ship. It's the only place of safety. That's the way that God had given him instruction for the people.

So, we are moving on now. We remember, we are in the midst of that storm, in the midst of this terrible condition. Now we find Paul not only as a one that warns, we find him as a one that encourages all. He is such an amazing man, Paul, Shaul. Verse 33 to 38, we find him encouraging the people to eat and to meet their physical needs. In verse 30, 33 and 34, the long 14 days, they really didn't eat because of fear. They fasted the people. It says in verse 33, you did not eat for nearly two weeks.

And while the day was coming, Paul besought them. He said, take meat. The word for meat really should be take food, take bread. Saying this day is the 14th day that you have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Apparently, those 14 days, we read about it already in verse 27, 14th night, apparently, those 14 days where the ship was on its own, totally at the mercy of God. People could not eat. They didn't meet their physical needs. They fasted out of fear, out of weariness. They probably lost their appetite.

Oh, do we ever lose our appetite when fear coming our way? And Paul now is encouraging them. He says to them, listen, you have not been eating now for 14 days. In verse 33, he says, listen, the days was coming on. He take food, he's telling them in verse 33. This is already the 14th day that you have tarried and continued fasting. You haven't taken anything. You haven't eaten anything. You can see the concern of the Apostle Paul for all the people that were with him on the ship.

Gideon Levytam: You have been listening to the Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levytam. Gideon teaches God's Word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective. For more information about this ministry, write to Holy Scriptures and Israel, Box 1411, Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0. Or visit our website at holyscripturesandisrael.com. You are also invited to Gideon's weekly Bible teaching on Fridays at 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., and Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. at Willowdale Christian Assembly Hall, 28 Marten Ross Avenue in Toronto. Holy Scriptures and Israel is made possible by your prayers and financial support. If you would like to support the program, visit holyscripturesandisrael.com. God bless you. Shalom, shalom.