Luke the beloved physician wrote, “when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them, and said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul. And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart there also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lies toward the south west and north west. And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing there, they sailed close by Crete. But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat. Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven. And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship. And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship”, and in chapter twenty-seven and verse twenty of the book of Acts Luke shared how, “all hope that we should be saved was then taken away” where we read:
And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us,
all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
The verse begins, “And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, ...” Luke began with the words, “and when neither sun” which means “and at the time and moment that not the sun in the sky” “nor stars appeared” or “not even the stars in the sky were visible”, “and no small tempest” which means “and not a little storm or rainy weather” “lay on us” or “pressed and was imposed upon us, Luke, Paul and the others on the ship”. Luke shared how the sun in the sky and the stars above were not visible and a huge storm was upon everyone in the ship.
The verse continues, “... all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.” Luke added the words, “all hope” which means “each, every, the whole and everyone of the expectation of good” “that we should be saved” or “that we, Luke, Paul and the others on the ship, were going to be kept safe and rescued from danger or destruction” “was then taken away” which means “was at that time expiated and removed”. Luke shared how the expectation of being saved from the storm's danger was no longer within the minds and hearts of those on the ship.
When we meditate upon Luke's words in this verse, we discover how the sun and stars were no longer visible to him, Paul and the others on the ship, and the violent storm continued to the point that there was no longer any “hope” that they would be rescued and saved. This was an intense situation, and the fulfillment about what “Paul” warned the “centurion” in charge of the prisoners and the captain and owner of the boat was at hand. God knew everything that was happening with the ship as well as it's passengers and “Paul” who was destined to be in “Rome” to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. God loves every person, and because His salvation plan was for His Son Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of mankind, He wanted to extend an invitation to “come” to Him through Jesus. Those who carefully examine this voyage and the difficulties within it should see the goodness of the Lord to extend His eternal saving grace and hope to every person in the world.
Next time Luke shares how Paul says, “Sirs, you should have hearkened unto me”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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