The beloved physician Luke wrote how he, Paul and others were sailing to Rome, and “Julius”, “a centurion of Augustus' band”, “courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself. And when we had launched from there, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy; and he put us therein”, and in chapter twenty-seven and verse seven of the book of Acts Luke shared how he, Paul and the others, “were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone” where we read:
And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus,
the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone;
The verse begins, “And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, ...” Luke began with the words, “and when” which means “and at the time and moment” “we had sailed slowly” or “we, Luke, Paul and the others with them set sail and voyaged for a prolonged amount” “many days” which means “a great and abundant number of sunrises to sunsets”, “and scarce were come over against Cnidus” or “and barely with difficulty and hardness arose and approached Cnidus or Gnidus whose name means nettled and was a peninsula [now Cape Crio] and a city by the same name, situated at the extreme south west of the peninsula of Asia Minor, on a promontory now called Cape Crio, which projects between the islands of Cos and Rhodes”. Luke shared how he, Paul and the others were voyaging for a great number of days and barely made it to the city of “Cnidus”.
The verse goes on to say, “... the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone;” Luke continued with the words, “the wind not suffering us” which means “the streams of the air not allowing or permitting Luke, Paul and the others sailing with them to travel much farther”, “we sailed under Crete” or “we, Luke, Paul and the others traveling with them set sail or voyaged beneath and close to Crete whose name means fleshly and was the largest and most fertile island of the Mediterranean archipelago or Aegean Sea, now the modern Candia”, “over against Salmone” which means “toward and along Salome whose name means clothed and was a bold promontory on the east point of the island of Crete”. Luke shared how he, Paul and the others traveling with them continued to “sail” beneath the city of “Crete” and close to “Salome”.
When we consider Luke's words in this verse, we learn how the journey by ship for he, Paul and the others with them was making slow progress. The “winds” were contrary to their destination, and they were only able to travel short distances. “Cnidus, Crete and Salome” were places that were familiar to the readers of Luke's words, but the idea is that they were taking a long and difficult time to reach the city of Rome. God wanted “Paul” to share the gospel of Jesus Christ in “Rome”, and His timing was perfect when “Paul” was to arrive. God loves people, and He prepares them by His Holy Spirit to receive the message of His good news of salvation through His Son Jesus. Those who are attentive to the Holy Spirit will hear when God touches their hearts to believe, and when they submit to Jesus they will be forgiven of their sins and granted everlasting life with God. Let all who read these words surrender to Jesus.
Next time Luke shares how he, Paul and the others, “came unto a place which is called The fair havens”, 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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