Kill the Prisoners - Acts 27:42

The beloved physician Luke wrote how he, Paul, and others with him were sailing toward Rome, “and they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves”, and in chapter twenty-seven and verse forty-two of the book of Acts Luke shared how, “the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners” where we read:

And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.

The verse begins, “And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, ...” Luke began with the words, “and the soldiers' counsel” which means “and the purpose, advise and will of the Roman warriors and champions” “was to kill the prisoners” or “was to destroy, extinguish and inflict mortal death upon the captives”. Luke shared how the “Roman warriors” wanted to destroy and eliminate all the captives who were aboard the ship.

The verse continues, “... lest any of them should swim out, and escape.” Luke added the words, “lest any of them” which means “unless some or a certain number of the captives” “should swim out” or “would begin swimming away from the ship”, “and escape” which means “and flee from danger they would incur as prisoners”. Luke shared how the “Roman warriors” wanted to “kill” the “captives” because they were afraid some of them would “flee” by swimming away to avoid their sentence and punishment.

When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we learn what the “soldiers” aboard the ship were thinking when the rear of the ship was being broken into pieces. Rather than save the “prisoners”, they wanted to “kill” them. Their thoughts were that the “captives” would attempt to “escape” by swimming away from the ship. We shall see how the “centurion” responds in our next verse, but for now let us be mindful that “Paul” was one of the “prisoners” aboard this ship, and he was promised by God that he would bear witness of Him in “Rome”. God would “save” “Paul”, and because He loves every person, He gave His only begotten Son Jesus to die for their sins to “save” them as well. When people believe and trust in Him, He will forgive their sins and grant them eternal life. Those who realize the saving grace of Jesus toward “Paul” on this ship will find God's same spirit of “salvation” in Jesus who is ready and willing to save all who “come” to Him.

Next time Luke shares, “But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose”, 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".