Need another reminder of biblical validation? When Paul and 275 sailors, criminals and other passengers were sailing across the Mediterranean Sea, their story was on "solid ground."
We've been reading the book of Acts this month. Yesterday, chapter 27. Luke, on the ships with Paul, wrote of the harrowing voyage from Caesarea in Judea. Their destination was Rome, more than 1,000 miles over calm, then stormy waters - neither ideal for sailing.
Find a map of the Mediterranean Sea and check off the stops: Sidon for one. They sailed to the lee of Cyprus, then stopped at Myra and boarded another ship for Italy.
Winds took them southwest to modern Crete, where Paul warned they should wait out the winter. But the captain chose to sail on.
Not long after, hurricane-force winds rendered sailing impossible. There was no way to navigate. They went without eating for days as the storm took control. At times, they thew baggage etc. overboard to lighten the ship.
How would Paul reach Rome, where the Lord told him to appear before Caesar?
After some 600 miles over the open sea from Crete, the sailors noticed the depth to be only 120 feet...then 90 feet. The ship hit a sandbar, and all 276 men had to swim or float ashore as waves broke the ship apart.
Today that shoreline is called "The Bay of St. Paul," on Malta.
God, through Paul, healed sick inhabitants. Three months later at the end of winter, Paul took another ship north to Rome.
~
The wind could have taken the ship to Gibraltar and out to sea.
Or to the coast of Africa. Instead, it drove them directly to a port
that served God's purpose. He knew all along that no one would drown.
Jimmy
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