Seashore with Shipwreck by Moonlight
Caspar David Friedrich
1830
Oil on Canvas
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Acts 27:5-6 ~ “And when we had
sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to
Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy
and put us on board.
Here
we can ascertain that the ships origin or first port-of-call with Paul and Luke
aboard. It was in the city of Myra in Lycia. This is in the southwestern
portion of Asia Minor or modern-day Turkey. We see that it is a centurion or
the one guarding Paul in route to Rome that finds the ship. Since Acts is
written by Luke and this passage is written in the first-person because it says
“ἡμᾶς/us”, it can be implied that both Paul and Luke are put on the ship.
When
the ship got stuck we can clearly see the thing that impedes the ship: The
Syrtis which is the shallow sandy gulf on the coast of Libya probably formed by
eons of wind-blown Saharan sand that has made its way into the Mediterranean
Sea. We also see the driving force for the ship: Wind. Probably the same hot
desert air blowing off the desert over top the cooler Mediterranean Sea.
Because these gulfs are so close to modern-day Libya we can see just how far
they had been blown off course in route to Rome. They were literally heading to
the wrong side of Mediterranean Sea. They are heading towards the southern
coastline instead of the northern coastline. Instead of Italy…they somehow
ended up pointed towards North Africa. Talk about losing one’s bearings in a
storm! What convinces someone even more that this was the north coast of Africa
is that it is a place none on the ship recognized (Acts 27:39).
Acts 27:15-17 ~ “And when the ship
was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven
along. Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with
difficulty to secure the ship's boat. After hoisting it up, they used supports
to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis,
they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along.
Why
were the Syrtis so dangerous? The sailors on a grain ship like the one carrying
the Paul and Luke knew they were doomed if they hit the Syrtis sands. The grain
ships like the one they were on in this passage were the largest ships plying
their trade on Mediterranean Sea at that time. They had and extraordinarily
deep hold therefore an extrememly low keel, and they would easily have gotten grounded on a sandbar in the
middle of no-where many miles from any shoreline. More than likely they
would’ve died of dehydration as they would’ve run out of water on a salt sea. Water, water everywhere...but not a drop to drink.
We
know of the total number of passengers.
Acts 27:37 ~ “We were in all 276
persons in the ship.
Having
eaten a last meal the crew and persons on the ship cast much of the cargo off the ship.
What was the cargo besides people? They were carrying wheat.
Acts 27:38 ~ “And when they had
eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
Because
of Luke’s meticulousness historical documentation, we even know when and where
the shipwreck occurred.
Acts 28:1 ~ “After we were brought
safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta.”
Acts 28:2 ~ “The native people
showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all,
because it had begun to rain and was cold.
Luke
tells us in verse 2 that it was raining and cold. What does this tell us? It is
wet and cold off the northern coast of Africa.
Acts 28:11 further tells us that they later set sail on another ship
that had wintered three months on the island. The shipwreck occurred at Malta in the
beginning of winter which makes travel on the Mediterranean treacherous.
Acts 28:11 ~ “After three months we
set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with
the twin gods as a figurehead.”
We
learn one additional fact about this ship from this verse….its name. It is the
only named ship in the entire Bible (at least indirectly)
The
Greek translation for “the twin gods as a figurehead” in this passage is
παρασήμῳ Διοσκούροις or parasemo/side-marked/named: Dioskoupois / Zeus
Juveniles or the sons of Zeus. So indirectly Luke is telling his readers that
the names or label on the side of the ship were Castor and Pollux. In Greek
mythology, Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers. Together they
were known as the Dioskouri...the sons of Zeus.
If
we jump to the very end of the Bible we smack into the Revelation of Jesus
Christ. We see something that looks like a mountain burning with fire that
destroys one-third of the living creatures along with one-third of all maritime
vessels. We witness more wrecked ships through John's vision in the Spirit.
Revelation 8:8-9 ~ “The second
angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire,
was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the
living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.”
We
will see the second angel sound his trumpet and the sounding of the trumpet and
this would be the signal that one-third of the ships at sea will be destroyed.
This will be a substantial destruction of many a naval vessel as today’s navel
fleets are quite substantial with multi-billion dollar aircraft carriers and
the like. Man’s mighty arsenals will be as miniature plastic soldiers in a
miniature dirt war compared to the Almighty God. Even with our nuclear capabilities we have no more power
than the navies in the Roman and Greek Empires in the Bible when matched up against God. For God it will be like sinking toy boats in a bathtub.
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