Acts 27:1-26

Acts 27:1-26 … This is the account of the beginning of Paul’s journey to Rome for his appeal before Caesar in about 60 A.D. Paul was placed in the care of a centurion (Acts 27:1) and they set sail. This is a great place to get familiar with geography. The ship was from a place near Izmir, Turkey (today’s name & place), and sailed north along the coast of Israel and Lebanon (Acts 27:2). First they came to Sidon, which is in Lebanon, north of Israel. Sidon is still there today, now a city of 200,000 about 25 miles south of Beirut. As they continued north and west (v.5), the places mentioned are all along the southern coast of what is Turkey today, and then called Asia. In Acts 27:6, they change to a larger Egyptian sailing ship and set sail in the early fall, which is a time for seasonal storms in the Mediterranean (which was then called the Great Sea). Paul warned about the weather in verse 9 (where the “Fast” referred to was Yom Kippur). Following Paul’s warning, if you put your feet into the sailor’s shoes, you’re in for a very exciting and dangerous trip at sea. But Paul’s vision of an Angel of God (v.23) assured him of personal safety for the crew and passengers. But the ship is going to have a tough time in the storm. The exciting climax will come in the next reading!