Acts (Written)

Looking up. Wyoming Capitol.

Wednesday, 22 May 2024

And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat. Acts 27:35

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

A more literal translation is, “And having said these, and having taken bread, he thanked God in sight of all. And having broken, he began to eat” (CG).

Paul had once again just urged those with him to take nourishment, reassuring them that they would all come through unscathed. With that stated, Luke next records, “And having said these.”

Paul will now turn his words into action. Thus, Luke redirects the mind of the reader from the spoken words to a tangible, visible manifestation of his faith in the word of the Lord. This is seen in the next words, “and having taken bread.”

Here are people that have been severely undernourished for two weeks. They were about to go through another ordeal that would test them to the limit of their ability if they were unprepared for it. Therefore, Paul reached for bread to turn his verbal urging into a visible one. Once it was in his hands, “he thanked God in sight of all.”

The Greek word is eucharisteó, the root of our modern-day word eucharist. It signifies to give thanks, and thus his actions are equivalent to saying grace. Once that was complete, Luke records, “And having broken, he began to eat.”

Paul set the example, certainly hoping it would transfer to all aboard. As prophesied, those who refused to eat would make it ashore safely, but it would be by the power of someone else who would have to expend his own energy in assisting those who were too weak to make it. This was certainly on Paul’s mind.

As for Paul’s actions, scholars vary on whether they think this was a memorial of the Lord’s Supper or not. The words of this verse are remarkably similar to those of Luke 22:19. However, the actions are the same as what Jesus did in Matthew 14:19 & 15:36. It is probably, therefore, comparable to a regular Jewish tradition.

Any relation to the Lord’s Supper would be personal to the one taking it and not an intentional connection for all to participate in. It would make no sense for Paul to do this, considering it to be a reenactment of the death of the Lord as described in 1 Corinthians 11, because that is intended for believers only.

The breaking of the bread, and thanking God for it as well, was in itself enough to impress in the minds of those in attendance of Paul’s faith in God. Thus, it would stand as an encouragement to them all. He was unashamed of his faith in God and Paul’s thanks would show that he was openly grateful for the mercy he had been promised concerning all aboard the ship.

Life application: Words are often effective in achieving a desired outcome, but there are times when words are not enough. Action must be taken to demonstrate that the words are reliable. As the greatest example of this, we can look at the words of Scripture.

God promised a Redeemer. Throughout the many books of the Old Testament, prophecies were made, telling Israel that He was coming. This gave the people hope. However, saying that this would happen doesn’t change the state of things one iota without Him actually coming.

Therefore, as Paul says in Galatians 4:4, 5, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

God backed up His words with action. Thus, all of what the prophets proclaimed became a reality. Because of that, it wasn’t just something Israel could accept and revel in, but it was something that all peoples of the world could now accept and partake of.

In like manner, we should be willing to follow up our words of promise with action that matches what we say. If we don’t do this, people will look at us as unfaithful. Whether our words speak of small things or great, let us be willing to follow through with them as a testimony that we are reliable followers of Jesus Christ.

Lord God, help us to be responsible in following through with the things we speak, so that we are considered trustworthy to those we encounter. If we are faithless as Christians, it will certainly bring a stain upon people’s thoughts concerning You. Therefore, be with us and prompt us in our spirits to always be faithful in the things we say. Amen.

Wyoming Capitol, Secretary, One Each.

Tuesday, 21 May 2024

“Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.” Acts 27:34

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

I translate this as, “Therefore, I encourage you to take food for this is for your salvation. For not a hair of the head of you will fall.” (CG).

Paul had just implored those gathered before to take food, noting that it was the fourteenth day that they had gone with little or no nourishment. Because of this, he continues with, “Therefore, I encourage you to take food.”

They need to eat. A time is coming very shortly when they would need to be strengthened both in body and in mind, something that eating food would do for them. He tells them all that “for this is for your salvation.”

Paul had already told them in verse 23 that he had been assured by an angel that all would come to safety, but now he shows that this doesn’t mean they were not to be participants in that truth. In telling them to eat, it was to ensure that they would have the strength for whatever ordeal may lie ahead.

The word he uses literally means “salvation,” but the context indicates that a different word such as “preservation” or “survival” is acceptable. The idea of salvation is most often connected to the eternal soul. That is not what Paul is saying. Rather, it is the salvation of life.

If they had already been told that they would all survive, and yet Paul indicates that this is for their salvation, then an obvious deduction would be that if they didn’t eat, they would have to be saved by those who did. Instead of living off the welfare of others, each should be responsible enough to eat and be prepared to rescue himself from the ordeal that was coming.

Either way, however, they would all be saved. And more, Paul says, “For not a hair of the head of you will fall.”

This is a proverbial saying used several times in Scripture and which even Jesus alludes to. See 1 Samuel 14:45; 2 Samuel 14:11; 1 Kings 1:52, Matthew 10:30, & Luke 21:18. As for the word “you,” it is plural. Every person would come through this ultimately unscathed.

However, it might be that those who didn’t eat would be so utterly exhausted that they might not physically recover for weeks, or they might face some other malady or embarrassment that eating would help avoid. Paul is using wisdom, based on the prophecy, to prepare those with him for the coming shipwreck.

Life application: The words of this verse call to mind the promises of the Bible which ask the same from us. Time and again, we are given exhortations. If we choose to reject them, then the harms that come upon us are actually self-inflicted wounds.

Jesus has promised salvation to those who believe in Him. This is an eternal decree of God, and thus salvation itself is eternal. One is sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of future redemption. And yet, what shape will we be in when we get to the end of this life?

We may have bodies worn out from abuses that the Bible warned us against. We may live lives filled with trials and troubles simply because we didn’t heed the word and apply it to our lives. Is this what we want?

And more, once we have been brought before Jesus, there will still be consequences for the lives we lived. This will be at the judgment seat of Christ where we will receive rewards or loss. Paul explicitly tells us that we will be saved, yet as through fire.

Paul is telling those on the ship what to do so that their earthly salvation will be easier than it otherwise might be without eating. His letters tell us that our eternal salvation will be better if we do what the word tells us to do as we live out our lives in Christ. Let us pay heed!

Lord God, may we carefully consider our walk before You each day. Help us to include adherence to Your word in our daily decisions and actions of life. May we be fully prepared for the day we stand before You to receive our judgment for the lives we have lived. Help us in this, O God. Amen.

Fancy Guv’s Office. Wisconsin Capitol.

Monday, 20 May 2024

And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing. Acts 27:33

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

More literally, it reads, “And until it was about to be day, Paul urged all to take food, saying, ‘Anticipating today, the fourteenth day, you continue undernourished, having taken nothing.’” (CG).

The previous verse noted the soldiers cutting away the skiff. At some point later, in the very early morning, Luke next records, “And until it was about to be day.”

This indicates the time between midnight and morning, not specifically the dawn itself. It is at some point very early in the day when the dawning is the next anticipated event in the daily progression of time. It is at this very early time that, “Paul urged all to take food.”

His advice for those gathered to eat surely wasn’t just as a means of strengthening the people, but it also would have served that great purpose of once again uniting the soldiers and sailors after what just happened.

Paul had a keen understanding of human nature, and he knew that there would certainly need to be a united effort on the part of both parties to ensure that everyone would be safe during the coming hours. A meal would bring a state of harmony which had been lacking through the long ordeal, and which could only have gotten worse with the cutting away of the skiff. Because of this tense state, Paul continued, “saying, ‘Anticipating today, the fourteenth day, you continue undernourished, having taken nothing.’”

The need to stop and eat a good meal begins to be evident first from the words “the fourteenth day.” They were anticipating the completion of two full weeks of constant battering by the wind and water. It would have been a harrowing ordeal for even the most seasoned sailor, but those fourteen days were, as he says, in an undernourished state.

The Greek word is not the usual word for “fasting” where one goes completely without eating. Rather, the word is asitos, an adjective that is only used here in Scripture. It is from the negative particle a along with the word sitos, signifying wheat or grain. Ellicott notes that they had taken “nothing beyond what was absolutely necessary to keep body and soul together.”

Life application: When people go without food, there are various ways they will handle it. Very few people will be unaffected by extended times of food deprivation. Some quickly get hangry (hungry combined with angry), while others just lay around lethargically, etc.

The point for most is that without food, things will not go as intended for the human physique. In Scripture, God’s word is equated to food, such as in Deuteronomy 8:3 –

“So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”

Even Job understood this –

“I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth
More than my necessary food.” Job 23:12

If we can have immediate and negative reactions to a lack of food for our physical bodies, shouldn’t we expect that without taking in God’s word, we can have immediate and negative reactions in our spiritual lives? Without coming to the word frequently, our minds are quickly diverted to contemplate the things of the world. In this, God becomes almost an afterthought. Eventually, He disappears from our thoughts altogether.

Let us consider this and choose to voluntarily feed ourselves on His word at least daily, and preferably more often than that. We eat two or three times a day. Shouldn’t we be feasting on the word equally as often? Stay in proper spiritual shape by tasting and seeing the Lord through His word!

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
⁹ Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
¹⁰ The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” Psalm 34:8-10

Lord God, may we fill our lives daily with the nourishment that can only come from You through Your word. Help us to responsibly feed ourselves on what You have presented to us for our guidance, protection, and life. Yes, Lord, help us in this and be with us as we dine daily in this wonderful treasure. Amen.

Guv’s office. Wyoming Capitol.

Sunday, 19 May 2024

Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off. Acts 27:32

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

In the previous verse, Paul told the centurion and the sailors that if the crew were to get away on the skiff, the ship and those on it were not able to be saved. Therefore, heeding his advice, Luke records, “Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff.”

The action here shows that they immediately accepted Paul’s words. The skiff had probably already been completely lowered, but the sailors weren’t yet on it. Luke records no arguments, no conversations, and no dispute by any party.

It is as if the centurion nodded his head and the soldiers simply cut away the skiff in a moment. This shows clearly that the centurion trusted Paul’s faith in the message he had received from the angel enough to act as was needed.

Again, it is very similar to what occurred with Jonah. The skiff could have been useful later. It was contrary to sound reason to simply cut it away. Likewise, it was contrary to sound reason to dump a person overboard in hopes of calming a storm. But in both cases, those who were faced with a decision made it according to the word they had heard.

In this verse, two words are used for the last time. The first is schoinion. It signifies a cord or rope. Its only other use was in John 2:15 –

“When He had made a whip of cords [schoinion], He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.”

The other word is skaphé, the skiff. All three of its uses were in this chapter. Once the ropes were cut, it says, “and let it fall off.” More precisely, “and let her fall away.” Like a ship, the skiff is a feminine noun. Her ropes were cut, and she fell away from the boat, proceeding on by herself.

Life application: The words of this verse are not unlike our own walk with the Lord. We are asked to do something which seems beyond reason, meaning to trust in the death of a Man from two thousand years ago in order to save us.

We have been told that He died in fulfillment of a law that we have never been under, but in doing so, He met the righteous requirements of God. From there, and proving that He did so, He rose again. It is otherwise incredible to consider, but this is what faith is, and this is what we are rewarded for. God looks for faith in His faithless creatures, so a little bit will do.

In receiving Jesus, we are cutting away our own source of attempts at personal salvation, and we are trusting in God’s provision alone. The soldiers had a choice. They could attempt to save themselves on a ship without someone to properly guide it – a picture of works-based salvation – or they could trust the word they had heard and do what seemed otherwise contrary to reason.

Be wise in how you proceed! Trust God’s word by trusting in Jesus. He can and He will deliver you on that day. Let us thank God for Jesus and praise His name forever and ever.

Heavenly Father, we know that we will be found worthy to stand before You, not on our own merits, but on the merits of Christ Jesus who alone has fulfilled Your law. May we rest in Him, trust in Him, and be delivered by Him on that day. To Your glory, we pray. Amen.

Wyoming painting. Wyoming Capitol.

Saturday, 18 May 2024

Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” Acts 27:31

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

A closer translation to the original is, “Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, If these don’t remain in the ship, you are not able to be saved” (CG).

In the previous verse, some of the sailors were putting out the skiff, pretending they were going to lay out anchors from the prow. However, seeing this was just a pretext to get away from the ship, “Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, If these don’t remain in the ship, you are not able to be saved.”

Depending on one’s view of what is occurring, the words of Paul here can be taken from a logical or a spiritual viewpoint. Is Paul saying that the abandonment of the sailors would mean that God’s wrath would be on the ship, thus bringing death to all?

Or is this logically saying that without the skills and abilities of the ship’s crew to navigate the vessel after the rising of the sun, death is the certain end as it would be in any such circumstance?

It is probably best to assume that Paul is making an obvious deduction. There were passengers, there were soldiers, there were prisoners, and there was at least one owner, all of whom would be left to handle the ship without the necessary skills required for the task. And therefore, he speaks logically to the centurion and the sailors that disaster was just ahead without the crew’s expertise.

The “you” here is emphatic, as if saying, “you yourselves.” Even in the middle of the night, Paul was ever vigilant to observe the circumstances around him and to advise according to the wisdom he possessed.

After having rejected his advice at the beginning of the voyage, and after having been given the assurances concerning the words of the angel, the centurion would have to decide now if Paul’s words were sufficiently reasonable.

Though long, Barnes’ thoughts on this verse are worth citing –

(1) That the certainty of an event does not render it improper to use means to obtain it.

(2) that, though the event may be determined, yet the use of means may be indispensable to secure it. The event is not more certainly ordained than the means requisite to accomplish it.

(3) that the doctrine of the divine purposes or decrees, making certain future events, does not make the use of man’s agency unnecessary or improper. The means are determined as well as the end, and the one will not be secured without the other.

(4) the same is true in regard to the decrees respecting salvation. The end is not determined without the means; and as God has resolved that his people shall be saved, so he has also determined the means. He has ordained that they shall repent, shall believe, shall be holy, and shall thus be saved.

(5) we have in this case a full answer to the objection that a belief in the decrees of God will make people neglect the means of salvation, and lead to licentiousness. It has just the contrary tendency. Here is a case in which Paul certainly believed in the purpose of God to save these people; in which he was assured that it was fully determined; and yet the effect was not to produce indolence and unconcern, but to prompt him to use strenuous efforts to accomplish the very effect which God had determined should take place. So it is always. A belief that God has purposes of mercy; that he designs, and has always designed, to save some, will prompt to the use of all proper means to secure it. If we had no such evidence that God had any such purpose, effort would be vain. Where we have such evidence, it operates, as it did in the case of Paul, to produce great and strenuous endeavors to secure the object.

Life application: There are things we are able to do and there are things beyond our ability. When it comes to salvation, no man is able to save himself. The Bible takes this as an axiom. Apart from God’s intervention, man is utterly corrupted before Him.

It is as if we are on a journey through a sea, being tossed about and where every moment could be our last. This is a truth we cannot deny. We are at the mercy of God alone for our next breath, and yet we must continue on until that final moment.

However, once death arrives, our fate will have been sealed. If we cut away from us the lifeline to God’s provision, meaning Jesus Christ, we are not able to be saved. We have forsaken the only One who has proven Himself worthy before God, and who is then willing to be our Substitute before Him.

The centurion and the soldiers on the ship had a choice to make. Should they listen to God’s appointed apostle and keep the sailors on board, making it possible for the ship to be saved, or should they allow things to continue without their needed experience.

Likewise, will we listen to the words of Scripture and receive Jesus, or will we attempt to go it alone? Let us use wisdom in this matter and call out to Jesus while we can. He is sure to deliver us safely to our place of rest and joy in the presence of God.

Almighty God, may we not be foolish and squander away our days walking in darkness and without the light of the Lord to conduct us back to You. Rather, may we call out to Jesus and find the right and proper path that will bring us into Your glorious presence once again. Amen.