The Yale expositor., 1909-10-29

unto the Lord; trust also IN MIN, ana ne
shall bring IL to pass"-Psa. S:5.
TIME-Summer and autumn OF A. d.
SO or co.
PLACE-On the Mediterranean sea. on
the way to Rome.
Suggestion and Practical Thought.
The voyage of life illustrated by
Pauls voyage toward Rome.
1. The Voyage on Peaceful Sea.
From Cesarea to Crete.-Vs. 1-13. The
ships. After it was determined to
send Paul to Rome under military
escort, the first thing was to find a
ship. There was probably very little
direct commerce between Cesarea and
Rome, and hence they embarked In
a trading vessel which coasted north
ward along the shores of Palestine to
Sidon and around the eastern point
of Cyprus. past Cilicia and Tarsus,
and part of Pamphylia to Myra in
Lycia, near the southwest angle of
Asia Minor
The second ship was large Egyp-
tian merchantmen loaded with grain
from Alexandria.
The ships company included Paul
and other prisoners, Luke, who writes
the account mote the I'VE" in the
story) Aristarchus, an old friend of
Paul who was one of the committee
that accompanied Paul to Jerusalem
with the collection for the poor (Acts
20:4, Copt. julius, with a guard of
soldiers from the Augustan band, be-
sides we know not how many other
passengers, and the crew
The Peaceful Voyage-They sailed
westward. 1t took them several days
to reach the port Cnidus on a penin-
sula at the extreme southwest point
of Asia Minor, although the distance
is only 130 miles.
The sailing was still difficult, and
they put into harbor called Fair
Havens on the southern coast of
| Crete. Here they Wanted for pleas
anter weather. But 1t was late in the
season, and rough, stormy weather
must be expected to prevail. Paul ad-
vised them to remain at Fair Ha-
vens till spring opened.
Paul's advice was good, but it is not
strange that experienced seamen
should not regard very highly the
opinion of a scholarly landsman.
2. Storm Tossed on a Wintry Sea.
vs.. 1926. There arose against it"
". 1D, the ship, "a tempestuous
wind" typhonic. tempestuous, like a
whirlwind; a hurricane, a typhoon, a
cyclone.
10. when the ship was caught.
A very strong expression, implying
that the wind seized hold of the ship,
as it were, and whirled her out OF her
course. I'VE let her drive" r. ", I'VE
gave way to it, and were driven" be-
fore the wind.
1s. The next day they" the sail.
ors. frightened the ship" The i'm.
perfect denotes that they began to
tighten the ship, set about it by
throwing out some of the cargo, not
the precious wheat which was thrown
overheard later (v. 3S).
10. Cast out with our own hands,
that is, of the passengers as well as
of the crew. "the tackling." "the fur
niture of the ship, its fittings and
equipment, anything movable lying
on the deck, upon which the passen
gers could lay their hands, such as ta
bles, beds. chests, and the like"
20. when neither sun nor stars
appeared" We have to re
member that before the invention oi
the compass the sun and stars were
the only guides of sailors who were
out of sight of land. "All hope
was then,' at last, henceforth, TIA
ken away"
The Vision of Cheer.-Now Pau
comes to the front, the only one IL
the whole ship who could bring g
message of hope The reason for his
assurance follows. An angel came tC
him with a message from God, a:
Jesus had appeared to his disciples IL
the tempesttossed boat on the Sea o.
Galilee.
The message was that he would bt
saved because he (v. 24) must bt
brought before Caesar" as God haC
promised him before (Acts %: IL
Pauls safety was as sure as God!
promise. The promise had been OBJ
scured before this, but It had shon,
out again through riffs in the clouds
God hath given thee all them tha
sail with thee" Doubtless Pau
prayed earnestly for the safety o
those who were in the ship with him
and their lives were granted in an
swer to his prayers. The good mar
is never selfish even in his prayers
The Port to Which We Should Sail
"A statesman declares that 9TH,
first requisite Of one who would hav,
a successful life, as of the pilot of |
ship, is a knowledge of its goal. NJ
helmsman however skilled in handling
wheel or experienced in seamanshiI
would be trusted to guide a vesse
unless he knew and could specify II
which direction It should go. 4
knowledge of the goal of nations Il
the first essential of statesmanship,
and also OF manhood and womanhood