And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius.
Acts 27: 1-12
In the last verse of Acts 26, we read that king Agrippa told Festus, as Agrippa was leaving Caesarea, that, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.” Now, we read that “it was decided” that Paul would sail to Italy under the guard of Julius, a Roman Centurion. Luke gives us a travel log of the trip to Rome. Though travel by sea was dangerous, more so then than today, it was still faster than walking or riding some animal over land. Not only did Julius serve as a guard of Paul, he, also, took care of obtaining the various ships they would travel upon to Rome. Because the voyage was long and arduous, the seasons changed and the weather along with the seasons. Fall and winter were bad times to sail the Mediterranean Sea. Storms came suddenly and violently. The small ships of the day were no match against nature’s ravages. Paul perceived that danger lay ahead if Julius tries to continue the trip without waiting for the weather to change. Julius is more interested in getting to Rome than what his prisoner has to say about his decisions to move on. Julius felt the harbor where they sought shelter against the bad weather was not sufficient to stay there and made passage on another ship planning to sail to another harbor that was “better” than Fair Havens. Paul’s perceptions he gave to Julius were from the Holy Spirit. We will see this more clearly as the voyage comes to a terrible end. Christians sometimes find themselves making decisions based upon what they perceive to be their own “best interest.” Without consulting the Word of God or asking, in prayer, what would God have them do, they think they can act, without consequence, in an ungodly manner. God, always, has His child’s best interest in mind. He knows far more than we could ever know. He has promised to care for His children. So, why do we run off in our own direction only to realize we have messed up “big time?” Though our souls are saved and sealed by the Holy Spirit, our flesh is at war with the Holy Spirit. Paul describes this in Romans 7 when he writes that we do the things we should NOT do and we don’t do the things we should do. What are we to do, o wretched men!? We are to seek God and His Kingdom and all these other things will be given to us! So, why do we act like little children running off to do that which is not good for us?
Source: S C Ball August 15, 2023
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