Acts: 27 Fallen Entities of Rome - Dadcast

Welcome back to another dadcast. Today we have another sermon on Acts 27. Please enjoy. 

Notes

Paul Sails for Rome
1]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. 2]And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 3]The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.
4]And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5]And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 6]There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7]We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off
Salmone. 8]Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

Vs.1) A centurion is a commander of about 80 to 100 men. A cohort consisted of about 480 to 500 soldiers, a legion was 10 cohorts, or about 5000 men.
9]Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 10]saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11]But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 12]And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea
from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

Vs.9) The Fast probably refers to the Day of Atonement, which would be Tishri 10 or at the endof September (Leviticus 23:26).

Vs. 10) Paul is not necessarily prophesying but he knows trouble is coming; however, he will give prophetic information in vs.24.

The Storm at Sea

13]Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. 14]But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. 15]And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16]Running under the lee of a small
island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat. 17]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. 18]Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 19]And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20]When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

Vs. 14) This storm reminds me of Luke 8 where Jesus cast Legion out of the demoniac. It seems that this fallen entity, Legion, was the lead authority over the region of Decapolis. Jesus
was on His way to “bind the strongman” over that region so that the Gospel message could spread throughout the Gentile population of Decapolis. However, before Jesus engaged in this battle, the fallen realm tried to destroy Jesus in a storm. A similar thing happened to Jonah. He was sent to preach repentance to Nineveh. This was the capital of Assyria, the preeminent
empire over the region. Jonah tried to escape from the Lord and the mission given to him; nonetheless, the fallen realm tried to destroy Jonah in a storm in order to ensure that he would never preach to the Gentile population of Nineveh.

This same strategy that was employed against Jonah is at play here. For several years Paul's intention was to preach the Gospel to the entire Gentile world. He was now on his way to stand before Nero, the leader of the entire Roman empire. No doubt there was an actual angelic
war happening in the 2nd Heaven realm. The fallen realm could not afford for Paul to make it to Rome. The fallen entity behind Nero must sink the ship and drown Paul and his Gospel message.
Remember this, every ancient culture has similar gods that are worshiped: gods of the sky, of the sea, of the underworld, gods of death, of war, of fertility. These are all the same gods;
however, their names change within each culture. These are not mythical beings, they are fallen entities from the angelic realm. I believe that the chief deity of that time behind the emperor
Nero was Zeus. The Romans called him Jupiter; but, I'm just going to use the Greek names so that we don't get confused. Zeus was the king of all the gods and of men. He was often depicted with a scepter in one hand and a thunder bolt in the other. He had power over the sky, thunder and storms. Under his authority were lesser deities like Poseidon. Poseidon had command of the
seas, and under the bidding of Poseidon were serpent monsters like Typhon and Hydra. So this storm is not a coincidence or a natural weather pattern, it is a physical manifestation of a heavenly battle between Zeus and righteous angelic warriors deployed from God's throne room.

21]Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 22]Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23]For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24]and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before
Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25]So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26]But we must run aground on some island.”

The centurion accepted the opinion of the ship owner and pilot over Paul's warning in vs. 11.

Now he begins to believe Paul. This is a turning point not only for the centurion, but for all the members of the ship.
Vs.23) “an angel of the Lord,” this is not the “Angel of the Lord” in the Old Testament. 27]When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. 28]So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms.
29]And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 30]And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship’s boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, 31]Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”
32]Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it go.
33]As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing.

34]Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” 35]And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. 36]Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37](We were in all 276 persons in the ship.) 38]And
when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.

Vs.33) 14 days: In Daniel 10 we see that Daniel had been fasting and interceding for his people for three weeks. An angel was sent to him but had been detained for 21 days by the Prince of Persia – a fallen entity. I suspect that this passage is similar. The delay of 14 days for the appearance of an angel to Paul is due to the warfare going on in the heavens, it was fierce and
prolonged.

As I stated earlier, this shows the intensity of the heavenly battle over Paul's trip to Rome. Consider this: it takes an average of 10 to 12 days for a tropical storm to travel from the west coast of Africa to the east coast of the U.S. That is about a 7000 mile trip. The trip from Crete to Malta is only about 600 miles, and that storm raged over Paul for 14 days.

Vs. 35) Paul broke bread, he may have had something like communion with his fellow Christians. This encouraged the rest of the ship to eat some food. This is where the story turns.
The fallen realm has lost the battle. By daylight Paul and all the passengers will be delivered onto dry land.

The Shipwreck

39]Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore. 40]So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. 41]But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground.
The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. 42]The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. 43]But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, 44]and the rest on planks or on pieces
of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.

Chiasm of Acts 27

A chiasm is a literary device that presents a list of ideas, stops at the key point, and then repeats new but similar information in reverse order. Sort of like a mirror image in written form.

Paul sent to Rome by ship (1-8)
Paul brings a warning of tribulation on the sea (9-12)
The storm rages, difficulty saving the rowboat (13-20)

God grants the lives of the ship to Paul, the meal (21-26)

The storm rages, rowboat is jettisoned (27-32)
Paul's brings a promise that no one would be lost (33-38)
The ship is wrecked so Paul and all passengers swim to the shore of Malta (39-44)

Application

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over (from Psalm 23).

Who are the enemies of Paul?

Not the Romans, not the ship's passengers. It is the fallen entities that rule Rome.

What does Paul do when he receives the message from the angel?

He comes to “the table” and has a meal “in the midst of his enemies.”