Acts 27:21-26 21And when they had been without food for a long time, then standing in the midst of them, Paul said, “Men, you should have listened to me not to have set sail from Crete and to avoid this disaster and loss. 22And now, I urge you to be courageous, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23For this night, an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship came to me, 24saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; it is necessary for you to stand before Caesar, and behold, God has granted to you all those who sail with you.’ 25Therefore, be courageous, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as it has been told to me. 26But we must run aground on some island.”
The situation had become desperate and a matter of life or death. No one had eaten, possibly because they were trying to keep things together out of fear, sea sickness, or because they could not cook or do anything except hold on. In that moment when all hope was lost, God came. That night, an angel appeared to Paul with a word of hope and assurance. Paul bravely stood up in the midst of the people on board with the message he had received. To whom he spoke is not stated, but it surely included the ship’s captain and crew and likely the centurion, Julius. His earlier warning had not been heeded, and everyone knew it. His opening statement with the ring of a “I told you so” comment serves the purpose of adding validity to what he said next. If his first prediction was true, then what he said next would also be true. His statement added authority to what came next.
Even though the ship now found itself in trouble, there was still hope, and it came from the God whom Paul worshipped. Paul predicted two things that would happen. One is that the ship would be lost, and the other is that, in spite of this fact, no one would die. The situation had changed from his earlier prediction, which warned of the loss of both cargo and life (verse 10). What changed the situation was the word Paul had received from an angel.
Most of those on board would have been Gentile pagans from polytheistic cultures, which is why Paul referred to the God to whom I belong and whom I worship. Paul was functioning as a prophet figure who received special revelation from his God. What Paul said would come true, verifying the person and power of his God. Paul received visions and dreams on occasion, as both Acts and his letters indicate. He was only a humble human, suffering like everyone else—and perhaps worse, but open to the leading of the Holy Spirit. In this case, God intervened with a clear and definitive angelic appearance, when perhaps dreaming in deep sleep would have been difficult because of the bad storm.
The primary reason God saved the people on board was so they could hear Paul’s witness. God’s plan for Paul was for him to stand before the most powerful person in the world at that time, the Roman Emperor. The leader of the known world needed to hear the message of the salvation Jesus offers.
The repetition of the phrase be courageous reinforces the phrase do not be afraid. Often, the first words an angel says in the Bible are “Do not fear.” God would save every person’s life on this ship, all 276 of them (verse 37), so that the gospel can be preached. Every person on board would see and hear of God’s loving grace and the offer of salvation provided through Jesus.
The storm was not over yet, but at least there was a small seed of hope that would grow to bear fruit in the lives of those on board the ship. No lives would be lost, but the ship would run aground on an island. The fulfillment of Paul’s prediction would verify his words. Things would happen just as he had predicted, thus proving the existence of his God and anything else (namely, the gospel) he said. Paul serves as an example of a prophet and pastor in this passage.