If you’ve been following along, a lot has happened to Paul since the last series of articles (Acts 19):
- Paul visited some more churches and headed to Jerusalem, where another riot broke out, and Paul was taken into Roman custody.
- Being a Roman citizen, Paul was entitled to a trial, but a plot was made to kill him. His nephew reported the plot, and a Roman commander had Paul escorted to Caesarea.
- Paul got a chance to witness to government officials (Felix, Festus, and Agrippa), but once Paul appealed to Caesar, he was committed to go to Rome (although still in custody).
- On the way to Rome, he was shipwrecked, but God saved Paul (along with the crew and the other passengers) on the island of Malta.
This is where we pick up in Acts 28:11.
After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island—it was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux.
Acts 28:11 NIV
So, this was three months on the island of Malta (located in the Mediterranean Sea), and – presumably when the weather got better – the group (apparently including Paul, Luke, and their Roman escort soldiers) catches a ship off the island.
Note how Luke records the specifics of the ship itself, despite the figurehead being from Roman mythology. We might not initially recognize the Greek “Dioscuri” [NASB] term to refer to these twin sons of Zeus, but we might recognize the word, “Gemini” from the astronomical constellation.
We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli. There we found some brothers and sisters who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome.
Acts 28:12-14 NIV
A map of the current Mediterranean Sea shows the following:
- Paul is being taken to Rome, which is – of course – in modern-day Italy.
- You probably know the “boot” of Italy, and you might remember that there’s an island that the boot appears to be kicking. That island is Sicily.
- South of Sicily is the much smaller island of Malta. According to Bing Maps, there’s a town on the north side of Malta called “Saint Paul’s Bay”, today (although that may have been where the first ship was wrecked, where he left from, or both – or neither, depending on the accuracy of this tradition).
- Syracuse is on the east side of Sicily, so the first journey was from Malta to Sicily.
- Then, Rhegium is the modern day city of “Reggio di Calabria”, kind of where the top of the toe would be in the boot of Italy.
- Then, Puteoli is the modern day city of Pozzuoli in Italy, on the front of the boot, about halfway from the shoe part to Rome.
So, we have sort of a “travel itinerary” from Luke, here. It might not seem theologically significant to record these details, but archaeologists and researchers have found confirmation of things in Luke’s books (even facts that skeptics in the past didn’t believe existed), providing yet another reminder that accounts like this one from the Bible were of real people, doing real things, and living in the real world.
It can be tempting to think of events in the Bible as happening in some distant place (“long ago, in a region far, far away”), and somehow seem less real. However, those who have traveled to the regions described in the Bible can attest to their reality, and I suspect that this is what makes journeys to these countries so meaningful to those who are able to visit, even centuries later.
So, let’s remember that the Bible is filled with accounts of real people in real places. And, because it accurately reflects the activities of human beings (who haven’t really changed) facing challenges with God’s help, the Bible’s lessons also apply to us, along with the challenges and opportunities that we experience.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for November 26, 2023
References:
- The Lookout, November 19, 2023, © 2023 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation.
- New Testament History: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Acts, by Gareth L. Reese. © 1976, College Press Publishing Company.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Acts, by Dennis Gaertner. © 1993 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 