This study is incomplete as posted here. Lord willing I will finish it and make the notes known under the same study title in the future. But do read the passage yourself and compare that which I've written here with what God shows you personally, hopefully some of the spiritual truths I've found will be a blessing to you.

In the book of Acts we find an account of Paul sailing to Rome and becoming shipwrecked. For years, many persons have looked at this account for spiritual information, and indeed the shipwreck in Acts 27 is a parable. Some choose to only see the historical account here which I believe really did happen, it's not just a story, God doesn't write fairy tales to entertain us.

As I studied this account I kept notes on anything new I would find that I thought might help me understand it in the future. With time I started to see a little more spiritual meaning in this passage. Although I do not have a lot to offer yet, I want to eventually post what I do have to the Net since I know that there are others who have studied this passage and perhaps something I've been shown by God will be a blessing to someone else.

But like the rest of the Bible, this passage deals with salvation. Every passage in the Bible was put there by God, He used man's hand to write but all the words are His. And the Bible only deals with salvation, even in historical events. The historical is secondary to the spiritual, if you become the most knowledgable historian and die unsaved, you still go to Hell, worldly knowledge cannot save you.

Why was this ship destroyed? At what time in history is God placing this ship? Is Paul a picture of you and me or is he a picture of Christ himself? All those who made it to the end on this ship were saved, why does God show us this, why weren't some killed? Since not all are saved w/i the church, how does that affect this parable, who are these men?

What does God teach us when He says that some wished to leave the ship and Paul prevented them from doing so, it would seem to make sense they'd have a better chance for survival if they headed for land. Do you see the Lord's supper in verse 35?

A study of the Greek words used in the Acts 27 account can reveal some interesting things that the KJV, NIV, NASB and other Bible versions may have not translated properly. But beyond understanding the Greek is understanding the spiritual words God uses as He talks to out hearts in this parable. Is the ship really a picture of the church universal or a specific one? What time frame is involved here, is this journey a picture of the end of time or did the journey begin at the very beginning of the NT church?

I have more questions than answers so far from studying this passage. Indeed God has written a very interesting parable to us but it's not as easy as it might seem. For years people only viewed the shipwreck as something that will happen just before Christ returns on the last day of time and this world ends, but I see lessons that have applied all along to the NT church. This is a parable well worth your study time as I believe we are near the end of time and that the churches are nearing their shipwreck as they disobey God and sail in waters they should not have gone into.

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