WWUTT 1147 Hospitality at Malta?

Where you are today, the Lord God has brought you here. And he's brought you here for a purpose, his good, pleasing, and perfect will. We see this also in the life of Paul, when we understand the text.

You're listening to When We Understand the Text, committed to sound teaching of the word of God. For questions and comments, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com. And don't forget our website, wwwtt .com.

Here's our host, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky.

Paul’s Shipwreck and Arrival at Malta

Well, we have arrived at the last chapter of the book of Acts. Today, we're in Acts chapter 28. Remember where we are in the story. The apostle Paul had been sailing for Rome. His ship has run aground.

No one's lives were lost. Everyone has been spared, but they're all getting off the ship and finding out where they have landed. And that's where we're picking up the story today. Acts 28, starting in verse one.

After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all because it had begun to rain and was cold.

When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened onto his hand. When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, no doubt this man is a murderer.

Though he has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live. He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead.

But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a God. Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days.

It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed and putting his hands on him healed him. And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.

They also honored us greatly. And when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed. After three months, we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria with the twin gods as a figurehead.

Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Regium. And after one day, a south wind spring up. And on the second day we came to Potioli. There we found brothers and we were invited to stay with them for seven days.

And so we came to Rome. And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the forum of Appius and three taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage. And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

The Native People’s Superstition and the Significance of Malta

So we come back here to chapter 28, verse one. It says, after we were brought safely through, remember that the ship had run aground and begun splitting apart. And this was on the rocks or the reef that was right before the island.

So they started grabbing pieces of the ship and using them as flotation devices as they then paddle along to get over to the island. So it says there that no one was lost, everyone survived. We were brought safely through and we learned that the island was called Malta.

If you've got a map in your Bible, you'll probably have Malta labeled a significant place on your map only because that's where Paul's ship was shipwrecked. Otherwise it's too small there in the Mediterranean for you to even really think about it being there.

But it's just to the south of Sicily. You know that the country of Italy is shaped like a boot, right? And then there's another little island down there that it looks like the boot is kicking, that's Sicily.

And then to the south of Sicily is a little dinky island there called Malta. Verse two, the native people showed us unusual kindness. The native people, that phrase is literally translated barbarian. And there's not a negative connotation of that word.

We tend to think of that word barbarian as being negative. A barbarian is like a Neanderthal, you know, somebody who's dumb or maybe violent. But the word barbarian simply means somebody who wasn't a Greek speaker.

So they land on this island Malta and the native people there, the barbarians there didn't speak Greek. Now there were apparently some people that spoke Greek because it's apparent that language was not a problem.

Somehow they were able to communicate with one another, whatever that common language might have been, but they weren't Greek. They showed unusual kindness to this whole crew of people who have gotten off this ship, which is over 200 people.

And they kindled a fire and welcomed us because it had begun to rain and it was cold. Remember, this is still winter time. And it wasn't too cold that a viper couldn't survive because as the next verse says, when Paul was gathering up a bundle of sticks to put them in the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened onto his hand.

Reptiles don't really like the cold, but apparently it wasn't so cold that the reptiles couldn't survive. And because of the heat of the fire and even the crowd of people that were there generating some amount of heat, the viper becomes curious and leaps out and strikes Paul on the hand, fastens onto his hand.

And when the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, no doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live. These were obviously a superstitious people.

If something really bad was gonna happen to you, well, you must have done something really bad. A viper was considered deadly. If you were to be bit by a viper, it was likely that you were going to die, especially whatever snake this was there on the island of Malta.

The native people knew it as something you wanted to steer clear from. Now in Greco-Roman lore, there was this story of some prisoners aboard a ship who were shipwrecked and escaped to an island. And while they were on the island, these serpents came out and bit them all and they died.

So even though they were escaping from custody, the goddess of justice was not gonna allow them to get off scot-free and sent these serpents to them to bite them and kill them. So because that's a story in Greco-Roman lore, when this happens to Paul, that's what the native people think is happening to him.

Just like we've heard in this story. Justice is not gonna allow him to live. This man is a murderer. So justice is taking a life for a life. Though he has escaped the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.

That was verse four. But Paul responded by shaking off the creature into the fire and he suffered no harm. The people were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a God.

Mark 16 and the Snake-Handling Misuse

Now it's because of this story, Paul being bitten by the snake and shaking the snake off into the fire and no harm comes to him at all. This is one of the reasons why we read in the great commission in Mark chapter 16, a reference to being bitten by snakes and being able to survive it.

Now, this section of the gospel of Mark is referred to as the Mark and appendix. Mark 16 verses nine through 20 was not written by Mark. It was added at a later time. And what we have in the great commission, Mark 16 verses 14 through 20 is kind of an amalgamation of verses from other places.

Whatever overzealous scribe it was that wrote this particular section, they gathered these verses from some different spots to put this together. And that includes the story that we're reading here in Acts 28.

So let me read to you briefly Mark 16, starting in verse 14. Afterward, Jesus appeared to the 11 themselves as they were reclining at table and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.

And that's likely a reference to the resurrection story, similar to what we have in the gospel of John. And Jesus said to them, go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Similar to the great commission in Matthew 28, verse 16, whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

And these signs will accompany those who believe. In my name, they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues, both references to Acts. They will pick up serpents with their hands. Here's that story in Acts chapter 28.

This is not permission to become a snake handling church. That's not what this passage is indicating. I think that it's just one of the craziest practices of all of the weird charismatic and Pentecostal things that some of these hyper charismatic churches will do.

Snake handling, that's just one of those things that seems the most illogical to me of everything else that I see some of these kooks doing. But it's because of verses like this in Mark chapter 16, verse 18, which Mark didn't even write, but also using Acts chapter 28 to justify this particular practice.

So they will pick up serpents with their hands and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them. We don't see that anywhere else in the New Testament. And they will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover.

So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.

So that's the Mark and appendix. And it's that reference there to picking up serpents with their hands and not being harmed by those serpents that's taken from this story here in Acts chapter 28. No misfortune came to Paul and the people said that he was a God.

But we have to believe that Paul's reaction to that was similar to the way that Peter reacted in Acts chapter 10 when Cornelius bowed down to him. Peter wouldn't let him do that, said, stand up, I am just a man.

And so Paul would have said the same thing to these persons. And we take that from what we read in the book of Acts, though Luke doesn't give us any details about that here. Verse seven, now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days.

He has a Greek name. So there were obviously some Greek speakers on the island, even though the natives were generally considered to be barbarian. Verse eight, it happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery.

And Paul visited him and prayed and putting his hands on him, healed him. And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. They also honored us greatly.

And when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed. So here Paul even has an opportunity to perform miracles and we have to believe and know based on the character of Paul and what we have seen him do in other places where he has stopped, he shared the gospel with them as well.

These miracles were performed to be able to confirm that the message that Paul preached was the message that came from the Lord. So the gospel was proclaimed to them and there would have been people on this island who came to faith because of what they had witnessed and all of this by the providence of God.

The very fact that the ship was wrecked was so that Paul might be able to step on this island and share the gospel with these persons whom Paul otherwise would not have visited if not for the shipwreck.

So souls were saved. Every soul aboard that ship was saved and then more souls are saved by the power of the gospel that was preached by Paul to these people on this island. So, and then it mentions there in verse 10, they honored us greatly and when we were about to set sail, they put on board whatever we needed.

The Ship to Rome and the Brothers at Puteoli and Appius

Well, set sail in what? Their ship was wrecked. It was torn in two. What in the world are they gonna sail on? Well, that's mentioned in the next section. Verse 11, after three months, we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria with the twin gods as a figurehead.

That would have been Gemini. So the kind of the carving of the gods that's right there on the front of the ship, you've seen that with like, you know, there's usually some sort of a woman or a lady on the front of the ship.

It might be a representative of a siren of some kind. Well, this had Gemini, the two gods who had been carved right there into the front of the ship. And this was a Greek ship. It had wintered in the island.

So it had been sitting there because they couldn't go any further due to the winter. And this was three months later. So they had landed at Malta and waited three months before they set out from there.

See, they learned their lesson this time. We landed at Crete. Paul said we shouldn't go any further because winter was coming upon us soon. It wasn't gonna go well with us. We didn't listen to Paul and what happened?

We almost died. And surely if Paul wasn't with us, we would have died. And so this time they were patient and they waited there at Malta until the winter had passed. So after three months, they set sail in a ship that had been sitting there, a Roman ship.

And because of the centurion that was overseeing this group that was with Paul that had been handling the prisoner exchange, getting him to Rome, making sure everything was staying in line, so on and so forth.

There was a centurion that was there and he had authority to be able to say, well, this is our ship and we are going to take it, being a Roman ship. So they boarded the ship that had been wintering there, a ship that had been left behind when there were many other ships.

They probably left that one behind for some reason, but it was a large enough ship for them to be able to board. And so they put in at Syracuse and we stayed there for three days. So Syracuse, now, if you're looking at a map, remember I mentioned that Malta was to the south of Sicily and Syracuse is on the southeastern side of Sicily.

So they've journeyed from Malta to Syracuse, which would have been a journey of, oh, a little over a hundred miles. It would have been maybe twice the distance of the journey from La Silla to Phoenix.

Remember that's where they were trying to get on the island of Crete before that Northeasterly came in and blew them off course and they were not able to get to Phoenix at all. So here, the trip from Malta to Syracuse about twice that distance, they would have been able to do it in very little time.

And then an equal distance from Syracuse to Regium and that's where they go next. As it says, putting it at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days and from there we made a circuit and arrived at Regium.

And after one day, a south wind sprang up and on the second day we came to Puteoli, a south wind that was in their favor, that was pushing them right along. That's what they were hoping for when they had set out from La Silla, but the season changed and they weren't able to make it to Phoenix.

So from Regium, they got to Puteoli and were able to cover that distance very fast, traveling along the Western side of Italy. So between Sicily and Italy, there is enough of a gap there to get a ship through, a strait to get on up to Puteoli and they were brothers there.

We found the brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. They covered a pretty good distance and a pretty quick period of time. So, hey, we're making a good time now. Yeah, making good time, given that they are three months behind schedule.

Ignoring that part. But they stayed with the brothers for seven days and of course, Paul being the guy that has saved our lives, we're going to let him do what it is that he wants. And then they came to Rome and the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and the three taverns to meet us.

That's not talking about locations in Rome. Those are places to the south of Rome, like they're way out there. So people were coming from great distances, brothers who were Christians, who were part of the church, who lived in these other areas.

They were coming to meet Paul and meet the group that was with him. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage. And when we came to Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

Paul’s House Arrest in Rome and the Gospel’s Advance

So Paul is placed under house arrest in Rome, as you're probably familiar with. And we'll pick up the story there tomorrow, finishing up with Paul in Rome as the Lord has delivered him there, just as he promised to do.

So he has an opportunity to share the gospel. Paul had written to the Romans before. His letter to the Romans would have preceded this visit. Because remember, in the letter, he says that I long to come and see you.

And he's able to use his imprisonment to appeal to Caesar and basically get a free trip aboard a ship, though it wasn't a luxury cruise by any stretch of the imagination. But even through this journey, the Lord was able to bring people unto him.

There were believers who became saved because of the gospel that Paul proclaimed. And all of this by God's hand. It may not be the route that we would take if we could choose that route, but we must trust the Lord and his will is good, pleasing, and perfect.

That letter that Paul wrote to the Romans preceding his visit here, that's where we're gonna go next. So next week on Monday, we'll do an introduction to the book of Romans. Let's conclude here with prayer.

Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for bringing us along as you have in this journey and delivering us to this place. Where we are today, we are here because you have brought us here. And whether those circumstances are great or whether they are dire, I pray that we would rejoice in them, knowing that you are doing something great through these circumstances.

You are shaping us more into the image of Christ. And just as Christ was even persecuted, though there was nothing wrong in him, he had never done anything wrong. The only good man who ever lived. Though he was persecuted, he did not revile back, but he continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

And may we do the same. Life may be unfair, we may be treated unjustly, but we entrust ourselves to God and to our Savior Christ, who loves us and has lifted us up and has delivered us into your presence by the shedding of his blood.

What a beautiful Savior. In his name we pray.

Amen.

You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book.

On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an Old Testament study When We Understand the Text.