In this article, third in the series, the ship of Alexandria appears, and the passengers, soldiers, and crew arrive at the Fair Havens. Paul tries to warn them that this will be the last opportunity to disembark safely and avoid the tempest and risks ahead. But will they listen?
By W. D. Penfield. Originally published on Substack, December 23, 2021.
The Alexandrian Ship Appears
As we’ve seen so far, the first few verses in Acts 27 are a picture of the apostle Paul bundled into a ship of Adramyttium, a ship that represents the Byzantine family of Bible manuscripts. He and the ship have crossed over 1,500 years of time, and have reached America.
And a fork in the road that first appeared around 200 A.D. (see the introductory chapter of this series) makes its presence known in the New World. Paul and company are about to be transferred to a different family of texts to carry them onward.
6 And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy; and he put us therein.
It was there, over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, at Myra, a city of Lycia, picture of America (see the previous chapter), the centurion—again, a Roman—found a ship of Alexandria headed for Italy. And he put Paul and company in it.
This Alexandrian ship shows up after Paul and company have been brought to America. The timing perfectly matches history.
The Byzantine text–based King James Bible, originally published in 1611, had taken the English-speaking world by storm. But in the late 19th century, Alexandrian-text-based translations began to be produced and published. The first to achieve wide circulation was the Revised Version of 1885. Many other Alexandrian text–based English translations followed, including the American Standard Version and the currently popular New International Version.
All of this followed the publication of Alexandrian family–based Greek language “critical texts”—Nestle and Aland’s Novum Testamentum Graece, Westcott and Hort’s New Testament in Original Greek, and Tischendorf’s Critical Edition of the New Testament, among others.
A few 19th century scholars managed to repopularize a family of texts rejected centuries ago as inferior, a family of texts that had fallen out of use and had been set aside in favor of the Byzantine text family.
So if you’re wondering how it happened that the Alexandrian text family, the Minority family (and way in the minority), became a source for every English language translation produced since the mid-1800s, that’s how it happened.
A big argument for relying on the Alexandrian text is that Alexandrian manuscripts are the “oldest” and “best,” which supposedly means they are more likely to accurately reflect the texts of the original autographs.
But there’s a logical reason older copies of Alexandrian family manuscripts exist. The Alexandrian family texts were not used much. They were just sitting on shelves, so to speak, so they didn’t wear out. Older does not automatically mean better or more reliable. Sometimes it means the opposite.
About that Alexandrian ship
We gather from details that Luke includes in the rest of the chapter that the ship of Alexandria was a big, lumbering, fat-bellied Mediterranean cargo ship, in this case an Egyptian grain ship with a packed cargo hold and a deck crowded with 276 passengers, soldiers, and crew. It was probably square-sailed (triangular lateen rigs showed up later in Mediterranean history) and not capable of sailing close by the wind. It had to wait for favorable breezes, almost as if it went wherever the wind blew it. Even in the best conditions it made perhaps no more than four to six knots in speed.
7 And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone;
8 And, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called The fair havens; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea.
After being transferred to the Alexandrian vessel, the journey began to slow down, not making much headway.
They sailed under Crete. Beneath it. Below it. You may know that Paul didn’t have nice things to say about the Cretians (Titus 1:12). According to Hitchcock’s Bible Names, Crete means “carnal; fleshly”. Salmone, according to Strong’s Greek, suggests the surge of the sea on the shore.
And in the region of Crete and Salmone, “hardly passing it”—they struggled—they came to “the fair havens,” near the city of Lasea. Lasea means “thick; wise.”
This will be the last chance for the ship’s crew and passengers to disembark safely and avoid a terrible tempest to come.
The arrival at the Fair Havens marks the end of this current age, when remaining believers in Jesus Christ will be translated out—simply vanish to instantly be with the Lord and the other saints in heaven, as Enoch simply “was not, for the Lord took him.”1 Jesus doesn’t return at the end of this age. He returns at the end of the Tribulation. He will in fact end the Tribulation.
Believers at the end of our current age will vanish, instantly translated into heaven to be with Him.
Did I lose you there? Yeah, I know, it sounds preposterous to many of us accustomed to our current age when there is no open Divine or supernatural activity. But open Divine activity will return to the Earth with that event.
Such an event must take place because the terms of salvation are going to change. It would be unfair to change the terms for people who have already believed on Jesus and are saved in this age and have eternal security. And a lot of confusion might result if in the next age there were a mix of some believers who have eternal security and some who don’t.
So people who are saved in this age will be removed, swept up to be with the Lord.
As astounding as that event will be, it quite possibly won’t be the biggest news of the day. But that’s something to go into at another time.
For now, let’s note that anyone who believes on Jesus in this age instead of choosing to take chances with venturing into the times ahead, is indeed, as suggested in the meaning of the name Lasea, “thick” with knowledge and awareness, and “wise.”
Let’s also note that the name “Fair Havens” applies to salvation in our current age, not the age in general. This age has seen some tumultuous times, and it will see more, particularly in the few remaining decades. But the turbulence of this age isn’t to be compared to the tempest of the Tribulation that lies ahead (Matthew 24:21, Mark 13:19).
As a side note, atheism will all but vanish once open Divine and supernatural evidence returns to Earth. There will no longer be a question as to whether there’s a God, or even whether there is a Messiah. But there will be great conflict over which God—or more specifically which Messiah.
If you think a lot of people have all but lost their minds in our current socio-political climate, just imagine what things will be like in that one.
The time of the fast, the Day of Atonement
9 Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them,
10 And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives.
11 Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.
Much time was spent. The time of this current age had dwindled down and the end of it was upon them. To attempt to sail onward was dangerous.
The fast refers to Yom Kippur (Leviticus 25:9), the Jewish Day of Atonement, the time of cleansing away of sins. It can be viewed as a picture of an entire age. “Yom” can mean an age as well as a day (Strong’s Hebrew).
From the Judaism 101 website: “On Yom Kippur, the judgment entered in these books is sealed. This day is, essentially, your last appeal, your last chance to change the judgment, to demonstrate your repentance and make amends.”
That judgment sealed in the books is remindful of Ephesians 1, where Paul writes that we are sealed unto the day of redemption. And this age is your best time to make the simple decision that will result in your being saved instantly, entered into the books as righteous in God’s sight.
It’s a decision that demonstrates your repentance—your renouncing and separating from the old, and it instantly changes the judgment from condemnation into salvation, life, acceptance, approval, and heaven.
That simple decision is to believe on Jesus Christ and receive Him as your Savior. When you do, you are pronounced righteous, justified, cleansed, accepted in the beloved, and that judgment is sealed. You are safe and secure in the fair havens of Christ’s love.
Paul, in a figure, aching in his heart, reached out to them out of love and tried to warn them, all but pleading with them to take advantage of the opportunity for such an atonement, as the time of that opportunity was nearly over.
And it is nearly over. We’re down to the last fifty or so years.2
The risks in pressing onward are great. Bible prophecy indicates that millions of people won’t have the opportunity to push on into the Tribulation. They won’t survive the end of this age.
And those who do make it into the Tribulation won’t have eternal security if they do get saved. They’ll have to endure in the faith until the end in order to obtain their salvation (1 Peter 1:6–9). Some who start out as believers will fall away and won’t make it. They’ll be counted as never having believed.
Now is the time to choose to disembark and avoid the Tribulation. Jesus is the exit ramp. He is the gangway, the safe passage to the shores of the Fair Havens. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved (Acts 16:31).
Just about everyone can recite John 3:16, which presents the gospel in its glorious simplicity: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
What does it mean to believe on Jesus? It means to believe that He is the literal virgin-born Son of God, that He died for our sins, and that God raised Him from the dead, which declared Him to be the Son of God with power (Romans 1:4).
By the mighty example of His resurrection, we can trust that He will also raise us up again with Him. We can believe it even in this age when no such things are happening physically, with no open evidence that it’s even possible. We can live in faith. Our faith will be rewarded.
It’s to our benefit that such things aren’t happening openly now. If they were, we’d get less credit for believing, and our salvation would not be sure and certain—not until we reached the end of our lives without falling away from the faith and losing our salvation.
But in these this current time of the Fair Havens, we do get full credit for believing on Jesus, the instant we believe. We are sealed, safe and secure, and already have a seat in heaven (Ephesians 2:6). No one is capable of breaking down the gates of heaven to drag us out. We are in.
In the story, the passengers and crew found excuses to disregard Paul. They checked the breezes. Things didn’t seem so bad. They decided to put off a decision to believe and to chance it and “loose from Crete,” pass into the next dispensation, and ride things out.
This, they were to find out, was a big mistake.
Up next, Euroclydon!
If you start counting with Seth (Genesis 5:3), viewing him as a type of a new creation following the killing of Abel by Cain, the patriarchs are, in order, types of the seven major dispensations: 1. Innocence (Seth), 2. Conscience (Enos), 3. Human Government (Cainan), 4. Promise (Mahalaleel), 5. Law (Jared), 6. Grace (our current age, and the one typified by Enoch), and 7. the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ reigning on earth (the dispensation typified by Methuselah, who lived almost a thousand years). The Tribulation will be a short but turbulent transitional time between our current age and the Millennium.↩
After the conclusion of this series I’ll post a bonus article Three Offers of the Kingdom, and the Duration of Our Current Age with more information about this.↩
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