From Miletus To Tyre
FROM MILETUS TO TYRE
ACTS 21:1-14
How ready are we to accept God’s will even though we know it will be hard for us?
Verses 1-6 narrate a further stage in the apostolic sea voyage from Miletus to Tyre. On route they called at various ports of call (21:1-3) until they reached Tyre on the Syrian coast. There a lengthy process of unloading the ship’s cargo meant some delay (21:4), but Paul redeemed the time by making the acquaintance of Christian friends at Tyre. The church was formed there probably as a result of the missionary dispersal of 11:19.
A warning came to Paul, possibly by some inspired utterance in the church assembly, that he should not proceed to Jerusalem (21:4b); but he recognized some higher constraint (20:22) impelling him onwards. The cameo picture (21:5-6) is a most touching scene, filled with tenderness and pathos. The final parting came as the two groups of Christians went their own ways: “we went on board the ship … they returned home.” Many a missionary’s valediction today is like this!
21:7-14 take up again the theme of prophetic warnings given to Paul. This time it is Agabus—a noted prophet in the Judean churches (11:27-28). Both Paul’s companions and the Caesarean church sensed the imminent danger, and Paul’s refusal to follow their advice was not made lightly or in a foolhardy manner (21:13). Like his Master, be was answerable to the divine will of which he had an assurance (Luke 13:31-33). The church eventually accepted his firm persuasion (21:14) of God’s will with a note of concurrence.
Notes 21:1: lit. “we tore ourselves away from them.” 21:7: the sea voyage ended at Ptolemais, the Roman port of Palestine, and thence Paul proceeded to Caesarea by road. 21:8: Philip and his family had settled at Caesarea (8:40). His unmarried daughters had the spiritual gift of 1 Corinthians 11:5; 14:3. 21:10: if we translate the time-phrase literally, with J.A. Findlay, it will mean “we stayed there more days (than we intended).” Perhaps it was congenial company or profitable discussion which detained the Pauline party; certainly Luke would benefit from the extra “stop-over” by assembling materials for his literary works. 21:11: Agabus performs a symbolic action, like that of Old Testament prophets, to lend extra force to his spoken message. 21:13: lit. “bleaching my heart by pounding it like a washerwoman” (Findlay)—a vivid metaphor in Paul’s verb.