In-Depth Bible Study Notes For Acts 28:1-10
This final chapter of Acts can be divided into three sections.
Verses 1-10 describes what happened after the shipwreck on the island of Malta.
Verses 11-16 describes Paul's arrival in Rome
Verses 17-31 describes how Paul preaches in Rome while under house arrest
Read Acts 28:1. Here we first learn that the island that they had shipwrecked on was Malta. This island was known as Melita by the Greeks and Romans and was considered part of the province of Sicily. It is 58 miles south of this larger island.
Read Acts 28:2. The word "islanders" in the Greek actually means "barbarians" or "non-Greek speakers." They were not uncivilized tribesmen, however; they were Phoenician and spoke a Phoenician dialect, but were thoroughly Romanized by this point. Luke points out that it is rainy and cold: remember this is either late October or early November. Now, from our "modern" view point it might not seem very hospitable to simply make a fire to warm shipwreck victims, we would expect them to take people into their homes, but we need to remember the details of the shipwrecked victims here: there were 276 men, too many for a single household to manage, and many of these were prisoners, which could not be separated from their guards. A single large temporary camp, therefore, makes sense. I would expect that the islanders also shared their food and water.
Read Acts 28:3. As I have read this story many times, what jumped out at me was not at first the story of the viper biting Paul, but rather the fact that Paul, after all that he went through, is out gathering brushwood to put on the fire! You have to really like this man. He clearly does not see himself beyond doing manual labor, even though he had just been vindicated as a prophet. After all, everything that he had predicted -- that the ship would be destroyed, that all aboard would be saved - had come true.
Luke uses the term "viper" which indicates that the islanders recognized the snake as being poisonous.
Read Acts 28:4. The islanders response actually makes some sense. They would have known that some of the shipwrecked men were prisoners under Roman guard and would have probably realized that Paul, himself, was a prisoner. To have escaped certain death by shipwreck, only to be bitten by a viper - he must be a murderer and deserve to die.
In my Bible "Justice" is capitalized and I was surprised that my commentary didn't make any note of that. It made me wonder whether they Phoenicians believed in a god of Justice, just like there were supposedly gods of Love, War, Fertility, etc.
Read Acts 28:5. Look at how calmly Paul reacts! He knows that God is with him and that he will arrive safely in Rome. Here's this snake hanging from his hand and he just shakes it off into the fire! Paul was also probably aware of one of the promises Jesus made about believers and snakes, given after his resurrection and before he ascended to heaven. Read Mark 16:17-18. Unfortunately there have been snake-handling cults built around these verses, which is incredibly sad. God clearly doesn't want us wasting our time picking up venomous snakes, just for the sake of proving His promises true! I would like to read about some more contemporary examples of how God has protected people from snakes & poison from "Like a Mighty Wind." { Read "Like a Mighty Wind", pg. 40-42 }
Read Acts 28:6. The islanders, of course, expect Paul to be incapacitated or even killed out right from the poison, but nothing happens. They realized, then, that there is something supernatural about him and believe instead of a murderer he is a god. There is another story in "Like a Mighty Wind" which I'd like to read which describes how another group of unchurched people have a similar reaction; this group, however, intentionally poisoned the believers! { Read "Like a Mighty Wind", pg. 42-43 } I think this second story helps to explain why God allowed a viper to bite Paul: so that the islanders could see this miracle, realized that there was something supernatural about Paul, and therefore be open to the gospel.
Read Acts 28:7. It is unclear here whether the "us" mentioned is Luke and Paul and a couple of Paul's guards, or whether all 276 men were welcomed at Publius' estate. My sense is that Publius, being the man of highest authority on the island, would have heard about Paul's miracle with the viper and perhaps was curious to learn more. Publius is a Roman name, but a first name only, not a family name. In any case, he shows hospitality and Paul is in his home for three days. We don't know anything more about him beyond what is mentioned in this chapter.
Read Acts 28:8-9. You have to say that God is truly good! God takes the disobedience of the sailors and the Roman soldiers (remember, they refused to listen to Paul when he warned them that it was unsafe to sail) and turns it into something good for the islanders. Because of the shipwreck Paul comes to Malta and all these people are healed. We have no specific mention of people coming to Christ as a result, but I don't see why they wouldn't have. I believe one of the purposes of miracles is to get people's attention. Once they saw that Paul's God was the Real God, with the power to heal the sick, I would think they would be open to hearing about Jesus.
Read Acts 28:10. I think it is pretty clear that the reason that all the men of the shipwrecked were blessed in this manner was because of Paul and how God was using him. When the time came for them to leave the island, they left with plenty of supplies, which they wouldn't have had, without the islanders' generosity.
To be continued...
Sources
Editors. Compton's Interactive Bible (software)
Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version
Tari, Mel. Like a Mighty Wind
Written by Gail_Sanders
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