Acts
21:1 ¶ And it came to pass, that after
we were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto
Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara:
2 And finding a ship sailing over unto
Phenicia, we went aboard, and set forth. 3
Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand, and
sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her
burden. 4 And finding disciples, we
tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should
not go up to Jerusalem. 5 And when we
had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought
us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city:
and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed. 6
And when we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship; and they
returned home again. 7 And when we had
finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the
brethren, and abode with them one day.
Coos is a long and
narrow island close to Asia Minor, known as the home of Hippocrates the
physician. You have heard of the Hippocratic Oath I am sure. It is a code of
ethics traditionally regarded as important by physicians. Coos is the second
largest island in a chain called the Dodecanese with Rhodes as the largest.
Speaking of Rhodes I am
sure you have read about the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of
the Ancient World. Patara was an important sea-going and commercial city on the
coast of today’s Turkey. Moving southward Phenicia was a coastal part of the
province of Syria that corresponded to modern-day Lebanon. I’m sure you know about the island of Cyprus
and opposite of that the company landed at Tyre, once the capital of the
ancient merchant kingdom of Phoenicia. Ancient Tyre hundreds of years before
figured in prophecy with a proud king likened to Satan in Ezekiel 28 and a
message about its fate in Ezekiel 26.
Ezekiel
26:14 And I will make thee like the top
of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no
more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
The golden age of Tyre
or Tyrus in the Old Testament was a thousand years before Christ and it was
destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and by Alexander the Great who obliterated it’s
island fortress. The Tyre of Paul’s time had been rebuilt by Rome.
Most importantly in
this passage in verse 4 it is clear that the Holy Spirit speaking through
disciples ordered Paul NOT to go to Jerusalem.
Ptolemais was an
important coastal city at the time and is associated with ancient Phoenicia
before this.
Finally, the word discovered
being used in verse 3 shows that in early modern English to discover something
did not necessarily mean to find something no one else knew about. So, when
someone would say Columbus discovered America it is buffoonery to mockingly
say, “oh, like it was lost or no one lived there.” Cyprus was seen, was made
apparent, was viewed and then they kept it on the left and sailed to Syria just
like America was known not only by the people who lived there but by fisherman
and explorers and adventurers before Columbus although it was hundreds of years before anyone knew the extent of it.
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