A Study of Acts: The Group Sails from Miletus To Tyre
Acts 21:1-6 - Discerning the will of God requires knowing the Bible, praying, being in fellowship, using common sense, and conviction of the Holy Spirit.
“When we had parted from them and had set sail, we ran a straight course to Cos and the next day to Rhodes and from there to Patara; and having found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. When we came in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept sailing to Syria and landed at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload its cargo. After looking up the disciples, we stayed there seven days; and they kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem. When our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, escorted us until we were out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home again.”
Acts 21:1-6 NASB1995
Acts 21 begins with more travel for the missionary disciples. They depart Miletus with many tears after meeting with the elders from Ephesus, then set a straight course to Cos, as noted on the map. Their route to Cos goes to the east of the island of Patmos. This is the island that John was exiled to and where he received the vision that became the Book of Revelation and we visited Patmos on a cruise in 2018 (a wonderful places).
The next day the ship is in Rhodes and they sail from there to Patara. We also visited Rhodes in 2018, another fascinating and historical place. While in Patara, the disciples found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia. This ship’s course is south of Cyprus and they eventually land at Tyre, along the Syrian coast. The ship they are traveling on needs to unload its cargo there. The disciples look up the other disciples in the area and end up staying there seven days.
These disciples in Tyre keep telling Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem, as they are seeing things for him through the Spirit that they sense are not good. When the days in Tyre end, the disciples of Tyre, with their wives and children, escorted them until they were out of the city. All knelt and prayed on the beach and said farewell to each other and Paul, and his group boarded the ship to continue their journey.
It’s interesting to read commentary about this passage, as there are more warnings about Paul heading to Jerusalem. There are some Biblical scholars that think that Paul was stubbornly refusing to believe that he should not travel on to Jerusalem and was not following the will of God. However, many others feel that Paul knew that he was following the will of God and he was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice with his life. I want to share a long, but essential commentary from Jack Arnold quoted in Precept Austin about how we can discern the will of God (this is pretty profound, IMHO):
The Will of God Acts 21:1-14
After a person becomes a Christian, the next most important step is to ascertain the will of God for his life. The most vital question for a Christian is, “What is the will of God for my life?” The Christian is not only asked to know the will of God, but he is commanded to know the will of God for his life. “So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is (Eph. 5:17).
According to the Bible, there are at least four different forms of the will of God. Bible scholars have tried to give more than four categories, but these four essentially express all we need to know as Christians about the will of God.
The Secret Will of God
The secret will of God flows out of God’s sovereignty and includes what He planned in eternity past, and this will (plan) most certainly will come to pass. The secret will is known only to God and not to man.
“Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’” (Isa. 46:9, 10).
“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29).
It is important to know that God has a secret will for it gives the Christian confidence that God has a plan for this work and for each Christian individually.
The Revealed Will of God
The revealed will of God refers to the commands of Scripture. It deals with what God desires for the Christian to do and with what the Christian ought to do according to God’s revelation in the Bible (Deut. 29:29). The revealed will is never done perfectly by the Christian but it is his ethical standard of conduct. Christians, for instance, are commanded to be holy in conduct (I Pet. 1:15, 16), to have a prayer life (I Thes. 5:17), to grow in grace and knowledge (II Pet. 3:18), to love one another (Jn. 13:34, 35), to witness for Christ in this world (Matt. 28:19) and to keep hundreds of other commands written in Scripture. If a Christian fails to keep the revealed will of God, then he must pay the consequences for his disobedience.
The Permissive Will of God
The permissive will of God is a theological way of explaining how nothing can happen outside of God’s secret will, and yet God is not responsible for sin. Human sin falls under the permissive will of God. It is related to those responsible actions of men which God passively allows, and yet He still has control over them. The permissive will of God deals with the negative aspects of God’s secret will.
The Directive Will of God
The directive will of God deals with those things God is actively and deliberately directing in His secret will. It is related to the positive aspects of the secret will of God. God’s directive will deals with the guidance of the Christian so that he knows in his experience, at least in part, the outworking of the secret will of God.
What Is Involved in the Directive Will?
The directive will is getting divine leading and guidance in the Christian’s life so he knows in his experience that he is in the center of God’s will and being directed by God. Most, if not all, problems in the directive will of God can be placed into three categories: 1) Vocation: what do you want me to do in life? 2) Location: where do you want me to live geographically? 3) Situation: seeking divine guidance and knowing God's will for every situation.
How Is the Directive Will of God Determined?
Primary Methods. There are four primary methods for determining the directive will of God.
Bible. The Bible is the first and primary source for determining God's directive will. One must know the commands and principles of Scripture and apply these to one's experience. It is never the will of God to do anything if it is contrary to any biblical command or principle (Col. 1:9).
Prayer. One must pray honestly for God's will over any matter, making it known to God that He is willing and ready to do anything God reveals to him. If a person is not open and honest before God in prayer, then he will never know the directive will of God.
Fellowship. It is important that a Christian be in fellowship with Christ at all times. Where we are and what we are to do are not nearly so important as what we are to God. He wants us to be constantly in fellowship with Christ at all times no matter what the circumstances may be.
Common Sense. A Christian must use all of his God-given natural faculties in studying all factors in finding the will of God. However, all reasoning must be directed by biblical principles and bathed in prayers, for the mind is still tainted by sin and the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked.
Conviction. Quite often the Holy Spirit gives a strong conviction which cannot be shaken. It is the still small voice of God speaking to the conscience that we are to do something for Him. The inner witness of the Spirit is a reality for every Christian in fellowship with his Lord.
Secondary Methods
Circumstances. God may lead by opening and closing doors (Col. 4:3). The Christian should pray, “If this is not your will, Lord. then shut every door, no matter what it may cost me personally."
Counsel. It is always wise to seek out the counsel of another Christian or Christians to talk over the matter (Prov. 15:22). The counsel may be rejected, but it is good to get wisdom from older, more mature Christians. The facts, or the clarification of facts, may come through a counselor, but the leading must come from the Lord. To reject the advice of a counselor is not always wrong, especially if a person has a strong conviction from the Lord that he is to do something.
Peace. If God is in some move, He will give a peace which passes all human understanding (Col. 3:15). A person should pray until he has divine peace. He may be afraid emotionally of the situation but may have peace that he is doing the right thing.
Knowing the will of God is what Acts 21:1-26 is all about. The Apostle Paul had to know the will of God for his life in the same way we have to know the will of God for our lives, and he struggled with and faced the same kind of problems about the will of God as we do. (Acts 21:1-14 The Will of God).
WOW!! This is worth reading several times and absorbing the lessons learned and praying for guidance. I am convinced, based on the scholarly works that I read, that Paul is not heading towards Jerusalem in contradiction to the will of God, but to fulfill it. Jack Arnold has had some amazing commentary and sermons that are referenced in Precept Austin.
My next devotional will examine Acts 21:7-14 - Paul’s group arrives first in Ptolemais, then in Caesarea, where they visit Philip the Evangelist.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - I pray that I can discern Your secret will, Your revealed will, the perils of Your permissive will and my sin life, and Your directive will. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Precept Austin was accessed on 1/2/2025 to review commentary for Acts 21:1-6.