It seems that some of the shipmen, or sailors, seeing the dangerous condition of the ship, thought they should be safer out of it; and so without any consideration for others, made up their minds to steal away secretly during the night, taking the boat with them; under pretence that their only object in now leaving the ship, was to make its position more secure, by letting down some anchors from the prow also. St. Luke says, "And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off." Of course the Lord could equally have saved the passengers, whether the sailors remained in the ship or not; but it was His Will that all should be delivered in one way; and perhaps this was intended to be a test of faith and obedience. The Roman soldiers certainly had faith in St. Paul as the servant of a Mighty God, to Whom all things are possible, and Whose promise would be assuredly fulfilled: therefore they at once took effectual means to prevent any one leaving the ship, by cutting the ropes which still held the boat, and letting it drift away. According to the opinion of man, they did a very foolish act in getting rid of a boat, which might be of the greatest use to them. At Crete they had "believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul"; but they had had good reason to change their opinion, and to believe that the Apostle was indeed guided by his God; and their faith made them obedient. "And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you"; meaning, that no one would suffer the slightest injury, but that it was necessary for them to take some food, that they might have strength for all that they would be called upon to do. To his precept, the Apostle added example; for "when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat." Even at such a moment, St. Paul did not forget to give God thanks for his food. The whole company in the ship would thus see how constantly he thought of God, and endeavoured to do Him honour; and heathens though they were, his example must have taught them to think with reverence of the God of the Christians. Mean time the calm and firm trust displayed by the whole conduct of the Apostle, gave comfort and encouragement to all. "Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat." St. Luke tells us how many people there were on board the ship: for he