Learning From Acts – The Bonfire on Malta

Acts 28:2-5 – The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects…

Acts 28 records a story about the Apostle Paul being shipwrecked on the Island of Malta. There is a prophetic meaning for us today behind the literal story itself.

The island (in this story, Malta) speaks of this world where we sojourn as the Lord’s servants.

The rain and the cold remind us of the struggles faced in this world, and the world’s spiritual coldness (absence of the warmth of the Holy Spirit).

The sticks speak of withered, dead branches; without constantly renewing the Spirit’s work in our lives, we wither and age spiritually in this world. When the believer ages spiritually, he is prone to harboring the adversary in his heart, which will raise opposition to those who are serving God. The hand speaks of the ministry. The snake attempts to raise opposition to the hand that stretches out to do a Work of cleansing and purification.

The work of the ministry: pruning lifeless branches (see John 15:2); sustaining the fire (seeking the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome spiritual coldness).

The Blessing: Paul did not suffer any harm because he was in fellowship with God. He was living in the Spirit instead of the flesh. (see Mark 16:17-18)