Investigating Peter's vision of clean and unclean animals.

In the second teaching in this series, we will continue our dive into the areas in the Bible where people have claimed that Yehovah (Why do I call God by this name? - Read here) or someone else has stated that we do not have to follow God's guidelines about what we eat. If God designed and created the animals, shouldn't He know what is best for our consumption?

Of course, you cannot earn salvation by following laws. It is a gift, given by our Heavenly Father. Eating unclean animals will never kick you out of Heaven, but Love Church is about learning how to truly follow God. We discuss how you truly worship Yehovah and a lot of it involves following laws that Christians deem "Done away with" or "abolished". As we have dug deeper into the Word, that theology does not hold up to Scripture, and ultimately is the reason why we started this site. You can read more about this in our series, Old Covenant vs New Covenant

So, if you want to know how to follow Him with all your heart and with all your mind, let's continue this series!

This chapter in the Bible is quite interesting. If you haven't read part 1 yet in this series, where we dived into the parable of unwashed hands in Mark 7, feel free to read that teaching before or after this.

Starting at the Beginning

The vision is found in the book of Acts (specifically chapter 10:9)

Let's read it and establish what's happening:

Act 10:9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.

Act 10:10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.

Act 10:11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.

Act 10:12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds.

Act 10:13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

Act 10:14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

Interestingly, this shows that Peter followed God's Food Laws. By saying in verse 14, “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”, he shows he was following God's Laws as God forbids us from eating unclean animals. This event is happening even after Yeshua rose to Heaven, so anyone arguing that Yeshua taught His disciples to eat anything they wanted, will have a difficult time explaining this verse.

The verses in question then come up next:

Act 10:15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

Act 10:16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

This is where the vision ends. We see Peter wanted to keep the food laws given by God, but God seems to rebuke Peter's willingness to follow them. It seems like God is saying that he has purified all the animals now.

Peter is confused at this vision, as we read on:

Act 10:17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate.

(The context of Cornelius is found at the beginning of chapter 10. He was part of the Centurion and was a God-fearing man. An angel visited him and told him to send three men to Joppa (Where Peter is) and bring Peter to him).

Peter was clearly at odds with himself. What the vision told him went against God's Law.

Act 10:18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

Act 10:19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you.

Act 10:20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”

Peter then proceeds to go to Cornelius and gives us some clarity over his vision:

Act 10:24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

Act 10:25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence.

Act 10:26 But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”

Act 10:27 While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people.

Act 10:28 He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.

Peter is revealing to us the true meaning of the vision. Jews and Gentiles never associated with each other during this time. It was common practice for Jews to avoid Gentiles entirely. Peter understood that God was showing him not to call any other people unclean/unholy, like what was being done to the Gentiles/other foreigners.

This brings all of scripture in line with Peter's vision.

Conclusion

In this teaching, we looked at the Book of Acts and investigated Peter's vision. In this vision, Peter received a message from God, which seemed to indicate God intended for us to ignore the food laws He put in place. Peter wrestled with God, refusing to eat unclean animals, before waking up from his vision.

Peter pondered this vision until he revealed the true meaning behind it when he spoke to a congregation - That the vision meant to refer to Jews who were treating Gentile believers and foreigners as unclean. This was the Pharisaic custom at the time, that Jews would avoid Gentile believers.

I hope you enjoyed this teaching today!