Acts 10: 9 The next day at about the sixth hour, as the men were approaching the city on their journey, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.
11 He saw heaven open and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, as well as birds of the air. 13 Then a voice said to him: “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”
14“No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean. ”
15 The voice spoke to him a second time: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” 16 This happened three times, and all at once the sheet was taken back up into heaven.
17 While Peter was puzzling over the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house and approached the gate. 18 They called out to ask if Simon called Peter was staying there. 19 As Peter continued to reflect on the vision, the Spirit told him, “Three men are here looking for you. 20 Get up! Go downstairs and accompany them without hesitation, because I have sent them.”
21 So Peter went down to the men and said, “Here am I, the one you are looking for. Why have you come?” 22“Cornelius the centurion has sent us,” they said. “He is a righteous and God-fearing man with a good reputation among the whole Jewish nation. A holy angel instructed him to request your presence in his home, so that he could hear a message from you.” 23 So Peter invited them in as his guests. And the next day he got ready and went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa.
All the time that Peter was following Jesus, he was also a good observant Jew. All proper Jews were aware of the dietary restrictions handed down by Moses in the Torah. But there was also a second distinction. Something could originate as being clean, but if it touched an unclean object, it was then considered as “common;” in other words, it had become defiled. In Peter’s vision, all kinds of animals and reptiles, both clean and unclean were all bunched together in the center of this sheet. This meant that even the “clean” animals had become “common” because of their contact with the unclean animals.
Was God setting aside the Jewish dietary laws through Peter’s vision? No. God had a totally different purpose. Until this point it was thought that a Gentile believer could not be considered as ‘being saved’ unless he first converted and became a legal Jewish citizen through undergoing man-made conversion rituals prescribed by the Judaism of that day. We now know, and will see from Scripture, that such a requirement is not part of God’s plan for Gentiles coming to faith and belief in Him. God was preparing to teach Peter and other believers a crucially important lesson.
While Peter was still musing over this vision, the delegation sent by Cornelius arrived. Normally, Peter would have had little to do with these men, but because of the vision, Peter invites them in as his guests and goes with them next day to Caesarea, accompanied by some of the believers from Joppa. There, Peter and his friends were to have yet another incredible encounter with the power of God, one that would change the direction of the church.
Late in his career, Peter was to write “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) By the time Peter wrote those words, he had watched men and women of all races stream into the kingdom of God. But in the beginning, all the believers needed a paradigm shift, and that shift started in Joppa when God gave Peter a vision.
Today, are there people to whom God wants you to reach out? Do you have neighbors who need help or encouragement? Is there anybody in your life whom you have been avoiding because they didn’t believe quite the way you do? Ask God. Perhaps God wants to give you new visions as He did Peter.
PRAYER: Father God, this morning we ask that you will open our hearts and minds to new ways to minister to those around us. We thank you that you care for all people. Help us to look beyond our prejudices and to follow the leading of your Holy Spirit. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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