Acts 10:15 (11:9)
This chapter is focused on a man named Cornelius, whom Luke calls devout and upright (Acts 10:2, 22). Yahweh was hearing the prayers of Cornelius; they had come up as a memorial before Him (Acts 10:4). By this we know Cornelius was not turning his ear from hearing the law, else his prayers would have been an abomination (Proverbs 28:9).
The issue was that Cornelius was not raised as a Hebrew, and thus uncircumcised. The vision given to Peter was to assure him that it was okay to go to Cornelius, and witness to him about forgiveness of sins by faith in Yeshua, the Son of Yahweh.
The vision (Acts 10:9-16) was a large sheet containing all sorts of animals, clean and unclean. The voice in the vision tells Peter to get up, kill and eat. Peter’s response to the voice? “No Lord! I’ve never eaten anything common or unclean!”
The voice then talks back to Peter and says, “What the Almighty has made clean, you must not call common.” A more technical translation here is, “What the Almighty deems to be clean, you should not call common.” The point is not that Yahweh is cleansing something, but that Peter should not deem common what Yahweh already deems clean. Notice that the voice never tells Peter to call something unclean, clean. The voice specifically uses the word common when correcting Peter. There is a difference between something common and unclean.
And example of an unclean animal would be a camel or pig. Something common would be a cow that had been strangled or not slaughtered properly. The cow is not unclean, but is considered common because of secondary reasons. Yeshua is telling Peter, “The things that the Almighty considers clean, don’t refer to them as common.”
Acts 10:17 tells us that Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean. Why? Almost everyone I talk to seems to interpret the vision very quickly, by saying we are allowed to eat unclean animals. Peter, however, knew that Yeshua (the sinless Messiah) was not telling him to violate the law. This is why Peter was perplexed. He knew that there must be a deeper meaning to the vision.
While Peter thought about the vision (Acts 10:19), three men showed up at his house looking for him. This corresponds to the three times the events in the vision happened to Peter (Acts 10:16). These men come into Peter, explain to him what had taken place at Cornelius’ house, and Peter travels to meet with Cornelius.
In Acts 10:28 we get the climax of the story. Peter speaks to Cornelius: “You know it’s forbidden for a Judahite man to associate with or visit a foreigner.” What did Peter mean by “forbidden?” Was Peter saying that the law of Moses forbade such? I do not believe so. The Torah of Moses welcomes the stranger and teaches to treat them as one born among Israel (Exodus 18:12; Numbers 15:14-16; Exodus 22:21; Leviticus 19:33-34).*
Peter was learning that just because Cornelius wasn’t raised Hebrew, and thus uncircumcised, did not mean he was common. Peter’s ancestor Abraham was also called in un-circumcision, and even justified before he was circumcised (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:9-11). Yahweh showed Peter that he shouldn’t call any un-circumcised man common or unclean for salvation (Acts 10:28).
Prior to this, the gospel message about Yeshua only went to circumcised Israelites, or proselytes to the faith of Israel. Here, the Almighty was revealing to Peter than a man outside of the Covenant could receive this gospel message (and enter the Covenant) by faith, apart from converting to become a Jew the traditional way.
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*Peter's mentioning of forbidden is a reference to the tradition of the elders (Matthew 15:1-2). The Pharisees of Yeshua's day believed that Moses not only received the Torah from the Most High (that he [Moses] wrote down), but that he also received a list of regulations from the Most High that he then passed down orally. Moses then taught them to the 70 elders (orally), and from generation to generation, these laws were passed down by word of mouth all the way to the Pharisees. (see The Works of Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 13.10.6)
The issue was that Cornelius was not raised as a Hebrew, and thus uncircumcised. The vision given to Peter was to assure him that it was okay to go to Cornelius, and witness to him about forgiveness of sins by faith in Yeshua, the Son of Yahweh.
The vision (Acts 10:9-16) was a large sheet containing all sorts of animals, clean and unclean. The voice in the vision tells Peter to get up, kill and eat. Peter’s response to the voice? “No Lord! I’ve never eaten anything common or unclean!”
The voice then talks back to Peter and says, “What the Almighty has made clean, you must not call common.” A more technical translation here is, “What the Almighty deems to be clean, you should not call common.” The point is not that Yahweh is cleansing something, but that Peter should not deem common what Yahweh already deems clean. Notice that the voice never tells Peter to call something unclean, clean. The voice specifically uses the word common when correcting Peter. There is a difference between something common and unclean.
And example of an unclean animal would be a camel or pig. Something common would be a cow that had been strangled or not slaughtered properly. The cow is not unclean, but is considered common because of secondary reasons. Yeshua is telling Peter, “The things that the Almighty considers clean, don’t refer to them as common.”
Acts 10:17 tells us that Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean. Why? Almost everyone I talk to seems to interpret the vision very quickly, by saying we are allowed to eat unclean animals. Peter, however, knew that Yeshua (the sinless Messiah) was not telling him to violate the law. This is why Peter was perplexed. He knew that there must be a deeper meaning to the vision.
While Peter thought about the vision (Acts 10:19), three men showed up at his house looking for him. This corresponds to the three times the events in the vision happened to Peter (Acts 10:16). These men come into Peter, explain to him what had taken place at Cornelius’ house, and Peter travels to meet with Cornelius.
In Acts 10:28 we get the climax of the story. Peter speaks to Cornelius: “You know it’s forbidden for a Judahite man to associate with or visit a foreigner.” What did Peter mean by “forbidden?” Was Peter saying that the law of Moses forbade such? I do not believe so. The Torah of Moses welcomes the stranger and teaches to treat them as one born among Israel (Exodus 18:12; Numbers 15:14-16; Exodus 22:21; Leviticus 19:33-34).*
Peter was learning that just because Cornelius wasn’t raised Hebrew, and thus uncircumcised, did not mean he was common. Peter’s ancestor Abraham was also called in un-circumcision, and even justified before he was circumcised (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:9-11). Yahweh showed Peter that he shouldn’t call any un-circumcised man common or unclean for salvation (Acts 10:28).
Prior to this, the gospel message about Yeshua only went to circumcised Israelites, or proselytes to the faith of Israel. Here, the Almighty was revealing to Peter than a man outside of the Covenant could receive this gospel message (and enter the Covenant) by faith, apart from converting to become a Jew the traditional way.
----------
*Peter's mentioning of forbidden is a reference to the tradition of the elders (Matthew 15:1-2). The Pharisees of Yeshua's day believed that Moses not only received the Torah from the Most High (that he [Moses] wrote down), but that he also received a list of regulations from the Most High that he then passed down orally. Moses then taught them to the 70 elders (orally), and from generation to generation, these laws were passed down by word of mouth all the way to the Pharisees. (see The Works of Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 13.10.6)