ACTS 10: PETER FELL INTO A TRANCE AND SAW ALL KINDS OF ANIMALS ON A SHEET FROM HEAVEN. GOD SAID “…. KILL AND EAT,” BUT THIS REFERS ONLY TO THE CLEANSING OF THE GENTILES, NOT TO FOOD

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ACTS 10:10-20,23,28: “but he became hungry and wanted something to eat. While [a]the meal was being prepared he fell into a trance; 11 and he saw the sky opened up, and an [b]object like a great sheet descending, lowered by its four corners to the earth, 12 and it contained all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. 13 A voice came to him, ‘GET UP, PETER, KILL AND EAT!‘ 14 But Peter said, “Not at all, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common (unholy) and [ceremonially] unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him a second time, ‘WHAT GOD HAS CLEANSED AND PRONOUNCED CLEAN, NO LONGER CONSIDER COMMON (UNHOLY).’ 16 This happened three times, and then immediately the object was taken up into heaven. 17

NOW PETER WAS STILL PERPLEXED AND COMPLETELY AT A LOSS AS TO WHAT HIS VISION COULD MEAN

WHEN THE MEN WHO HAD BEEN SENT BY CORNELIUS HAVING ASKED DIRECTIONS TO SIMON’S HOUSE, ARRIVED AT THE GATE. 18 AND THEY CALLED OUT TO ASK WHETHER SIMON, who was also called Peter, WAS STAYING THERE. 19 WHILE PETER WAS THOUGHTFULLY CONSIDERING THE VISION, the Spirit said to him, ‘Now listen, three men are looking for you. 20 Get up, go downstairs and go with them without hesitating or doubting, because I have sent them Myself.’ …… 23 So Peter [a]invited them in and gave them lodging [for the night]. The next day Peter got up and left with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him …… 28 He said to them, ‘You know that it is unlawful for a Jewish man to associate with or befriend a Gentile, or to visit him; and

YET GOD HAS SHOWN ME THAT I AM NOT TO CALL ANYONE COMMON OR [CEREMONIALLY] UNCLEAN.”

…… ACTS 11:2-5,18: “So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision [certain Jewish believers who followed the Law] took issue with him [for violating Jewish customs], 3 saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and [even] ate with them!” 4 But Peter began [at the beginning] and explained [the events] to them step by step, saying, 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision of an object coming down from heaven, like a huge sheet being lowered by the four corners; and [it descended until] it came right down to me …… 18 When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified and praised God, saying, “THEN GOD HAS ALSO GRANTED TO THE GENTILES REPENTANCE THAT LEADS TO ETERNAL LIFE [that is, real life after earthly death].”

ANALYSIS: One cannot ignore the concluding verse of Acts 10:28 which says: “…….. ‘You know that it is unlawful it is for a Jewish man to associate with or befriend a Gentile, or to visit him; and YET GOD HAS SHOWN ME that I am not to call anyone common or [ceremonially] unclean.” Without reading the latter verses it can be easy to jump to the premature conclusion that God has abolished laws restricting which foods can be eaten. After carefully reading Acts 10 one can see that Peter NEVER at any time concluded that he could eat any kind of animal even after hearing God’s command THREE TIMES to not call common what He has cleansed and “wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant.” IF PETER HIMSELF NEVER INTERPRETED THIS DREAM AS A SIGN THAT HE COULD EAT WHAT WAS FORMERLY FORBIDDEN TO EAT, HOW CAN YOU DECLARE IT AS DIVINE PERMISSION TO NOW EAT ANYTHING? Peter later realized what the revelation really meant. Peter now understood that he should no longer call anyone common or unclean according to verse 28. Also, there is absolutely no Biblical evidence whatsoever that Peter started eating unclean meat after this vision. Peter, a major apostle who taught exactly what Jesus taught, was born about the same time that Jesus was born. So he knew, by his declaration in Acts 10:14 that he had never eaten unclean meat, that Jesus did not annul any of the food laws by what He said in Mark 7:19. Peter’s statement in Acts 10:14, then provides additional proof that Jesus did not really annul the meat restrictions in Mark 7:19. The book of Acts was written many years after the death of both Jesus and Peter, who lived about 30 years longer than our Savior, Jesus. If Jesus had rescinded the meat laws in Mark 7:19 or anywhere else, Peter certainly would have known about it and certainly would have announced it to the world in his teachings before he died, but that never happened. After recognizing the purpose of the dream he later was able to baptize the first gentiles (non-Israelites) the Lord had called into the Church (verses 45-48). During the time that Jesus lived Jews erroneously believed that gentiles were unclean and should be avoided. Peter’s dream showed that God was now beginning to offer salvation to people of any race, and not just to Jews. In Acts 11:2-18 Peter later told some circumcised Jewish Christians (“those of the circumcision”) about this dream, and in verse 18 even those Jewish Christians, who were surprised, came to the SAME CONCLUSION about the dream saying: “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

Also, remember that Peter NEVER actually heard the audible voice of God Himself or anybody else, telling him to kill and eat the animals, while he was alert and fully awake. The kill and eat words came only while Peter was in a trance, dream, or vision.

Concerning the broader context surrounding Peter’s vision, the book of Acts records the development of the Church as it changed from a group of exclusively Jewish believers to a body that included gentiles as well as Jews.

The first instance of the calling of a non-Jew appears to be the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:26-39. This Ethiopian traveled a considerable distance to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. On one of his trips home the eunuch encountered Philip who later baptized him, which was the first Biblical record of a gentile baptism. The first century Jews were very upset about this because they considered themselves as the only nation that God was working with (according to Jewish tradition, not Scripture). Therefore, before the conversion and baptism of the Roman centurion Cornelius in Acts 10:17-48, apparently Peter HAD TO BE TAUGHT A LESSON about God’s plan of salvation for all people. The reason for Peter’s vision then becomes very clear.

Remember, THE VERY FIRST VERSE in Acts 10 begins with mentioning Cornelius, the gentile centurion. The MAIN topic of chapter 10 is the “cleansing” of Cornelius and all other gentiles seeking to become Christians, NOT the cleansing of the forbidden meats, which never were cleansed. Keep in mind that the TIMING of Peter’s trance is very important to understand what it really meant. The verse IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING Peter’s vision showed that the 3 men sent by Cornelius “drew near” to Joppa, the city where Peter lived. ON THE SAME DAY that the 3 men approached Joppa, Peter went up on the top of his house to pray where he experienced his vision. The event IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING Peter’s dream was his encounter with the 3 men who stood at the gate of his house asking for Peter. Since Peter’s vision occurred on the SAME day that the 3 gentile men arrived in Joppa and ONLY hours or more likely just minutes before meeting and interacting with them, Peter “put 2 and 2 together,” “connecting the dots” between the dramatic cleansing of unclean animals and the cleansing of unclean gentiles, because Peter actually told the 3 men that “GOD HAS SHOWN ME THAT I SHOULD NOT CALL ANY MAN COMMON OR UNCLEAN.” Peter later travelled to meet Cornelius at his home in Caesare and baptized not only Cornelius but also his entire gentile household.

In Acts 11 “those of the circumcision,” the circumcised Jewish Christians, verse 2, criticized Peter for fellowshipping with gentiles. Peter explained the vision, though, surprising them, and they later admitted according to verse 18 that God really had granted repentance to the gentiles.

Further confirmation that the food laws were never abolished are the following verses. Isaiah 66:17: “Some of you …… eat the meat of pigs …… But I, the Lord, WILL DESTROY YOU FOR THIS.” (Contemporary English Version) This verse refers to the still valid, never annulled food laws that are still in full force even today. 2 Corinthians 6:17 reveals that one MUST NOT EVEN TOUCH what is UNCLEAN (the Greek for UNCLEAN definitely can refer to the Levitically unclean meats). If we cannot even touch the unclean then by implication we certainly cannot eat it. Revelation 18:2, referring to the future, mentions that UNCLEAN birds are still around, showing that unclean meats never were “cleansed.”

For additional study visit http://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/biblical-laws/clean-and-unclean-animals/acts-10/. You can also visit one or more of the following three international, law keeping churches recommended on the INTRODUCTION page, at cogwa.org, lcg.org, or ucg.org then select Contact to ask online for an explanation of “Peter’s vision of animals on the sheet.”

Remember, only 7 verses in the entire Bible say literally that Christians are no longer under the law, but every single one of those 7 verses focuses only on a very narrow range of laws, which are the sacrifice, circumcision, Levitical priesthood, or eternal death penalty laws. The topic is never the general law, so that means the safe meat, mostly prophetic festivals, and tithing laws are still in full force despite what the popular, verse skipping, added verse supporting (the last sentence, which is highly deceptive and therefore sinful, in Mark 7:19 in most translations is NOT in the original Greek), mainstream churches fanatically preach. Please read the page ROMANS 6:14: “…… YOU ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW BUT UNDER GRACE.” ACTS 2:38 AND ROMANS 6:15 SHOW THAT VERSE 14 DOES NOT EVEN COME CLOSE TO PROVING THAT MOST OT LAWS CAN BE ABANDONED.

So wannabe antinomians, unable to prove beyond reasonable doubt, cannot even come close to using any of the verses in Acts about Peter’s vision as “proof” that the still protective safe meat laws have been “done away with.” The common but incorrect belief among mainstream Christians that Peter’s dream proves that the Levitical laws prohibiting the consumption of forbidden food have been abolished again shows the unjustified anti-Mosaic law prejudice of mainstreamers. This website provides example after example after example of this un-Biblical, potentially salvation jeopardizing prejudice. So when are you going to finally admit that verse skipping mainstreamers really are extremely biased against the safe meat laws, and very unjustifiably so? And then when are you finally going to do something about it, too, while you are still alive? Remember also, that parts of the Bible are not written, even in the original languages, as clearly as they could have been written, apparently to prevent the majority from being saved for entry into the first resurrection. Jesus Christ Himself revealed that He often deliberately used potentially confusing parables to explain important principles (Matthew 13:11,15,34,35). The first resurrection will be primarily a resurrection reserved for Christians destined to be kings and priests to help Jesus Christ rule on the earth for a thousand years during the Christian Millennium (Revelation 1:6, 5:10, 20:6). A second resurrection involving the vast majority of people will occur after the 1,000 year Christian Millennium, referred to in the first part of Revelation 20:5.