Peter's Vision: Not About Food Laws!

Q. Did Peter’s vision in Acts 10 change the dietary laws making all meats clean?

A. The vision in Acts 10 has nothing to do with food or God changing the dietary restrictions found in His own Word. This vision has to do with people and the best way to teach that is to take the chapter verse by verse to show you what it is teaching. This is a perfect example of how the Scriptures have been perverted by false teachers and hopefully some of you will see the truth after this article. Cornelius is a Roman soldier who has come to believe in the God of Israel, but he has not become “Jewish” which was the process in the first century. Some believed that a person could not be saved, or have full “status” unless they submitted to circumcision, which was the same thing as saying “become Jewish”. Cornelius does believe in the Lord but has not come to this status as yet, and he has a vision to call for Peter in Joppa (v 1-8). As they were on their way the next day (v 9) Peter goes up to the roof for a nap and he has a vision. He saw heaven opened, which is a Hebrew idiom for a deeper insight, a revelation, and he sees a four-cornered sheet come down with all kinds of creatures in it. God tells him to “eat” which means to “accept, understand and make this a part of you” in symbolic language.

Peter says no, that he has not “eaten” these unclean things before. The voice in the vision says “what God has cleansed should not be considered unclean”. Let’s look at this a little closer. A four-cornered garment is something man-made and also alludes to the “four corners of the earth (Gentiles)”. There were man-made doctrines in the first century that said Jews were not to go into the house of or eat with a Gentile. This doctrine was primarily a Pharisee doctrine but widely accepted and included in what was called “The 18 Edicts” which most Christians have never heard about. The problem was God never said that. There is no law in the Scriptures that says a Jew and Gentile cannot associate. God was breaking down these man-made divisions in this vision. Peter didn’t understand the vision at first (v 17). He sees this vision 3 times and the Spirit of God tells Peter 3 men are looking for him and that he should go with them without any fear (v 18-23) because HE sent them. So, the next day he goes with them and enters the house of Cornelius (v 25) and the key to the whole vision is found in v 28. Peter says that they knew that it was unlawful (the 18 Edicts contained in the Oral Law) for a Jew to associate with a Non-Jew or to even visit him, but that God had shown him that he should not call ANY MAN UNCLEAN OR UNHOLY.

Peter has been given the meaning of the vision and he says it is about accepting (eat with) the Gentiles who believe, that they are not unclean in God’s eyes. Then in verse 34-35 he goes on to say “I most certainly understand now that God is no respecter of persons (show partiality to) but in every nation (four-cornered garment= four-corners of the earth) the man who fears him (animals in the sheet) and does what is right is welcome to Him”. And as Peter was speaking the Holy Spirit fell upon the Gentiles gathered there with visible signs following to confirm the fact. This showed that a Gentile did not have to “become Jewish” to be saved which was the prevailing doctrine of the day. God showed them that these Gentiles received the same spiritual benefits as the Jews without having to ”convert” to the prevailing man-made doctrines of Judaism.

Then in verses 45-48 there were Jews there who believed in Yeshua and they saw the manifestations of the Spirit and they came to the conclusion that there was nothing to prevent the Gentiles there from being immersed (baptized) after seeing them receive the Holy Spirit (an evidence of salvation and acceptance by God) just like they did. So, this chapter is about God breaking down the man-made divisions that prevented the Good News from going forth into the world. Peter’s interpretation of the vision (v 28, 34-35) says nothing about being allowed to eat unclean meats or anything about food. The vision is about accepting people no matter where they are from if they are believers.