God Directs The Gospel To Be Preached To The Gentiles. Pt 2

The gospel up to this point has spread to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, But it has stop short of going int all of the world - the world of the Gentiles as Christ had commanded his apostles to do. There still existed a ethic division between the Jews and Gentiles. Jews felt that the gentiles were pagans, unworthy of God, In fact, Jews said that the Gentiles were created by God to be fuel for the fires of Hell; that God loved only Israel of all the nations that he had made; that the best of the serpents crushed, the best of the Gentiles killed.

However, God wanted to put end to ethnic hostility and separation between Jews and Gentiles for He sent Jesus to die and rise again to save all those whom He has chosen both Jew and Gentile. So God is is sovereignly directing the gospel to be preached to the Gentiles. He first directs a vision to a gentile name Cornelius to send three of his men to find Peter who is in Joppa, and to bring him back and he will tell you the words by which you and all your household will be saved (11:14).

Before Cornelius and is household could hear the gospel God needed to send Peter a vision as well to humble him so his pride wouldn’t stand in the way of preaching the gospel to the gentiles.

Luke unfolds how God directs this vision to Peter beginning in Acts 10:9 “The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour.”

After Cornelius’ vision three men head out to Joppa the next day as they were commanded. As they draw near the city, around the sixth hour (noon) Peter who is staying at Simon the tanner’s house, decides to go up the staircase onto the flat roof to have some private time alone to pray to God.

I have to hand it to Peter because he knows the importance of getting alone to have prayer with God. Today professing Christians don’t spend enough time in private prayer with God. God for them has been reduced to an emergency 911 operator that you call only when they’re in trouble. Learn to spend more time with God in prayer throughout your day.

Acts 10:10 “Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance”

At some point Peter becomes extremely hungry and he wanted to eat. While Simon is downstairs preparing a meal for them to eat, Peter falls into a trance (ek’-stas-is/ecstacy) it means that Peter’s mind was distracted from what he was thinking at the time and overcome with amazement.

God sovereignly used the timing of Peter’s prayer and hunger to place in a trance to send him a vision to change the course of Peter’s apprehension towards to the gentiles.

Acts 10:11–12 “and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.”

The opening of heaven was the means by which God was going to reveal His purpose in changing Peter’s heart and set the course for him to preach to the gentiles. Peter observed great sheet that four corners coming down to the earth. Ironically the four corners corresponds to four points of a compass-north, south, east, and west. In this sheet were all types of clean and unclean animals, wild beast, creeping things and birds. This symbolizes all types of people from all over the earth that are bound together both Jews, whom Peter felt were clean, and Gentiles whom he believer were unclean, God wanted Peter to see that both groups are in need of the gospel of Christ.

Jesus once said in Matthew 8:11 “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”

Acts 10:13 “And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.””

God put Peter to the test by commanding Him to eat what was within sheet.

Acts 10:14 “But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.””

Peter seeing these animals clean and unclean is turned off by them because of the dietary restrictions of God gave to Moses in Lev 11 and those reasons why God gave them, Leviticus 11:25–26 “whoever carries part of the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening: The carcass of any animal which divides the foot, but is not cloven-hoofed or does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. Everyone who touches it shall be unclean.”

Peter being a devout Jew would never eat eat unclean animals, let alone the clean animals since they were touching the unclean animals. His response to God was “Not so, Lord.” Peter explains to God that, “I never eaten anything common or unclean.” I’ve been keeping these religious ceremonial laws forever. Don’t miss this, Peter addresses God as Lord/Kyrios master/ one who is in charge of another/and since it is directed at God/ it means Divine authority. Peter who recognizes that God is Lord, but he being religious but at the same time he is refusing to obey what the Lord God is commanding him to do.

Peter is like most professing Christian they want go about religiously doing what they think is right, adhering to certain restrictions all the while they will refuse to obey the commands from God.

God wasn’t finished with Peter yet. Look at next verse.

Acts 10:15–16 “And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.”

God wanted Peter to realize that what He has cleansed Peter didn’t have the right to call it common. That the Mosaic ceremonial dietary restriction under the new covenant was no longer in effect. But the real importance of vision to Peter was for him to see that those whom God wants to save by the preaching of His gospel they are not to be called common, they are not to be avoided.

God was going to use Peter to preach the gospel but He needed to strip away Peter’s reluctance of wanting to reach the gentiles with the gospel. God is showing that He removed the separation between Jews and Gentiles, they will be brought together through the blood of Christ (Eph 2:11-18) and those whom God has cleansed will be taken up to heaven like those animals, wild beast, creeping things, and birds.