(Acts 10:9-16) On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and
drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about
the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but
while they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened,
and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet
knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all
manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and
creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him,
Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have
never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake
unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not
thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up
again into heaven.
This is one of those passages which raises not only great theological
problems, but also raises physical problems about those things which
should not be eaten for reasons of health, not simply for religious
observance. It is one of those illustrations where we have a profound
truth, both of diet and conduct. It teaches that the Jews, and later the
Christians, were not to keep themselves to themselves, but to go and
preach the gospel to the whole world.
Peter, however, was jealous. He had the feeling that he did not want
others to share in this message, but that it should be limited to Israel
people only, just as Jonah disliked the idea of being a prophet to the
Ninevites. He did not want them in the Kingdom of God, but his feelings
were contrary to God's plan, and he was ordered to go to those people.
The case was made clear to Peter, that what God had cleansed was not
to be termed common or unclean. He was shown this vision three times for
emphasis. He was then ordered to go to the centurion, Cornelius, a
member of the hated race of Roman oppressors. Peter did not want to go
outside the Israel boundaries, for such was his upbringing and training,
but he was convinced of his mission eventually.
There are many students of the Bible who maintain that this verse
absolves us from keeping the ancient Food Laws in the new Dispensation.
However, as we have just seen, it is an allegory, and wrong conclusions
as to the dietary laws should not be drawn from it. The animals in
Peter's time were the same as those which had been in existence when the
Laws were given, so there were still clean and unclean animals. There
was no excuse. God's Laws are perfect, and if He, who
knows best, said that a certain thing should not be eaten, that law
still stands.
Peter protested that he had never eaten anything which was unclean. I
do not think that there is any justification to say that God has
cleansed pigs, so that we may now eat their meat, neither may we take
this as meaning that we may now eat anything else which is on the
unclean list.
It was then that Peter realised that God was telling him something:
(Acts 10:19-22) While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said
unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.
Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting
nothing: for I have sent them. Then Peter went down to the men which
were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye
seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come? And they said,
Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of
good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by
an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of
thee.
Peter went as instructed, realising that God had used the vision of
the sheet to illustrate the fact that although Peter was bound by his
own laws, he was not to withhold the blessings of God from other races,
as God had now opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. It was no
longer strictly limited to Israel, but was an expanding revelation. John
3:16 and 17 says:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn
the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
The Jews had been guilty of certain shortcomings, and God said:
(Matthew 21:43) Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God
shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the
fruits thereof.
The Jews may not have valued the Kingdom, but they did not want any
one else to have it. They resented the prodigal son's claim, and did not
understand that:
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter
3:9)
That is something we really must understand, that God is not limiting
Himself to just one race or people. However, the Bible is the story of
one people, Abraham and his descendants, so we must understand the role
of Israel among the nations. Although God chose Israel out of many
people, to do His will, He did not choose those people for their merit,
but because their ancestor, Abraham believed God, and was a "friend
of God". Their task, in return for God's guidance and blessing, was
to provide an earthly home for the Messiah's first coming, and then to
take the message of salvation to all the world. The Jews have not
fulfilled this mission, having rejected their Saviour and Redeemer, but
the Northern House of Israel, albeit imperfectly and in blindness, has
done so.
The Abrahamic Covenant was unconditional, because Abraham believed
God. It was confirmed with Isaac and Jacob, for Abraham offered up the
heir of the Promise, even though he must have been terribly grieved, and
did not understand the reason.
Jacob's son Isaac inherited the Promises, but not Esau, who had
despised his Birthright. This was to be a grievance with his descendants
until the end time, and they were always a thorn in Israel's side. They
are still trying to this day to repossess the sovereignty which their
ancestor sold for a meal. The Bible tells us of them:
(Revelation 2:9) I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty,
(but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they
are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
The Jews became mixed with people of Esau/Edom after their return
from the Babylonian captivity. Jesus was scathing, for He said:
(John 8:44) Ye are of your father the devil,
Our Lord did not mince His words, He spoke out plainly and named
them, so they then set out to have Him killed.
The Jews have claimed to be all Israel. They are in possession of the
Promised Land, and they have said to the rest of Israel:
(Ezekiel 11:15) Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the
men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto
whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the
Lord: unto us is this land given in possession.
They have been saying that ever since, and now they are saying it to
the Arabs, but they have to be careful because they are outnumbered.
They are saying the same about the Covenants of God, claiming that
they are Israel, and that all the blessings are theirs. The flaw in that
argument is that they cannot prove their case. All they are able to
prove is that their ancestors were taken captive to Babylon, and some
may be able to prove that they are descended from those who returned
with Ezra and Nehemiah, but they were a mere remnant, and
a mixed multitude.
The Church nowadays believes that the Covenant blessings are
transferred from the Jews, but that the Jews will suffer the curses. The
Church is also misguided, and does not understand the message of the
Scriptures in this respect.
John 1:1-15 summarises the situation for us:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things
were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was
made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the
light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Henry Foxton said: "Christ is the image of the invisible
God". What does that mean? He was the first-born of all creation,
so Our Lord did not first become man when He was born in Bethlehem. He
was the archetypal Man, and He existed from the beginning in the form of
God. Before He came down to earth He was the Son of Man in Heaven. When
He ascended up on high, He ascended to where He was before, and now He
fills the universe with Himself:
(Ephesians 1:23) Which is his body, the fulness of him that
filleth all in all.
This glory He shares with every member of His Body, which is the
Church, of which He is the head. The Church throughout the ages is part
of that same body, which is a sacred temple to the Lord.
(Ephesians 1:3-10) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ:
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ
to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us
accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his
good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and
which are on earth; even in him:
We have been predestinated, we have been chosen in Him before the
foundation of the world. It is in Him that we live and move and have our
being. We are in Christ and yet we read that Christ is in us. We are in
Him because we are believers who shall not perish, but have everlasting
life. We are the body of which he is the head, and we are part of the
perfect Bridegroom, and have been since the foundation of the world.
I don't understand it, but I believe it. The only thing that I can
think of to help us understand is that you should imagine that there is
no Time. Time is something which has been injected into the Eternities.
We read in God's Word that Time shall be no more. A word for Time is Kronos
(whence our word, chronology), and Kronos is another name for Satan. If
Time shall be no more, Satan shall be no more, because we shall have
entered Eternity.
