Acts Chapter 10

I see acts Chapter 11 verse 17, because I am firmilar with it.

Acts 11 1 And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 2 And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, 3 Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them. 4 But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying, 5 I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me: 6 Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat. 8 But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth. 9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. 10 And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven. 11 And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me. 12 And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house: 13 And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; 14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. 15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. 16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. 17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? 18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

I see several things.

1) God is no respector of persons
2) God made all things clean (ceremonially).
3) The Holy Spirit came upon them, the Gentiles, after they had believed and before they were baptized. In v. 45 "And the believers from among the circumcised [the Jews] who came with Peter were surprised and amazed, because the free gift of the Holy Spirit had been bestowed and poured out largely even on the Gentiles."

This trance of Peter's cut to the core of his prejudices. It was "unlawful.... for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him".
A voice came to him, "Get up, Peter, kill and eat!"
But Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean." He followed all the rules; all the law. He could point to all his righteous deeds.But God was doing a deep work in his heart.
"God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean."
"What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy."
The old covenant has ended. The new covenant begun.

watchman2018 said:

What do you "see" when you read Acts Chapter 10? What is the message God is conveying?

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To understand Acts 10, one must go back to the event that happened in Acts 7, when the leaders of Israel stoned Stephen.

Prior to Acts 7, the children of Israel, as a nation, had rejected God the Father when they refused to be baptized of John the Baptist, and went about to establish their own righteousness (Romans 10:3). They rejected God the Son when they demanded that Jesus be curcified. Now in Acts 7 we find that the leaders of Isreal had rejected God the Holy Ghost when the killed Stephen.

After Israel, as a nation, rejected the Trinity, there is no way that Israel as a nation could be the blessing to the nations that God had promised Abram way back in Genesis 12:1-3.

Therefore, we find that God raised up the self proclaimed "chief of sinners" (Acts 9) to usher in this "dispensation of grace," placing the Jew and Gentile on equal footing and without distinction. This NOW means that Isreal has been "set aside" (Romans 11:7-12).

Prior to the setting aside of Israel, as a nation, for one that was a Gentile who wanted to serve the true and living God of Israel, that one had to become a Jew (proselyte) and place themselves under the Laws of Moses. The Gentiles were considered "unclean"/"heathen"/"dogs"/"outside the gate, and it was unlawful for one that was a Jew to have fellowship with one from another nation (Matt.10:5,6; cf Acts 10:28).

So, when we get to Acts 10, and the vision that Peter was given, it showed him that Israel was NOW on the same footing as the Gentiles that were set aside back at the tower of Babel in Genesis 11. Romans 11:32 "For God hath concluded the all (Jews and Gentiles) in unbelief that He might have mercy upon all."

There are many today that Acts 10 shows that the Gentiles were "brought up" to the same level as the children of Isreal as to being "God's chosen people," when in reality, it shows that the children of Israel were "brought down" to the level of the set aside Gentiles of Genesis 11.

This, IMHO, is one of the most prominent messages that is overlooked in Acts 10.

God Bless.
Live Well, Laugh Often and Love the Lord!

watchman2018 said:

I had someone quote out of this chapter to prove their point that this was talking about doing away with the food ordinances and that all food is clean now and you should eat pork and shrimp..etc...

Does anyone out there believe that what I just said is the subject of this chapter? If you do, please document your answer and back it up with scripture.

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I think that what you wrote is true, but I don't think that is the main subject of the chapter.

God Bless.
Live Well, Laugh Often and Love the Lord!

watchman2018 said:

I had someone quote out of this chapter to prove their point that this was talking about doing away with the food ordinances and that all food is clean now and you should eat pork and shrimp..etc...

Does anyone out there believe that what I just said is the subject of this chapter? If you do, please document your answer and back it up with scripture.

Click to expand...

Although this passage isn't solely in reference to this, yes it does apply. However, the greatest question is, do you believe that you are bound by food ordinances?

Here is what Scripture says about it.

Acts 15:29 That you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from [tasting] blood and from [eating the meat of animals] that have been strangled and from sexual impurity. If you keep yourselves from these things, you will do well. Farewell [be strong]!

Acts 15:20 and also Acts 21:25

The above is for our physical and spiritual health.
Col 2:16 Therefore let no one sit in judgment on you in matters of food and drink, or with regard to a feast day or a New Moon or a Sabbath.

Col 2:17 Such [things] are only the shadow of things that are to come, {and} they have only a symbolic value. But the reality (the substance, the solid fact of what is foreshadowed, the body of it) belongs to Christ.

Col 2:18 Let no one defraud you by acting as an umpire {and} declaring you unworthy {and} disqualifying you for the prize, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions [he claims] he has seen, vainly puffed up by his sensuous notions {and} inflated by his unspiritual thoughts {and} fleshly conceit,

Col 2:19 And not holding fast to the Head, from Whom the entire body, supplied and knit together by means of its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

Col 2:20 If then you have died with Christ to material ways of looking at things {and} have escaped from the world's crude {and} elemental notions {and} teachings of externalism, why do you live as if you still belong to the world? [Why do you submit to rules {and} regulations?--such as]

Col 2:21 Do not handle [this], Do not taste [that], Do not even touch [them],

Col 2:22 Referring to things all of which perish with being used. To do this is to follow human precepts and doctrines.

Col 2:23 Such [practices] have indeed the outward appearance [that popularly passes] for wisdom, in promoting self-imposed rigor of devotion {and} delight in self-humiliation {and} severity of discipline of the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh (the lower nature). [Instead, they do not honor God but serve only to indulge the flesh.]

Col 3:1 IF THEN you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at {and} seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Col 3:2 And set your minds {and} keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.

Col 3:3 For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God.

Hope that helped.

I find it somewhat entertaining that he goes to Peter so many times with this stuff . This is the dude that swims naked and swears. He hated Matthew the tax collector, his sworn enemy-so to speak.

There is just something about Peter, maybe we can just all relate to him, or maybe we are all just a little envious of him .

I like this vision, because it is the first one with an action afterwards. Ok, it was to teach Peter a lesson. That is basically like when we get a vision right, that is first what we see. Hey God is trying to teach me something. Well the Lord is telling Peter, it's time to bury the hatchet. He started trying to teach Peter with Matthew about forgiveness of the unclean people within his own race, now it was time to move to the gentiles. But with a twist, he did it with food, so two birds with one stone (two lessons).

I also find it interesting that Peter had the vision three times. I think it was because the gentiles were now to be accepted as clean. And that the vision being repeated was perhaps a way of conformation. (I know when pharoah had a dream it was done twice-as a conformation from God; seven fat seven lean).

Well then anyways, after Peter learns from the vision, the gentiles are taught by Peter because of what the Lord showed Peter. Because then Peter could accept them and enter their home. And then Peter is then able to teach other Jewish leaders what the Lord had shown him, and so they too will see the gentiles as acceptable to the Lord and Jewish peoples. They no longer would be unclean.

This was very important, especially if you are going to be a missionary, think about it. They didnt want to be touched by us (we had unclean hands), they wouldnt eat with us-much like the old slave days in america, they wouldnt enter our homes and we were not welcome in their homes. We were unclean and we would contaminate them. Just like the unclean food laws.

So uummm, well, I'm pretty glad Jesus said I am clean now. Thank you Jesus .

A couple of verses that stuck out to me was vs. 2 and 4. Cornelius was a great man of God and it was admirable when it said he feared God and all of his household. Also, when it said his alms have come up for a memorial before God rather than saying his prayers went unheard or he was giving just to show off. God was pleased with him and his motives was right.

I just read the following and thought it would fit here:

"Frequently Christians discuss whether or not God intended human beings to be vegetarians when the earth was first created. Statistics show that nowadays most people are carnivores -- they eat meat. What there should be no argument about, though, is the fact that people made in the image of God are designed to be verbivores -- word-eating beings. We survive and thrive physically by the intake of food, and we survive and thrive spiritually by the intake of God's Word. Christians are to feed on the Bible. We are not only to study it but to ingest it.
The purpose of assimilating the Word is not that we might store it in our minds as information but that it might enable us to live the life God intended for us in the beginning. We ought to take the Word into our lives in such a way that, to quote Eugene Peterson, 'it gets metabolised into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus' name'.
When we eat the Book it gets into our bloodstream and becomes a part of us. And when the flood of everyday worries or particular griefs and sorrows overtakes you, the Book is there intact - within you." Selwyn Hughes from Every Day with Jesus Sep/Oct 2005.