Ever read Acts 10 and wondered why God gave Peter a vision of a picnic blanket full of animals he’d never touch? Was this a new divine menu, or something bigger?
Let’s break it down:
“He saw heaven opened, and something like a great sheet coming down, lowered by its four corners to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals, reptiles, and birds of the air. A voice came to him: ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat!’”
— Acts 10:11–13 (TLV)
The Vision
Peter is hungry (Acts 10:10 literally says he was ready for lunch), but while waiting for food, he falls into a trance. He sees a sheet filled with animals—clean and unclean. When the voice tells him to eat, Peter, being Peter, blurts out, “No way, Lord! I’ve never eaten anything unholy or unclean.”
The Meaning
This vision wasn’t about diet. It was about people.
Right after this, Gentile messengers arrive from Cornelius, who was a Roman centurion seeking God. The Spirit connects the dots: “What God has made clean, do not call common.”
The sheet full of animals represented nations and people Peter considered “unclean.” Peter initially had some issues with gentiles coming in to the fold. God was tearing down the barriers, showing him that Gentiles, too, were welcome in the kingdom.
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