Peter, a devout Jew, followed Jewish dietary laws. Through a vision, God told him he had to change your thinking to break barriers. This is why God gave Peter a vision. Acts 10: 11 He (Peter) saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. 12 In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. 13 Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.”
14 “No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean.”
15 But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.”[1]
Jesus brought the New Covenant and changed the dietary laws. Mark 7: 17 Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. 18 “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? 19 Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.) [2]
Habits Die Hard
Peter’s thinking had been changing gradually and would change more. Peter had gone to pray for Samaritans (part Jew, part Gentiles) in Acts 8. Now Peter was staying with a tanner. As a leather worker, a tanner had to touch dead animals. Jews considered anyone like this to be unclean (Num.19:11-22). Yet, since Simon, the tanner, seems to be a believer, Peter lives and eats with him.
Jesus has changed things through His work on the cross. To spread the Gospel, Peter must interact with Gentiles even more. Thus, God sent the vision. When Peter resisted eating anything unclean, God repeated the vision three times. Acts 10: 19 Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you. 20 Get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation. Don’t worry, for I have sent them.” [3]
An Immediate Test
After a repeated vision and a voice from the Holy Spirit, God immediately tested Peter. The Gentile men from Cornelius had just arrived. Peter acted on God’s new information and invited the men in. He was acting in obedience.
There are times when God needs to break down unhealthy beliefs we hold. He may not do it as dramatically as He did with Peter. But, we can be assured that God will move us where we can be useful to Him in His Kingdom if we only allow it. Where does God want to change your thinking to break barriers in your life?
To find out more, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/double-visions
[1-3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers.