From the ministry archive
On Israel
The following excerpt is from a vision that Peter had that led to him taking the Gospel to the Gentiles for the first time: "And [he] saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. nd 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" (Acts 10:11-16). While it is true that the point of this vision was to get Peter to understand that God was going to include the Gentiles in the new covenant, there is also another clear understanding here that rarely gets attention. The reason that Peter at first refused to comply with the voice of the Lord telling him to "rise... kill, and eat," was because the animals in the sheet were all animals that were deemed 'unclean' by the law, for eating purposes. The law of clean and unclean meats is found in Leviticus 11, and Peter was well aware of that law. That is why he said, "for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." He thought that the Lord was testing him to see if he would be obedient to that law. In fact God was not testing him. What he did not understand was that the law of clean and unclean meats was no longer in effect because it was fulfilled by Jesus for all who believe and receive his Spirit.
In fact the entire ceremonial law was fulfilled by Jesus, and that fulfillment is active in all those who have God's Spirit and walk therein, as the apostle Paul explained: "That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Rom. 8:4; Mat. 5:17). He said the same two chapters later: "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Rom. 10:4). While it is true that God did not definitively tell Peter in that vision that the law of unclean meats was no longer in effect, he would have been the author of mass confusion to use that vision and to say, "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common." Actually Jesus alluded to the end of that particular law when he was yet on earth: "Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?" (Mk. 7:18,19). What Jesus was saying is that in reality there are no animals or meats that are actually 'unclean,' meaning that it is not defiling to the person who eats them. It's true that the law was not fulfilled until Jesus went back to heaven and began the new covenant, but he sometimes spoke of things that weren't yet in effect as though they were (Rom. 4:17). The apostle Paul, to whom the revelation of the fulfillment of the law was given, clarified what Jesus said about all meats being 'purged,' or made clean: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils... Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer" (I Tim. 4:1,3-5).
The reason Paul had to say that "EVERY creature of God is good," is because there were still many who believed that certain animals were not 'clean' to eat, as was the case under the old covenant. We are simply not under the old covenant or any of its ceremonial laws if we have been filled with the holy Ghost and are being led thereby: "But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law" (Gal. 5:18). If we were still required to keep the law of clean and unclean meats, then we would still be required to keep ALL of the law, including things like the following: "Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled. Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together" (Gal. 5:3; Deut. 22:9-11). Like the law of clean and unclean meats, these laws were symbolic of something spiritual that would be established under the new covenant. Clean and unclean meats represented 'eating' true doctrine as opposed to erroneous doctrine, just as these other laws quoted above represented being of a single mind and a pure heart in Christ. Plenty more could be written of this, but I believe the simplicity of the truth of the matter has been sufficiently established here. The only reason I have written on this subject is because there are still many of God's people today who have been taught that the law of clean and unclean meats is still in effect. If you're in that number don't sweat it, as Peter didn't even understand these things until God practically hit him over the head with it. We're all just making our way along, and the Lord knows our hearts and judges thereby. God bless.
