The Bible Teacher's Commentary

Paul J. Bucknell

Intersection in Time: Two Visions

Acts 10:1-48

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Vision #2 (Acts 10:9-16)

And on the next day, as they were on their way, and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. And he became hungry, and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; and he beheld the sky opened up, and a certain object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.

And a voice came to him, "Arise, Peter, kill and eat!" But Peter said, "By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean." And again a voice came to him a second time, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy." And this happened three times; and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.

The Necessity of the Vision

Why did Peter need such a vision? It was because he was a prisoner of his own traditions and the Mosaic Law. Even though he had been with Jesus for three years and had seen Jesus reach out to the outcasts, Peter still struggled with the idea of Gentile inclusion. This vision was God's way of "breaking the sheet" of Peter's prejudices. The sheet contained animals that were strictly forbidden under the Old Covenant Law (Leviticus 11).

Joppa

“The only elevation in the long, low coastline between Caesarea and Gaza was claimed by the city of Joppa (now Jaffa). Behind the city was a deep green belt of fruit and palm trees... Its harbour and its direct communication with Jerusalem made it one of the most important cities along the coast.” (Quote by An Atlas of the Acts by John Stirling, p. 2)

God’s Timing

Note the precision of God's timing. While the messengers from Cornelius were "on their way and approaching the city," Peter was on the roof having his vision. God was working on both ends of the bridge simultaneously to ensure that the Gospel would cross over into the Gentile world.