WWUTT 2617 What God Has Cleansed, Do Not Call Unclean (Acts 10:14-16)

Peter’s Vision of Clean and Unclean Animals

Jesus said to Peter, rise up, slaughter, and eat. Peter replied, by no means, Lord, I have never eaten anything defiled or unclean. And Jesus said what God has cleansed, no longer considered defiled, when we understand the text.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Acts, we're in chapter 10, where a man named Cornelius has sent some men to retrieve the apostle Peter, who will come to their house and share the gospel with them.

He will be entering into a Gentile home. And so the Lord has appeared to Peter and told him what God has cleansed, no longer considered defiled. What does this have to do with Peter sharing the gospel?

That's what we consider as we're reading through this section of Acts 10 together. Let me begin reading in verse nine once again, and I'll go through verse 23. Hear the word of the Lord. 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.

And while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened up and an 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 sky.

And a voice came to him, "'Rise up, Peter, slaughter and eat.'. But Peter said, "'By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything defiled and unclean.'". Again, a voice came to him a second time, "'What God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.'".

And this happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into heaven. Now, while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon's house, appeared at the gate.

And calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who is also called Peter, was lodging there. And while Peter was reflecting on the vision, the spirit said to him, "'Behold, three men are looking for you, but rise up, go down and accompany them without taking issue at all, for I have sent them myself.'.

And Peter went down to the men and said, "'Behold, I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for which you have come?'. And they said, "'Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man, well-spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and hear a message from you.'.

The Dietary Laws in Leviticus 11

So he invited them in and gave them lodging.". Now, yesterday, we were looking at verses nine through 16, and we looked mainly at that instruction that Jesus gave to Peter, "'Rise up, Peter, slaughter and eat.'".

What were all of these animals that he had seen in this sheet that was being lowered down from heaven that featured crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky? We're gonna look a little bit more at Peter's reaction today, verses 14 to 16, where Peter says, "'By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything defiled and unclean.'".

Now, we understood by Peter's reaction what was in the sheet that was coming down, but why is this vision significant for what the Lord is calling Peter to do? The Lord says to Peter, again, a voice came to him a second time, "'What God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.'".

And this happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into heaven. As I said to you yesterday, this has to do with food. Of course, because Peter is hungry. Remember, in the context of this, the Lord, by his providence, even allows Peter to become hungry, and so he is in hunger when he sees this vision of these animals on this sheet that is being lowered down from heaven.

Some of those animals include animals that the Jews have been instructed not to eat, and we know that is the case because of Peter's reaction. "'Lord, I have never eaten anything defiled and unclean.'".

And this would be in relation to the dietary laws that we read about in Leviticus chapter 11. A couple of other places as well, but that one especially, because that's the Levitical law. That's where it is detailed or given the most details as to which animals the Jews can eat and which ones they cannot.

So we're going to go to that chapter today. We're going to look at exactly the instruction the way that it was given, which animals were not to be considered food, and then what the New Testament says regarding what we can and cannot eat.

Is this law that's laid down in Leviticus 11 still in effect for us today? Now, as I had given this context yesterday, it's still relevant for us to consider where we read something in the Bible. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

God's mind does not change, but we still have to recognize there's an Old Testament and a New Testament. There is an Old Covenant and a New Covenant. How did God expect the Old Covenant to be kept? How do we who are in the New Covenant consider the Old?

So let's go back to the dietary laws as we have them in Leviticus 11 so that we can see and understand what animals could be eaten and could not be eaten by the Jews, and why, why was it that God said, these animals are clean, but these are unclean?

And so Leviticus 11, we're going to look at the whole chapter. It's a chunk here. We're looking at 47 verses, but I think that's the best thing to do for us to keep this in context. So Leviticus 11, one, the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying to them, speak to the people of Israel saying, these are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.

Clean and Unclean Animals in the Old Covenant

Now, let me stop here before we continue on. We are talking here about a law that God is laying down for the people of Israel. Speak to the people of Israel. There doesn't appear to be anything here that indicates these animals are always clean for every people, and these animals are always unclean for every people.

We have not seen that in scripture. In fact, this is the first time in scripture that it's been laid down which animals are clean and unclean. Previously, an instruction was given in the Noahic covenant in Genesis 9, that all animals are food for you.

In Genesis 9, one, it is said, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea.

Into your hand, they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything, but you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is its blood.

That's the only restriction given regarding what animals they may eat. You may eat of any animal, every creeping thing that is on the ground, but you must not eat an animal that still has its lifeblood in it.

And we see from the pagans, this practice of drinking the blood, believing that they are absorbing the life force of the animal. The Lord put a prohibition on that. You cannot drink blood. Drink that which the life is still in, but you may eat of any animal that I have given to you.

Now, earlier in Genesis, when it comes to the animals that were coming onto the ark, God specified those animals which are clean and which ones were unclean. So some people who still hold to the dietary laws will point to that.

Well, what about Genesis 7, 2, where it says, take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, a male and his mate. So seven pairs of the clean animals, one pair of the unclean animals.

So even there, we still have a distinction, though it is not said to us in Genesis which animals are clean and which ones are unclean. Well, this was only for the purpose of sacrifices. This was not for the purpose of food.

So the seven pairs of all clean animals, why would there need to be so many more clean animals? Because some of them were going to be offered as sacrifices. And that was even while Noah and his family were aboard the ark.

So that was why that was relevant, to take clean animals with them. Such a distinction is not made in the allowance in Genesis 9 that every animal shall be food for you. We don't see any distinction between what animals can be eaten and what can't be eaten until Leviticus 11.

And there's a context for this, as we will continue, as we'll see as we continue on. Now, next we have the animals that are put into categories. And first of all, in Leviticus 11 .3, it says, whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud among the animals you may eat.

Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these. The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof. It is unclean for you. The rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof.

It is unclean for you. The hare, the pig also, and I'm summarizing that. Verse eight, you shall not eat any of their flesh and you shall not touch their carcasses. They are unclean to you. So you can't even make something out of those animals.

You can't, not only can you not eat them, but you can't even have something, like you would not be able to have a purse that was made out of a rabbit or a pigskin. Now, footballs today are actually not made out of pig, but there was a time that it was made out of pig and that's why we refer to it as a pigskin.

So you wouldn't be able to have a football that was made out of pig leather. Those animals are unclean, you can't even touch them. So going on to verse nine, now we have animals that exist in the waters.

These you may eat of all that are in the waters, everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the sea or in the rivers, you may eat. But anything in the seas or the rivers that does not have fins and scales of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, that is detestable for you.

You shall regard them as detestable and you shall not eat any of their flesh and you shall detest their carcasses. Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you. Next we have flying animals, beginning in verse 13.

And these you shall detest among the birds, they shall not be eaten, they are detestable. The eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the kite, the falcon of any kind, any raven of any kind, the ostrich, the night hawk, the seagull, the hawk of any kind, the little owl, the cormorant, the short-eared owl, the barn owl, the tawny owl, the carrion vulture, the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe and the bat.

Now we know that a bat is categorized as a mammal, but in this particular instruction, the bat is grouped in with any flying creature or a creature that has wings. So next we read more about winged creatures, beginning in verse 20.

All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you. Yet among the winged insects that go on all four, you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet with which to hop on the ground.

So John the Baptist, when he was eating locusts and wild honey out in the wilderness, he was not violating any dietary laws. Verse 22, of them you may eat the locust of any kind, the bald locust, the cricket, the grasshopper, but all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.

And then verse 24, and by these you shall become unclean. Whoever touches the carcasses shall be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.

Every animal that parts the hoof, but is not cloven footed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean. And all that walk on their paws among the animals that go on all fours, they are unclean to you.

Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening. And he who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. They are unclean to you. Now that's an interesting aspect to these instructions and something that we need to take note of.

The people who try to implement dietary laws today and say that it is unclean for a Christian to eat pork. How long is that person unclean if they do eat pork? Do they follow this law? Are you unclean until the evening?

Do you have to now wash all of your clothes and they are unclean to you? And unclean in what way? Like what does this restrict you from now that you would be declared unclean because you have eaten these animals?

What would be the context for the people of Israel? They are considered ceremonially unclean and they cannot come into the tabernacle or the temple and sacrifice until they have done these things. Anybody who implements these dietary laws today, are they unclean from coming to church?

Is that the way that you would apply this passage to a Christian today? Now, of course, you know that as I'm getting to this because we talked about it yesterday, Jesus has already declared all foods clean.

So these instructions are not applicable to the church today in the sense that we are not commanded to remain abstinent from certain foods. Again, in Mark chapter seven, Jesus said, are you lacking understanding in this way as well?

Do you not perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach and then is expelled. It goes into the sewer. And as said in Mark 7, 19, thus he declared all foods clean.

In Colossians 2, 16, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

So even here in Leviticus 11, these dietary laws are meant to point us to Christ, but not in the sense that if we are in Christ, then we must continue to keep the dietary laws. For we see that Jesus himself, as said by Mark, that he declared all foods clean.

And we see this elsewhere as well. We have directly from Jesus himself in Acts 10, 15, what God has cleansed, no longer considered defiled. So has God cleansed these animals that it may now be acceptable for us to eat them?

Let's consider that further as we go on in Leviticus 11. Now, as we come to the last portion of this, we're going to see exactly the reason why God had implemented these dietary laws for Israel in the first place.

Now, I'm going to continue reading even some of these specific things that we have in verses 29 to 38, because you'll see that those who continue to keep dietary laws today are not being consistent. There's a lot more in here than just simply you cannot eat pork or shellfish.

So Leviticus 11, 29, and these are unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm on the ground, the mole rat, the mouse, the great lizard, the gecko, the monitor lizard, the sand lizard, the chameleon.

These are unclean to you among all that swarm. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening. And anything on which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether it is an article of wood, or a garment, or a skin, or a sack, any article that is used for any purpose.

It must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening. Then it shall be clean. And if any of them falls into any earthenware vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break it.

Any food in it that would be eaten on which water comes shall be unclean. And all drink that could be drunk from every such vessel shall be unclean. And everything on which any part of their carcasses falls shall be unclean, whether oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces.

They are unclean and shall remain unclean for you. Nevertheless, a spring or a cistern holding water shall be clean, but whoever touches a carcass in them shall be unclean. And if any part of their carcass falls upon any seed grain that is to be sown, it is clean.

But if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you. Boy, this is a lot. These are a lot of restrictions here. So to the people who think that we can't eat pork or shellfish, are they following this?

If one of these animals that is unclean, even among the crawling things, if it ends up on a plate in your cabinet, do you take it out and break it and throw it away? Because that would be the instruction.

Verse 33, if any of them falls into any earthenware vessel that is in it shall be unclean and you shall break it. Let's continue on verse 39. And if any animal which you may eat dies, whoever touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening.

And whoever eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. You can't even dispose of these things without becoming unclean.

Doesn't mean you can't expose or dispose of them rather, but in so doing, you become unclean according to the Leviticus 11 law. So verse 41, every swarming thing that swarms on the ground is detestable.

It shall not be eaten. Whatever goes on its belly and whatever goes on all fours, whatever has many feet, any swarming thing that swarms on the ground, you shall not eat for they are detestable. You shall not make for yourselves or sorry, you shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms and you shall not defile yourselves with them and become unclean through them.

Okay, hold on to that. Because what is it that Peter says to God when Jesus says to him, rise up Peter, slaughter and eat. In verse 14, he says, by no means Lord, for I have never eaten anything defiled and unclean.

The animals in Peter's vision included these animals here in Leviticus 11 and the instruction says that if you touch them, if you consume them, you make yourself detestable and you defile yourself and become unclean through them.

Peter is responding exactly according to the law. Peter is saying, I have kept the law. I've never done this before. And yet what's Jesus reply to him? Three times, what God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.

And then we have the Lord say to the people of Israel, just as we have repeated to the church in 1 Peter 1 .15. This is Leviticus 11 .44. For I am the Lord your God, consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy for I am holy.

You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy for I am holy.

And we see here what was said in Colossians 2 .16 or 2 .17 rather, these are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Christ fulfills this. Everything that was in the ceremonial law, even those dietary laws that were given to the people of Israel, Christ has fulfilled.

Mark 7 .19, he has declared all foods clean. There are not dietary restrictions upon his church. So that now it has become, if someone does place dietary restrictions on you and claims you are not righteous by the righteousness of Christ, unless you also keep these dietary laws, that's the doctrine of demons.

1 Timothy 4 .1 -5. Now the spirit expressly says that in later times, some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

So in other words, we would read in Acts 10 .15, what God has cleansed, no longer considered defiled. And somebody who comes along with the doctrine of demons would say, no, Jesus was wrong there, this is still defiled.

And that's why that would make the implementation of the dietary laws now upon a person for the sake of righteousness, that would be the doctrine of demons. Because it would be communicating, Christ's righteousness is not enough.

And you still have to do these things in order to be right before God. And so we go on to read. Verse four, for everything created by God is good. And nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

God has cleansed it. So our eating it does not defile us and make us unclean. We wear the righteousness of Christ. And what God has created to be good, let no man consider defiled or impose that upon someone else.

Now, when I encounter somebody who in their heart, they feel convicted and they think, well, these dietary laws, they're still there. It's still the law of God. And so I can't with a good conscience eat pork.

And if that's their conviction, then fine. I'm not going to try to push them into a place that's gonna defile their conscience. But then when they start to impose that upon other people and tell them, you are unclean if you eat this.

Well, now that's pharisaical legalism. Now you've gotten into a place where you're imposing upon somebody, something that God has not imposed upon them. And later on, we're gonna read in Acts chapter 15, what should we tell the Gentiles with regards to the law?

What is it that they should be following? And we're gonna get to this later, but we see there, it seemed good to the Holy Spirit. This is Acts 15 verses 28 and 29. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials, that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from sexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, you will do well.

Farewell. Okay, that's the letter that's being sent out to the Gentiles. And nowhere in there is it said, well, you do still have to keep the dietary laws. Nope, that is a burden that they were not going to, not going to place on the Gentile brethren.

And even the Jews themselves would be coming out of those doctrines and not have to feel required to follow them anymore. For it did not make them more righteous. We are not made holy by what we eat and drink.

We are made holy by God through faith in Jesus Christ. Now then, as we're looking at Leviticus 11, I've not gotten to the last two verses yet where God really lays down, this is why you can eat these things, but not these things.

So Leviticus 11, 46 and 47, this is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground. To make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creatures that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.

So the Jews were to keep themselves distinct from the pagans that were around them, who were unclean. But God had made the nation of Israel clean. And there were a number of other laws that they had to keep to demonstrate these distinctions between the people of God and those who were not of God.

For example, Leviticus 19, 19. You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.

Do the dietary law people, do they follow that one? Just Leviticus 19, 19. Do they keep that law? Do they make it a moral imperative? Or was there a reason for that? That even these things were supposed to show the people that you are to keep yourself distinct from those that are unclean, morally repugnant.

Those who have done things that have violated God's law, and yet you are supposed to be distinct from them. Even in all that you say and do, even in what you eat, you are to show yourself as someone who belongs to God and not to their gods.

You don't eat the same things that they eat before their gods. You are to keep yourself separate in every way. Even in the clothes that you wear, this would be a reminder that you are to be holy and separate from them.

You shall not wear a garment of cloth made of two different kinds of material. Do the people who say that you can't eat pork, do they eat a, or sorry, do they wear a cotton poly blend? They are probably not implementing that with the clothes that they wear, right?

But now in Christ Jesus, there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile. Romans 3, 22 and 23, there is no distinction for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

As we read in Colossians 3, verse 11, here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave-free, but Christ is all and in all. It is now about Christ and we are joined into one people, Jew or Gentile through him.

So those things that had kept the Jews distinct from the Gentiles are no longer applicable. As we read about in Ephesians 2, he has torn down the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

That's what we have in Ephesians 2, verses 14 to 16. He himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh by the giving of his body, by the spilling of his blood, those things that had separated Jew and Gentile.

Now we are one nation, a holy nation in Christ Jesus. And what's said in Hebrews 8, 13, when he said a new covenant, he has made the first one obsolete, but whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

The old covenant coming to an end, the new covenant that we have in Christ, and in that new covenant, the dietary laws are something that we merely look back to to see how all of this was ultimately pointing to Christ.

Again, what was said in Colossians 2, these are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. And we can rejoice that there is no longer a reason to have to stay separate from one another, but we are one people in Christ Jesus who has made one man in place of the two.

And when we come to the Lord's table and eat and feast and celebrate, we can remember that everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. For it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

And here we have read the word of God to give us a clear understanding that what God has cleansed no longer consider defiled. Well, that was a long lesson for today, but I felt like it was necessary to lay out somewhere and now we have it and we can come back to it and reference it.

We'll have to consider this again when we get to the letter that goes to the Gentiles in Acts chapter 15. But for now we understand the vision, at least I hope you do, you understand the vision that was given to Peter and what its significance was and why he was to consider this before going into the house of Cornelius.

He was not to delay or hesitate, but to go along with them and not feel like that he was defiling himself by receiving their hospitality so that the gospel may be proclaimed there and all who heard it would come to faith in Jesus Christ and believe.

We'll read about that further as we continue our study of Acts chapter 10. Heavenly father, we thank you for what we have read today and I pray that we would rejoice and be filled with thanksgiving for all the wonderful things that you have given to us.

Christ has made us righteous by faith in him, we've been clothed in your goodness. And so I pray that we would walk in that righteousness, that we would demonstrate your goodness day by day for all that you have said and done for us through your son who died on the cross, rose again from the dead so that all who believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

We ask for your continued blessings upon us in Jesus name, amen.

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