Misreading Peter's Vision. (Acts 10)

I'd be willing to bet that almost everybody reading this article has, at one point or another, been told that Acts chapter 10 is one of a few reasons that Christians no longer keep to the "Old Testament" kosher laws(The dietary restrictions mostly found in Leviticus 11). Personally, I get this a lot when I find myself in the company of Christians who happen to take note that I make it a point to avoid pork or shellfish.

The conversations typically go something like this: "Oh, are you allergic?" they will often ask if they don't just plainly ask why. "No," I respond," I adhere to the Kosher laws." I try to just leave it at that usually, making no attempt to press the issue any further lest we find ourselves in the inevitable awkward conversation that is about to happen. "Well, what about Peters vision of the sheet in Acts chapter ten?" they ask. And so it begins...

So, let's break this passage down and address the all-too-common misconceptions surrounding this passage, because trust me when I say there are a lot of misconceptions.

The Setting

First and foremost, it is important to make sure we understand the backdrop to the entire story. Details like who is involved, what was going on at the time, when did this happen etc. are key to understanding the meaning of the story as the author intended. Context is more than just an internal consideration, it is also an external consideration.

We will go over these external considerations as we read through the text. So, lets begin at the very beginning.

There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment. ² He was a devout man and feared God along with his whole household. He did many charitable deeds for the Jewish people and always prayed to God. -Acts 10:1-2 (HCSB)

Cornelius is a centurion, which tells us a few things about him: he was a roman officer in command over about 80-100 soldiers (hence the name "centurion" from the word "century" meaning "100"). This is the smallest unit within the Roman Legion. Being a Roman officer meant also that he is a Roman citizen. Centurions were usually from a class of citizen we might refer to as "middle class" today, having no real royalty, and so usually became centurions by merit as a reward for service either in the army itself or within the roman municipal system.

This means that Cornelius is thoroughly NOT Jewish. This may seem like a redundant point to make and rather obvious, but this detail is important, however, because what we see is Cornelius participating in Jewish religious practice. The Phrase "he was a devout man and feared God along with his whole household" is a Jewish way of saying that he and his entire family were very careful to keep the commands of the Torah as best they were able to. Anything short of this and he would not have been referred to as a "devout" man or "feared God."

The God Fearers

It's this last description that is the most important detail and it informs the first detail. In the first century, "Christianity" didn't exist yet, the only monotheistic religion at the time was Judaism. Even in the early days of the "Jesus movement" it was thoroughly a sect of Judaism. (See Acts 24:14). "Christianity" would not be a materially different religion until the late second early third century. So, in the days of Cornelius in the Roman diaspora, there were only a couple of options when it came to wanting to worship the God of Abraham. You can either convert to Judaism or otherwise be known as a "God Fearer."

For Cornelius, conversion to Judaism is not an option, he's a Roman official, an officer in the Army. Were he to convert he would be giving up his entire livelihood, and there's no reason to do this, Judaism does not require conversion to legal Jewish status to those who what to ally themselves with the religion. So the other option naturally is "God fearer."

The "God fearer" is a category like that of "partial convert" in a manner of speaking. A God fearer was a gentile person who, for all intents and purposes, practices Judaism but have not fully converted to Judaism legally speaking. For more details on why a person might want to convert or may not want to please visit this article ("Should I Convert To Judaism?").

God fearers were pretty common in the diaspora between the 1st and 3rd century; Judaism is not really a religion that seeks to make proselytes generally speaking. Although in the first century, before the Jewish revolts, evidence seems to show that Jews did practice some missionary work in the diaspora to an extent. This missionary work may be part of the reason for so many God fearers in the Roman world.

As a God fearer, Cornelius practiced Torah to the extent that he was allowed as a non-convert. There's only a few things a God fearer is not allowed to do, such as eat the Passover sacrifice (he can still celebrate Passover just not sit at a table that has a Passover lamb which was offered at the Temple in Jerusalem) and wrap Tefillin just to name a couple of examples. Aside from those few restrictions, Cornelius was welcome to practice and participate in Torah life as he pleased. According to Acts chapter 10, he very much was a careful and observant Torah gentile. And not just him but also his entire household! This is the true witness to his devotion, he raised his house to worship God in Torah.

The Amida

One evidence of this devout Torah practice is we see that Cornelius "always prayed to God" (Acts 10:2). This is not, as some Christians might presuppose, just general spontaneous prayers and devotionals like Christians are familiar with today. That is very much a "modernization" of the text. In context of a 1st century God fearer this means that Cornelius Prayed the three-times-daily Jewish prayers every single day, and he never missed one if he could help it. These prayers are colloquially called "The Amidah" which is Hebrew for "the standing" prayer, since it is a prayer said while standing upright. If you would like to learn more about the Amidah generally, please see this article (The Prayer Paul Taught).

It was during one of these prayer times that he gets a visit from an angel.

About three in the afternoon he distinctly saw in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, “Cornelius!” -Acts 10:3 (HCSB)

"About three in the afternoon" is a direct indicator to the Amidah. The Amidah is prayed once in the early morning called Shacharit, once later in the afternoon anywhere between 12pm and 6pm depending on the season (times are approximate for simplicity sake, the ancient world didn't have clocks like we do) called Mincha, and finally Ma'ariv in the evening sometime after sundown and before bed. By telling us exactly what time of the day this happened, Acts is specifically indicating to us that this happened while he was praying the Amidah.

Especially if we reinsert the last bit of the previous verse.

...and always prayed to God. ³ About three in the afternoon he distinctly saw in a vision an angel of God who came in and said to him, “Cornelius!”

One of the many reasons for the three times daily prayers is that prayers are seen as an offering, a spiritual offering, and so they are designed to specifically correlate with the three daily offerings given at the temple in Jerusalem. You become a sort of priest over your own body, your heart is the altar, and your prayers are the offerings, and you join in unison with the priests at the temple sending up all prayers and offerings to HaShem in unity.

Keeping all this in mind let us look at what the angel says to Cornelius in the very next verse.

The angel told him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity have come up as a memorial offering before God. -Acts 10:4b (HCSB)

Imagine being a non-Jew, somebody who is not allowed to ever enter into the temple complex to offer your own offerings, being told that your prayers have been received as an offering before God. Cornelius probably understood that his prayers and acts of charity were like offerings to God, but he probably also thought that unless he converted to Judaism fully that it was lacking in some way, that it was not equal, or maybe not even heard at all (More on this later). He was just told that it was heard and equal! Take note also that he receives his vision in the midst of his obedience.

Cornelius is then instructed to summon Peter who is at Joppa, and he does so sending one of his devout fellow soldiers to go with that party.

Peters Vision

Now let us finally begin to address the purpose of this article, Peters vision.

The next day, as they were traveling and nearing the city, Peter went up to pray on the housetop about noon. -Acts 10:9 (HCSB)

Once again, we see an example of Acts being careful to indicate to us that this is happening during the Amidah. Specifically at Mincha, which although is not at the exact same time as Cornelius' from the day prior, it is the same prayer time and window. From a Jewish perspective, Peters vision happens at the same time the next day as Cornelius' vision.

Peter may have chosen to do Mincha at the earliest possible legal time he could do so because in this time period devout Israeli Jews typically would not eat until after they've recited Mincha. So the additional detail that Peter was hungry is also relevant in letting us know some context behind Peters timing and the vision itself. Peter was essentially fasting until after his prayers.

Then he became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing something, he went into a visionary state. ¹¹ He saw heaven opened and an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners to the earth. -Acts 10:10-11

Yet another key detail being mentioned is "the four corners" of the sheet. To a Jew this is an immediate reminder of the Talit, which is a large 4 cornered garment resembling a sheet that has tassels tied to each of the corners. This garment is commanded in Numbers chapter 14:

“Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a violet thread. ³⁹ It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so that you will do them and not follow your own heart and your own eyes, which led you to prostitute yourselves, ⁴⁰ so that you will remember and do all My commandments and be holy to your God. ⁴¹ I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord your God.” -Numbers 14:38-41 (NASB)

And again:

Make tassels on the four corners of the outer garment you wear. -Deut 22:12 (HCSB)

Take careful note of the purpose of the tassels. "...It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so that you will do them and not follow your own heart and your own eyes..." The tassels represent the Torah; they are visual reminders of the commandments. Commandments like, say, the Kosher laws. Peter was highly likely wearing his own talit at the time also.

With that in mind, let's continue with the vision.

 In it were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, and the birds of the sky. ¹³ Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat!” -Acts 10:12-13 (HCSB)

One thing to note here is this sheet contains all of the four-footed animals and reptiles, and all of the birds, not just the unclean or the clean ones, although the common implication seems to be that it's just the unclean ones based on Peter's answer, but a closer look at the language reveals more. Peter's answer here is actually striking. After being told to kill and eat something, Peter responds:

“No, Lord!” Peter said. “For I have never eaten anything common and ritually unclean!” -Acts 10:14 (HCSB)

This is an ideal place to highlight the gravity of the fact that Peter literally told G-d "No" and was not punished or reprimanded for it.

Now here is one of the few times in which I do not like how the HCSB rendered this verse.

The phrase at the end κοινὸν ἢ ἀκάθαρτον should read something more like "unholy/common OR unkosher/unclean"

Many Christians seem to think that this is the same thing said twice, but it is not, Luke is not one to waste ink. The first word, Koinon (G2839), is the word for "common" in Greek. (It's actually where we get the term "koine Greek.") In context, this word actually refers to anything that would normally be kosher, but for one reason or another is not fit for temple usage. Reasons could include things like; it was incorrectly slaughtered, or the animal had some blemish, there may be a question of the food being handled by somebody who was ritually unclean at the time, or tainted by idolatry, the list goes on. The primary point here is that the word "koinos" almost always refers to what is otherwise kosher meat but does not meet the much higher standard of Holiness required for temple usage.

The next word, "akatharton" (G169), however does specifically mean "unkosher" as in it is one of the animals that is forbidden to eat as per Leviticus chapter 11. Akatharton is the word used in the Greek translation of the Torah (The LXX) for "unkosher" in Leviticus 11.

These two words represent two entirely different concepts. Peter here states that not only has he never eaten anything unkosher, but also he has never even eaten anything that would be considered "common" even though it is kosher to eat! Presumably, Peter would be allowed to kill and eat one of the kosher animals on sheet if he wanted to, but because that would mean the animal was not properly slaughtered in the manner that would make the meat fit for use in the temple, Peter still refuses the food! Peter is so devout in his Torah observance that he even refused to eat that which was kosher but only common. Truly, Peter treated his body like a temple, like the Temple.

Purity Laws

And this makes sense. Peter spent as much time as he possibly could at the temple complex in Jerusalem. In order to actually go into the temple courts one must be in a state of ritual purity. If for any reason one were to become unclean the person would have to wait till the end of the day and perform a baptism (mikvah) before he would be declared ritually clean again and be able to enter the inner complex. Although technically the extra purity laws are relevant for the temple only, many devout Jews continued to live this purity centered lifestyle regardless.

Peter seems to have continued to do so like the rest of orthodoxy at the time.

Again, a second time, a voice said to him, “What God has made clean, you must not call common.” ¹⁶ This happened three times, and then the object was taken up into heaven. -Acts 10:15-16 (HCSB)

Now again I must stress here the use of the completely different words which represent two entirely different concepts. "What God [has made] ἐκαθάρισεν you must not call κοίνου."

The word ἐκαθάρισεν (G2511) is the word for "kosher" and it's the exact same root word for the "unkosher" word used above just without the negative particle "a" prefix, meaning "un." Simply put and with less Greek to make it easier to read: Katharton means "kosher" and Akatharton means "not kosher." So, this is the exact equal opposite word to what Peter said above, hence my use of the words "kosher" and "unkosher."

The verse does not read "what God has made kosher you must not call unkosher" like many popular Christian translations will read. NLT for example reads "Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean." This Obviously misleads the reader into thinking that this vision is proof positive that all the things God once called unclean are now made clean again. This is not the case.

A more faithful translation of the Greek would read something more like this: "What God called Kosher you must not call 'common or unholy.'"

What's more is this is obviously an object lesson, not a change to foundational Biblical life and interpretation. And Peter seems to understand that it was in fact an object lesson, and not permission to violate Torah laws, by his confusion on what that lesson could possibly be about. Peter is very much accustomed to food-based object lessons, Yeshua often taught using many food-based object lessons. Additionally, Peter has a history of needing to be told the same lesson a few times before "getting it," like with the example of "if you love me, feed my sheep" having to be told 3 times before understanding it. So, in typical Peter fashion, Peter is given a food-based object lesson, and he doesn't quite get it at first. The text says:

While Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions to Simon’s house, stood at the gate. -Acts 10:17 (HCSB)

He was confused about the meaning of this object lesson. In biblical literature you will find that visions being object lessons are very common. God spoke to the prophets in visions that were always meant to be an object lesson. Jeremiah was shown an olive tree branch to illustrate that God was ever watchful over his word to be done. Jonah had the shade of a plant which God caused to grow and them made a worm kill it to illustrate a point to Jonah about Gods will and mercy to all nations. These are just a couple of examples to say that Peter would have known to expect that his vision was some kind of object lesson and he was trying to figure out what it was.

Go...With No Doubts...

He wouldn't know the answer to this lesson till his arrival at Cornelius' house. In fact, I believe that Peter would never have figured it out were it not for the angel demanding Peter to go with the messengers sent by Cornelius.

While Peter was thinking about the vision, the Spirit told him, “Three men are here looking for you. ²⁰ Get up, go downstairs, and accompany them with no doubts at all, because I have sent them.” -Acts 10:19-20 (HCSB)

The writer of Acts, Luke, wasted no ink anywhere in this passage. Every detail is important, ink was expensive and writing a book was tedious and pricey, one had to make sure every single word was not wasted. No unnecessary fluff. Why would the angel need to tell Peter to go with them without any doubts? Because Peter would have very likely NOT have gone with them at all. God felt the need to reach down with an angel because that's what it would have taken for Peter to actually go.

Remember, Peter still does not know what the vision means, so let us continue to read the passage like we do not yet know either.

Then Peter went down to the men and said, “Here I am, the one you’re looking for. What is the reason you’re here?” ²² They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who has a good reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was divinely directed by a holy angel to call you to his house and to hear a message from you.” -Acts 10:21-22 (HCSB)

Notice the words of the messengers, they seem to be practically begging Peter to please come for a visit. They too don't seem to think that Peter would actually come visit the house of some low-level Roman officer, and so they try to make sure they mention all the good things about Cornelius. Even still, does Peter have any reason to believe these people? This could be a trap, for all Peter knows. What does a Roman centurion want with a lowly uneducated Jewish peasant?

Not only that but Jewish Law at the time here dictates that Peter refuses the summons. No matter how you slice it, there is ample reason to believe Peter would otherwise not have gone to Cornelius for one reason or another, but mostly on the grounds that Cornelius is a gentile. Even if what was true about Cornelius and Peter believed it, I still think Peter would have refused because Cornelius is a non-Jew.

But, the angel told him to go without any doubts, so, he agrees. Why do I think Peter would have refused on the grounds of Cornelius being a gentile? Well, because Peter not only admits this himself to Cornelius, but also the cultural context underlying this entire narrative and the whole reason for the vision in the first place.

The Walking Dead

During the days of the apostles, Judaism had rather recently ruled that all non-Jews are to be considered legally idolators and therefor unholy. Pirkei De’Rabbi Eliezer 29 and the Talmud Yerushalmi Shabbat 1:4 both record the attitude towards gentiles in those days. Primarily by the School of Shammai, who were in charge at the time and held very negative dispositions against gentiles. Unfortunately, however, this blanket ruling did not consider the God-fearing gentile. And so, even non idolator God fearers who practiced Judaism in every facet they were allowed to were treated like filthy pigs, or worse, like corpses.

Why did he (Abraham) circumcise them (His servants)? Because of purity, so that they should not defile their masters with their food and with their drink, for whosoever eateth with an uncircumcised person is as though he were eating flesh of abomination. All who bathe with the uncircumcised are as though they bathed with carrion, and all who touch an uncircumcised person are as though they touched the dead, for in their lifetime they are like (the) dead; and in their death they are like the carrion of the beast, and their prayer does not come before the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, "The dead praise not the Lord" (Ps. 115:17). But Israel who are circumcised, their prayer comes before the Holy One, blessed be He, || like a sweet savour, as it is said, "But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. Praise ye the Lord" (Ps. 115:18). -Pirkei De’Rabbi Eliezer 29:9 (Gerald Friedlander, 1916)

Peter himself reminds Cornelius of the ruling and states later on in the chapter:

Peter said to them, “You know it’s forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner. -Acts 10:28a (HCSB)

Note also In Pirkei De'Rabbi Eliezer towards the end, about how gentile's prayers go unheard. Cornelius, remember, was told by the angel that in fact his prayers were heard and received as an offering. Peter and Cornelius would be the vessels through which God would reveal to the disciples and ultimately the world that the words of Shammai and his disciple Eliezer, who allegedly wrote the above passage, were false.

Judaism would later repeal this attitude towards gentiles after Shammai and his school fell out of power. They would go on to overturn many of the hostile ordinances against gentiles, especially God fearing gentiles, and would even develop a category for God fearing gentiles with which to make legal rulings and define clear differences between them and actual gentile idolators. Today they are called "Noachides" named after the instructions and laws given to Noah and his family which are universal laws for the world, Jew or gentile.

I say this to just remind the reader that the Judaism of Paul and Peter's day, which they struggled against when it came to including gentiles, was a very different Judaism from the Judaism that came before and after their time. They happened to live during a very unique time in Jewish history. This hostility-toward-gentiles aspect of Judaism does not exist anymore, it died with Shammai. So, although this truth was necessary to voice to Peter and to Paul in their time, its lesson/application today is largely irrelevant.

The Good News For Gentiles

Peter arrives and Cornelius falls at his feet. Peter tells him to stand up because he too is just a man. Sometime during his trip, Peter realized the meaning of his vision. Joppa was only about 30 miles from Caesarea where Cornelius was, but traveling to Caesarea would be a nearly two-day affair. So Peter had plenty of time to think about what he was doing and why he might be told to do it after getting the vision.

When Peter arrives he sets the premise;

Peter said to them, “You know it’s forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner. -Acts 10:28a (HCSB)

But now he reveals the lesson of the vision, and the reason why he chose to come visit even though ordinarily he would not have.

But God has shown me that I must not call any person common or unclean. ²⁹ That’s why I came without any objection when I was sent for. So I ask: Why did you send for me?” -Acts 10:28b-29 (HCSB emphasis mine)

So the object lesson was about people, specifically gentiles. And if we break down the elements of the vision this makes clear sense to Peter now.

In Judaism, the nations are typically described as different (usually unclean) animals. Rome for example is called a pig in Talmudic literature. The sheet lowered by the four corners we already discussed as being representative as the commandments of God, but they have a double meaning now. The four corners language can be indicative of the "four corners of the earth" language typical of biblical poetic language. Therefore, the sheet with all the animals on it represent the earth and all the nations and peoples.

God did not declare all foods clean, he revealed to Peter what was already true from the beginning but was not true for Peter and Paul in their time, that all mankind is not considered unholy or unclean just by virtue of the fact that they aren't Jewish. God never declared non-Jews to be unholy or unclean, so the angel reminds Peter "that which I have called clean you must not call unholy."

God did NOT say "that which I previously called unclean is now clean," In fact, God is saying quite the opposite. "Here are the things I called unclean, but I never called mankind unclean, so neither must you" is the message. This is the meaning of the vision according to Peter's own words. Peter never once indicates that this vision had anything to do with food. The animals on the sheet were just an object lesson for God to make his point.

The Last Piece of the Puzzel

Cornelius replies by telling him about his vision during his Amidah prayer, saying that the angel told him that Peter had some kind of special message for him to hear so he sent for Peter so that he could hear it.

Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this hour, at three in the afternoon, I was praying in my house. Just then a man in a dazzling robe stood before me ³¹ and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your acts of charity have been remembered in God’s sight. ³² Therefore send someone to Joppa and invite Simon here, who is also named Peter. He is lodging in Simon the tanner’s house by the sea.’ ³³ Therefore I immediately sent for you, and you did the right thing in coming. So we are all present before God, to hear everything you have been commanded by the Lord.” -Acts 10-30-31 (HCSB)

Up to now, Peter seems to have only gathered that the vision was about people, but only in as much that they are not to be called "unholy" just by virtue of the fact that they are gentiles. What Peter had not yet gathered was that gentile God Fearers were basically equals to Jews. Even after his vision Peter likely still believed that the Messiah of the Jews was for the Jews only, and that salvation was for Jews. So if anybody wanted to enter into the salvation of the Master Yeshua, they would have to be fully legally Jewish to do so.

But this story puts the final puzzle piece in the picture for Peter.

Then Peter began to speak: “Now I really understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, ³⁵ but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him. -Acts 10:34-35 (HCSB emphasis mine)

This is the big reveal! It is in this moment that Peter comes to the realization that one does not have to be Jewish to be accepted by God. Again, this may seem obvious to us today, however, in Peter's time this was not the case. The dominant teaching at the time was that only Jews can be "saved." The ones teaching this doctrine would eventually become known as "Judaizers" since they were teaching that salvation can only be attained by full legal conversion to Judaism. For more details on the Judaizers please see this article (Are We Judaizers).

To summarize much of the details found in the other articles linked to this one: The idea that a gentile can be "saved" or have a place in the World to Come was rejected by mainstream Judaism at the time. But if you consider for a moment what the bible actually says about salvation (before the New Testament) you will find that ALL of the promises made about salvation are made to the Jews and Israel only. there are no promises made to gentiles at all. There are only hints to a concept of gentile inclusion but even those can be seen as requirements to convert in order to be saved. It was this concept of gentile inclusion that the disciples and Paul would spend a lot of their time addressing and referred to as "the Gospel" since for its time this was a novel and unpopular idea.

Even so, I must note here that the concept was gentile "inclusion" and not Jewish exclusion. gentiles were now to be considered "included" as an adopted child and fellow citizen of the nation of Israel. (See Ephesians 2:11-13). Later Christians would invert the meaning of this to exclude Jews and to force conversion out of Judaism and into Christianity.

The Pudding

For the sake of brevity, as this article is not meant to be a full verse by verse commentary on Acts 10, I will summarize the next section until we get to the next key details I want to address before closing this article.

Peter then gives a brief Gospel message speech about what he witnessed and the events that Cornelius may have heard about. Proclaiming that This Yeshua fellow is the promised Messiah appointed by God to be the judge over the living and the dead, and that all who believe in him receive forgiveness of sins.

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message. -Acts 10:44 (HCSB)

This is where the proof is in the pudding. Cornelius and his whole household and all those he invited over to hear what peter had to say, all of whom were gentiles, just received the Holy Spirit in the same fanfare that the disciples and other believers did at the temple during the holiday of Shavuot (Pentecost). A holiday which, by the way, is the holiday of the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. That particular event Peter witnessed was reserved for Jews. Only Jews received the Holy Spirit at that time and only Jews seemed to have been there to witness it, since they were gathered at the Temple during the Jewish holiday. They were likely in an area of the Temple where gentiles could not enter.

But now, this same event is happening to gentiles! The importance of this detail cannot be stressed enough. Gentiles just received the Holy Spirit in exactly the same manner as the Jews did, and this fact is not lost on those who came with Peter and witnessed this event.

The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. ⁴⁶ For they heard them speaking in other languages and declaring the greatness of God.

God could not make the message any more clearly. Gentiles who are obedient to God and believe in God and His Messiah are treated without partiality. The Jews with Peter also are amazed to see that these gentiles, who are for all intents and purposes living like Jews, are treated like they themselves were. From this point forward Peter and Paul would go on to teach that conversion status means nothing, but obedience to God is what really matters.

Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter, but keeping God’s commands does. -1 Corinth 7:19 (HCSB)

Interesting is how this passage ends. Peter's first thought after this event is to baptize everybody who just received the Holy Spirit.

Then Peter responded, ⁴⁷ “Can anyone withhold water and prevent these people from being baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” ⁴⁸ And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

The thing about baptism in the first century is that it represents a change in legal status. whether you're getting a baptism in order to be declared ritually clean (as was often the case) or as in this case for gentiles it represents a conversion. Gentiles do not get baptisms except to convert to Judaism, and only then thereafter they would get baptisms for various other ritual reasons throughout their life. Peter essentially conducted a conversion ceremony for everybody, but having skipped the circumcision part. The part that would make them fully legally Jewish.

This baptism would likely only constitute a partial conversion, but it makes a big statement none the less. They are to be treated equals and not like idolators. They are not to be treated as "unholy/common" moving forward. The Gospel message is to include gentiles. Their baptism in effect symbolizes a "cleansing" of what was once considered ritually unclean. It symbolizes that what was once considered legally "dead" in now alive. God does hear their prayers, sees their obedience, accepts them and considers them righteous and holy.

Judaizers would fight this tooth and nail, but the disciples would refuse to budge. The gentile God Fearers may not be Jews legally, but they are family in God's kingdom.

But Wait, There's More

Although the chapter ends here, the story does not.

The apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had welcomed God’s message also. ² When Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who stressed circumcision argued with him, ³ saying, “You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them!” -Acts 11:1-3 (HCSB)

"Those who stressed circumcision" are the Judaizers of course, and you can see how they felt about Peter's recent escapade.

So Peter begins to tell everybody the story, starting of course with the vision he received. Again for the sake of brevity I will only summarize this next part. Peter retells all of the details of the story we have already covered above, just from his perspective. The end of Peters defense is the key details we want to focus one for the purposes of this article.

“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them, just as on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ Therefore, if God gave them the same gift that He also gave to us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I possibly hinder God?” -Acts 11:15-17 (HCSB emphasis mine)

Notice here that at no point was food ever mentioned in Peter's retelling of the story and the meaning of the vision. In fact even the listening crowd seems to have understood the object lesson from Peter's vison:

When they heard this they became silent. Then they glorified God, saying, “So God has granted repentance resulting in life even to the Gentiles!” -Acts 11:18 (HCSB emphasis mine)

This now the second time we have heard Peter give his interpretation of the vision, both times he is specifically addressing the issue of gentile inclusion. Peter will eventually bring up this situation a third time, leveraging against the Judaizers once again in Acts chapter 15 at the Jerusalem council. The situation is nearly identical to the problem brough up in Acts chapter 11, but in chapter 15 the council is met with a much stronger opposition and they intend to settle this debate for good.

However, in every case Peter has an opportunity to address the vision's meaning to be about the kosher laws he fails to do so. Either Peter knew the meaning of his vision to be about gentile inclusion and only to serve as an object lesson, or we have to assert that Peter did not know the meaning to his own vision after giving his interpretation of it three times. Every time we see Peter leverage the vision, he does so in the context of gentile inclusion/conversion to Judaism as proof that gentiles need not convert to Judaism in order to receive salvation.

Conclusion

The common Christian misinterpretation of Peter's vision in Acts 10 stems entirely from a lack of knowledge about a couple of primary issues which were so commonplace at that time that the author of Acts did not feel the need to spell it out any more than he already did for the readers of his day. Most Christians today know very little, if anything at all, about Judaism, especially ancient Judaism, and even fewer are aware of the geopolitical/religious climate that underlines the entire narrative that the disciples lived within and struggled against. It's honestly no wonder most Christians chalk this vision up to just be about getting rid of the kosher laws, something that many Christians today see as nothing more than rigid soulless meaningless ritual laws with no application to the life of a believer today. For most Christians today the "Old Testament" Law is something to be ignored, not something to be explored.

This unfortunate presupposition has caused many Christian New Testament readers to fail to see the details that are very important to a proper interpretation of the passage. Christians don't do this on purpose of course, you don't know what you don't know. Hopefully here we have been able to show the reader some of those key details, bringing back to the foreground those important issues of the disciple's day and shedding some light on the situation they found themselves in. The primary issue was to show the new "Jesus movement" that gentile God fearers are to be treated like human beings, accepted into the community of believers, and subsequently how to deal with the now rapidly expanding gentile presence in the synagogues. I believe you will find that most of the New Testament in general will make a lot more sense when read with these issues in mind.