Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Peter is Told to Preach the Gospel to All Men

Today I read Acts 10 where Peter sees in vision that it is alright to eat animals with a cloven hoof where previously it was against the law of Moses to eat such animals. Peter is shown this vision and hears a voice 3 times state that what the Lord has cleansed call not thou unclean. This is very significant and removes the restriction against eating certain animals and birds. I have always felt that the preclusion against eating certain meats during those days was more of a health code than anything. But it makes me wonder if that is the case, what changed from the time of Moses to the time of Jesus that allowed them to cook those animals properly to get rid of all the bacteria and harmful substances found in those meats? Maybe it was just they didn't know you had to cook them to a certain temperature and the Lord educated them on it at this time. But that again begs the question of why couldn't He have taught them back in the time of Moses too? If I had to guess I would say it is because they were very mobile, moving everyday at the time that the Lord gave them the Law of Moses and it was easier to forbid it than to try and teach them one way and then a different way once they were more settled in.

But this vision of Peter's is more significant than just allowing the Christians to eat any food they want. It is also the first time that Peter is told that it is ok to teach the Gentiles the Gospel of Christ. As a matter of fact, Peter gets to put that into practice almost immediately. A devout man named, Cornelius was fasting and praying to know the will of God and what he should do and was shown in a vision to send for Peter so that Peter could teach his household the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As luck would have it, or rather as God arranged it, Cornelius' servants arrive for Peter just after he sees this vision declaring that what God hath cleansed is clean and should not be called common or unclean. Prior to this point the Gospel was reserved for the Jews and the Samaritans and had not been preached to any of the Gentiles.

Peter is told by the Spirit that the men who have found him were sent to him by God and he should go with them and not fear. Peter goes with the servant of Cornelius pondering on the message of the vision that Jesus had given to him and when he arrives at the house, he asks Cornelius what he can do for him. Cornelius then relates to Peter the vision he had received 4 days earlier and asked Peter what it means. Peter then replied that it is unlawful for a Jew to keep company with a non-Jew but God has just told him that he should not call any man unclean or common. Really I think it's very impressive of Peter, I mean he has just been told 2 days prior to this that God has authorized him to preach the Gospel unto all men and women and he goes forth and does it without hesitation. Granted he had 2 days to think on it, but that is still a very, very quick turn around! Think on it this way, what if tomorrow, President Monson released a statement to the world that the Lord had declared to him that the Priesthood should be given to all worthy females. How would you feel? Would you accept it wholeheartedly right from the start? It might take a little while to readjust your thinking wouldn't it? That is kind of what it would have been like for those early Saints to suddenly be told that the Gospel was for everyone, not just the Jews.

But Peter accepts what the Lord tells him immediately and does not doubt the Lord's word. Now, Peter is the only one who has seen this vision and thus is the only one who knows God's will at this point and there are other Jews with him that are probably wondering just what in the world Peter was doing. But they don't interrupt him and Peter proceeds to teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and while he is doing that, the Holy Ghost is in attendance and the Gentiles receive the Holy Ghost and start speaking in tongues. When the Jews that were with Peter saw this they were quite surprised that the Holy Ghost fell upon the Gentiles in addition to the Jews and Peter seizes the opportunity to ask these men who are full of the Holy Ghost if there is any reason he should not baptize Cornelius and his household? None object and Peter proceeds with the baptism. This is very significant as it is the first time that non-Jews were baptized in the dispensation of Christ, to our knowledge anyway.

This particular chapter is good from a historical standpoint, but also gives me hope that God truly is no respecter of persons and that He will do what is best and right for all of us. He loves us and wants us to be successful. As we follow His commandments and strive to do what is right, we will become more like Him and will be better able to understand His will concerning us. He loves us and wants us to become like Him and return to live with Him. How wonderful a gift it is that God lets us choose for ourselves. Just make sure you are happy with your choice. Until tomorrow.

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