Did Peter's Vision of the Sheet Mean People & Food?

[aahavaa]

The vision contains unclean animals which God admits were unclean but he has now cleansed.
Peter is told to kill and eat.
Peter complains that its unclean, not fit to eat.
Then God acknowledges Peters complaint that the animals are unclean and hes never eaten them before because He says in response "What I have cleansed do not call common or unclean."

Does God mislead Peter intentionally, showing him food when he didn’t really mean food? Why didn’t God reply to Peter, "no Peter, you misunderstand, I didn’t mean food silly, its symbolic!" or something along those lines.

No, God didn’t do that. God repeated 3 times that what He had cleansed, Peter was not to call common or unclean.

So if God is saying He has cleansed it, it must mean that they were unclean prior to God cleansing them.

We see no mention of gentiles at this point only food.
A sheet full of animals which are unclean and Peter horrified because he is being told to kill and eat them. God then tells him that food is no longer unclean because he cleansed it.

We then see that shortly after, gentiles come looking for him. Peter is then told by the Spirit to go with them, doubting nothing. [/b]



Act 10:19 While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek you.
Act 10:20 Arise therefore, and get down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.

If the vision was so obviously meaning gentiles, like some claim, why did Peter need prompting by the Spirit to go with these men?

Some say that the issue wasn’t about food but gentiles. However, if this is so then why in the next chapter do we see that what Peter did caused quite an uproar. He wasn’t just associating with gentiles he was eating with them.

Act 11:2 And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,
Act 11:3 Saying, You went in to men uncircumcised, and did eat with them.


Notice, Peter didn’t say to them " don’t worry I never ate with them " nor does he try to reassure them about not eating with them in any way but as a defense he launches into the description of the vision. Its like he is saying, "don’t blame me, listen to this vision I got from God and you will see why I did go in and eat with them."
The reason why God needed to give Peter the vision with the food and the assurance that now all foods were ritually clean is that if not Peter would have found himself in a dilemma. Since he would have been able to go with Cornelius and not eat with him. So first God gives him the vision, then sends the men.
Peters vision is a great big milestone in history of that there is no doubt. The distinction between clean and unclean is no more We see here in Acts how in the
new Covenant these distinctions are removed.


Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us;