About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

–Parallel verses:
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭14‬:‭3‬-‭8‬
Do not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. However, of those that chew the cud or that have a divided hoof you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the hyrax. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you. The pig is also unclean; although it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.

A TV show called Dirty Jobs was popular for a while. The show would highlight some of the dirtiest and grossest jobs imaginable. These jobs range from roadkill collector to zoo cleaner. I have had some dirty jobs too. One time, on a farm, I had the privilege of cleaning rotten oats from a barn with a 4-foot ceiling. The smell was so bad it attracted a lot of flies. We shoveled it into a truck and then took it to the dump.

Another dirty job I had was to clean out a pool that had not been covered over the winter. This involved using a pump to suck all the water out. Let’s just say some rodents might have fallen into this pool of slime and decaying leaves.

While dirty jobs are gross to contemplate, the people who do these jobs are dearly cared for by God. It is easy in this world to set up different classes of people in our minds at times, declaring certain people unclean. But that should not be done. God loves everyone and we should too.

In a different way, the Jews had purification rules that said they could not eat certain types of animals. This was to set them apart and may have had health concerns associated with it, as well. And the temptation was to look down on those who did not have the same dietary restrictions.

God is clearly calling Peter out here. He’s wanting Peter to examine his heart, and how he treats those who may eat these types of meats. This is the reason for this vision, telling Peter to eat what the Jews were told not to eat.

God wanted Peter to move from being a leader for Jews only, to a leader of all people in the church of Jesus Christ. He wanted Peter to see that his plan of salvation includes those who may have unclean pasts, or unclean jobs, or eat unclean meat.

Lord, thank you for setting the record straight with Peter, regarding the type of people you want in your kingdom. You want people from every tribe, nation, and country. Help me to see people the way you see them, with the potential to have godly love in their hearts.