Acts 10 Controversy

[SimchatTorah]

part 1


This past Shabbat, I had the incredible opportunity to spend several hours with Avi ben Mordechai (author of Messiah volumes 1-3). He is probably the one of the deepest individuals I have ever been blessed with the opportunity to meet. We discussed very intensely Acts chapter 10, and I would like to present these ideas to you.

Of course many of you know that Acts 10 has been used by the ch-rch to prove that G-d did away with Kashrut (Kosher) mitzvot (laws). And amongst some messianic circles (the observant anyway) it is taught that this idea is wrong because HaShem gave the interpretation to the dream, and that interpretation is that the gentiles are clean. However, I will present the more mystical ideas behind the reasoning WHY HaShem presented Kepha with that conclusion, as well as clarify the conclusion itself (which I believe is slightly misconstrued).

Let's start with Act 10:

"9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance."

There is some type of a reoccuring theme of hunger. If any of you have an insight into this, please share...

"11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners."

Now this is interesting...
It actually says in the Greek, that the "heavens" not heaven opened. This is in reference to mystical esoteric Judaism, but we will not go too deep into that aspect. Suffice it to say that in Midrash Rabbah Ecclesiastes 9:8 (a parable about wedding garments) we can determine that this "something like a sheet" is a tallit, as we can see it has four courners.
But, back to the meat of the subject... (sorry for the rabbit trail)

"12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air."

This is where I believe the heart of the matter lays within.
What are these four-footed animals, reptiles, and birds? What do they represent? Why specifically are these creatures listed?

Let us first turn to Tehillim (psalms) 115:1-8

"1 Not to us, O L-RD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.
2 Why do the nations say, "Where is their G-d?"
3 Our G-d is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.
4 But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see;
6 they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell;
7 they have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but they cannot walk; nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
8 Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. "

Take special note of vs. 8...
They will become like that which they worship. Now turn with me to Romans 1

"18 The wrath of G-d is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness..."

Just a note: in order to suppress the truth, you must first have the truth. So this is speaking of those who have had the truth, but now suppress the truth.

"19 since what may be known about G-d is plain to them, because G-d has made it plain to them.
20 For since the creation of the world G-d's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

One way in which we interpret (well, this should be the only way) the Brit Chadasha is by using the Tanach as our dictionary. Interestingly, in the Hebrew Brit Chadasha the word behind "men" in vs. 20 is "adam" not "ish". Adam (man) is ONLY used in reference to Yisra'el, never to refer to gentiles... never.
It is a term soley used for referal to Yisra'el only.

Now, if you also look at Zech. 10 you will see the story of Ephraim, or the dispersed of Yisrael. These are the Jews who were a dispersed (now of the diaspora) group among the nations, or Jews who blended into the secular world by not returning after the release from Babylon. There are many many prophecies of the regathering of Yisra'el. In fact, it is this group which Yeshua was primarily interested in reaching:

Mattiyahu 15:25 "I was sent ONLY to the Lost Sheep of Yisrael."

(to be continued...)

[SimchatTorah]

part 2


(continued...)

So, here (rom. 1) we have a group that is clearly referred to as Yisra'el, yet has forsaken ... a group I think is obviously the dispersion (or any of Yisra'el unfaithful to , but mainly in reference to the dispersion as so many prophecies are in alignment).
Let us continue in Rom.1:

"21 For although they knew G-d, they neither glorified him as G-d nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal G-d for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles."

AHA! Here we are...
so, this group that was given , but has forsaken (or suppressed) has fallen into worship of: birds, animals, and reptiles....
remember psalms 115? They became what they worshipped?
Let's continue...

"24 Therefore G-d gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
25 They exchanged the truth of G-d for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen."

Here we have it! They WORSHIPPED these created beings, as opposed to the Creator Being.
Now let's take a look at Ezekiel 34

"7 `Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the L-RD:
8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign L-RD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock...
11 "`For this is what the Sovereign L-RD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them....
28 They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid.
29 I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations.
30 Then they will know that I, the L-RD their G-d, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Sovereign L-RD.
31 You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign L-RD.'"

and Hosea 2 (which many of you are familiar with):
"23 I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called `Not my loved one. ' I will say to those called `Not my people, ' `You are my people'; and they will say, `You are my G-d.'"

Now, according to 1st century Halacha, those of the dispersion were called not His people... even though Jewish by birth, they were rejected as being Jews. We know this is the dispersion because chapter 1 says:
"10 "Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, `You are not my people,' they will be called `sons of the living G-d.'
11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel."

We can even tie this in even tighter... look again at ch. 2:18
"In that day I will make a covenant for them with <B>the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground</B>. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety."

So, it is with the people who had , who WERE a part of Yisra'el, who suppressed or rejected , that HaShem is now making this covenant with! The people who are called birds, beasts, and reptiles!

We even have final proof from Acts 10 as well...
"28
He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But G-d has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean..."

Again, the word in the Hebrew texts is "adam", not "ish"... thus Cornelius was a part of the dispersion. Maybe he didn't know it, but he WAS! Maybe many of you who are turning to (and I'm not saying this as factually) are a part of the dispersion. Many many people who have been empassioned to follow in these times have looked through their family history and have found that they do in fact have Jewish blood. Now, I am not in support of the 10 tribes theories, replacement theology, or any of that nonesense. But it is very likely that if your heart has been captured for that you are a part of Yisrael's bloodline and do not know it.
Again, specifically we can see that this is speaking of the Diaspora because in first century Judaism there was no halacha against a Jew associating with a gentile. However, the half-breed Jewish/gentiles (samaratins) or any Jew who had left Yisra'el, was to be considered as dead. A Jew was strictly not allowed to associate with such people. Since Kepha states clearly that it was against their law (halacha) to associate with Cornelius, we can see that he is making a reference to the halacha against the dispersed Jews.
Now, gentiles have always been allowed to join themselves to Yisra'el either through conversion, or what is known as a righteous gentile (and there was even a specific place in the Temple set aside for the righeous gentile). Thus, I am in no way excluding gentiles from the kingdom, the door has always been open, and always will be. But in acts 10, something very different was going on.

Finally, the statement made in the vision:
"Get up, Kepha, Kill and eat." vs. 13

there is also something else going on behind these scenes. If Ha Shem desired Kepha to actually eat unclean food, you would have seen that as:
1) the conclusion of the dream
2) a HUGE ordeal made about unclean animals now food...
yet, neither are EVER addressed... ever.

So what does it mean to kill and eat?
Is anyone here familiar with Zevach Shalamim? This is what is called the peace offering.
This is where one side of the two parties makes a sacrafice, then they eat the sacrafice together. This can be seen in Bere****h (gen.) 31:51-54

What I believe Ha Shem was showing was that Kepha was to go and make peace with those who were cut off from being called G-d's people. In other words, to make a Zevach Shalamim... or Shalom.
We can also see this as a continual struggle for Kepha, when we read on into Gal. 2.

Again, maybe someone has an insight into this "hunger" thing that came up in the beginning. I'd like to hear some ideas on it!

Hopefully, the waters are clearer and not muddier concerning Acts 10.

PLEASE share your thoughts, and tell me what you think of all this.

Shalom to you as you weigh this out in your minds,
Japheth

p.s. I owe many of the ideas presented to Avi ben Mordechai. He revealed much of this to me in our discussions. I consider him a dear friend... shalom achi Avi!!!

[R' Y'hoshua Moshe]

This is very interesting interpetation that may have some merit. No doubt we must understand this within the Jewish (Hebraic) context in which Kefa (Peter) would have understood it. And, what you have shared seems to give some additional insight. At any rate, the clear interpretation of Acts10 was that righteous Gentiles were not to be considered unclean in regards to fellowship.

You stated...

Again, specifically we can see that this is speaking of the Diaspora because in first century Judaism there was no halacha against a Jew associating with a gentile.

I would not necessarily say that this was the case as we have direct evidence in the Brit HaDashah that this was considered unlawful in regards to halacha...

"He said to them, "You yourselves know how it is an unlawful thing for a man who is a Jew to join himself or come to one of another nation, but G'd has shown me that I shouldn't call any man unholy or unclean."
- Acts 10:28

I think that there probably is some halacha found in Talmud in regards to this. But, of course we do not see in the that it is unlawful for "a man who is a Jew to join himself or come to one of another nation". Therefore, this tradition/law must have come from man.

Shalom b'Yeshua,

Reuel

[SimchatTorah]

That's exactly what I was pointing out Reuel

That this particular halachic ruling was never intended by HaShem. The beginning of Galations goes to great lengths to disavow this halacha. Yeshua came to restore pure halacha, how we should live according to the . He then gave the "key of david" (halachic authority) to the believers to create a Beit Din and make rulings which defined pure halacha.

-yafet

[R' Y'hoshua Moshe]

Yeshua came to restore pure halacha, how we should live according to the . He then gave the "key of david" (halachic authority) to the believers to create a Beit Din and make rulings which defined pure halacha.

Welcome back Simchat ! I absolutely agree

Shalom achi,

Reuel

[The 614th Mitzvot]

Completely enlightening. I was actually arguing this point with someone. This is actually the point that I was trying to make, but I could not find the scripture to prove so. Thank you.
Keep in mind also what the scripture says about Cornelius; that he was a man who was considered great by all the Jewish people and he loved G-d. This implies that he not only sacrificed in the Temple, butthink about how hard it would be to find pork in Judea anyway. There is not market for it, who will farm it?

[SimchatTorah]

Quite honestly, there simply is no evidence this passage even remotely refers to food. I don't see Peter running off to the market directly after the vision to eat a porkchop... nor do I see him talking about food in any sense when sharing the vision with fellow believers.

Support for the "food" interpretation simply doesn't exist.

-yafet

[R' Y'hoshua Moshe]

I agree. This is evidence that honest research is not being done by much of the Christian community in regards to the scriptures, and their own faith.

Shalom,

Reuel

[IronWill]

To be honest, I never really thought that Acts 10 had anything to do with food. That never really made sense to me, when hearing preachers use that to say we can eat pork or what have you. I'd just sit there and and think, 'that don't make good sense, something ain't right there...now pass a porkchop.' I just always went along with the idea that the New Testament outdid the Old Testament, until a couple months ago when it dawned on me that the New Testament seems to just be a continuation of the Old Testament in most respects. What cracks me up, is that in the circle of churches I grew up in, I noticed that certain parts of the are given weight and followed, but the parts they don't like are not.

[R' Y'hoshua Moshe]

What cracks me up, is that in the circle of churches I grew up in, I noticed that certain parts of the are given weight and followed, but the parts they don't like are not.

Yes, many have noticed this and it should be a big red flag to everyone. They tell people to tithe and do many other such things because it is in . But, refuse to do certain things because it is in . Seems a bit confused to me.

Shalom,

Reuel

[Chizuk Emunah]

What cracks me up, is that in the circle of churches I grew up in, I noticed that certain parts of the are given weight and followed, but the parts they don't like are not.

That is one of the major problems with Christianity. They believe they have the right to pick and choose which mitzvot to keep.
And as Reuel said, at this point there should be all kinds of red flags going up. And for some, they do. But sadly, most either remain ignorant (of their own choosing), or will outright attack you for keeping .

[The 614th Mitzvot]

That is why I so love 7th Day adventists. (at least the one's I know) They keep glatt kosher, the men wear tzitzit, they enjoy doing no work on Shabbat (Saturday!). Yet, they are not filled with "legalism" and "evil counter-theologies", but truly believe in the word.

[R' Y'hoshua Moshe]

That is why I so love 7th Day adventists. (at least the one's I know) They keep glatt kosher, the men wear tzitzit, they enjoy doing no work on Shabbat (Saturday!). Yet, they are not filled with "legalism" and "evil counter-theologies", but truly believe in the word.

They don't sound like your average Seventh Day Adventist

Shalom achi,

Reuel

[IronWill]

The said:

That is why I so love 7th Day adventists. (at least the one's I know) They keep glatt kosher, the men wear tzitzit, they enjoy doing no work on Shabbat (Saturday!). Yet, they are not filled with "legalism" and "evil counter-theologies", but truly believe in the word.

I've got one friend who's an SDA, but I normally dont' associate with most, because SDA theology teaches that Jesus was an Achangel and not God. Of course, there are different branches of SDA, and many individuals hold differently, so we can't paint them with a wide brush.

[R' Y'hoshua Moshe]

so we can't paint them with a wide brush.

I agree, we should not do this with any individual. Although, many of the characteristics 614th Mitzvah described about his SDA friends by no means represent the broader SDA movement. They seem to be some kind of hybrid. Really, how many Seventh Day Adventists do you know of that wear tzitzit? At any rate, we are getting a little of topic. For further replies regarding the SDA church let us start a new thread dedicated to the subject.

Shalom,

Reuel