Was Peter really told to disobey a commandment of YHVH?

Acts 10

¹ Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, ² a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. 

From a Hebraic perspective, verse 2 would sound like this: 

²Cornelius was a ger toshav, a yagor Elohim, he gave tzedakah, and he did the Amidah.  Now what are these things? 

Ger Toshav (a devout man): In the Jewish community, this person is considered a righteous gentile.  He accepts the authority of the Torah and keeps the Biblical feasts, but would not be allowed into Judaism and to celebrate in Jerusalem.  There were two types of converts to Judaism in Cornelius’s day: the ger tzedek and the ger toshav.  A ger tzedek was proselyte of Judaism and aspired to hold to all 613 commandments.  They would have to be circumcised and do a mikvah which is a full immersion in living waters.  They would also be required to learn the oral tradition as well.

 

Yagor Elohim (God-fearer): Cornelius kept the Torah because those who fear God keep His commandments.  If you would go to an orthodox Jew and say you were a God-fearer and yet kept no commandments, they would say you were a liar. 

Tzedakah (alms): Charity given.  This is a spiritual charity and is seen in the Jewish community as an obligation.  The highest form is to send gifts anonymously to recipients. 
 

Amidah (prayed to God continually): This called the standing prayer.  It is interesting to note that Cornelius was praying in the ninth hour of the day.  This would have been 3pm in the afternoon and the time of the afternoon prayers in Judaism or the afternoon part of the Amidah.

 

Cornelius was a gentile who feared God and kept His commandments, but would not have been accepted in the Temple of the Jews because he was a gentile and had not been through the mikvah or circumcision.  Despite this, Cornelius prayed to God to be accepted into His family.  He did all of it in faith and so now enters Peter into the story.

Acts 10:3-20

^…3 About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” ⁴ And fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. ⁵ Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; ⁶ he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷ When the angel who was speaking to him had left, he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants, ⁸ and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

⁹ On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. ¹⁰ But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; ¹¹ and he *saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, ¹² and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. ¹³ A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” ¹⁴ But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” ¹⁵ Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” ¹⁶ This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.

¹⁷ Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate; ¹⁸ and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there. ¹⁹ While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. ²⁰ But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.”

This vision is often misused to say that we do not have to keep Kosher, but as you can see, Peter did not immediately understand what the vision meant.  He most certainly did not understand it to mean that he could eat anything he wanted.  Context is the key to understanding everything in the Bible.

What is interesting is that the men sent by Cornelius were Roman soldiers and they were commonly called “pigs” by the Jews.

Gentiles Hear Good News

Acts 10:34-35

³⁴ Opening his mouth, Peter said:

“I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, ³⁵ but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.

Peter finally understands the vision in verse 34-35.  He had come from the teachings of the House of Shammai (a whole other teaching) which put him under no obligation to visit a gentile or have anything to do with Cornelius.  Context is the key to understanding that Peter understood gentiles, even ones that kept the same feasts and commandments as he did, to be common, unclean, and outside the grace of God. 

God never violates His own commands and He is never at war with Himself; He is One.