Which Old Testament dietary laws are challenged by God's command in Acts 11:7? Setting the scene in Acts 11:7 “ ‘I heard a voice say to me, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” ’ ” (Acts 11:7) Peter’s vision includes “all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, and birds of the air” (v. 6). At a stroke, God places on Peter’s menu creatures that Mosaic Law had strictly forbidden. Old Testament dietary lines God just crossed Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 draw four main boundaries. The voice in Acts 11:7 challenges each one. • Land animals – Must both chew the cud and have a split hoof (Leviticus 11:3; Deuteronomy 14:6). – Forbidden: camel, hyrax, rabbit, pig, and any other hoofed animal lacking one of the two signs (Leviticus 11:4-8). – In Peter’s sheet: every variety of “four-footed animal,” including those on the banned list. • Water creatures – Must have both fins and scales (Leviticus 11:9-12; Deuteronomy 14:9-10). – Forbidden: shellfish, catfish, eels, crustaceans, etc. – “Creatures of the sea” in the sheet nullify that line. • Birds – Birds of prey, carrion eaters, and certain others off-limits (Leviticus 11:13-19; Deuteronomy 14:11-20). – Forbidden: eagle, vulture, buzzard, kite, raven, owl, hawk, seagull, stork, heron, hoopoe, bat. – Peter sees “birds of the air,” a category that sweeps in many previously barred species. • Creeping things (swarming creatures and insects) – Most are unclean (Leviticus 11:20-23, 29-43). – Only a few locust-type insects permitted; reptiles and other crawlers strictly forbidden. – The sheet explicitly includes “reptiles,” removing that embargo. How Scripture confirms the shift • Mark 7:18-19 — Jesus “declared all foods clean.” • Romans 14:14 — “Nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who considers it unclean.” • 1 Timothy 4:4-5 — “Every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” Takeaway Acts 11:7 overturns every food boundary drawn in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, announcing that under the New Covenant no animal is intrinsically off-limits. |
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