Acts 10 Bible study: What God has cleansed

Acts tells of two men praying. Cornelius was "a devout man, and one who feared God with all his house, who gave gifts for the needy generously to the people, and always prayed to God" (10:2), and "At about the ninth hour of the day, he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God coming to him" (10:3) (tap vision). "Now on the next day as they were on their journey and got close to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about noon." (10:9), and "he fell into a trance" (10:10) (tap trance). Here is what almost everyone misses: Acts tells the two side by side, and they meet at the gate. "Now while Peter was very perplexed in himself what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood before the gate" (10:17). Cornelius had sent them (10:7-8), and now the Spirit says to Peter (10:19), "arise, get down, and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them" (10:20) (tap doubting). In the Greek, the vision of Cornelius (10:3) and the vision Peter is pondering (10:17, 10:19) are the same noun.

Genesis 39:21→leads toActs 10:38

"The LORD was with Joseph" (39:21), and Stephen sums up Joseph's story the same way: "God was with him and delivered him out of all his afflictions" (Acts 7:9-10). Peter uses the same words of Jesus, who "went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him" (Acts 10:38). Setting the two side by side is a reading, not something Acts states: some see Joseph as a picture of Jesus here, and others note that the same is said of Abraham and Isaac (21:22; 26:28) and see no link intended.

προσωπολήπτηςprosopoleptessay pros-o-pol-APE-tays

Strong's: "an accepter of a face (individual), i.e. (specially), one exhibiting partiality". Peter says, "Truly I perceive that God doesn’t show favoritism" (10:34): behind the WEB's favoritism is this noun, and the New Testament has it only here (counted in RP2018). Strong's gives it as made from G4383, prosopon (Favor's Luke 9 studies it), and G2983. Strong's gives a noun, prosopolepsia (G4382), as made from this one, and Paul has it in "For there is no partiality with God." (Romans 2:11). These are Peter's words, and these notes apply them to no group today. Favor's Deuteronomy 10 draws a line to 10:34-36, labelled a reading there (see Lines that already land here).