'Gentiles, Animals & Covenant'
- Cornelius & Peter
- Animals in Visions
- Gentile and Jew as a 'Covenant'
- All of God's children have a part in the Spiritual Economy through Covenant
*I say 'African-American' where I mean 'African Descent'.
Come Follow Me
LDS Mormon New Testament Acts Bible
so in this episode we're going to talk
about Gentiles animals
it's covenant here we go okay so in acts
10 we get an introduction to Cornelius
who is a Roman centurion
and a man that fears God says that he is
of a band called the Italian band I
don't know of any Italian bands myself
but he's part of an Italian band here
he's a devout man and one that feared
God with all of his house and gave alms
to the people around him so he's a very
pious man who has taught his family and
those with him to fear God to worship
God he's a good guy but the problem is
he's a Gentile and we're living in a
time right now where the Jews just like
with the Samaritans there is a problem
there is a divide there between
them and the Gentiles they figure
themselves the Jews are a tribe and they
are looking out for their own and their
religion is for themselves for the most
part and their view is that their God is
the God of Abraham and Isaac and of
Jacob however along with that if we do
go back and look at the teachings of
Abraham and then go back to Isaiah
especially we learn about the Gentiles
and how they are included in the
Abrahamic covenant and in the higher law
the Melchizedek law and that's what's
about to unfold here is the introduction
of the gospel to the Gentiles so he's
praying one afternoon about three
o'clock and he has a vision and he sees
an angel and this is what we're told in
verse four here it says and when he
looked on him he was afraid that says
looking on the angel and said what
Lord and he said unto Him thy prayers
and thine alms are come up for a
memorial before God this is sacrificial
language as if you were this is
something that might accompany a
sacrifice and he tells him to send some
men up to Joppa remember this is where
Peter is when we left him last he had
been in leta and in Joppa where he had
and leta he had raised Tabitha from the
dead and he had been in Joppa with Simon
the Tanner and this is where he was
staying right now in Joppa right there
on the coast and so Cornelius sends men
out to see Peter as he was told by the
angel and Cornelius has told these men
what has happened he wants them to know
what has happened in to relay this
message about this vision to Peter and
so they journey toward Simon the Tanners
place where Peter is well in the
meantime is there coming near to Simon
the Tanners place these men Peter goes
up on the housetop which would be a
common thing we hear about house tops in
the scriptures and he's up on the
housetop and he's praying and he's very
hungry so we might we might think that
maybe he has been fasting for quite some
time and we're told that he goes into a
trance of some sort so what might this
mean we can think of maybe Nephi who was
taken up in the spirit as he saw a
vision up into a high mountain he's
he's outside of his self physically so
to speak and he begins to see a vision
this is what he sees and he saw heaven
open and a certain vessel something that
holds something descending unto Him as
it had been a great sheet knit or bound
at the four corners and let down to the
earth okay so these visions it's like
Nephi's vision Lehigh's vision of the
Tree of Life we can think about
Revelation the book of Revelation we can
think about Daniel or Ezekiel or Isaiah
we get these visions and what are they
they're not physical reality they are
something completely different
but they are truth and they're
meaningful and they're very symbolic so
what is this he has some kind of MIT
thing here that is bound at four corners
and we're in in verse 12 we're in where
all manner of four-footed beasts of the
earth and wild beasts and creeping
things and fowls of the air now we're
gonna hear about animals a little bit
later when we get to the book of
Revelation toward the end of the year
animals and visions and if the men that
I told you before outside of what Nephi
sees trying to think about that they all
see animals there are animals in all of
these visions so Ezekiel sees animals
Isaiah sees animals John the Revelator
and the book of Revelation there's all
those strange animals that are in there
along with regular animals in Daniel
sees animals so the animals are a big
part of this revelatory or what we would
call apocalyptic not apocalyptic in the
sense of the end of the world that's not
the original meaning of apocalyptic but
apocalyptic means revelatory these
visions and so there comes a voice to
Peter as he sees all these animals of
all sorts in this knit vessel or maybe
sheet or veil of some sort and in verse
13 there came a voice to him rise Peter
kill and eat so we need to remember that
the Jews have a very strict dietary code
and there are certain animals that they
cannot eat they are unclean and this is
driven into them very you know from the
time they're little kids obviously and
so Peter says to him not so Lord for I
have never eaten anything that is common
or unclean he just can't accept that
or at least not right off the bat and
the voice spake unto him again the
second time what God hath cleansed that
call not thou common so something has
changed and there's a lot of theory and
a lot of things we can think about
has actually changed at this time but
there is a time now for the Gentiles to
receive the gospel to be baptized to
have the gospel preached to them and to
have the fullness of the law that
doesn't mean it hasn't happened
previously but it means it's happening
now and it's represented by the animals
the unclean animals are the Gentiles one
thing you see often in arts in early
Christian art is you're going to see the
birth of Jesus and he's in a barn or in
a cave and he's laying in the manger or
he's in Mary's arms and there's Joseph
and maybe the wise men or the shepherds
and behind them what do you usually see
there's usually two animals that you're
gonna see you're going to see an ox
which is a clean animal and represents
Israel and you're going to see a donkey
and the donkey is an unclean animal and
the donkey would represent the Gentiles
so your Christ is being born and there's
a new era that's going to unfold where
the gospel will first go to the Jews and
then it's going to go to the Gentiles
the ox and the donkey look for that in
those paintings
there's also another book that is not a
canonical book that is a very important
book which is Enoch one or first Enoch
or the Book of Enoch and it has a lot of
symbolism with animals a lot of
symbolism with animals in there the jury
the Jews like Lee and the early
Christians especially were very familiar
with this book it's referenced in the
New Testament and there are certain
doctrines in there that are referenced
oftentimes with the early Christians in
the early church fathers and so animal
symbolism is a common thing and for
them to understand and then we get this
remember with Peter we get this now
again here here's a third time with a
number three with Peter this was done
thrice and the vessel was received up
again into heaven and this is the reason
I don't have
the greatest confidence in thinking
about Peter when he's asked to feed his
sheep from the Lord on the shore of the
Sea of Galilee that this was like a
makeup for him denying Christ three
times that's not really what this number
three represents because what would this
be now right this is a third time with
the number three and so it's really more
of a confirmation like this is very
important and this is now ratified and
true and must be taken care of and
done and so that's why Spencer W Kimball
's idea that Peter may have actually
been told to deny Christ to do that
three times where that was like a
confirmation so that he could carry on
with the church seems like a little bit
more of a possibility there or an option
that may have happened I'm not trying to
sweeten the picture with Peter I'm
trying to be very logical about this but
it that there's a lot of merit to that
to that argument I think and so Peter is
still trying to struggle with this idea
of what does this vision mean what
have I just seen here than this trance
that he's been in and while he's going
through this it says while he was
doubting himself the men which were sent
from Cornelius had made inquiry of
Simon's house and stood before the gate
so this is a nice place it's a big place
probably an outer gate and called and
asked whether Simon which was surnamed
Peter were lodged there while Peter
thought on the vision the spirit said
unto Him behold three men seek thee the
number three again it is a three is kind
of like it's a number of perfection it's
a number of truth it's a number of
confirmation remember they're three men
that visit Adam and Eve there are three
men that visit Abraham there are the 3
Nephites right this is a common
thing to see in Scripture and so he's
told to go downstairs remember ease up
on the housetop to go downstairs and
meet these men so he says whom seek ye
what is the cause wherefore ye are come
and they said Cornelius the Centurion a
just man and one that feareth God and
have good rapport among all the nation
of the Jews obviously because he's a he
must be following the religion was
warned from God by an holy angel to send
for the into his house and to hear words
of thee and so Peter invites them into
the house they stay the night there and
then they take off to go back to see
Cornelius and though and so back with
Cornelius in Caesarea
Cornelius having this vision he's now
called in all of his kin and his friends
and he's brought them into his home for
Peter and Peter comes and meets him and
command and Cornelius the Centurion the
man in charge of a hundred men boughs
down and worships him as if he's a God
and Peter says ho hold on here I'm just
a man just like you you know I'm sure
Cornelius has heard all about Peter and
the miracles that he is performed and
and how do you how do you react when you
meet somebody like that that you've
heard about something like this I'm sure
with the stories that have gone around
Peter seems bigger than life at this
point so Peter says you know rise up I'm
just a guy and then he says to Cornelius
you know what it's unlawful for me as a
Jew to come into your home because
you're a Gentile and so this was a
common practice of the Jews early on
because they for various reasons because
for their religion it's not just a
racial thing though it could lead to
that but they're worried about
idol-worshipping and worshiping other
gods as a Roman they might have pictures
of Jupiter and Saturn or whoever right
and so you're entering into a very
different environment and then they
would have been eating things just like
talking about the animals here that the
Jews would think were unclean and
unhealthy and they wouldn't want to be
anywhere near that they're told not to
be anywhere near that but he comes in
and says he was told no longer to think
of the Gentiles of any man as common or
as unclean and so Cornelius recounts
what has happened in his vision
and then here's what Peter says he's
coming and where he was doubting before
this is now he's continuing to you can
just see his eyes opening more and more
about this change I mean just this is a
dramatic huge change and he says the
following then Peter opened his mouth
and said of a truth I perceive this is
just coming to him that God is no
respecter of persons so where there may
have been a time where it was not
allowed and that might make sense in
some circumstances that can make sense
but there but now is the time may not
have been allowed at one time to enter
into a Gentiles home or to baptize or
give ordinances or have a Gentile come
through the temple now Peter is saying
there is no unclean person and God is no
respecter of persons we get the same
almost exact phrase in the Book of
Mormon so what are why would we get that
in the Book of Mormon and here now in
the New Testament even though the Book
of Mormon is six hundred years earlier
when it stated and in a time where the
Jews were much more internal and looking
to themselves and pushing off
the Gentiles well the reason is
because Lehi had the Melchizedek
Priesthood and when they went off to the
new world they would have had the
teachings of Isaiah and an
interpretation of those teachings about
the Gentiles that would have been very
different from perhaps what was being
taught in Jerusalem over and over again
in the Book of Mormon
you see the opening of the way for all
people all nations all Isles of the sea
etc we see that over and over and over
again as a theme which is a theme that
is brought through from Isaiah the
Gentiles are always a part of that
restoration they're always a part of the
Melchizedek Priesthood because there is
a covenant that is in place this is how
the Lord work
this is how we all work together some
people are given a certain privilege and
some people are given are lacking in
that privilege that includes the gospel
there are very few people in the history
of the world that have ever had the
fullness of the gospel with them
including the Jews at this time with
Peter why is that wouldn't it be easier
if constantly there was a restoration
that came about when there was an
apostasy and everybody was given the
gospel and it was spread out to
everybody all the time why doesn't the
Lord work that way
well the fact is it doesn't work
that would not work it takes work and it
takes effort and it takes charity and
faith and hope from few people to get
that all to change because it's about
changing hearts and minds it's about
conversion and if it's just given out
everywhere visions everywhere scripture
everywhere all the time none of us are
going to grow none of us are going to be
able to exercise our faith and so the
Lord works through small and simple
means and line upon line and precept on
precept and we work together as sons and
daughters of God in a covenant
relationship and what I mean by that is
Co veneer coming together they came to
the Jews first with the gospel here and
all of the early members of the church
here are Jews but as a whole they're not
going to accept it and so now they're
going through the Gentiles and all
throughout history the prophets and many
of the Jewish people and the Israelites
in history have given us the gospel from
the time of Adam down to at least the
time of Jeremiah from the time of Adam
all the way down to the end of the
prophets in the Old Testament that is
what we receive as Gentiles from Israel
and from the Jewish people and now the
gospel is going to spread out much
faster and more rapidly through the
Gentiles
and they're going to not they're going
to lose some of it but they're going to
hang on to the good news about Jesus
Christ in the West in the Western
Hemisphere and they will eventually have
their own books such as I'll bring the
New Testament even though that was
originated in the old world and the Book
of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants
and the pearl of great price and that
will be a covenant on our end given back
to the Jewish people and the lost tribes
of Israel because that's how it works
and the first shall be last and the last
shall be first so this is not a change
of convenience for the early apostles
because the church wasn't growing fast
enough for the Jew so is actually
growing very very quickly it's a matter
of covenant and it's a matter of
understanding how this process of
lifting each other up as individuals and
as peoples how this all works this is
right at the center of this idea right
here right now with Peter and Cornelius
Peter and Cornelius are covenant they
are the epitome of how the Lord works
with his sons and daughters throughout
all time and throughout all geography
all places and so Peter follows this up
with but in every nation he that feareth
him and worketh righteousness feareth
the Lord is accepted with him so it's a
new day it's a new dawn things do change
because the Lord has a plan on how this
all connects and how this works together
we can also think of how this works with
the African Americans within within the
modern church and how this has worked
there is a time and a place for
everything I don't know the reasons
behind this I don't pretend to it's a
sensitive issue maybe I shouldn't bring
it up but I have to trust in the Lord
that overall there's a plan that's in
place for all people in in the times of
the Jews here the only people that could
have the priesthood for example were the
Levites most of the Jews here and
especially most of all of is the
Israelites only a very small fraction of
ever had the priesthood the prophets
with the Melchizedek priesthood the
priests sons of Aaron and the Levites
with the ironic priesthood they're a
minority but they are responsible for
everyone and that's the way we all are
we're all a minority of something but
we're supposed to take what is good from
us and offer that up for everyone else
it's like a Rubik's Cube there's all
these little people's on these squares
here and when you first look at it it's
just it's all over the place but as you
go through it you say well there's no
what is this mean there's no
pattern to this there's no nothing it's
random well it's actually not there
actually does have a way where if you do
it right all the colors match up on each
of the sides it just takes some time and
a lot of work and thought and effort to
be able to get it to all be into one so
to speak to be Zion to have covenant all
come together should I say it covenant
is a Rubik's Cube so there's my covenant
reference from the 80s so then Peter
follows up with this he says the word
which God sent unto the children of
Israel preaching peace by Jesus Christ
then in parentheses he is Lord of all
he's not just the God of Abraham Isaac
and Jacob he's their God and he's
everyone's God that word I say ye know which
was published throughout all Judaea and
began from Galilee after the baptism
which john preached that's John the
Baptist and then down further he says we
are all witnesses of these things which
he did both in the land of the Jews and
in Jerusalem whom they slew and hanged
on a tree so they are witnesses of
exactly what was seen right now we see
how this all works we don't all get to
see these things very very few people
get that chance and even those that see
these things fall away but that's how
the Lord works there's a few witnesses
that saw the miracles of Jesus Christ
that saw him hanged on a tree and then
saw him as a resurrected being that's
how it works
there are only a few witnesses 13 I
think that we know of the Book of
Mormon the golden plates well why
wouldn't we all be able to just see them
would it make a difference you might
think it would but over time would it
really make a difference wouldn't our
same passions take over wouldn't our own
justification start to take over things
laman and lemuel saw a lot didn't seem
to matter for them the Lord works
through a few witnesses minorities that
offer the truth and a gift to everyone
in fact he says right here at 41 not to
all people he didn't show himself to all
people but under witnesses chosen before
of God even to us who did eat and drink
with him after he rose from the dead so
there it is
you didn't witness it I didn't witness
it and we might be more blessed because
of that if we can grow through faith on
those principles and those truths and
then he says here again a theme that
we've gone over many times here and that
they go over many times here through the
Gospels he says to him gave all the
prophets witness to Christ all the
prophets going back to Adam that through
his name whosoever believeth in him
shall receive remission of sins the
gospel the fullness of the gospel was
taught from the very beginning
faith repentance baptism gift of the
Holy Ghost this has been taught from the
very beginning even many Christians
today don't really believe that or
understand that it is not a new religion
Christianity at the time of Christ it is
a restored religion where there is only
a part of the gospel a limited part of
the gospel that is available to the Jews
at this time Peter and the Apostles and
the disciples here are bringing back the
fullness of the gospel it is a
restoration of what Adam had of what
Enoch had of what Noah had of what
Abraham taught and the covenants that he
made with God and Isaac and Jacob down
to Moses and then down here to Christ
it's not a new religion it's actually
the old religion that they're bringing
back and so while Peter says these
things with Cornelius the Holy Ghost
falls upon them and many things happen
here Cornelius begins to speak in
tongues so this is kind of like the
Pentecost all over again but it's
happening with the Gentiles the Lord is
no respecter of persons and after this
experience Peter says okay we're going
to take this major step here can we
forbid this man this Gentile after he's
been given the Holy Ghost like this this
this falling down from the Holy Ghost is
pouring out of the Spirit and these
visions that we have can we forbid the
waters of baptism from him and they say
no and they go ahead and they baptize
him and his household and those that are
with him as well and so what was a
separation and at different cultures and
different belief systems may be to some
degree in different heritage and lineage
is brought together here and Peter
remains there for a few days and what an
incredible experience of being able to
bring those things together in a
covenant type of a situation and so then
Peter goes down to Jerusalem and Luke
calls those that are there those are the
circumcision or the Jews they started
contending with Peter like what in the
world is going on what did you just do
you even went into his house and
what did you just do and so this was a
major concern for them and so then Peter
goes and recounts everything that had
happened the vision that he had by the
way those four corners that were pulled
together by that sheet or that veil or
whatever that might have been it's kind
of an interesting thing to me why four
there I think of the four streams of the
temple or of the Garden of Eden that go
out to all of the world bringing the
Word of God and bringing water to the
whole world the four corners of the
earth the four canopic jars in the
facsimiles in the Book of Abraham as
soon as we like there's a representation
of
the gospel going out to everyone and all
quarters of the world including all of
the Gentiles so he recounts this vision
that he had and then how the holy ghost
had fallen upon them and then they were
all okay with it and they understood
that some major change had just happened
and that it was from God so then Luke
introduces to us again Barnabas and
Barnabas is heading up to Antioch which
is in modern-day Turkey almost toward
the toward the Syrian side because other
men had been sent there to preach the
gospel and to baptize and they'd had a
lot of success there so he goes up there
follows up and helps solidify the church
a little bit and then he goes out and he
looks for SAW remember Barnabas is the
one that introduced Saul to the leaders
of the church in Jerusalem who are all
like hey do you know who this guy is but
he kind of welcomed him in and brought
him into the fold so he's out to kind of
do that again he's looking for Saul in
Tarsus which is his hometown and he
brings Saul out to Antioch and they stay
there for a year working Antioch’s an
interesting place it's one of the five
major centers of early Christianity they
had huge amounts of success there and
there's an interesting history with
Jerusalem and Judah there because it's
those from Antioch remember that Antioch
was founded by one of the generals of
Alexander the Great
Seleucus he founds Antioch as a Greek
city the story is that he was told where
to go when he saw an eagle that had a
piece of meat and he stopped at Antioch
which is really strange because that's
the story of the Aztecs if you've seen
the Mexican flag you'll see a an eagle
with a serpent in its mouth standing on
a cactus that's the exact same story
that the Aztecs have about where to
build their civilization which ended up
being Mexico City as much as things are
different as we've said they seem to be
the same but Antioch is had come in
previously about a couple hundred years
earlier and
overthrowing Jerusalem and when we hear
about the Maccabee and revolt
that's against Antioch and that's where
the Maccabees come from and one of those
strong families then that's where
Hanukkah comes from and a lot of strange
things went on there those from Antioch
the cellar seeds they put in there
they're assigned high priests they put
in a high priest for the temple and then
later the major families came in and
they put in their own high priests the
Jewish families and so there's a lot of
like where is the authority with all
these high priests where is that all
coming from and who's actually deciding
which high priests are going to be put
in here that's the line of confusion
that happens just a couple hundred years
before the time of Christ when we end up
with Annus and Caiaphas as the high
priests but Barnabas and Saul here in
Antioch is they've been teaching for
about a year here in Antioch it says
here in verse 26 at the end and the
disciples were called Christians first
in Antioch
so this is the beginning of the
separation between the Jews and the new
Christians this is about 15 years from
the time of the death of Christ now
we're getting to a point where as
they're going out and teaching in areas
where there's a lot of Gentiles and
they're speaking to the Gentiles they're
not just a new set of Jews talking to
Jews about what should change they're
now going out to the world and so now
they're not really just Jews they're
Christians they're a different religion
from the Jews based on who they are now
addressing and the church has grown
immensely they've got a lot of people in
a lot of different bases now throughout
Palestine and in Syria
I'll talk to you next time
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