Unclean vs Common

Act 10:11-15 MKJV
(11) And he saw the heaven opened and a certain vessel like a sheet coming down to him, being bound at the four corners and let down to the earth;
(12) in which were all the four-footed animals of the earth, and the wild beasts, and the reptiles, and the birds of the heaven.
(13) And a voice came to him, saying, Rise, Peter! Kill and eat!
(14) But Peter said, Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.
(15) And the voice spoke to him again the second time, What God has made clean, you do not call common.

This is a confusing passage. God is teaching Peter a lesson about love and avoiding prejudice. The Torah is very specific about clean versus unclean (Greek akathartos), but what exactly is 'common' (Greek koinos)?

That which was unclean in a Levitical sense was to be abstained from; avoided altogether. Lepers were unclean. Those things which were common were things 'unhallowed' or ordinary. To the Jewish mind of that period, anything 'heathen' or Gentile was common, but not necessarily unclean.

God is telling Peter not to call cleansed things common. He is not saying that He has cleansed unclean things. The disconnect was that the Jews had placed Gentiles in the common category, despite the fact that the Torah never classified Gentiles as either unclean or common. In fact, Paul wrote "there is nothing common of itself" (Rom 14:14). Torah specifically says:

Lev 19:34 MKJV
(34) The stranger that dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself. For you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am Jehovah your God.

The Jews relied on an oral law - one passed along from generation to generation. This was not written down and many had their own 'takes' on this law. Peter said this:
Act 10:28 MKJV
(28) And he said to them, You know that it is an unlawful thing for a man, a Jew to keep company with or to come near to one of another nation. But God has shown me not to call any man common or unclean.

By 'unlawful', Peter referred to the oral law, as Torah said no such thing. The mingling of seeds was forbidden according to Torah, and so was the mixing of nations (intermarriage with heathen nations), as Israel was a Holy Nation. Oral law, however, took this further than God did.

Act 10:34-35 MKJV
(34) Then Peter opened his mouth and said, Truly I see that God is no respecter of persons;
(35) but in every nation he who fears Him and works righteousness is accepted with Him.

Recent Torah Portions

Every year the Jews read through Torah - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Each week a 'portion' is read. These are significant to the season in which they are read, and they do not change from year to year. For instance, we can often tell which Jewish holiday or season was approaching by what Jesus taught in the synagogue. Recently, Mark Biltz had this to say about the recent portions:

Remember the Israeli elections in prayer coming up on Tuesday of next week
Feb. 10th.

Those of you following along with the audio torah portions will be aware
of this but in Judaism they always say history follows the torah portions.
Jan 17th began the portion on the Book of Exodus where there is a new
Pharaoh and one of the first things he does is sign a decree to allow the
killing of the newborns. Then on Jan 20th we have a new leader and one of
the first thing Congress does is pass the freedom of choice act. The next
Sabbath was on the beginning of the plagues and we find this article about
the [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/129565 ] bubonic
plague hitting an Al Qaeda cell in the news.

This last Shabbat the reading is on the last 3 plagues of locusts, well
here is a link to an [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7865240.stm ]
unidentifiable insect plague in Africa that is destroying the crops.

This next weekend’s torah portion covers the Red Sea crossing, the manna
falling and the complaints for food and over the bitter water ending with
the story of Amalek attacking Israel. With the elections this next week it
could be interesting!