The Holy Spirit clearly told Peter in the vision: "Three men are looking for you " God sent Peter among the gentiles to preach the gospel to them. That was not an easy thing to do for the Jews, because back then Jews and Gentiles were not supposed to have any interactions. Jews were only preaching the gospel to the Jews, and they even thought that when the Lord asked them to go to the ends of the earth to preach the gospel, they were only supposed to reach out to the Jews living in the ends of the earth. Although Peter knew that God has commissioned him to testify for the Lord to the ends of the earth, they were still staying in Jerusalem and the gospel was not preached beyond the city. God had to break many hindrances from their tradition and culture through the vision, and this vision had to first come upon Peter, who was the leader of the church. The Bible says that "where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint." God must first win Peter over and initiate the change starting with him, and then the gospel may be preached to the ends of the earth through the church.
Today, church leaders must come before God to humbly seek vision and direction. Sometimes we may have a direction, but our vision must be renewed and re-ignited continuously, else we may easily become stagnant. May God help us to continuously seek new vision, to be renewed, and to obey Him. When the Holy Spirit spoke to Peter through the vision, Peter obeyed, so in verse 23 Peter invited a guest to his house to spend the night. According to the culture of the time, Jews wouldn't have let a gentile stay at their house; while Peter was still puzzled, he still obeyed God's guidance. Later on, we saw how the gospel reached the household of Cornelius through Peter. May the Lord help us to be obedient before Him!
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