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Great Sheet Knit Four Corners, Tallit, Peter Vision, Cornelius, Gentile...http://www.haderek.ca/articles/twohouse/sheet.htm1 of 614/03/2009 3:17 PM
A Great Sheet Knit at the Four Corners
Approximately ten years after Yeshua ascended to heaven to sit at the righthand of his Father, a highly respected Roman officer – a centurion of theItalian Regiment – had a vision. While he prayed and fasted in his house(Acts 10:30), a messenger of Elohim appeared to him in bright clothinginstructing him to call for Simon Peter. At the time, Peter was living with afriend on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in Joppa (Acts 10:3-6).What was the reason for this visitation? The messenger told him, “Thyprayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before Elohim” (Acts10:4). As we mentioned inThe First Disciples, Cornelius revered the Elohimof Israel, kept the righteousness of the Torah, and associated himself withthe Jewish community. Yet, for all this, being from the scattered andbanished
Lo-ammi 
House of Israel, he dwelt outside the commonwealth ofIsrael.
Peter’s Vision
The next day, Peter went up to the rooftop to pray. “And he became veryhungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into atrance. And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him,as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to theearth: Wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wildbeasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice tohim, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat” (Acts 10:10-13).Not immediately understanding the vision, Peter objected. “Not so, master;for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean” (Acts 10:14).He thought that the voice instructed him to eat unclean or commonmeats,[1]something that YHVH prohibited in the Torah. The voicecountered with the following: “What Elohim hath cleansed, that call not thoucommon” (Acts 10:15).Peter received this vision three times before the garment ascended backinto heaven (Acts 10:16).After some time had passed, while he thought about the meaning of thevision, three messengers from Cornelius showed up at the house asking forhim (Acts 10:17-20). The owner of the house welcomed them, and theystayed the night. The next morning everyone left for Caesarea to meet withCornelius (Acts 10:21-23). They arrived the following day and went toCornelius’ house, where he had assembled his relatives and his closefriends (Acts 10:24).By this time, Peter, beginning to understand the vision, told them, “Ye knowhow that it is an unlawful [uncustomary] thing for a man that is a Jew to keepcompany, or come unto one of another nation; but Elohim hath showed methat I should not call any man common or unclean” (Acts 10:28).At this point, Peter understood the
symbolism 
of the unclean animals on thesheet. Contrary to a common misconception, YHVH did not turn unclean
 
Great Sheet Knit Four Corners, Tallit, Peter Vision, Cornelius, Gentile...http://www.haderek.ca/articles/twohouse/sheet.htm2 of 614/03/2009 3:17 PM
animals into clean animals, nullifying his own Torah. Rather, the animals onthe sheet represented people – people that Elohim had cleansed.After Cornelius told the assembly about the messenger from heaven, Peterfinally clued into the full meaning of his vision. “Of a truth I perceive thatElohim is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that fears him, andworketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:34-35). He then wenton to relate the ministry of Yeshua and how Elohim had anointed him as theMessiah to judge the living and the dead. Peter ended with the followingstatement, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his namewhosoever believeth in [shows trust toward] him shall receive remission ofsins” (Acts 10:43).This should all make perfectly good sense, but why did YHVH give Peter thespecific vision that he did? Why did he show him a “great sheet knit at thefour corners”? Why did he reveal the truth that salvation now was beingoffered to all those who trust – regardless of national background – througha vision that contained unclean animals? Further, why did he tell Peter to“kill and eat”?
The Four Cornered Garment
Let us begin with the sheet. What is a sheet “knit” at the four corners (Acts10:11)? The Greek word translated “knit” is
deo 
. However, translating
deo 
as “knit” is very misleading. The word actually means “bind” or “tie.” In fact, itis translated “bind” or “tie” forty-one of the forty-four times that it appears intheB’rit Chadashah. Only once does it appear as “knit” – in this verse!Therefore, what is a “sheet” tied or bound at the four corners?It is written in the Torah, “And YHVH spake unto Moses, saying, Speak untothe children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes [
tsitsit 
] in theborders [corners] of their garments throughout their generations, and thatthey put upon the fringe [
tsitsit 
] of the borders [corner] a ribband [thread] ofblue. And it shall be unto you for a fringe [
tsitsit 
], that ye may look upon it,and remember all the commandments of YHVH, and do them; and that yeseek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go awhoring: That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and beholy unto your Elohim. I am YHVH your Elohim, which brought you out of theland of Egypt, to be your Elohim: I am YHVH your Elohim” (Numbers15:37-41).Again, in Deuteronomy 22:12, we read, “Thou shalt make thee fringes uponthe four quarters [corners] of thy vesture [covering], wherewith thou coverestthyself.” The word “fringes” mentioned in this verse is
gedilim 
, meaning,“tassel made of twisted threads.” As explained in Numbers 15:38-39, thetassels made of twisted threads, and containing one blue thread each, areknown as
tsitsit 
. They are to be placed in each corner or “wing” (
kanaph 
) ofa four-cornered garment.Therefore, the “sheet knit at the four corners” that Peter saw let down fromheaven was not a “sheet” as commonly pictured, but a very special linengarment with
tsitsit 
“bound” or “tied” to each of the four corners. Today, thisfour-cornered garment with
tsitsit 
attached at the corners, worn by Jews andMessianic Israelites, is known as a
tallit 
.Now that we have an understanding of the type of garment Peter saw, weshould now be able to understand the reason Elohim used it in the vision.
Scattered Among the Nations
 
Great Sheet Knit Four Corners, Tallit, Peter Vision, Cornelius, Gentile...http://www.haderek.ca/articles/twohouse/sheet.htmof 614/03/2009 3:17 PM
In Isaiah 11, the Messiah is prophesied to gather the House of Judah andthe House of Israel that have been scattered throughout all the nations.“And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for anensign [banner] of the people; to it shall the Gentiles [nations] seek: and hisrest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that Adonai shallset his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people,which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, andfrom Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from theislands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign [banner] for the nations,and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersedof Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:10-12).The word translated “corners” is the plural of
kanaph 
, the same word wecame across in Numbers 15:38 and Deuteronomy 22:12. The “four cornersof the earth” parallel the “four corners of thy covering.” Therefore, the “fourcorners” of the
tallit 
picture the “four corners of the earth” – the four pointson the compass (north, south, east, and west) towards which the children ofIsrael have been scattered on the face of the earth.Notice some other verses that confirm that the children of Israel have beenscattered into all the nations of the earth. In doing so, we will also see thatthe “four corners of the earth” match up with the “four winds of heaven.”
 
“My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every highhill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, andnone did search or seek after them” (Ezekiel 34:6)
 
“Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son ofman, and say to the wind, Thus saith Adonai YHVH; Come from thefour winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain [all the House ofIsrael], that they may live” (Ezekiel 37:9)
 
“Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith YHVH:for I have spread you [Zion] abroad as the four winds of the heaven,saith YHVH” (Zechariah 2:6)
 
“And then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven: andthen shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the sonof man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, andthey shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one endof heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:30-31)Therefore, in Peter’s vision, the four-cornered garment represented the fourcorners of the earth or the four winds of heaven. In other words, it picturedIsrael “scattered throughout the earth” – scattered by Elohim, just as asower scattered seed by means of the blowing of the four winds of heaven.As YHVH said, “And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will havemercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them whichwere not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art myElohim” (Hosea 2:23).[2]
Unclean Animals
Why picture Israel, scattered to the four corners of the earth, as “four-footedbeasts”, “wild beasts”, “creeping things”, and “fowls of the air” (Acts 10:12)?A scripture that will help us understand the symbolism of Peter’s vision isHosea 2:18-19. Describing a day that would follow the days of
Lo-ammi 
and
Lo-ruhamah 
, YHVH Elohim promised to restore Israel to a right relationshipwith him. “And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of
of 00

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