Acts 10:3-7 3He saw clearly in a vision about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius.” 4And staring at him and becoming terrified, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms giving have gone up as a memorial offering before God. 5And now send men to Joppa and bring a certain man Simon, who is called Peter. 6This man is staying as a guest with a certain man Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7When the angel who was speaking to him had left, after calling two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, 8and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
Cornelius had a vision of an angel in the middle of the afternoon, at around 3 pm, one of the traditional times of prayer for Jews. His piety comes through with this time indicator. His vision is told four times, indicating its significance in the story (10:3–6, 22, 30–32; 11:13–14). Peter’s vision is retold twice (10:9–16; 11:4–10). It is rare when an angel appears in the Bible and even rarer outside of the Bible, and it is always a significant experience. Cornelius recognized God’s presence in the angel with his question and his recognition of the personage as Lord (kyrie). This word could be simply a polite response, but in the case of a God-fearer like Cornelius, it would be obvious that the word had a divine connotation. The angel represented the God Cornelius honored. Prayer gave Cornelius the opportunity to quiet his busy life and listen to God. In this case, the vision was visual and audible. Few people have epiphanies like this, though God still speaks today in dreams to people around the world.
When the angel spoke, like others, Cornelius was filled with fear. The power of God’s presence, represented in his messenger, is overwhelming. The first statement the angel made gave assurance to Cornelius that there was no reason to have terror because he had good standing with God. This announcement was good news, not something to fear. We all hope to hear good news from God. Cornelius was seeking God, which was obvious through his prayers and compassionate giving. In response, God came to him with the answer he was seeking, though he did not really know what he was looking for.
The angel gave detailed instructions that only God can give, including the names of Peter, Simon, the Tanner, and where to find the house. The directions required Cornelius to put his faith to practice because they were a bit obscure and left off the reason to find Simon. He did not know what Simon had to offer him but had to trust in the angel’s words. He acted immediately to send two servants and a devout soldier. The word devout (eusebē) is the same used to describe Cornelius in verse 2. The word implies that this soldier was also a God-fearer like Cornelius, a person whom Cornelius could trust. These three persons were close to Cornelius because they attended him constantly as assistants. His faith may have rubbed off on them, and so they had some spiritual awareness and faith. This story has many clear and implied descriptions of this Roman soldier to whom God’s grace had been speaking and drawing closer to the answer he was seeking.
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