Acts 10:9

Now on the morrow, as they were on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour: and he became hungry, and desired to eat: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance.

THE LORD APPEARS TO PETER

About the sixth hour ... This was noon, of course; and, as Bruce said, "Noon was not one of the appointed times for prayer, but pious Jews prayed three times a day (Psalms 55:17)."[9] Those who observed that custom prayed at noon. It is remarkable that Peter, a fisherman, should have been one of the most devout of his race, a fact indicated by his practice of a long-ingrained habit of prayer at noon, as here.

While they made ready ... One is amazed at a comment of Bruce, who said of Peter in this situation that "He probably called down for some food; and while this was being prepared, the revelation came to him in a vision."[10] It should be remembered, however, that Peter was not staying at the Waldorf, and that such a thing as room service on top of the house would not have been available in a tanner's residence. No, it was noon; and the usual preparations for the midday meal in Simon the tanner's house were being made, perhaps delayed a little; and, as many a preacher has done since, Peter dozed while the ladies prepared dinner.

He fell into a trance ... This, of course, is something utterly different from merely falling asleep. Milligan said that "A trance denotes a state in which the soul seems to be freed from the body; so that it can then perceive things which lie beyond the reach of the natural senses."[11] Nothing much is known of the condition into which Peter fell during the revelation recorded here; but it may be assumed that the kind of trance into which he fell was not the ordinary state of the so-called "trance" into which some are said to enter now. In the Old Testament, the example of Balaam reveals that he, before uttering his prophetic oracles,

Saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open (Numbers 24:4). He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the Most High, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open (Numbers 24:16).

All of the mention here of what Peter "saw" would indicate that this "trance" also was one in which his eyes remained open, thus revealing his condition to have been like that of the prophets of old who received words from Almighty God.

[9] F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishers, 1954), p. 218,

[10] Ibid.

[11] Robert Milligan, op. cit., p. 150.