this insight came to me as an early morning gift.
let's look at acts 10 again, and allow me to show implications.

- 11He saw heaven open and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, as well as birds of the air. 13Then a voice said to him: “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”
14“No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15The voice spoke to him a second time: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
16This happened three times, and all at once the sheet was taken back up into heaven. -

now, many attempts at 'explaining' this away have passed under the bridge.
but, what is not looked at is the fact that it LOOKS like 'God' seems to change His mind, flipping from eat plants to adam in genesis 1, eat every living creature to noah in genesis 9, eat only kosher animals to moses in leviticus 11, and now back to eat every living creature to peter in acts 10. huh?

i have spoken before about the distinction between the Father and YHWH, that YHWH is actually the Word Himself, manifested in Yeshua.
we have had extensive discussions about deuteronomy 32:8-9 where YHWH's portion is jacob, the nation of israel.
i ask you to seriously consider this, because otherwise vision is clouded. so, with this understanding look at what's happening with the food laws again.

there is in fact only one change of law.
recognising the difference in the Old Testament between the Father and YHWH when they are mentioned shows this.

(a short refresher - when we talk of YHWH, who keepers of the Law given to moses follow, the Old Testament consistently refers to him only as YHWH, translated in most modern Bibles to 'the LORD'.
and, in the New Testament, YHWH is Yeshua, once His Spirit had descended and remained on Yeshua at His baptism.
when we talk of the Father, the Old Testament consistently refers to Him in multiple ways, either as El, Elohim, or YHWH Elohim, translated in most Bibles to 'Most High', 'God', or 'the LORD God'.
and, in the New Testament, He is the Father, or God.
the reason why the Old Testament intermingles references to the Father with YHWH is that firstly, it is always the Word Who is executing the will of the Father anyway, and secondly, that distinction was not to be made clear yet, that only became necessary once the Word descended among us, which the New Testament is about, yet always the Old Testament was making that distinction clearly. -)

gen 1
- 29Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food -
'God' here being Elohim.

gen 9
- 1And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2The fear and dread of you will fall on every living creature on the earth, every bird of the air, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are delivered into your hand. 3Everything that lives and moves will be food for you; just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you all things. -
'God' again being Elohim.

lev 11
- 1The LORD spoke again to Moses and Aaron, telling them, 2“Say to the Israelites, ‘Of all the beasts of the earth, these ones you may eat: -
'The LORD' being YHWH.

and in acts 10,
- 15The voice spoke to him a second time: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” -
'God' is the Father.

(btw, when it says 'has' made clean, well, He'd done that long ago, with noah.)
because there is actually only one change, from plants only before the flood, to the slate wiped clean situation of after the flood, where the buildup to creating YHWH's portion starts.
for YHWH, being clean, insists His people eat only clean.
the Father, of ALL the nations (all the children of noah), allows the unclean to eat unclean.

am i sucking it out my thumb?
let's jump to gen 8, just before the Father gives all animals as food.
- 20Then Noah built an altar to the LORD. And taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar -
'the LORD' being YHWH...

from the beginning, even before there was any distinction between the nations and YHWH's portion, the Old Testament makes clear that with YHWH, only clean will do.

now, with this insight, it becomes easier to understand why james limits his instruction to the gentile believers to a 'noahide' level...
becoming a part of YHWH's portion, joining the nation of israel and keeping Torah, is a choice, and it has its reward, but it is not a necessity.