WebGadarenes. But what does Leviticus says about, And also the pig; although it has a hoof splitting in half and it has a hoof clearly tearing in two, the pig doesn't bring back up its cud to chew. 3 He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; 4 for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. If ever there was a small and weak proof-text, this is the one. And were you aware that the New Testament repeats the same two commands from Deuteronomy? Why did these people respond to Jesus this way? Ive not heard that theory before. For these reasons, the writers of the gospels gave no explanation and the Twelve asked no question about why Jesus destroyed all the swine. 141-144). destroyed) and every perplexing dispensational chart is legit. The man could break his earthly chains; he could not break his spiritual ones. Clearly, Luke is telling you this because he wants you to show the amazing power of Jesus Christ, even over demons. It was like, And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent for He is not a man that He should relent. Delivered to your inbox! The main reason God limits righteous people to a select group of clean/pure animals is for the purpose of holiness. And because they did not hear Him, they lost even what they had. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.". Similarly, as God incarnate, Jesus knows the future. As to the second question, there is no doubt of the illegality, from a ritual point of view, of Jews keeping swine (B. All four gospel writers repeatedly testify to Jesuss power over storm, waves and gravity (Matthew 8:22-27, Mark 4:3541 and Luke 8:2225, passages immediately before the pig-demon accounts! We should ask the good pastors if love thy neighbour as thyself has any bearing on killing your neighbours livestock. Secondly, I want you to look at the Lord Jesus Christ Himself because His power over Satan is on display full force in this passage. All these inescapable facts are so important to getting the right interpretation of Mark 5 and the other gospel records of the same event. For centuries, land wars are a type of a national sport among Middle Eastern nations. founders day speech by students were the gerasenes gentiles. These pastors have, Look at the prophets; they also prove Scripture doesnt change. There was a logic in this. It was exactly due to his righteousness and his love for God that he killed two thousand pigs. It was a region of 10 Greco-Roman cities, a Gentile region. This was a Gentile town so they had pigs. WebMany New Testament manuscripts refer to the "Country of the Gadarenes" or "Gerasenes" rather than. For our Creator, one lost person saved is worth the death of many animals. Who owned the pigs? Apparently Gerasa was rebuilt by the Romans before the revolt began, prob. Some of my Christian brothers and sisters see this as coded language referring to a confrontation with the political and military power of Rome. Origen says this is a good example of how Biblical writers simply were not concerned to precisely identify certain sites. This has been a long blog thanks for sticking with it but because Im going to ruffle feathers, Ive gone the extra mile to explain myself clearly and to plug any holes in my argument. It was part of the Greco-Roman region known as the Decapolis, or ten towns. It was Gentile territory, the land of foreign gods, a place of idolatry. Many will rush for cover behind the last four Greek words of this verse, despite all of its textual, translation and interpretation problems. But here's the second thing. Sinai. His wisecracks are a distraction. Regrettably, what were about to study the Big Pig Splash Down isn't one of them. On the other hand, the Masters usually thick-headed students, the Tedious Twelve, didnt question him about this! These pastors have added to Scripture that the God of the Old Testament is different in the New and taken away from it Mosess 613 commandments are now reduced to 2. Flower blossoms wither. Before a shattering, a mans heart is proud (Proverbs 18:12). And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. (. I dont see anything of that sort in the story. Also, Demetrius only needed to speak a few choice words against the Jew (compare with Act 19:34), to get the crowd all worked up the silversmith didnt have any real evidence that Pauls preaching was going to slow sales. it depends on the text you read, but one of the four Greek words is sometimes neuter, sometimes masculine a big deal in this language and in this verse. If a bunch of little children want a ball to play with and I toss them a grenade, am I off the hook if a kid pulls out the pin? The nearby shepherds were sheep shepherds, not hog herders. The victorious Lord made life good again for one embattled soul. Don Crowe and Nicholas Gentile direct the Oswego Players Scenes of Crime; Section X: Canton downs Heuvelton for repeat Overall Section 10 title; Section X: Lady Wildcats edge Hammond for Section Overall title; PROPERTY SALES; Local pro hockey: Former Wolves player Liarakos paces Mississippi past visiting Watertown Jesus was upholding all the kosher laws within the Land of Israel it was part of his job description. Im not saying I totally believed the stories, but I cannot believe that a single other place could not be found to send the legion. Scripture also makes it abundantly clear that God Almighty cannot change, and no one, not even the Lord's Anointed Messiah can change the Law which they both wrote. Dr. Ligon Duncan | December 13, 2009. 2 And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. Also, Orthodox Jews see a clear connection between Deuteronomy 12:32, do not add, and what happened in the Garden of Eden. They sort of seek Him out. But this I do know, when people say that because those pigs died it shows that Jesus was not a good and virtuous man theyre forgetting three things. The fascinating story behind many people's favori Can you handle the (barometric) pressure? You know that because the people tell Him to leave. If the pig farmers were Gentile, why would non-Jewish farmers be so gentle with a Jew (who was also an outsider) who was messing around with their farm animals? To be honest, all the bad humour honestly makes me believe the pastor is being dishonest. The ruins also show evidence of a dozen churches, dating in the Byzantine period (4th-7th centuries) indicating that this once was a large Christian community. Owning those defiling animals was illegal and having two thousand head, the farmers were more than flouting the Law that Jesus had not came to destroy but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17). Without a doubt, both men know God never came up with the line, Put pork on your fork. So instead of working or hammering away at the embarrassing elephant in the room, the good pastors spoon out interpretations to us that are not biblical, or dish up corny one-liners, all in the hope that well swallow them or be too busy laughing to connect the dots ourselves. Now that's interesting isn't it? What need have we of further witnesses? This leads the third observation: just as the disciples had been terrified by both the storm and Jesus calming of it on the way over to the Gerasenes, the local people here respond with fear. Now I must say that that really boggles my mind because Luke's main point is so crystal clear and it's set in the context of three other stories that are crystal clear. Don Crowe and Nicholas Gentile direct the Oswego Players Scenes of Crime; Section X: Canton downs Heuvelton for repeat Overall Section 10 title; Section X: Lady Wildcats edge Hammond for Section Overall title; PROPERTY SALES; Local pro hockey: Former Wolves player Liarakos paces Mississippi past visiting Watertown They belonged to God. He has stabbed the heads of many lands. 7). Lastly, even if Mr. Pipers explanation were true, look what its application could mean. So why pigs? Sign up now for the latest news and deals from Bible Gateway! Years earlier, when the ancient Israelis came to the border of the Promised Land, part of the eastern shore was controlled by the Geshurites (and the Maakathites) but Joshua told Israel to possess their land (, Last Fact: The coming Judgement Jews First, We have seen that God Almighty loves animals as much as humans, so Jesus randomly killing two thousand swine seems senseless, unless we remember God has commanded righteous people to avoid defiling food, such as pork. Sadly, GotQuestions misses the point, or they lie, saying that being distinct was all important to God. there was never a prophecy that the kosher laws would be removed, so the verse is coming completely from left field. WebThey land in the country of the Gadarenes which is on the North-east shore of the Sea of Galilee about 6 miles southeast across the sea from Capernaum. Instead of recklessly freeing the doves into the air (as erroneously shown in The Jesus Film and other Bible movies), Scripture records with precise detail that Jesus only knocked over the chairs of the pigeon owners, and/or told them to take their feathered property and leave (Matthew 21:12; Mark 11:15; John 2:16) he didnt use his whip on the birds or fling them into the air to be attacked by falcons or eagles. He dispatched Lucius Annius with a force of cavalry and an army of foot soldiers, who took the city on the first attack, slaughtering a thousand young men, taking their families captive, plundering and burning the city and the surrounding towns (Jos. He was incapable of changing his circumstances. ; Mark v.; Luke viii.) Since demons are by most accounts fallen angels to begin with, they already know to Whom they are ultimately accountable. Web(2) Ye know that ye were Gentiles.--Better (according to the weight of MSS. But this view is shocking because it places Gods Son on an equal footing with the unclean spirits and thus flies in the face of the normal presentation of Jesus in the Gospels. 5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their William Arthur Dunkerley (November 12, 1852 January 23, 1941) was a prolific English journalist, novelist and poet. Therefore, even though folks from the Bishop of Hippo down to our two good California pastors have tried to persuade us that the Creator has shifted His views on pork, God did not, can not, and will not vary or alter or adjust any word spoken about any decision let alone His views on ham sandwiches. 1. Logically we understand that no person on Earth could say something in strong terms over and over, and then just one day say, Oops, can I retract that? So could or would God Almighty flip flop? And what about trees or rocks? As out-of-place as the pig-assisted exorcism by the Lake of Galilee was, the awful event is actually recorded in three Gospels; in Matthew 8:2834, Mark 5:120 and Luke 8:2639. Furthermore, the play-by-play presents no reason to be judged as a parable or an allegory. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him and said with a loud voice, What have You to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? It's His person and His power that we're having our attention draw to and there are four things in particular that I want you to see in this passage. The last point to tidy up Jesus allowed the demons to kill the pigs or Jesus did it? Out of the three, Marks gospel presents the most information about the herd. Not that I believe my case has holes. It's this man who is in bondage to these demons. Another command applies to women who have given birth to a child (Leviticus 12:6), so that would be easy for Jesus to obey, not to mention the monthly ritual baptisms Jewish women do for certain reasons!!! 2023 Christianity.com. The first two are in the Authorized Version. Dr. R.C. Thy powersBring loss to us and ours.Our ways are not as Thine.Thou lovest men, weswine.Oh, get you hence, Omnipotence,And take this fool of Thine!His soul? Fear and selfishness prompted the prayer. But with all this talk about tenderness, what on Earth could have changed Jesuss tune and made him treat the swine the way he did? The land of the Gerasenes was on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. (So much for those latter revelations or new religions arriving centuries later.). Notice how Gods care is cleverly contrasted with mans callousness: men buy birds for next to nothing because they do not value them, yet The Almighty as large and in charge as He is still takes careful notice of frail creatures. That's even more unexpected than not being angry because in Paul's case, it was the other way around. Isnt this what hes paid for? Being teachable is a great avenue for learning! Thats right, Whatever matter I am commanding you right now, it's what you must be careful to observe to do. And he was the one who said that the Father doesnt miss the , Everyone's wondering why the pigs got the raw end of the deal. Every creature on land, or in the water, or in the air is classified by either the Hebrew term, (tahor), meaning ritually clean/pure, or by the term, (tameh), unclean/defiling. were badly damaged in major 5 ) They werent real Jews They were JINOs! Also oral tradition in this area talks of Christ coming and preaching the gospel there but being asked to leave shortly afterwards. We come to understand that the God of the Universe is willing to wait and to stall our own behaviour so as to give mother cows and mother sheep more time together with their babies. But these differences are typical of eye-witness reports and only irritate skeptics. Such a statement is irresponsible because the Law was not written for a single person. (This sad fact may have something to do with Christians telling Jews to junk the Law which they love and to just believe and receive.) Its the exodus that Jesus has come to lead, an exodus from slavery to the prince of this world. He knew how bad it was going to go for the pigs. v. 37) describe Jesus healing of the demoniac Legion and the drowning of the swine in the Sea of Galilee (cf. B. vii. Both Johns could conveniently connect the dots between the Law of God which outlaws the swine and the destructive action which Jesus took against the herd, but it would be too inconvenient for their religious views. Of course this kosher interpretation is just as obvious painfully obvious to John MacArthur and Piper, yet I've never seen either refute the issue or deal honestly with their doubts. It is repeated over and over. Admittedly the whole event with the demon-crazed pigs is odd you dont see it every day but the writer wanted us to believe it genuinely happened. ), No matter how you slice it, the Almightys negative view of ham and bacon cant suddenly switch from one day to the next. to biblical Galilee, regarded, in opposition to Judaea, as a country of Gentiles (as in Matthew 4:15) What was Jairus occupation? (Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26) In Gerasenes in place of Gadarenes. [Israels] real enemy isnt Rome, which barely figures into the gospel story. Scripture exhorts us to care for animals and not to be cruel to them.
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