Money Maker Software may be used on two systems alternately on 3 months, 6 months, 1 year or more subscriptions. 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 (Joshua 13:11-13). Therefore, when it came to sacrifices on it, the menu was even shorter. If I still had some misgivings, Id be man enough to share them here. So he gave them permission. His poetry includes Bees in Amber: a little book of thoughtful verse (1913) which became a bestseller. The real irritation is people saying the Law was impossible to obey, when Scripture says the opposite it true. And that permanence of the Law matches well with the fact that the first time, and the second, He wrote the Ten Commandments in stone: Exodus 31:18 and again, Exodus 34:1. While animal-abuse cases arent normally rampant among church-goers, its no thanks to this bishops official policy. Emily Langer, Washington Post, 16 June 2022 Three of the Comedian Harmonists were Jewish, three were gentile. Josephus mentions it with Pella and Golan as being taken by storm during Alexander Jannaeus campaign E of the Jordan in about 83 b.c. In actual fact, when you stop to think about it, because God denounced pork in Leviticus, and then Jesus destroyed two thousand, and that event is thrice repeated by Matthew, by Mark, by Luke it all adds up to a big confirmation of the fact that God doesn't change. But the sad thing I want you to see at the end is the reaction of the majority of his countrymen, because unlike him, they do not beg to be with Jesus. It was situated some 30 miles southeast of Gadara, on the borders of Peraea and a little north of the river Jabbok. being the holy Messiah of Israel, Jesus wants the swine out of The Land as much as he wants unclean spirits out of The People, and. And you can ask yourself a lot of questions Why did Jesus do that? The apostle had been busy preaching in Demetriuss hometown of Ephesus and Pauls message about the one true God was catching on. about a.d. 65. But John is more precise, saying none should add or remove words. Since I believe the word of God is our playbook for life, what is Jesus telling us? So I figure we could speculate a little and see where this goes. But they dont prove his point. There is no captivity that you can be captive to that is not captive to Jesus Christ for He has ascended on high and led captivity captive and He makes a sport and a spoil of the forces of darkness which are arrayed against God and against heaven. But when the pigs need to be explained, he immediately seems lost and turns to heartless comedy. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. And then finally, and very, very sadly, I want you to see in contrast to him, the reaction of the majority of the people in his city and country to what Jesus has done. He was getting everyone on board with what was started at Sinai. And while its not true God pairs animals with people every where in Scripture, He does in this statement. And because he said it one single, solitary time, and he didnt actually present anything new, we have clear proof that he didnt add anything to the Law and his joke underscores the fact that he didnt add (or delete) from the Law! He does. In the three Synoptic Gospels and, None of the verses below refute any of the. New International Version (NIV), Encyclopedia of The Bible Gerasa, Gerasenes. 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? Demons, Jesus, and the Pigs The Outlaw Bible Student, http://www.linearconcepts.com/archives/2011. Do not add upon it and do not reduce it. Such alternative readings include arguments that the swine were meant to represent the Roman army or "unclean and unfaithful" people; that pigs were considered "unclean", so destroying them might be consistent with care for other animals; and that Jesus did not actually "send" the devils into the pigs. absolutely anne..there are a few scenarios..nothing more exciting than digging into the Word of God!! Webwere the gerasenes gentiles. This, Also, this study shows that Jesuss actions in Mark 5 were on the surface contrary to the deep-rooted Jewish respect for domestic and/or wild animals. And then God Himself repeated it five more times in the same book: Leviticus 11:45, Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 20:2, Leviticus 20:7-8 and Leviticus 20:26! Gentile Later, Leviticus 11 explains to His Chosen People that He had chosen only ritually clean/pure animals for them to eat. (Cf. The book ends on that very point. Part of the reason for such a short list is due to the fact that Gods People are special (Exodus 19:5-6) and separate (Deuteronomy 7:6) and unique from others on the earth (1 Peter 2:9). He's the friend of sinners. Add to that that recent. "Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged [Jesus], saying, 'Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.' Most Christians believe Messiah is the Second Person of the Trinity. The majority admits they are clueless and throw their hands up, stating the herd was just a , The pastors attempts to laugh off the haunting question about the meek and lowly Son of Man killing all the pigs is, Besides the jokes being in poor taste, they make his sermon seem less than professional. 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. The thinking behind each chart is contrary to the unity and oneness of God. Incredible. Besides, each of the synoptic gospels quotes the demons saying out loud that Jesus had the power to torture them all at will (Matthew 8:29, Mark 5:7 and Luke 8:28). We see the power of Christ over Satan, don't we? JESUS DIDNT SEND THE DEMONS INTO THE DEEP; What have You to do with me, Jesus, the Son of the Most High God? The Gospels tell us that Jesus did most of His work among the Jewish people. Additionally, the encounter takes place among the tombs, an earthly realm of the dead, so to speak. It's amazing Jesus comes to shore and it's obvious that He has immediately commanded the spirits to leave the man because they remonstrate with Him. Over the centuries, many scribes spent an enormous amount of time, energy and resources copying them, thereby lending credibility to them. Some of Jesus's reputation for being normally meek and merciful comes from statements like: From Jesus's own mouth, we are informed of Gods special love and attention for defenseless animals and we know Jesus has the same heart for the weak. Did Jesus really sacrifice the swine for the man? Was He asking us the impossible because He had nothing better to do or is He sadistic? Was it correct to destroy so many for just one (or two men). Reading the whole account in Acts 19:23 to 41, we see that it was not hard for the sore silversmith to drum up anti-Jewish anger in the crowd that day. Matthew tells us there were two demoniacs, while Mark and Luke only 2023 Christianity.com. 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. All these inescapable facts are so important to getting the right interpretation of Mark 5 and the other gospel records of the same event. Jesus is going to tell him, You can't come with Me, but I do want you to go back and tell them what great things God has done for you. The demons, who in this man have terrified the whole countryside to the point that they had tried to retrain this man with chains they were so frightened of Him, those demons are now afraid of Jesus because they know who Jesus is and they know where Jesus can cast them. (, But MacArthurs logical is funny for another reason. We gotta git us some!, 1 ) [your turn. There he meets a man seized with an unclean spirit (Mark) or with demons (Luke). No, the Gentiles are not simply non-Jews. Gentiles are loved by God and redeemed by Jesus. He should know that centuries before the prophet Isaiah spoke against Jews eating pork and hanging around in tombs. Luke doesn't think that it's an every day occurrence for a person to be possessed by a host of demons. See more comments below.). My research shows swine kill poisonous snakes. Because they cared more about what they had lost than what that man had gained or what they could gain in Jesus themselves. Unfortunately, Pastor John is not alone, joking at the expense of this tragedy. But these differences are typical of eye-witness reports and only irritate skeptics. You know that because the people tell Him to leave. Doesn't Jesus Treat Animals as Property? In York, T.; Alexis-Baker, A.; Bekoff, M.; McLaren, B. Neither common sense, nor the text, let Jesus off the hook. 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 fact must be kept in mind in our ethical discussions. His actions now make sense in this new light. Lastly, based on culture, human-nature and most importantly, on specific Scripture passages, we know the demoniac could not have been a Gentile but was most assuredly, Yet a complete interpretation of Mark 5 needs to clear up one last point: the pigs were forbidden but did they, Christ kept kosher and cleaned up the town, I can of Myself do nothing. 2023. Theres another interesting question in the sidelines: if Jews detested pigs, why were there pigs in the area? That's even more unexpected than not being angry because in Paul's case, it was the other way around. Ill take Mark at his word; hes thinking of an army of demons, not an army of human soldiers. Reading the Word of God is wonderful. He is the strong man who binds Satan and plunders his house. Living in rural Central Africa villages for ten years, I heard many stories from locals about demon spirits living in streams and trees and boulders. But when Jesus explained that the commandment was the old one from Leviticus, Love one another, they signed with relief, seeing how he was just underscoring the command that God already gave (Leviticus 19:18). get to know the Bible better! The fascinating story behind many people's favori Can you handle the (barometric) pressure? Sadly, Luther and other Reformed theologians repeat the same theological rubbish, despite Jesus saying he did not come to destroy the Law. They ask Him if they can enter some nearby pigs, and He lets them. Note that Jesus never touched the demon-inhabited individual: He merely spoke to him, commanding the evil to depart. Many New Testament manuscripts refer to the "Country of the Gadarenes" or "Gerasenes" rather than Who were the gerasenes in the bible? When He speaks, they obey. The Greek clause literally says, End of law is Christ but why bother finishing the sentence? When Eve said that she and hubby were not allowed to touch the [Good and Evil Knowledge Tree] or they would die, she was lying (Genesis 3:3 and Jewish explanation). In turn, they would have a vehicle wherewith to stay in their territory. 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. But what does Leviticus says about ham? The land of the Gerasenes was on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. He's not only a person extraordinarily under bondage to demonic activity, but he's actually a picture of everyone who is in the thrall of sin. }. Sproul writes in his commentary Mark that the compassion of Jesus "drove Him to destroy the pigs for the sake of one human life. After all, racism wasnt invented in the 21st century. All of us may be so concerned with our own livelihoods that we fail to serve other people and help those in desperat All Rights Reserved. I would, however, be a little skeptical of stories about Jesus Himself visiting Spain. were Its true! Seven Biblical facts await you that prove Jesus was obliged to love all creatures, except that a higher command forced him to partially judge the Jews who owned the two thousand poor pigs. Theories of men that attack statements made by God evolution for example are sadly creeping into the minds of Christian leaders. 6 ) There were lots of laws they didnt keep. Theyre written as factual history. Indeed, some believe that Jesuss single option was to let Legion loose on the animals. It was interesting that Palmer had gone out without any announcement but this man knew who he was and he was obviously disturbed that he was there and he began to make threats. Did Jesus Heal and Preach to Only Jews? No! - NCR The borders are fairly clearly drawn up. 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. Being teachable is a great avenue for learning! Gergesenes means "those who come from pilgrimage or fight." As a result, our biggest take-away lesson is to never take away from the Word of the Almighty.But dispensational-flavoured pastors ignore this and teach us that Moses and David and even Jesus lived by different rules. I am but a man possessed by an innumerable host of demons. Regrettably, what were about to study the Big Pig Splash Down isn't one of them. I cannot offer you a proof-text for this observation. Also in a side note theres a rock with what looks like a human footprint in it, it is said this is Christs footprint. The good pastor basically believes that in Jesuss mind, one mans peace, preservation and freedom from unclean spirits is worth the sacrifice of a couple thousand pigs. These pastors have, Look at the prophets; they also prove Scripture doesnt change. Wnsche, Neue Beitrge zur Erluterung der Evangelien aus Talmud und Midrasch, p. 119. In this immediate area, steep hills come down to the shoreline and fit the story of the swine rushing headlong into the sea. 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. Obviously the man with the demon was Jewish or Jesus would not have gone there. 141-144). 3. Sadly, GotQuestions misses the point, or they lie, saying that being distinct was all important to God. John 13:34 was the one single, solitary time that the Master told his disciples, I give you a new commandment. However, the commandment wasnt a new commandment. His sermon should have given us some point, some excuse, or some logical explanation for it all. These forces plundered Gerasa, Philadelphia, Pella, and others (Jos. Instead of Jesus turning water into wine. Jesus came to teach a better way of life that you could have abundantly! v. 37) describe Jesus healing of the demoniac Legion and the drowning of the swine in the Sea of Galilee (cf. They had rather have their swine than their Saviour, and so, though they saw the demoniac sitting, clothed, and in his right mind, at the feet of Jesus, they in turn beseech that He should take Himself away.
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