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But as Gergesa was a small village, and little known, the evangelists, who wrote for more distant readers, spoke of the event as taking place in the country of the Gadarenes, so named from its largest city, Gadara; and this country included the country of the Gergesenes as a state includes a county. The Greeks were believers in the spirit So why were these pig owners on the east side of the lake afraid? She suffers a more oppressive slavery than ever before not to human rulers but to demons, who are bold enough to enter synagogues on the Sabbat. OS Supported: Windows 98SE, Windows Millenium, Windows XP (any edition), Windows Vista, Windows 7 & Windows 8 (32 & 64 Bit). His sermon should have given us some point, some excuse, or some logical explanation for it all. At the very end of his book The Revelation of Jesus Christ, the Apostle John repeats them. (Pastor Piper was right after all, almost!) Wed obey Him. evidence), Ye know that when ye were Gentiles ye were, &c. In this and the following verse the Apostle reminds his readers that so far from regarding the marvellous manifestations of the Spirit, such as speaking with tongues and prophesying, as the most wonderful miracles, the He changed the subject. So whats the point because Pastor John Piper feels the pigs were less important and John LOL MacArthur just jokes about the slaughter neither reaction seems sensible. May He write its eternal truth upon all our hearts. Basically, a vision told Peter three times to eat defiling animal meat (at least that was how it seemed to him) so Peter logically replied that he had never eaten anything , Once more, we have half of an unclear verse, that people use to make up a, Gods Word has to agree with Gods Word. That is, they appear contrary, except for one thing: Gods Law forbids righteous people from eating pork. That sure does smell good! Johns words seem to apply to all of Scripture. The vision stumped the poor apostle; clearly, Peter forgot about the amazing four Greek words of Mark 7:19b. Remember that the Law reveals to us the mind and personality of God. Amen, and thus ends this reading of God's holy, inspired, and inerrant Word. WebIt was named after the 10 ( deka) cities ( polis) which were in that area. The Garasenes were not Jewish but the country was close to Galilee and Jesus had been to that side of the sea before. 9 Yet a complete interpretation of Mark 5 needs to clear up one last point: the pigs were forbidden but did they have to be destroyed? WebWho do you care more about, people or pigs? (eds.). He is utterly sovereign. If the interpretation from one vague verse contradicts several unambiguous verses, which is wrong? Ba-dum-tsss.). There are echoes of exodus in Marks story, and echoes of Davids battle with Goliath. But now this is an extraordinary case. And so they begin crying out, Don't cast us into the abyss.. 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? Echoes of Exodus in the Land of theGerasenes, Wesleys Eschatological Optimism Explains itAll, The Prophet in the Hometown A Pilgrim in Augsburg, The Methodist Million Dollar Appeal in World WarII. 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. JESUS DIDNT SEND THE DEMONS INTO THE DEEP; It's this man who doesn't even remember his name who's possessed by a host of demons. Jesus victory over the devils army results in the man being dressed and in his right mind, a different kind of setting things right with the world and a foretaste of the age to come. Theres another interesting question in the sidelines: if Jews detested pigs, why were there pigs in the area? They have therefore made important decisions about the proper treatment of animals. and therefore the good pastor declares the demoniac to be a Gentile since, as everyone also knows, Gentiles are better tomb-dwellers.. They do not bother mentioning Scriptures emphasis on being holy before God. Please note how John repeats the commands, adding a zinger curse to both. Demons, Jesus, and the Pigs The Outlaw Bible Student, http://www.linearconcepts.com/archives/2011. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. take a dump and be cleaned.lol. A Faith Embracing All Creatures: Addressing Commonly Asked Questions about Christian Care for Animals. He has authored, co-authored, edited, or contributed to numerous books. His wisecracks are a distraction. We ask that You would open our eyes to behold wonderful things in it and open our ears, we pray, to hear Your Word rightly. As regards the first question, it would appear that that section of the country was chiefly inhabited by pagans in the first century, and Gerasa is at any rate included by Schrer among the Hellenistic cities ("Geschichte," ii. The History of Rome - Brief Overview Of Roman History from Her Dawn to the First Punic War. Palmer Robertson was telling me not long after he had arrived in Africa to begin his ministry there he was taken to a nighttime fireside meeting with a witch doctor a man who was possessed of familiar spirits, who had extraordinary powers of strength, prediction, he was hired by people to put curses on other people and to put spells on other people. So much for sola scriptura. e. Just remember the wonderful folks in Jesuss hometown? Matthew 12:43 and Luke 11:24 mention demons going to a dry place. And what about just sending the killers into the air (Ephesians 2:2)? If you're carrying a sheep, is it still a "piggy" back ride? 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. Gadarenes, Girgesenes, Gerasenes: (These three names are used indiscriminately to designate the place where Jesus healed two demoniacs. That is exactly what is happening here. And so the demons call out His name Jesus, the Son of the Most High God and it has no effect on Him. This food is unclean and defiling for you. And Christ went sadly.He had wrought for them a signOf Love, and Hope, and Tenderness divine;They wantedswine.Christ stands without _your_ door and gently knocks;But if your gold, or swine, the entrance blocks,He forces no man's holdhe will depart,And leave you to the treasures of your heart. The mountainside has caves and hewn tombs where, according to Mark and Luke, the demoniac had taken shelter. The pastors precious-people useless-swine principle was previously dreamed up by the 3rd century church father, St. Augustine of Hippo (quoted by Spalde and Strindlund), and he ran with it. Pig meat, according to Scripture, is as unclean as the demons that Jesus sent into the swine. So He gave them permission. Again, these classifications come from God, not man, and show up in Scripture as early as Genesis 7:1-9. 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. The Messiah has the same nature and character was the Father, as discussed in the Fourth Fact above. Playing with the plain truths of Gods eternal Scriptures means one is playing with fire and such actions will bring unfortunate consequences. Obviously, they were Jewish pig farmers seeing judgement for flagrant disobey Gods Word and keeping and eating pig meat. In course of time, as the Jews began more and more to pride themselves on their peculiar privileges, it acquired unpleasant associations, and was used as a term of contempt. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. Money Maker Software is compatible with AmiBroker, MetaStock, Ninja Trader & MetaTrader 4. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of any other person, religious organization or governmental entity. That is all I know. Now I want to say very quickly, my friends, that there is no power in this universe that can cause a rationale being to sin. 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. You may simultaneously update Amibroker, Metastock, Ninja Trader & MetaTrader 4 with MoneyMaker Software. Over the centuries, many scribes spent an enormous amount of time, energy and resources copying them, thereby lending credibility to them. Oh get you hence, Omnipotence, and take this foul of Thine. Instead, his conscious act of casting the demons into the swine resulted in the entire herds destruction. Also, He is sometimes more open with outsiders/Gentiles than Jews because the negative reaction by the Jewish leaders would hinder his ministry more than rejection by Gentiles. The list in the first chapter of Leviticus contains only bovine, sheep, goats and pigeons; all typified later, in Leviticus 11, as clean/pure animals. p. 102. Does he really believe Mark 5 is Biblical material, To be honest, all the bad humour honestly makes me believe the pastor is being. If our faithful, unchanging Heavenly Father God made a straightforward decisive yet divisive decision and repeated it over and over and over, then why cant the good pastors connect the dots and figure out Jesuss real relationship to the pigs? Such a contradiction in character! But once the door is open, well, we see in this story what can happen when you give in, what can happen when the demonic takes over. Clearly, Luke is telling you this because he wants you to show the amazing power of Jesus Christ, even over demons. Deuteronomy 4 and 12 only state that none should add or remove what Moses was commanding, which sounds a little nebulous. See more comments below.). Dr. R.C. Early in the video, he is very factual and seems sure of himself. (Take that, Darwin.). Theyre written as factual history. Since all of these areas overlap, one may take the references as meaning the same place. At least Im man enough to admit possible weaknesses in my arguments and to talk about the elephants in the room. And he said that a good and virtuous man could not have allowed something like that to happen and therefore, Jesus was not the best and most virtuous of men and therefore Christianity was disproven. Now the big-mouth irking this Greek artisan was our good friend, the Apostle Paul. It's just 8 or 9 verses before this passage. And why werent they demanding compensation for their pigs? (Matt 15:24). Because some confusion exists in the gospel MS evidence and perhaps in other source material, absolute certainty cannot be attained; but the following identification seems correct. It's all Gentile territory, so just bear that in mind. IV. 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.". Yet they tried to throw one of their own off a cliff (Luke 4:29). All four gospel writers repeatedly testify to Jesuss power over storm, waves and. Every creature on land, or in the water, or in the air is classified by either the Hebrew term, (, The main reason God limits righteous people to a select group of clean/pure animals is for, Gods altar was also separate and distinct and holy. When this passage begins, we have a man who is possessed by demons who had gone about naked, who had lived in the tombs, who was out of his mind, and who did not even know his name. Emily Langer, Washington Post, 16 June 2022 Three of the Comedian Harmonists were Jewish, three were gentile. All of us may be so concerned with our own livelihoods that we fail to serve other people and help those in desperat 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. 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 pains them to admit that Jesus was/is a, Sixth Fact: True identity of the pig farmers. Therefore, when it came to sacrifices on it, the menu was even shorter. (Jos. It is a wonderful fact, but unlike you and I, Gods character is constant and consistent I AM that I AM and understanding His unchanging nature is at the center of forming the right interpretation of Mark 5. They sort of seek Him out. It was exactly due to his righteousness and his love for God that he killed two thousand pigs. He was totally dominated by these demonic forces. So I don't know how seventeen interpretations of this particular story got circulated. Jesus was a Jew. In some of your Bibles, it may say Gergesenes or Gadarenes in the parallel passages in the gospels. In other words, to paraphrase what Gertrude told Hamlet, Methinks the good pastor doth protest too much. 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. His sermon should have given us some point, some excuse, or some logical explanation for it all. Derek Thomas was reminding me this morning that Ridderbos, in his famous book, The Coming of the Kingdom, records seventeen different interpretations that he had found of this particular parable. 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). Well this is a taste of the profound arguments that you will find in that book. Next, what if our imaginary Jew damaged a ton of Gentile property under their very noses. Now Jesus grants this permission. Jesus helped a Syrophoenician woman and commended her faith ( Matthew 15:2128 ). Executive Committee of the Editorial Board. 5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their Late Latin Gerasenus, Gergesenus, from Greek Gerasnos, Gergesnos, from Gerasa, Gergesa ancient town in Palestine. You may unsubscribe from Bible Gateways emails at any time. Why? A great deal of the Law applies only to priests (Leviticus 6:3) and to Levites (Numbers 7:9), so how could Jesus, of the tribe of Judah, keep one of those commandments? And the good pastor doesnt give any rationale for a slaughter that huge. In, David was a good example of what Jesus meant by , Sadly, our two good pastors seem oblivious to the fact that under the Law of Moses, animals have benefits too, and this fact should have bearing on any interpretation of Mark 5. In fact, they are, Yet the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke actually report that the towns people many would have been the owners or friends of the pig owners or people who were connected to the trade in the swine were, Also, wouldnt that be a type of sin and another example of how he may not have, All in all, after Jesus had trashed the livelihood of so many, we have to agree that they were, Every place the Master went on his travels it was to minister to a Jew, just as Paul said, To the Jew first (, Answering, he said, I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. (, As well, every place the Master went on his travels was inside of the, Scripture makes it clear that Ashers tribal land-boundary ended around the coastal city of Tyre (, Besides this Biblical evidence that Jesus and the woman were within Israels inheritance, there is also a prophesy that God will settle His People in the future in Gilead (a sizeable part of todays Kingdom of Jordan) and in, The real-estate on the east side of the lake of Galilee where Jesus met the demons and the swine was also part of Israel-proper. Its totally contrary to what we would expect. Some will respond to my rhetorical question, Why on earth would Jesus come to earth, by giving me the usual pat answer. Well pretend with him that the folks in Gerasenes were placid Gentile farmers happily raising their gentle Gentile pigs. The Word of God cant change any more than God can. For one, Remember that the Law reveals to us the mind and personality of God. Paul himself said the doers of the Law will be made righteous (Romans 2:13), and that the Law is holy (Romans 7:12) and that the Law is spiritual (Romans 7:14). This, by the way, is Our ways are not as Thine. Lets dwell on that he added no new commands to his disciples. There he meets a man seized with an unclean spirit (Mark) or with demons (Luke). 10:31). Look at what he first says when Jesus meets him in verse 28 What do you have to do with me, Jesus? I think so. Both of our good pastors assume that the people in Gerasene (Gadarene or Gergesene) were Gentiles in Gentile territory, partially because of the pigs, partially because of the demoniacs and partially because, The good pastor John MacArthur assumes in his video, [I stretch my hand out to the Jews] who sit by the graves and lodge over night in the tombs, who eat the flesh of pigs and the broth of corrupted meat from their pots. Inhabitants of Gadara, known from an alleged miracle of Jesus ( Matthew 8; Mark 5; Luke 8) in which he transferred the demons (So much for those latter revelations or new religions arriving centuries later.). Gerasa was a city situated near the Jabbok River about eighteen m. E of the Jordan, about twenty m. SE of Pella, and twenty m. N of Philadelphia. Demonic forces seem to be territorial; i.e., they have assigned areas of domain. And as Palmer approached him at the fireside, the man identified Palmer before he got there. I listen to a pyschiatrist that said he never believed in demon possession until a exorcist ask him to work with him. I cannot offer you a proof-text for this observation. Theres got to be a a good one about. From the start, the evil spirits wanted to bring death and destruction, and they finally got their chance. In either case, the theological point is not helped by a fictitious story. There was a logic in this. But it was what they loved and they preferred it to everlasting blessing in Jesus Christ. You know that because the people tell Him to leave. Acting as Israels Messiah, Jesus was carrying out actions that were predicted by the prophets, like when Zechariah said that no merchants in the house of the LORD (Zechariah 14:21).. He's the friend of sinners. But wait, realize how deep Gods affection for animals goes. John Oxenham1 wrote a poem about this passage. Such a conclusion will annoy a lot of people, even funny, leaky dispensationalists like John MacArthur. Before the war it was a Gentile settlement. Its inconceivable that the pigs were owned by Gentiles. If there was a difference, why do they read the Law of Moses but call it the Law of God in Nehemiah 8:8? But isnt it a funny coincidence that pork happens to be on Gods list of forbidden food. He was completely in the thrall of sin. 1). Be this as it may, the district was I wouldn't care to speculate how many demons possessed this man, but the man can only identify himself as a person who is possessed by an almost innumerable host of evil spirits and he doesn't even remember his own name. The list in the first chapter of Leviticus contains only bovine, sheep, goats and pigeons; all typified later, in Leviticus 11, as clean/pure animals. (eds.). Worse yet, dont trust one who says Scripture evolves. It was a leading city of Syria in commerce, culture, and religion. Besides the jokes being in poor taste, they make his sermon seem less than professional. Post the Definition of Gerasene to Facebook, Share the Definition of Gerasene on Twitter, More than 250,000 words that aren't in our free dictionary, Expanded definitions, etymologies, and usage notes. They were not. Ligon Duncan (MDiv, Covenant Theological Seminary; PhD, University of Edinburgh) is the Chancellor & CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary, the John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology, and the President of RTS Jackson. (we dont invent stories to let people know Jesus has power over the Tooth Fairy, do we?). These three verse from John really are earth-shattering. This passage is fundamentally about Jesus. Over the years, Ive had to prove all this to myself first, and it took soul-searching and tons of Scripture research. The miracles that are recorded here, just like the one that we saw last week, are seen by that small circle of disciples that is following Jesus around. But look at how many times God let it be known in the Law and in very certain terms eating pork was offensive. It all belongs to God. He should know that centuries before the prophet Isaiah spoke against Jews eating pork and hanging around in tombs. He also makes excursions into Gentile territory, such as when he exorcizes the Gerasene/Gadarene demoniac (Mark 5:1-20). In his description of the boundaries of Perea, Josephus mentions Gerasa as one of the cities on the eastern boundary between Perea and Arabia, the other border cities being Philadelphia and Sebonitus (Jos. And he is sent out to negotiate with Aragorn and Gandalf, and the others. Before the war it was a Gentile settlement. Those people were Jews in Nazareth. Jerash (aka Gerasa, Gerash or Gerasha) is the capital and the largest city of the Jerash Governorate in Jordan, but in ancient times it was one of the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan cities in the ancient Near East.Settled by humans as early as the Neolithic period (c. 7500-5500 BCE) and founded as a Hellenistic city in the 2nd century BCE, Jerash is This is clearly an extraordinary event. It is repeated over and over. He was Jewish and tragically lost. Pork is the most infamous of all-things-not-Jewish and the bad press that pigs receive in Scripture, and in contemporary Western society, is another reason why I accuse both pastors of being less than honest in their explanations about Mark 5. One was, His Name Was Legion, Not Ligon. I have been confused with Legion all my life and it worries me that it's not just the sound of the name, but I want to make it clear that Legion is not in any way related to Ligon. Gods Law has a law that you cannot change Gods Law. It was situated some 30 miles southeast of Gadara, on the borders of Peraea and a little north of the river Jabbok. I dont see anything of that sort in the story. Many of the events are corroborated by other authors. Remember, Jesus took direct, extensive action against a significant group of Gentile pig farmers he didnt just say something bad against the pigs. Because God is so steady, and doesnt reverse or repeal, He can be trusted to do what He promises; good or evil. And so the fact that youre in a country with a herd of pigs lets you know that youre in Gentile territory and that's part of the point of the story. In other words, the Roman Catholic Church took four Greek words torn out of mid-sentence and declared them to mean, the end (read, death) of the law [of Moses], although numerous verses declare the fixed, eternal character of Gods Perfect Law. Why doesn't the good pastor entertain that avenue of possibility or is he too busy making one-liners to connect any dots? 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. Incredible. Knowing the correct genre of what you are studying is a major step toward getting a correct message or interpretation. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. Similarly, as God incarnate, Jesus knows the future. Jesus was also a prophet. But as for God, what reason did He give Mr. Merciless for not destroying Nineveh? We know that two thousand pigs go over the cliff. Fourthly, Jesus specifically went to the land of the Gentile Gadarenes or Gerasenes, east of the Sea of Galilee, to minister to them.