were the gerasenes gentiles were the gerasenes gentiles

Last week, we were crossing over with Jesus to the other side, weathering a fierce storm until he woke up and calmed the sea. For being kind to birds!? 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. Now what happens in this passage? (, Worse yet, dont trust one who says Scripture. (photo by Jean Pierre, Pexels), Reading the Word of God is wonderful. 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. Israel was to be a nation of priests, prophets, and missionaries to the world (Exodus 19:46). Its a weird story, but its in the Gospels a couple of times, so we have to accept it as truth. He doesnt want to connect the dots and he doesn't want us to either. The Son of God mercifully cast thousands of defiling demons out of a lost Jew and purposefully launched the legion killers into two thousand defiling swine. There he meets a man seized with an unclean spirit (Mark) or with demons (Luke). 1). When Jesus said that he had not came to destroy the Law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17), he was not talking to the Jews who already knew the Law was permanent, he was looking into future centuries and talking to those Christians who would try to destroy it. Knowing the correct genre of what you are studying is a major step toward getting a correct message or interpretation. 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 (, Although the Almightys statement is only one sentence in, For I myself witness truthfully to everyone hearing the words of the prophecy of this book, , Besides Johns cute play on words dont, Also, Orthodox Jews see a clear connection between, This curse should deter makers of dispensational charts from chopping up Scripture because having my share taken from the Book of Life, or my name , Also, Johns emphasis do not take away from , 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've ended up, and Ill explain it later, giving the title The Man Jesus Renamed. Now that may peak your interest because in the passage no name is ever given for the man, either before or after his conversion, so you may be wondering why I've named it that. A discussion occurred between Professor Huxley and Mr. Gladstone in "The Nineteenth Century" for 1892 as to the morality of the act, the critical questions being whether (1) Gerasenes were Jews; and (2) if so, was it lawful for them to keep swine? Who owned the pigs? Explained by Sharing Culture Expert Answers: Gergesenes means "those who come from pilgrimage or fight." How could they say Christians not need be concerned about the welfare of animals or that they have little value, or even laugh about the death of thousands, when such beliefs are set side-by-side with Gods Word? It pains them to admit that Jesus was/is a Jewish Messiah and not a Christian one. Its one thing to understand that He personally never changes. (So much for those latter revelations or new religions arriving centuries later.). And it's very clear that theyre in Gentile territory because they find themselves in a country where there is a huge, huge herd of pigs. Well let's pray before we read God's Word together. OS Supported: Windows 98SE, Windows Millenium, Windows XP (any edition), Windows Vista, Windows 7 & Windows 8 (32 & 64 Bit). War II. Pretty quickly the whole city was in an uproar. This curse should deter makers of dispensational charts from chopping up Scripture because having my share taken from the Book of Life, or my name wiped out of the Book of Life (Revelation 3:5) doesnt sound very cool. End of story. Gergasa (modern name Kersa) was a small village nearby, and Gadara was the larger region of which the village was a part, with Gerasa as the regional capital. That will give us the perfect answer. Perhaps even ask who might that future group of individuals be to whom Jesus will say, Depart, I never knew you (Matthew 7:22) because even though they called him, Lord, Lord [and had gone to seminary and made dispensational charts] they somehow were on the wrong path. Gods Law even has two commands that equate domestic livestock with wild animals. He should know that centuries before the prophet Isaiah spoke against Jews eating pork and hanging around in tombs. The Gerasenes, however, was located in the territory of the Decapolis, a group of ten cities with a majority population of Gentiles. 10:31). They were not. Almost there. And the only real bargaining chip according to this interpretation was offering them the two thousand big pink chips. The bottom line is, I don't know why Jesus did that and neither do you and neither does anyone else. Just like in the Garden, when God judged Adam, he didn't strike him directly, but the ground soil instead. I asked him how could it be that Jesus carried on an intelligent, protracted, two-way conversation with an illness after the illness was excised out of the man. For one, Leviticus 22:28 forbids righteous farmers from killing a cow and its calf on the same day. He has stabbed the heads of many lands. 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, I repeat again that I believe the pastors are dishonest for not admitting this fact. For these reasons, the writers of the gospels gave no explanation and the Twelve asked no question about why Jesus destroyed all the swine. The tricky bit is finding the correct reason why gentle Jesus dumped hundreds of murderous, unclean spirits on so many swine. 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. The modern village Jarash is situated on the hillside above the ruins, built with stones from the ruins. 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. viii. Our ways are not as Thine. Show us the sins of our hearts that we are captive to. But the Almighty said it so many times. Executive Committee of the Editorial Board. Now the big-mouth irking this Greek artisan was our good friend, the Apostle Paul. Yet being part of the Godhead means Messiah cannot not flip-flop his opinions. Three witnesses! With such a track record, what difference would Legions size or strength make? Again, Gods anointed one faces down an army, one man against thousands. The gospels. 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. 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. The site is identified today with the town of Kersa, or Gersa, just below Wadi es-Samak. They even allowed themselves to go ballistic on the Sabbath, which shows how angry they really were. Am I forgiven by saying, I just, The Land of Israel is/was no place for two thousand pigs. Yet they tried to throw one of their own off a cliff (Luke 4:29). Most Christians believe Messiah is the Second Person of the Trinity. Sadly, Luther and other Reformed theologians repeat the same theological rubbish, despite Jesus saying he did not come to destroy the Law. Such a contradiction in character! They sort of seek Him out. A wonderful verse that reveals Him to us and probably the most heartwarming is the commandment in the Torah that mother animals are allowed to stay with their newborns for at least seven days before the offspring can be taken for food or for sacrifice (Exodus 22:30; Leviticus 22:27). Download Microsoft .NET 3.5 SP1 Framework. In some of your Bibles, it may say Gergesenes or Gadarenes in the parallel passages in the gospels. So its a fair comparison to place Pauls actions in Ephesians side-by-side with Jesuss actions by the Lake of Galilee. They ask Him if they can enter some nearby pigs, and He lets them. Its all a matter of being logical. Where He goes, they show up and they say things to Him. Instead they joke around and give pat answers. The story of the Gerasene demoniac thereby foreshadows the mission to the Gentiles that would begin in full force with the conversion of the Apostle Paul and Peter's ministry to Cornelius (Acts 910). One can only imagine the insanity the demoniac suffered at the hands of these evil forces. What need have we of further witnesses? In the three Synoptic Gospels and John 2:15, Jesus forces all the sellers out of the Temple courts. He was no longer naked and he was no longer babbling and he was no longer living amongst the tombs, but when they came, he was clothed and in his right mind and sitting at the Savior's feet. Gergesa is located, with relative certainty, midway along the E bank of the Sea of Galilee; Gadara is six m. SE from the S end of the Sea of Galilee; and Gerasa is some thirty-five m. SE. Next, what if our imaginary Jew damaged a ton of Gentile property under their very noses. This is clearly an extraordinary event. Additionally, the encounter takes place among the tombs, an earthly realm of the dead, so to speak. And you know what the most frightening thing of all is? But when the pigs need to be explained, he immediately seems lost and turns to heartless comedy. (For many a time it had seized him. The Bible doesnt say. I remember my boyhood pastor, Gordon Reed, preaching through a sermon series on the gospel on Mark coming to a passage about demon possession saying, I don't know much about demon possession, but I've read a lot of books about people on demon possession and they don't know much about demon possession either. Well, before you give counsel to Jesus about what He has done in this passage you may want to take stock about how much you know about demon possession. Fourthly, Jesus specifically went to the land of the Gentile Gadarenes or Gerasenes, east of the Sea of Galilee, to minister to them. WebGentiles [N] [T] [B] [S] (Heb., usually in plural, goyim), meaning in general all nations except the Jews. We said the last time that we were together that in Luke 8 you begin four miracle stories, all of which either happen in Galilee or in Gentile lands. So lets have an exquisite examination of Scripture to better appreciate what happened beside the lake and why the pigs ended up in it. Those famous four are sufficient to back up the Church's bias and with them one could pretend they say, Christ is the [dead] end of the Law [of Moses] (Luther and Calvin taught this), or maybe it means something very vague like, an end of a law is Christ. For a more advanced discussion of the vague quality of the text have a look at George Howards scholarly article. It's almost like the demons are inexorably drawn to Jesus. And holiness means salvation, as Paul wrote in two different letter, without holiness no man [or woman] shall see God (Hebrews 12:14 and Romans 6:22). Problem was, not even the pigs could withstand the madness these demonic forces manifested. HDB, II, p. 158, 159 for a detailed description.). For you Tolkien fans it reminds me of a character in the trilogy of the Lord of the Rings. Amen. Gods Everlasting Word is not something evolving or morphing into a strange new unusual thing, like some rose turning into a radish, or a carrot into a carnation. That amazing phrase, all of you be holy for I am holy did not start with Peter (1 Peter 1:16), because the apostle is quoting Leviticus. and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. Many New Testament manuscripts refer to the "Country of the Gadarenes" or "Gerasenes" rather than Who were the gerasenes in the bible? The man could break his earthly chains; he could not break his spiritual ones. Do you remember? I would have wanted a herd of swine had I been an Israelite in the desert. 10 ) It was the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, the area of the Decapolis. In the three Synoptic Gospels and, None of the verses below refute any of the. Who were the gerasenes in the bible? If we agree Messiah wrote the Law of God, we should then wonder why on earth he would come to Earth to take what he authored out of circulation or to annul it? Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way. You can follow him on Twitter. 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. Of course not. It pains them to admit that Jesus was/is a, Sixth Fact: True identity of the pig farmers. It was situated some 30 miles southeast of Gadara, on the borders of Peraea and a little north of the river Jabbok. But it was what they loved and they preferred it to everlasting blessing in Jesus Christ. Dr. Ligon Duncan | December 13, 2009. Are you seeing this? The district of the Gerasenes probably included that of the Gadarenes; so that the demoniac of Gergesa belonged to the country of the Gadarenes and also to that of the Gerasenes, as the same person may, with equal truth, be said to live in the city or the state, or in the United States. His actions now make sense in this new light. Late Latin Gerasenus, Gergesenus, from Greek Gerasnos, Gergesnos, from Gerasa, Gergesa ancient town in Palestine. Also, wouldnt that be a type of sin and another example of how he may not have perfectly kept the Law? But just a theory. So these four miracles show Jesus reaching out to Gentiles, either in Galilee or even in even more Gentile territory across the river. By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from Bible Gateway, a division of The Zondervan Corporation, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA, including commercial communications and messages from partners of Bible Gateway. Herod had massive building projects all over Israel. Flower blossoms wither. They need to face the cracks in their theologies. But Christianity early became important in the city; several churches were built during these centuries, so that by the 5th cent., Gerasa could send a bishop to the Council of Chalcedon. I cannot offer you a proof-text for this observation. If I still had some misgivings, Id be man enough to share them here. GotQuestions has three articles alone on the subject: here is their best. Two Sundays ago Take care then, how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away. They thought those pigs were theirs. 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. Maybe it was because they were unclean animals. That is why It was a leading city of Syria in commerce, culture, and religion. 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. 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. They belonged to God. There was a logic in this. III. Will the demons come back? 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. But if one cared to examine all of Gods Word, the only possible reason for Jesus to destroy the pigs in the exorcism seems to be connected to Gods opinion about ham. 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. WebMany New Testament manuscripts refer to the "Country of the Gadarenes" or "Gerasenes" rather than. 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. Here, it may well be that a herd of unclean animals has been used to take thousands of demons to their doom in the lake in anticipation of the final judgment. Sadly, GotQuestions misses the point, or they lie, saying that being distinct was all important to God. Asked by: Isidro Boehm V. Score: 4.9/5 to biblical Galilee, regarded, in opposition to Judaea, as a country of Gentiles (as in Matthew 4:15) What was Jairus occupation? They cannot cast a spell on Him. God told Jonah that it was not just all the people, but also so much livestock (Jonah 4:11). So why did the meek n merciful Son of Man cast countless defiling demons into two thousand piglets, sows and boars? take a dump and be cleaned.lol. It's this man who is in bondage to these demons. 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! Theories of men that attack statements made by God evolution for example are sadly creeping into the minds of Christian leaders. Thus, in him, God found a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14 and 1 Samuel 16:1). Lets use his recording to the event as our jumping off point: Every Bible passage is either a historical narrative piece (such as the one we just read), a legal and/or procedural document (the majority of the Five Books of Moses), or it is a poetic passage (like Psalms, Proverbs and much of the Prophets). Jesus made him whole. He seen himself demon possessed people that had extrodinary powers. It is true that we discover new thoughts or extra meaning over time, but Gods Word is permanent and cannot change. So many beautiful verses and motivating passages are in Scripture. Also oral tradition in this area talks of Christ coming and preaching the gospel there but being asked to leave shortly afterwards. The best text in Matthew reads Gadarenes, in Mark and Luke it reads Gerasenes, whereas some MSS preserve Gergesenes and Gergustenes (cf.