8). Many New Testament manuscripts refer to the "Country of the Gadarenes" or "Gerasenes" rather than Who were the gerasenes in the bible? 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. Answer: the impurity of the swine. And if he missed one, he didnt do it perfectly. Gadarene Swine The best text in Matthew reads Gadarenes, in Mark and Luke it reads Gerasenes, whereas some MSS preserve Gergesenes and Gergustenes (cf. 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? Many will rush for cover behind the last four Greek words of this verse, despite all of its textual, translation and interpretation problems. The real irritation is people saying the Law was impossible to obey, when Scripture says the opposite it true. Throughout Scripture itself, its a perpetual theme: Never believe anyone who says the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever (1 Peter 1:23; KJV) changeth! Gods altar was also separate and distinct and holy. If you have your Bibles I'd invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 8 and this great story of the man who was possessed by demons, liberated by the Lord Jesus Christ. Their line of reasoning supposes that Jesus wanted to save the man (men) but too many unclean spirits meant Jesus had to negotiate to get them to move out. In either case, the theological point is not helped by a fictitious story. 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. The Word of God cant change any more than God can. Why did Jesus mention Tyre and Sidon Twice he is described this way look at verse 35, the man from whom the demons had gone out and then again the man from whom the demons had gone and then in verse 38, the man from whom the demons had gone. When Jesus had asked him, What's your name? The first time he had answered, I'm the man possessed by a countless host of demons. Now, he's the man from whom those demons have gone out. And if I remember correctly, I think there is some tradition about other Apostles going to Spain. Luke doesn't think that it's an every day occurrence for a person to be possessed by a host of demons. Both Gerasa and Gadara were cities to the east of the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan. There's nothing that they can do to restrain His mighty arm. Also in a side note theres a rock with what looks like a human footprint in it, it is said this is Christs footprint. Its the exodus that Jesus has come to lead, an exodus from slavery to the prince of this world. Here is a prophesy that Christians love to quote: You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110.4) because it connects to Messiah Jesus. Therefore, if Paul had taken a single silver goddess Diana doll and tossed it into the Aegean Sea, what kind of a hornets nest of trouble would the apostle have stirred up for himself? Working with the Law, and not against it, Jesus is shown to be completely in character and not out of his mind. Lets bring in a certain Greek silversmith and see how calmly he handles himself. 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). WebWho were the gerasenes in the bible? When Jesus healed the possessed man, He allowed Legion to possess the nearby herd of swine. Therefore, as we have seen from the Deuteronomy and Revelation, and Jesuss own words, he was not allowed to adjust the Law of God and he had no intention of doing so. 3. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. gerasenes But we should never get too smug, thinking that we have corned the market on truth. This is a noteworthy fact because not every event in Jesuss ministry was thrice written down. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. For being kind to birds!? 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. He's no longer under the domination of demons or his own sin. So if you have the ears to hear, the Father and the Son both wrote the Law and gave it to 630,000 men (and women and children) at Mt. Ellicotts Commentary, for one, believes the four Greek words were a latter addition. ]. 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). But as for God, what reason did He give Mr. Merciless for not destroying Nineveh? Plus, these additions by John connect back to other passages in interesting ways. Once more, we have half of an unclear verse, that people use to make up a grand doctrine, all with the hopes it will magically annihilate one hundred clear, unambiguous verses which say the Law is permanent. I could have come up with better arguments against Christianity than Bertrand Russell, but in the course of this book in one of the chapters, he says it is this story that led him to the conclusion that Jesus was neither the best nor the most virtuous of men. when hes rolling around with a thousand killer-demons inside. Map of the Decapolis and its Cities - Bible History 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 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 (, All of these commandments and more are still taken literally by many Jews today. He's a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ now. So much for sola scriptura. Don't be surprised if none of them want the spotl One goose, two geese. The apostle had been busy preaching in Demetriuss hometown of Ephesus and Pauls message about the one true God was catching on. The next allusion to Gerasa concerns its capture during Vespasians campaign. SO Jesu said later in the NT, that meats going in the mouth does not defile because we excrete it out in the draught, solid and liquids, so physically our body cleans itself if there were toxins, and It is whatever comes out of the mind, is what taints a person, whatever he or she thinks. Gerasa was rebuilt in splendor and remained prosperous for several centuries. What's going on here? The most plausible reason Jesus chose the pigs was because he regarded people as precious and priceless, But are these good pastors on the right track? You can bet your bottom drachma there is. take a dump and be cleaned.lol. Suddenly, Mark 5 is clear. 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. Are we with a man, liberated, who trusted Jesus, who begged to be with Jesus and sought to be a disciple at His feet? The good pastor John MacArthur assumes in his video Dominating Powers, Part 2 (Mark 5:1-20), that Jesus must have been in Gentile territory because, as everyone knows, Jewish men and women dont hang around tombs even if they are demon possessed! Well Ill explain that too, later on. Now that's interesting isn't it? They were not. What happened to the demons when the pigs died? This made them fit for consumption. This verse alone puts an interesting twist on the oft-quoted man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath was made for man because originally Scripture makes the point that the Sabbath is for man and mans animals. ; Mark v.; Luke viii.) The pastors attempts to laugh off the haunting question about the meek and lowly Son of Man killing all the pigs is pathetic. The three passages that describe the incident with the demoniacs in the country of the Gerasenes, also called Gadarenes, are Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, and Luke 8:26-39. In actual fact, when you stop to think about it, If our faithful, unchanging Heavenly Father God made a straightforward decisive yet divisive decision and repeated it, Fourth Fact: Gods Enduring, Unchangeable Word, As was just so elegantly discussed, the destruction of the herd, Your word, O LORD, is everlasting; it is firmly fixed in the heavens. Thats right, adding or subtracting from Scripture, according to Scripture, is illegal. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met Him a man from the city who had demons. 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. The power of the Lord Jesus Christ over Satan. Instead they joke around and give pat answers. The shortest distance between two thoughts. He wrote under his own name, and also as John Oxenham for his poetry, hymn-writing, and novels. Web(2) Ye know that ye were Gentiles.--Better (according to the weight of MSS. Mark and Luke wrote that Jesus /gave the right to them to enter the pigs much stronger wording and more official than allow. a Gentile and What Does the Bible Say about That is the exact opposite of other godly men (compare with, Lastly, even if Mr. Pipers explanation were true, look what its, The hard-hearted views of the Bishop of Hippo are not biblical because righteous people are obliged by God to be considerate to all animals, even, Are not two sparrows sold for the smallest coin, and yet one of them cannot fall to the earth apart from your Father? Now what happens in this passage? For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. War II. Compared to the accounts of the same event in Matthew and Luke also written in simple narrative prose some details vary. Pig meat, according to Scripture, is as, Suddenly, Mark 5 is clear. If ever there was a small and weak proof-text, this is the one. When Jesus asked the mans name always a good way to start a conversation the demons replied, We are Legion, for we are many. A legion is a Roman military unit consisting of four to six thousand soldiers. Well this is a taste of the profound arguments that you will find in that book. 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. 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. The bottom line is, I don't know why Jesus did that and neither do you and neither does anyone else. So you not only see the power of Christ over Satan in this passage in the miracle that He performs in casting these demons out of this man, but you also see Jesus compassion towards sinners. His poetry includes Bees in Amber: a little book of thoughtful verse (1913) which became a bestseller. 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. As the Philistine dead were strewn from Gaza to Ekron, so thousands of Satans dead fell in their own territory. So why did the meek n merciful Son of Man cast countless defiling demons into two thousand piglets, sows and boars? 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. WebRoman Empire Map - Large Map of the Roman Empire in the Early First Century - Click around on the Places. His sermon should have given us some point, some excuse, or some logical explanation for it all. Wasnt this just a temporary fix to a bigger problem? The text of Mark 5 says pigs were nearby, but it doesnt say they were the only things nearby. Dont demons like sheep? But MacArthurs logical is funny for another reason. 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. Christians never finish reading the chapter. His actions now make sense in this new light. Most Christians believe Messiah is the Second Person of the Trinity.
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