HOW IS IT WHAT BE VII: DRYING OFF AND STARTING OVER

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And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region. Matthew 8:28-34

And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. Jude 1:6-7

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. 2 Peter 2:4-10

So, then God took any Angels that indulged in sexual relationships with the daughters of Man and chained them up until Judgment. But the damage had been done. Man had become corrupted and full of evil and disobedience to God, as we see such beginning to happen in our time.

Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold,  I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms

in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. (Genesis 6:11-16) 

Now can you picture this? There is Noah and his family suddenly building this giant boat. People surely thought he was nuts. He must have spent a good while working on this thing. Even gathering enough gopher wood would take time. (By the way, no one knows what gopher wood was, only it came from some unidentified tree.) Scripture never tells us how long Noah worked on the Ark, but one can assume it was awhile. Knowing how people can be they probably traveled for miles just to laugh at this fool. And what could Noah tell them. “Hey, God told me to do this. God said:

For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. (Genesis 6:17)

That probably just brought more division and laughter. “A Flood? What’s a flood?” Remember, it hadn’t rained yet, never been a thunder storm.. Up until now the earth was still watered by morning dew, underground springs and little streams, hardly any kind of threat to anyone and there certainly was nothing big enough to float the Queen Mary Noah was putting together. Besides people had grown so wicked they probably didn’t even recognize God anymore, so who cared what God said. 

Who did this Noah guy think he was anyway? If there was a God why would this God talk to Noah and promise to protect his family? How was he any different than anyone else?

But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according  to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. (Genesis 6:18-22)

Something to be noted is it says “Of the birds”. The Hebrew word “`owph” (pronounced ōfe) means not only birds, but fowl, flying

insects and basically all flying things, so would include bats.

Now as to the question whether all the animals would fit in the ark. This is a common objection people raise. How could two of every animal in the world fit in a boat, after all, there exist 1,082,300 species. Ah, so how big was this boat? if you ask people saying all animals wouldn’t fit that question, they probably shrug their shoulders. They don’t know the size, nor can they say how many animals were coming aboard. 

It was a big boat. Depending on which scale of cubit you wish to use, and the standard scale was 18 inches at the smaller end and 22 inches at the larger. The Ark would have had a capacity of over 1,300,000 to over 1,500,000 cubic feet of space. Those cubic feet are a bit hard to grasp in the head, so think of it this way. The Ark had the same capacity as 565 train stock cars.  

Now we need to guess at how many animals we are talking about hauling in our 565 railroad cars. Using today’s number of species, which we said was 1,082,300, we can immediately eliminate about 1,060,000, meaning all the fish in the sea and a number of other species, simply weren’t on the ark. Some arthropods probably were brought aboard and those that were really didn’t take up much space. There are 838,000 species of arthropods, the largest group by far. We think of them basically as bugs.Many bugs don’t breath through nostrils, but through tubes in their bodies. In Genesis 7:22 notes, “Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.” All many arthropods would need to survive would be something that floated, like a fallen tree, the remains of a knocked down dwelling or a dead body, something they could crawl up upon out of the water.

Anyway, you subtract all the species that didn’t need be in the Ark, you are left with 21,100 species and 2 each equals 42,200. Round this up to 50,000 to include those clean species and calculate that the average one, (including dinosaurs) was the size of a sheep. You can transport 50,000 sheep in 208 train cars, only 26% of the Ark’s capacity. Plenty of room for all the animals and their feed and supplies, plus Noah and his family.

However, there were probably less than 50,000 creatures, far less. Over and over God told Noah to take birds according to their kind, creeping things according to their kind, beasts according to their kind. You wouldn’t be talking species, you would be talking about kind. To give an example of what this probably means is Noah would not need to take a Doberman Pincher, Collie, Labrador Retriever, Chihuahua, and other dogs. He probably only needed a male and female wolf because all our modern dogs come from the Wolf’s DNA through gene mutation, cross-breeding, natural selection, etc. This means Noah might have been dealing with less than 50,000 creatures.

But God had demanded this and Noah had the faith to follow God.

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. (Hebrews 11: 6-7)

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing[c] that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. Genesis 7:1-5 

It doesn’t say, but I don’t believe Noah had to go out and play Frank “Bring ‘Em Back Alive”Buck. I think God brought all the animals for the Ark to where Noah was for him to lead onto the boat.

Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth. Genesis 7:6-10

Okay here, Noah was six hundred years of age when the flood water came. Noah and his wife and their three son’s and daughter-in-laws entered the ark just in time to escape the water. So we have to ask, just when did Noah begat Jepheth, Shem and Ham (and I still say Ham was an odd name to give a good Jewish boy, but maybe Ham wasn’t all that good). These three boys had to be old enough to have wives by the time the Ark was set afloat. Noah was six hundred years old and all we have been told so far is that Noah had three sons after he was 500 years old in Genesis 5:32. Now we know about a hundred years had passed between have any children and clambering aboard his boat. Do we know anything else?

These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters. Genesis 11:10-11.

We see that Noah was 502 years old when Shem was born according to Genesis 11:10-11 Since Noah began having children at age 500, Shem was not the firstborn.  If he wasn’t, who was?

Well, process of elimination. In Genesis 9:24 we read

When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him.

So Ham was the youngest of the boys. How do we know? We get the answer from the context of the verses surrounding 9:14 

Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father's nakedness. Genesis 9:20-23

This says that Ham was the youngest.

Since we now know Noah was 502 when Shem was born and Ham was born after that as the youngest, and we know that Noah began having children at age 500, this only leaves Jepheth as the first born.

But there are other questions besides the ages of Noah’son. First, Noah was  considered a righteous man, yet one of the first things we learn after he and his family survive the great flood is that he planted a vineyard and got drunk on the wine he produced. This was not a good choice of behavior. 

In Ephesians 5:18 we are warned: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit.” Of course here we quote a New Testament verse, something written long after Noah, yet what is wrong in the eyes of God is wrong always. 

The Jewish Rabbis in their midmash tried to excuse Noah’s behavior. They argue that Noah was ignorant of the intoxication of wine not having any experience with fermentation. Maybe, but Noah was not born yesterday. he lived for 500 years during the evil that the world had become and probably in that time there were some drinking parties.

So Noah stripped down and fell asleep in his tent. What was the big deal that Ham stumbled upon his nakedness?

Adam and Eve were ashamed of being naked and be seen by a family member even way back that was a shameful act. Ham also acted shamefully. He should have simply covered his father and kept quite about it, but instead he decided to make it a display. He went out and told his brothers and probably expected they would go see what he had seen. 

Instead they respected their dad and walked in backward so as not to see him and covered his body.

When Noah awoke and found out how his youngest son made sport of him he declared a curse, not on Ham but on Canaan.

Why Canaan?

Because God can see the future as well as the present. He can also look into the heart of man and he must have seen that Canaan would contain the same features of disrespect and carnal nature of his father, Ham. He would see who generated from Canaan, Amorites, Jebusites, Sidonistes and others who would war against Israel. In this curse was the seed that sent Abraham and the Jews to possess the land of Canaan.

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.

The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits[d] deep. And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. Genesis 7:11-24

CREATURES AND CHARACTERS: PART 3 -- PIGS IN THE SUDS

 Say, Satan, Do you think that pig in the photo is thinking about flying right into that river and drowning itself?

Huh, what do flying suicidal pigs have to do with the Bible?

I'll get to that later.

I would hope, it's hard enough understanding that book

without you confusing people further. I don't know what you see in that anthology of stories, myths, fables and poems.

That's because it isn't an anthology. It's one continuous history of God's relationship to man from the past creation of this world to the future end of this world.  If we accept that fact, We'll have a better understanding not only of the Bible, but of world events going on around us today.

Such as?

Such as not being scared by all the Global Warming hype.When you understand what the Bible says is ahead, such as not being fearful of threats from other countries when you see how the Bible says they will line up.  Kermit, The Thinking Frog…

What? First flying pigs and now thinking frogs? You’ll believe anything.

Kermit was a friendly blogger I knew and he said, "The only thing we have to fear is God Himself." He is absolutely right, for we have a Fearsome and Awesome God, who has let us in on His plan in the Bible so we need not fear anything else. 

Also, understanding the Bible as a whole clears up a lot of those little events in the Bible that seem mysterious. 

Oh Yeah, how is all that stuff in the Old Testament relevant to anything. A lot of you people find that mysterious enough to avoid. All those "begats" and hard to pronounce names like Jebusites, Girgashites,  Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. I bet most wouldn't know a Pathrusite from a Stalagmite. What's with all these ites, huh?

Well, except for Stalagmite,  they are groups of people named after somebody's son, you know, the result of all those “begats”. Take the Girgashites…

Gesundheit!

Very funny, but I prefer God Bless.

Well, I prefer the German health.

Girgashites, in fact, all those "ites" you named, were descendants of Ham. You remember Noah had three sons, Japheth, Shem and Ham.  Genesis 6:10. The Nations that came from these 3 sons can be found in Genesis 10. Ham did a shameful thing after the flood and some think he was cursed, but it was his son Canaan who received the curse. Genesis 9:25. 

Ah, ha, your Rub-a-dub-dub Three men in a Tub silliness!

Yes.

You said Pigs. Where are the flying pigs?

We'll get to them. Anyway, Shem is the ancestor of the Jews. We get the term Semite from him, a corruption from the Greek or Latin because there is no H in those languages. Japheth's descendants went north after the flood. We of European blood descended from his tribes. Ham had a son whose name you probably know by the country he inhabited. His name was Canaan. 

Canaan begat Sidon, his firstborn, and he begat Hitt,  Jebu,  Amor and so forth. In fact his next begat was Girgash…

And Girgash formed a tribe called Girgashites, I am bettin’.

Correct. And the Girgashites and those other tribes all lived in the land of milk and honey God intended for the Hebrews. God drove all those people out of Canaan because they weren't very nice. He took His time, but those peoples were driven out. 

Ha, took his time. Maybe your God isn't so powerful after all. Why didn't he just zap them, like Sodom and Gomorrah? Use up all his power turning Lot's wife into salt, did he?

God wasn't too weak to "zap". He did it because the Hebrews weren't strong enough to subdue the country yet. If God had zapped those tribes, then the wild animals would have been left uncontrolled and overrun the place before the Hebrews could get a handle on them. God is pretty sparing with the zapping and the miracles. He likes to work his plan through people, only he knows why. More to the point, the Hebrews weren’t doing as they should, so in Judges 2:21-23 God decided to let them do it themselves:

I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not.” So the Lord left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

 But that's another story, just accept it for now that God always knows what he's doing.

Back to our subject, the Girgashites ended up controlling a region southeast of the Sea of Galilee, known later as the Gadarenes or the Gerasenes. This is an area known for the Decapolis, or the ten cities. We have cities such as Gadara and Gerasa in this country. Near Gadara are a lot of tombs and on the east shore of Lake Tiberias (another name of the Sea of Galilee), at el-Kursi, near the Wadi es-Samak is a cliff. We have a story about Jesus involving tombs and a cliff in the region of the Gerasenes. Might not have been those specific tombs or that particular cliff, but these were things in the area so it wasn't unusual they were mentioned.

Okay, nice little boring history lesson, or is it a geography lesson? All this gobbly-gook about Girgashites, Gerasenes, Gerasa and Gadara and you still haven't said anything about pigs.

I mentioned Ham.

Oh, now who is being cute. 

Fine, old haunt, I'll get to the flying pigs, but first I want you to contemplate Isaiah 65:1-7

"I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, 'Here am I, here am I.'

All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations-a people who continually provoke me to my very face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on altars of brick; who sit among the graves and spend their nights keeping secret vigil; who eat the flesh of pigs, and whose pots hold broth of unclean meat; who say, 'Keep away; don't come near me, for I am too sacred for you!' 

Such people are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that keeps burning all day.

"See, it stands written before me:
I will not keep silent but will pay back in full; I will pay it back into their laps-both your sins and the sins of your fathers,"
says the LORD."

But since you’ve roamed in here, we’ll talk about this story put together from Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-39.

They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. "What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”

When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He cried out and fell at his feet. He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me! I beg you, don't torture me!”

For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man, had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”

Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"

"My name is Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him."for we are many.”

Excuse my interruption of this reading, Satan, but you know these guys.

Friends of mine from way back.

Figured such. Please continue the reading.

And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs. Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them. " and He gave them permission.

He said to them, "Go!" and so when they, the demons, the evil spirits, came out of the man, and they went into the pigs, and the whole herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned and died in the water.

When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off, went into the town and reported all this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man, how the demon-possessed man had been cured. —and told about the pigs as well. And then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus, when they saw him, to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. The people, they began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

So He got into the boat and left. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed, whom the demons had gone out, begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but Jesus sent him away but said, saying, "Go Return home to your family and tell them how much the Lord God has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." So the man went away and told all over town and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

When Pigs Fly and Pigs Die

 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Say to the Israelites: 'Of all

the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.

" 'There are some that only chew the cud or only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. The coney, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. Leviticus 11:1-7 NIV

So we're back on pigs again. What's with the photo, we can eat the cow in the foreground, but not the pig in the far background? We going to discuss Solomon's barbecue recipes today?

Forget the photo. Did you hear what was read to you?

Ah, yes. Shocking, absolutely shocking. Poor little piggies, what'd they ever do to anyone? How can you think so highly of someone who'd do a thing like that?

What? Release a couple guys from the possession of Demons?

No, drown a bunch of pigs. And the people there didn't like it. He scared them so much they told him to go away. Probably afraid they were next to be sent over a cliff to drown.

You do so have a way to twist things to suit the worldly view, don't you?

That's my job.

Let's go beyond what you say and think about this. Jesus and his disciples had been teaching to a lot of crowds in and around the Jewish side of Galilee. So why did he suddenly, unexpectedly, kind of out of the blue up and say one day, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." What was on the other side of the lake?

The region of the Gerasenes or Gadarenes.

And who had settled this region?

Oh, no, are you getting back into that Girgashites gibberish again?

Yes, were the Girgashites Jewish?

No, they were enemies of the Jews; pretty mean ones that your God wanted wiped out.

Right, and so Jesus just on a whim decides to sail over and visit a non-Jewish territory.  It wasn't smooth sailing either, not like they just got to relax on the water awhile. They set off and a fierce storm hit their boat and rocked them badly, scared the Disciples badly. Almost seems as if someone didn't want Him to go.

Hey, don't look at me!

Couldn't have been Jesus felt compelled to go after the Girgashites. They seem to have disappeared from history before this trip. At least Titus Flavius Josephus, the great historian of the Jews couldn't find any trace of Girgashites left in this period.

No, Jesus just suddenly sails off with his disciples for Gentile territory. He's got disciples with Him who don't seem to get it and who show a real lack of faith on the way and when he gets back he is going to be rejected by the people in his hometown. He is also beginning to come under regular attack from the religious leaders among the Jews. Yet, he goes off to a Gentile country and exercises a couple of blokes who may not even have been Jewish and ticks off a whole town of people. Why?

Cause he heard there was a herd (heh heh, little play on words there) of pigs and His Father had it in for pigs?

Forget the pigs right now. There may have been several reasons. He may have wanted to teach his disciples a little more about faith. The Demons knew who he was; maybe he wanted his followers to hear that. And maybe he was pointing to both his purpose and to the future as prophesied in that passage from Isaiah 65:

"I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, 'Here am I, here am I.'

All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations-a people who continually provoke me to my very face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on altars of brick; who sit among the graves and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs, and whose pots hold broth of unclean meat; who say, 'Keep away; don't come near me, for I am too sacred for you!' 

Such people are smoke in my nostrils, a fire that keeps burning all day.

"See, it stands written before me:
I will not keep silent but will pay back in full; I will pay it back into their laps-both your sins and the sins of your fathers,"
says the LORD.

So what was going to happen?

Jesus was going to preach His message to the Jews, that He was the Messiah and they were going to reject Him. He would then take his message to the Gentiles, those who didn't call on his name and who didn't seek him. Like the Demon-possessed men the nation of Israel was saying "stay away, don't come near us". The Jews, God's chosen people, the people he loved, were gorging themselves on the unclean things of the world. They were pigs hurtling themselves toward a cliff, possessed by sin, about to be drowned and perish.  The Jews had made themselves unclean by long practicing the ceremonies of the Gentiles. They were in a sense possessed by the world and had become unclean in the sight of God.

I believe this event was partly to point to that and party to demonstrate God's mercy to the Gentiles who also needed Him.

So he killed a bunch of pigs and scared a bunch of people.

He didn't kill those pigs, the Demons did, because all Demons know to do is destruction. And did He really so scare those people they wanted him away? Or was there possibly another reason?

What do you mean?

I mean, why were those pig herds there? What was the purpose? Those pigs were doomed anyway, you know. They were going to be somebody's ham and eggs or pork chops and applesauce. Those were valuable animals. That loss of herd cost somebody big bucks. Yet, they came and asked Jesus to leave rather than arrest him and take him to court to make restitution.

Have you considered this pig raising was an illegal operation, a black market in pork being sold to the Jews across the Sea? Perhaps those herdsmen were even Jews themselves. Remember the Prodigal Son? He sank so low he was feeding swine. Where would he be feeding pigs in Israel? A Jew was unclean who handled pigs. Perhaps the Lord was picturing the Prodigal Son working over on the other side of the Sea of Galilee in this very field.   Nonetheless, if this was a black market operation, they were similar to a drug supplier in our world. The drug dealer isn't going to the authorities if you somehow destroy his product because he would be in trouble if he did. So it may have been with this town and they just sent Jesus away so as not to make trouble or get their business closed down.

Jesus allowed the Demons to go into the herd, he didn't order them there and the Demons destroyed the illegal product used by people in defiance of God's will. Remember, God's justice is as prevalent in his Word as His mercy.

One other thing I'd like to mention. You'll be especially interested in this.

I will? What?

What were the demons so worried about? Why did they ask to go into the pigs?

Is it hot in here or is it just me?  Think I'll step out for some air right now.

What did the Demons cry out? "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time? I beg you don't torture me. Swear to God you won't torture me!" They begged Him repeatedly not to throw them into the Abyss.  

The Demons knew scripture. They knew they would be locked up and eventually thrown into Hell. They also knew this was to be in some future time. They feared this greatly and they knew very well that Jesus had the power to imprison them until Judgment day. They didn't want to be locked up. So they begged to go from the men into the pigs. Jesus gave them His permission to go into the pigs, he did not send them into the herd. The Demons then just did what was their nature and destroyed the pigs. Don't know where the demons went after the pigs drowned, perhaps they possessed a school of sharks or something.

I am sure we could dig much more out of this occurrence, but this is enough to ponder for now. But I don't think any thing in scripture happens at random and I believe all of Scripture links together in one way or another. 

I want to give a nod to Dr. Ron Brown (pictured on right with his wife, Pat), professor at Wilmington

University, teacher of Pastors as a member of SEND International- World Missions, Sunday School teacher extraordinaire and author of Preparing for the Realities of Mission in a Changing World (2006) for pointing out the relationship of the Girgashites to the Gerasenes and his discussion of the black marketing of pigs. I have deep respect for Dr. Brown's scholarship and Biblical knowledge, and am grateful for the many times he has challenged my thinking.