The Swine Feeders' News - Mark 5:14

Mark wrote how Jesus and His disciples, “came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes, And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains. Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the most high God? I adjure you by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is your name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there near unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea”, and in chapter five and verse fourteen of his book, Mark shares how Jesus, “they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city” where we read:

And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country.

And they went out to see what it was that was done.

The verse reads, “And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country.” Mark began with the words, “and they that fed the swine” or “and the people who provided fodder, grazing and keeping of the hogs or pigs” “fled” which means “ran away to safety by flight”, “and told it in the city” or “and announced, brought back tidings and rehearsed what happened in their dwelling place and abode”, “and in the country” or “and within the territory, region, country seat and neighboring hamlet”. Mark shared how the people who “fed” the hogs “ran away” and began to tell the story of Jesus sending the “demons” into the pigs that ran down the steep place and drowned in the sea.

The verse goes on to say, “And they went out to see what it was that was done.” Mark continued with the words, “and they went out to see” which means “and the people from the city, territory, region, country seat and neighboring hamlet came to the place where the hogs were drowned to discover” “what it was” which means “what happened” “that was done” which means “that had come into existence, began to be and happened”. Mark shared how the people who were told the story by the “feeders of the hogs” “went out to see” exactly what happened to the hogs.

When we meditate upon Mark's words in this verse, we can imagine the reaction of people to these men's stories as they told how “demons” were cast into their “hogs” and they ran down a cliff to drown in the sea below. The story was so unusual, especially since it was over two thousand pigs, the people had to go out and see for themselves what the men were telling them. Though this must have seemed to be a huge story to the people who owned the hogs, no doubt this was only a minimal one for Jesus who was still at the scene. We can imagine the people's surprise when they saw all their “hogs” floating in the sea, dead, and all of their investments – gone. God desires for people to have a personal relationship with Him through His Son Jesus, and when He gives an illustration like this one in the Bible, those reading the words should pay particular attention because He is the only One worthy of eternal “trust and belief”. Those who trust in their “hogs” are likely to be very upset whenever their “treasures” have drowned and there is nothing left of their temporary earthly investments.

Next time Mark shares how people saw, “him that was possessed with the devil … sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".