The Devils Choked in the Sea - Mark 5:13

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 in chapter five and verse thirteen of his book, Mark shares how Jesus, “gave them leave” and they “were choked in the sea” where we read:

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.

The verse reads, “And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine:” Mark began with the words, “and forthwith” or “and immediately and straightway” “Jesus” which refers to “the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate whose name means Jehovah is Salvation” “gave them leave” or “permitted them to go out, depart and be dismissed”. “And the unclean spirits” or “the not cleansed, impure, morally lewd and foul simple essence which are devoid of all or at least all grosser matter, and possessed of the power of knowing, desiring, deciding and acting” “went out” which means “left, departed and were dismissed”, “and entered into the swine” which means “and made entrance and came into the hogs or pigs”. Mark shared how Jesus told the “unclean spirits” to leave the man, and they left immediately and “went into” the “pigs”.

The verse continues, “and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.” Mark added the words, “and the herd ran violently down” which means “and the group and company of hogs were set in rapid motion, incited, stirred up, urged on, started forward impetuously and rushed toward and along” “a steep place” which means “a precipice, cliff or drop off” “into the sea” or “into the large body of water called the sea”, “(they were about two thousand)” which means “there were about two thousand hogs” “and were choked” or “and were strangled, throttled and caused to wheeze” “into the sea” which means “in the large body of water called the sea”. Mark shared how the whole group of around “two thousand” hogs began to “run violently down” a “cliff” into the “sea water” below where they were “strangled and drowned” within the waters of the sea.

When we consider Mark's words in this verse, we see when the “unclean spirits” were sent into the hogs, their reaction was to begin running “violently” down a steep place or “cliff” where they fell into the sea and drowned. We can only begin to imagine what it sounded and looked like as this wild bunch of hogs squealed and ran toward the water in a stampede and were drowned within it. This only begins to demonstrate the power which these “demons” had over the man in whom they dwelt, and because Jesus simply gave them permission to leave, they left “violently running”. God demonstrated His power over “darkness” through His Son Jesus over and over again, and regardless of how powerful the forces of the “devil” may seem in the world, Jesus is stronger. Those who are influenced by Him need only to yield their lives to Jesus as their personal “Savior and Lord” and all the evil powers influencing them must leave. Let all who read these words know the “power of Jesus” and submit their lives to Him.

Next time Mark shares what happened with, “they that fed the swine fled”, 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".