THE WILD MAN OF GAD (THAT’S MOST OF US), AND THE SWINE (THAT’S THEM)

06-25-17 This message may be viewed live streaming video at www.tabernacleofmoses.org commencing today Sunday at 11:00am, and repeated 24/7 for one week; thereafter, the video, audio, and study notes are archived.

The brightness of our revelations depends upon the correctness of our doctrines (our building blocks)

(Mark 5:1-5)  And they [Jesus and His disciples in a ship (the church: Mat 14:22)] came over unto the other side [the opposing side] of the sea [of Galilee], into the country of the Gadarenes [1]. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him [“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw night to you” James 4:8] [he recognized Jesus so he at least must have heard (Rom 10:17) of Him before] out of the tombs a man [suffering greatly] with an unclean [Gk: impure: foul] [defiled and defiling] [2] spirit [Gk: demon] [devil, fallen angel, i.e., a defiled and defiling thought/messenger of Satan, an accuser], Who had his dwelling among the tombs [Gk: remembrance [memory], (a place of interment): grave, sepulchre]; and no man could bind him [physically], no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters [Gk: shackles for the feet] and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder [Gk: pulled in pieces] by him [with psychosomatic strength; with wildly insane raving], and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him [spiritually] [i.e., domesticate him]. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains [high], and in the tombs [low], crying [sobbing, wailing, shrieking in frustration], and cutting himself with stones. [Why? Answer: he was vainly (without success), desperately trying to remove the defiling devils (fallen angels, unclean thoughts, and thus influences) out of himself. Please note that he was an imputed for righteousness (saved) but “among the thorns” sacrifice-withheld (Zebah and Zalmunna) Jew, a Christian in current terminology] [3]

1.     Commentary: “the Gadarenes” = were saved Jewish people of the tribe of Gad living east of the river Jordan (symbol of the wilderness) within which land was located the city of Succoth. The Gadarenes were, symbolically, an “among the thorns” people (Mat 13:22), whose citizens were severely “taught” (Judg 8:16) obedience and sacrifice to God in the Judgment rather than being killed outright like the not saved Jewish citizens living in Penuel who dwelt “on stony ground” (Mark 4:5). Previously, the tribe of Gad had declined Joshua’s offer to live in the Promised Land, and was granted (with conditions) their desire to dwell adjacent to (outside) the Promised Land immediately east of the river Jordan. However, Jacob had prophesied about his son Gad in Genesis 49:19 [a], and this present wild man of Gad is a portrayal of those persons, symbolized by the Gadarenes, who are now dwelling “among the thorns” but will eventually overcome their inner disbelief through a very harsh “teaching,” i.e., the Great Tribulation, ministered to them with the “thorns of the wilderness and briers.” (Judg 8:16).

a.     (Gen 49:19)  Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

2.     defile = Dict: derived from “foul.” 1. to make filthy or dirty; pollute. 2. to make ceremonially unclean. 3. to corrupt. 4. to profane or sully.

3.     (Luke 8:26,27)  And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against [Gk: on the opposite side of] Galilee. And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city [consisting of a large group of people] a certain man, which had devils [Gk: demons] [unclean defiled and defiling spirits, fallen angels] long time, and ware no clothes [i.e., he was wild], neither abode in any house [he was not domesticated, not tamed; he was homeless], but [he dwelt] in the tombs [in the cemetery of his mind, visiting that graveyard of memories “always, night and day”].

(Mark 5:6-10)  But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him [“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw night to you” James 4:8 (2x)], And cried [Gk: croaked] with a loud voice [of a defiled and defiling fallen angel], and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee [“I solemnly implore you” Amplif. Bible] by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean [Gk: impure: foul] spirit [a defiled and defiling fallen angel]. And he [Jesus] asked him [the defiled and defiling fallen angel], What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion [ref: a Roman legion of 6,000 soldiers]: for we are many. And he [the defiled and defiling fallen angel(s)] besought him much [begged Him] that he would not send them [plural] away out of the country. [1]

1.     (Luke 8:28-30)  When he saw Jesus, he [the wild man] cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice [the defiled and defiling fallen angel(s)] said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. (For he had commanded the unclean spirit [the defiled and defiling fallen angel(s)] to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught [Gk: seized] him [(internally, inside his mind)]: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands [with psychosomatic strength], and was driven of the devil [fallen angel(s)] into the wilderness.) [2] And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into [cares, deceitfulness of riches, lusts “entering in” Mark 4:19] him.

2.     wilderness = Gk: lonesome, by implication (waste): desert, desolate, solitary, wilderness. [the world]

UNCLEAN FOUL (DEFILED AND DEFILING) ANIMALS (A METAPHOR OF CERTAIN MEN)

(Mark 5:11-13)  Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding [Gk: hogs] [1,2]. And all the devils [defiled and defiling fallen angels] besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them [clearly exemplified by the current “strong delusion” (2 Thes 2:11) being sent by God]. (Mark 5:13) [a single important prophetic verse:] And forthwith Jesus gave them leave [Gk: allowed: permitted them]. And the unclean spirits [defiled and defiling fallen angels] went out [of the heretofore wild man], and entered into the [defiled and defiling] swine [a metaphor for men “on the rock” Luke 8:13]: and the herd ran [Gk: plunged] violently [Gk: (were) spurred on, urged on] [by the fallen angels] down [indicating the defining keynote of mankind’s prevailing violence during our lengthy 2,000 year downward plunge toward eternal separation from the peace (the opposite of violence) of God)] a steep place [Gk: an overhanging, a precipice][i.e., a place of “no return”] into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked [Gk: strangled completely /// taken by the throat] in the sea [symbolizing the Holy Spirit, “the washing of water by the word (Gk: rhema)” (Eph 5:26) in Judgment] [3].

1.     Commentary: “swine” = are hogs [Dict: in the basic sense “castrated”] i.e., they bring forth no fruit, also called pigs, who are unclean (defiled and defiling) animals that have split (cloven) hooves (fig., attempting to walk in two worlds [Mat 6:24], heaven and earth) but they do not chew the cud, i.e., they do not meditate (do not consider, contemplate, think things over), and are known to eat anything and everything, ref: “the [empty] husks that the swine did eat” Luke 15:16. This description relates to the reprobate [Gk: rejected; worthless: castaway] persons “on stony ground” (Penuel) who are not saved, and are rejected from heaven. The “swine” are an analogy for men “on the rock” Luke 8:13.

a.     (2 Pet 2:22)  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow [Gk: hog (swine)] that was washed [by the word (rhema) of God] [Rom 10:17; Eph 5:26] to her wallowing [Gk: rolling in filth] in the mire [Gk: mud].

2.     (Jer 6:27-30)  I have set thee [I have made you (Penuel)] for a tower [a,b] and a fortress [Heb: a castle: strong hold] [c] among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way. They are all grievous revolters [Heb: backsliders] [d], walking with slanders: they are brass and iron [metal symbols of sin]; they are all corrupters. The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate [e] silver [the metal symbol of redemption; “reprobate silver” through having “no root” Mat 13:6; Mark 4:17; Luke 8:13] shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected [the same Hebrew word as “reprobate”] [e] them.

a.     (Judg 8:9)  And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower [made of stones].

b.     (Judg 8:17) And he beat down the tower of Penuel [“on the rock” Luke 8:13], and slew [Heb: put to death, slaughtered] [as one would speak of slaughtering pigs] the men of the city.

c.      (2 Cor 10:4)  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds [Gk: to fortify; a castle (fig. argument): stronghold];)

d.     (Luke 8:13)  They on the rock [“on stony ground” Mark 4:5,16] are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation [Gk: testing] fall away [Gk: to remove, instigate to revolt, desert: withdraw self].

e.      reprobate & rejected = Heb: spurned, to disappear: abhorred, cast away (off), condemned, despised, disdained, loathsome, refused, rejected, utterly vile person.

3.    Commentary: “(they were about two thousand)” = Now why did the Lord seemingly unnecessarily enter the number 2,000 into the text, and parenthetically as well? The parenthesis indicates that the enclosed content is extra-textual, “an aside,” i.e., the content is related to the text but it also has other than a direct contextual meaning. Was this parenthetical phrase necessary for our textual understanding? Answer: No. “A great herd of swine” (v:11) is more than sufficient for our textual understanding, whereas “a herd of swine” would have been exactly sufficient for our textual understanding. Why then add the “great?” And why did the Lord expand the “great” numerically and parenthetically into “about two thousand” (v:13)? Perhaps this is an extra-textual prophecy? Perhaps the number 2,000 means (symbolizes) years from then to “about” now, for we are indeed now “about” two thousand years away from when this narrative began to happen; if so, then this narrative describes a long falling dynasty of violence.