Alesaggio
01-14-2004, 01:39 AM
Mark 5:13 “…and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.”
The United States war department, shortly after World War II, commissioned a documentary titled “Victory At Sea” depicting the battles that waged on the high seas during the extent of the war and the subsequent victory of the allies over the axis powers. In Mark we see another battle waged and another victory won. Mark tells us the “Victory At Sea” of Jesus Christ over satan and all his demons.
Jesus entering the land of the Gadarenes, was met by a man possessed of a Legion of demons, He cast the demons out of the man, they entered the swine grazing on the hillside, the herd in turn tore down the bank into the sea, and drowned. The people of the land were so afraid of Jesus that they begged Him to leave, which He did. The newly delivered man received instructions to stay behind and tell the people what Jesus had done for him. It’s the story of a possessed man made whole, released from chains of bondage to Satan.
But the focus of the event is not just that a man bound by many demons was set free. The sea is the focal point of this account. Notice that the events related both before and after the deliverance of the demoniac are focused on the sea. The last part of chap 4 tells us of the storm at sea, and of how Jesus stilled that storm. Chap 5:21 tells us of Jesus standing by the sea with a great crowd around Him. More importantly Mark states, "and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea."
Mark mentions the sea twice here. The pigs ran "into the sea" and they drowned –where?- "in the sea". Mark tells us specifically that the pigs that rushed into the sea drowned in the sea. What do the Scriptures tell us about the sea?
The sea in the Bible is not the neutral watery realm that we, with our science-oriented minds, understand it to be. God speaks of creation as made up of three principle parts: the heavens above, the earth beneath, and the waters under the earth. The first, the "heavens above", is associated with all that is heavenly, that is holy and divine. The second, the "earth beneath", is associated with all that is created, with what is “nature.” The third, the "waters under the earth", is associated with the deep and hidden world.
In connection with "waters under the earth", the Scriptures frequently connect these waters, the sea, with "the deep". That is: the sea is bottomless, is a pit, an endless sinkhole. The sea is troubling (Is 57:20), threatening (Ps 46:3); in the sea dwell dreaded monsters ( Ps 74:13; 87:4; 89:11; Is 27:1, etc). It’s in line with this understanding of the sea that Daniel reports that "four great beasts came up from the sea" (Dan. 7:3), each driven by hell and seeking to establish Satan’s kingdom on earth. Again, it is in line with this understanding of the sea as the abyss, the endless deep where threatening monsters dwell, that John in the Revelation shown to him saw "a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name" (Rev. 13:1).
Concerning this beast rising out of the sea it is recorded that "he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.” More, "...it was granted to [this beast] to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.”
The sea in Scripture, then, is not a neutral part of creation, but sometimes a symbol of hell, of the home of the devil and his demons. From out of the sea Satan seeks to establish his influence on earth.
It’s because the sea is pictured in Scripture as the domain of evil that the Bible also sings so jubilantly of what God did in dividing the Red Sea at Israel’s Exodus from Egypt. That parting of the Sea was more than God freeing His people out of Egypt and drowning Pharaoh; by dividing the Red Sea the Lord God also demonstrated His superiority over the devil. Ps 74 about the Exodus from Egypt – says this: "You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters. You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces..."
By dividing the sea God was defeating Satan and the creatures of the deep. That parting of the water was divine power! Read from Is 51: "Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of the Lord! Awake as in the ancient days, In the generations of old. Are You not the arm that cut Rahab apart, And wounded the serpent? Are You not the One who dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep; That made the depths of the sea a road For the redeemed to cross over?"
“...I am the Lord your God, Who divided the sea whose waves roared – The Lord of hosts is His name.”
The sea in scripture symbolizes the home of the hosts of hell. In Scripture the sea is not a pleasant, relaxing environment; in Scripture the sea is hellish. Therefore the words of Mark emphasizing that the pigs drowned in the sea have a greater significance. These swine did not expire in the "neutral" water of a feeding trough or a dam or even a river; they drowned in that part of creation symbolizing the home of the hosts of hell. From the hillside extending above the waters of the Sea of Galilee, they "ran violently down the steep place into the sea", into "the waters under the earth", and there, in the great deep, the abyss where Satan has his home, there they drowned.
Why did the pigs run into the sea and drown there? This too did not happen by chance, but came from God’s powerful hand.... Why did the Lord God cause the pigs of Mk 5 to run into the sea and drown in that sea?
The pigs were grazing the hillside of "the country of the Gadarenes.” This land of the Gadarenes was on "the other side of the sea" of Galilee, the east side, was –in other words- outside that area of land populated by the Jews. That’s also why there were pigs here; Jews would not have pigs since God had included them amongst the unclean animals which His covenant people were not to eat.
This "country of the Gadarenes" once used to belong to the land of Israel. This is the land which Israel under Moses’ leadership captured from Og the king of Bashan (Num 21:21), and which Moses gave to the tribe of Manasseh as an inheritance (Num 32:33).
In the course of the centuries, Israel lost this section of the Promised Land. In the decades before Bethlehem’s visitation of God in flesh—Jesus Christ, attempts had been made to regain the land east of the Sea of Galilee for the Jews. In reaction to the efforts of the Jews to annex this land to Israel again, the cities of the "country of the Gadarenes" formed a league together to resist the Jews. The five cities of this league were known as the "Decapolis.”
The United States war department, shortly after World War II, commissioned a documentary titled “Victory At Sea” depicting the battles that waged on the high seas during the extent of the war and the subsequent victory of the allies over the axis powers. In Mark we see another battle waged and another victory won. Mark tells us the “Victory At Sea” of Jesus Christ over satan and all his demons.
Jesus entering the land of the Gadarenes, was met by a man possessed of a Legion of demons, He cast the demons out of the man, they entered the swine grazing on the hillside, the herd in turn tore down the bank into the sea, and drowned. The people of the land were so afraid of Jesus that they begged Him to leave, which He did. The newly delivered man received instructions to stay behind and tell the people what Jesus had done for him. It’s the story of a possessed man made whole, released from chains of bondage to Satan.
But the focus of the event is not just that a man bound by many demons was set free. The sea is the focal point of this account. Notice that the events related both before and after the deliverance of the demoniac are focused on the sea. The last part of chap 4 tells us of the storm at sea, and of how Jesus stilled that storm. Chap 5:21 tells us of Jesus standing by the sea with a great crowd around Him. More importantly Mark states, "and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea."
Mark mentions the sea twice here. The pigs ran "into the sea" and they drowned –where?- "in the sea". Mark tells us specifically that the pigs that rushed into the sea drowned in the sea. What do the Scriptures tell us about the sea?
The sea in the Bible is not the neutral watery realm that we, with our science-oriented minds, understand it to be. God speaks of creation as made up of three principle parts: the heavens above, the earth beneath, and the waters under the earth. The first, the "heavens above", is associated with all that is heavenly, that is holy and divine. The second, the "earth beneath", is associated with all that is created, with what is “nature.” The third, the "waters under the earth", is associated with the deep and hidden world.
In connection with "waters under the earth", the Scriptures frequently connect these waters, the sea, with "the deep". That is: the sea is bottomless, is a pit, an endless sinkhole. The sea is troubling (Is 57:20), threatening (Ps 46:3); in the sea dwell dreaded monsters ( Ps 74:13; 87:4; 89:11; Is 27:1, etc). It’s in line with this understanding of the sea that Daniel reports that "four great beasts came up from the sea" (Dan. 7:3), each driven by hell and seeking to establish Satan’s kingdom on earth. Again, it is in line with this understanding of the sea as the abyss, the endless deep where threatening monsters dwell, that John in the Revelation shown to him saw "a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name" (Rev. 13:1).
Concerning this beast rising out of the sea it is recorded that "he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.” More, "...it was granted to [this beast] to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.”
The sea in Scripture, then, is not a neutral part of creation, but sometimes a symbol of hell, of the home of the devil and his demons. From out of the sea Satan seeks to establish his influence on earth.
It’s because the sea is pictured in Scripture as the domain of evil that the Bible also sings so jubilantly of what God did in dividing the Red Sea at Israel’s Exodus from Egypt. That parting of the Sea was more than God freeing His people out of Egypt and drowning Pharaoh; by dividing the Red Sea the Lord God also demonstrated His superiority over the devil. Ps 74 about the Exodus from Egypt – says this: "You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters. You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces..."
By dividing the sea God was defeating Satan and the creatures of the deep. That parting of the water was divine power! Read from Is 51: "Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of the Lord! Awake as in the ancient days, In the generations of old. Are You not the arm that cut Rahab apart, And wounded the serpent? Are You not the One who dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep; That made the depths of the sea a road For the redeemed to cross over?"
“...I am the Lord your God, Who divided the sea whose waves roared – The Lord of hosts is His name.”
The sea in scripture symbolizes the home of the hosts of hell. In Scripture the sea is not a pleasant, relaxing environment; in Scripture the sea is hellish. Therefore the words of Mark emphasizing that the pigs drowned in the sea have a greater significance. These swine did not expire in the "neutral" water of a feeding trough or a dam or even a river; they drowned in that part of creation symbolizing the home of the hosts of hell. From the hillside extending above the waters of the Sea of Galilee, they "ran violently down the steep place into the sea", into "the waters under the earth", and there, in the great deep, the abyss where Satan has his home, there they drowned.
Why did the pigs run into the sea and drown there? This too did not happen by chance, but came from God’s powerful hand.... Why did the Lord God cause the pigs of Mk 5 to run into the sea and drown in that sea?
The pigs were grazing the hillside of "the country of the Gadarenes.” This land of the Gadarenes was on "the other side of the sea" of Galilee, the east side, was –in other words- outside that area of land populated by the Jews. That’s also why there were pigs here; Jews would not have pigs since God had included them amongst the unclean animals which His covenant people were not to eat.
This "country of the Gadarenes" once used to belong to the land of Israel. This is the land which Israel under Moses’ leadership captured from Og the king of Bashan (Num 21:21), and which Moses gave to the tribe of Manasseh as an inheritance (Num 32:33).
In the course of the centuries, Israel lost this section of the Promised Land. In the decades before Bethlehem’s visitation of God in flesh—Jesus Christ, attempts had been made to regain the land east of the Sea of Galilee for the Jews. In reaction to the efforts of the Jews to annex this land to Israel again, the cities of the "country of the Gadarenes" formed a league together to resist the Jews. The five cities of this league were known as the "Decapolis.”