I have spent several days digging into this study. I apologize for the delay. I was not comfortable with the subject and spent a little time refining my thoughts.
Mark 5:1-20 The man with a legion of demons. Demon possession is a reality in many parts of the world. There are probably more that are demon possessed today than we realize. In America, for example we seldom look for demon possession. Through my years as a Christian, I have spoken with many people from around the world on this subject. I have seen demonic activity at work and have seen it stopped through spiritual authority. It is real. For this reason, I cannot watch horror movies. The accuracy of the movies is uncanny and dead on the mark for demonic activity. Today, from the trailers that I have been exposed to, they are becoming more accurate. What is even worse is that Christians are embracing these movies as great entertainment. Demonic activity may not be noticeable in America, but why should it, if we entertain it in our living rooms? Enough said on that. It is very real to those who are involved in inter-city missions, and those involved with worldwide missions. Keep this in mind as you read through my thoughts on this passage. Also remember, keep an open Bible. I am commenting on the thoughts of the passage, not focusing on every word. Refer to the Bible to see if I am accurate and keeping the ideas in context.
Doctors of Medicine and Psychiatry look for physical and psychological anomalies rather than look for demon possession. Why would you look for demons if you have ruled them out with medicine? I wonder if we have masked some demons with drugs and intervention treatment. I am certain that there are many cases where the brain is not working right for some reason. There are probably other times that demonic forces are at work which look like classic psychological disorders.
That makes the expulsion of the demons from this man to be very interesting. This man was plagued with a few obvious disorders. First, we have the disorder that includes self-mutilation. He was gashing himself with stones. He was also plagued with intermittent explosive disorder since he was shouting and displaying extreme violence. I am sure that those well versed in the DSM-5 can find others. This poor man was very sick psychologically. The intriguing element is that these disorders originated from demon possession.
His statement: “Son of the Most High God…I implore you by God…” (Mark 5:7). In the Greek language this statement speaks of the deity of Jesus. He calls Jesus the Son of the Highest God. Then clarifies his statement by pleading with Jesus as literally “I beg you (the, or the same as), God”. The article translated as “by” can be translated many ways. It points to the subject of the sentence. Therefore, it defines Yeshua as the same as or equal to the Highest God. As an example, in Matthew 1:23, the article is translated as “the” as in “the virgin”. Look at this note:
(XI) With a proper noun in the gen. following, it often denotes affinity as in Matt. 10:3, ho toú Alphaiou “James the son of Alpheus,” but where “the son” is implied. See Mark 16:1, “Mary the mother of James” (cf. Mark 15:40); John 19:25, meaning Mary the wife of Cleophas; Acts 7:16.[1]
Let’s break this down now. “Theon” the word used for God in Mark 5:7 is in the genitive gender. If Zodhiates is correct in His discussion of the word, then in this cast the article “to” should be translated as “the” God. Many biblical translators simply cower to traditional translations. The usage of this article may be debatable among the scholars. However, one thing is certain. If Jesus is the “Son of the Highest God”, then in the setting of the culture that makes Him God. With Hebrew thinking, this is stretching them way out of their comfort zone.
Yeshua demonstrates His deity by verifying the truth of the statement. When He casts the demons into the pigs, it is a demonstration of spiritual authority with physical evidence. Most people would compare the man before and after. Before casting out the demons, the man was insane. Now he is sane. Yeshua went a step further. He cast the demons into pigs as a demonstration of His power. The man was insane, the pigs killed themselves, and now the man is sane.
Let’s talk about pigs for a moment: The pig is one of the most unclean animals of all to the Jewish people. It represents the abandonment of Torah. Many other animals fall into the category of “unclean” for many reasons. The pig is the most visible. Casting the demons into a herd of pigs gives a powerful spiritual demonstration. The pig is an example of living without Torah, or living while compromising Torah. The pig represents compromise since God explicitly forbids eating pork and speaks out against eating pork through the entirety of the Bible. Therefore, eating pork represents rebellion against the instructions of God. The Pig represents “torahlessness” or living outside the instructions of God since anyone according to the Jewish mindset that would eat pork does not know God’s instructions.
Many parasites stay in the pig for various reasons, one of which is that it does not sweat. The Trichinella parasite which causes Trichinosis is an example of a parasite that is common in pork. This roundworm should be able to be killed with cooking, but some cysts been found to survive cooking to the charred level. Complications include myocarditis (heart infection), encephalitis (brain infection), meningitis (nerve infection), and pneumonia (lung infection).[2] Undercooked pork can cause mild to extremely severe symptoms depending on the infestation of roundworms.
When these pigs received the demons, they ran to the sea and killed themselves. I have often wondered if the pigs realized that now they were defiled with a parasite greater than any other and killed themselves rather than being out of fellowship with God.
In the end of the story we see a tragic ending. The man is sitting in his right mind completely restored to health. This frightens the people because they had heard the story of the deliverance and pigs from the herdsmen. Then they saw the evidence in the form of the sane man. They did not seek to harm Yeshua. Instead, they asked Him to leave their region. This is also evidence that the people believed Jesus to be God. They did not seek any money for the lost pigs. They pleaded with Jesus to leave. Remember, since they were herding pigs, they were most likely Gentiles. Jewish people would not even consider this form of commerce. Their mindset was focused upon the nature of gods according to the Greek understanding, not the Hebrew understanding. When they implored Yeshua to leave, they were acting according in a way to appease an angry god.
Yeshua did not allow the man to go with Him. This man was left behind to share his testimony of how his life had changed after meeting Jesus. Remember, the Hebrew name for Jesus is Yeshua. This name means “salvation”. The man was set free from bondage through his encounter with Yeshua. He literally received “salvation”.
With that in mind, the greatest chapter in the Bible that speaks about Torah is Psalm 119. The very end of the chapter the writer makes a remarkable statement. “I hope for Your salvation, O Lord, and do your commandments” (Psa 119:166). Broken down in the Hebrew, “I hope for Your Yeshua (Jesus), O YHVH, and “sh” or put in practice your commission for my life”. The demoniac had no idea Yeshua was going to pass his way. Yet, He was delivered.
[1] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).
[2] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/trichinosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20378583, accessed 5/20/19
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Thanks for doing the heavy lifting on this one. Lots to consider. What came to my mind, as well, while reading was also the uncleanliness of graves. Numbers 19 discusses that a little bit. By touching a grave one is unclean for 7 days. One would assume that running around the tombs, the guy would have touched them–and who knows if that’s not why he was infested demonically in the first place. I mean, look at these clowns who are doing that grave “soaking” or “sucking” or whatever it is these days. As Ecclesiastes teaches us–the dead know not anything, but the spirits of defilement definitely would hang out in in a cemetery. Even pagans figured that out and deemed black clothing appropriate for funerals–in order to try to confuse the spirits at gravesides, to convince the spirits that they were darker and more spiritually powerful than they to ward them off.
The defilement of a grave is why Yahshua needed a new-hewn tomb–AND why there is a provision for a second Passover for any who had to handle a dead body less than 7 days before the Passover so that those who had buried him might take part the next month.
Thank you! I had not thought about this at all. There is a strange obsession with death in our society today.