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Gergasa (modern name Kersa) was a small village nearby, and Gadara was the larger region of which the village was a part, with Gerasa as the regional capital. Also, He is sometimes more open with outsiders/Gentiles than Jews because the negative reaction by the Jewish leaders would hinder his ministry more than rejection by Gentiles. After a dramatic journey across the lake (Luke 8:22-25), Jesus steps for the first and last time into Gentile territory. In other words, to paraphrase what Gertrude told Hamlet, Methinks the good pastor doth protest too much. Its inconceivable that the pigs were owned by Gentiles. Being made in God's image, we are more important to the Lord than any animal. He has stabbed the heads of many lands. Deuteronomy 4 and 12 only state that none should add or remove what Moses was commanding, which sounds a little nebulous. The ruins also show evidence of a dozen churches, dating in the Byzantine period (4th-7th centuries) indicating that this once was a large Christian community. The site is identified today with the town of Kersa, or Gersa, just below Wadi es-Samak. Lastly, based on culture, human-nature and most importantly, on specific Scripture passages, we know the demoniac could not have been a Gentile but was most assuredly, Yet a complete interpretation of Mark 5 needs to clear up one last point: the pigs were forbidden but did they, Christ kept kosher and cleaned up the town, I can of Myself do nothing. They sort of seek Him out. It was situated some 30 miles southeast of Gadara, on the borders of Peraea and a little north of the river Jabbok. Over the years, Ive had to prove all this to myself first, and it took soul-searching and tons of Scripture research. All four gospel writers repeatedly testify to Jesuss power over storm, waves and gravity (Matthew 8:22-27, Mark 4:3541 and Luke 8:2225, passages immediately before the pig-demon accounts! p. 102. The hard hearts of those who reject Jesus. Or are we with those who love what we want and what we have more than we love the Word of life from the only One who can give life? He was totally dominated by these demonic forces. Being teachable is a great avenue for learning! From the brook beside the road he will drink and for this reason, he will lift high his head. War III. 4 ) As R. Sol Urbin Ohel Moed teaches us, Technically, the greek word for swine is choiros, which many people think means swine, but in the Akkadian, and so with the Syriac, it really refers to an indigenous type of little lamb owned by sea-faring peasants, suitable for pets, grazing, shishkabob and MLT (Mutton, Lettuce and Tomato) sandwiches., 3 ) Pigs?? So how on earth could they dictate to the Son of God where they wished to go? I would have wanted a herd of swine had I been an Israelite in the desert. (For many a time it had seized him. The real-estate on the east side of the lake of Galilee where Jesus met the demons and the swine was also part of Israel-proper. Swine are considered unclean and unholy in the Jewish tradition, and Jesus was Jewish.This miracle, witnessed by his disciples, also shows Jesuss wisdom in teaching the Word of God among non Jewish people. Money Maker Software may be used on two systems alternately on 3 months, 6 months, 1 year or more subscriptions. It was interesting that Palmer had gone out without any announcement but this man knew who he was and he was obviously disturbed that he was there and he began to make threats. It's this man who doesn't even remember his name who's possessed by a host of demons. ; Mark v.; Luke viii.) Add to that that recent studies claim 25% of the world today is antisemitic and ask yourself if racism was better or worse in the past? Its totally contrary to what we would expect. The fact that Matthew places the healing of Legion in the country of the Gadarenes whereas Mark and Luke place it in the country of the Gerasenes may be harmonized on the historical grounds that geographical boundaries overlapped, and on the exegetical consideration that country embraced a wide area around the cities. Pretty quickly the whole city was in an uproar. Its not possible for either of them to change, and therefore, inconceivable that Jesus would modify one iota of what he helped write. WebThe Gerasenes were the people of the district of which Gerasa was the capital. So why did the meek n merciful Son of Man cast countless defiling demons into two thousand piglets, sows and boars? Actually, killing the pigs was also out of his mercy because instead of judging the farmers directly, the Messiah threw his anger against the pigs. The Greek clause literally says, End of law is Christ but why bother finishing the sentence? Remember the story of Jesus casting demons out of the crazy man in Luke 8? In other words, the Roman Catholic Church took four Greek words torn out of mid-sentence and declared them to mean, the end (read, death) of the law [of Moses], although numerous verses declare the fixed, eternal character of Gods Perfect Law. I think Jesus was trying to give to all the sight to see the wrong things in this world we can overcome by walking with Him and His Way of life. I say that Christians have turned Jews off because church-goers claim Jesus destroyed the Law and that Jews are blind for following the Law of Moses still. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced searchad free! and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. WebNoun. What does it say? ; Mark v.; Luke viii.) Why? The other, Deuteronomy 22:6-7, protects wild mother birds in a similar way, forbidding us from killing them along with their young at the same time. Throughout the book, the author uses direct quotes, various and mostly verifiable place names and clear descriptions of mostly plausible actions. (Later, in Genesis 8:20, Noah sacrificed some of the clean animals to God as thank you offerings because their ship had come in! The real irritation is people saying the Law was impossible to obey, when Scripture says the opposite it true. Two Sundays ago Take care then, how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away. They thought those pigs were theirs. Only this interpretation explains the farmers restrained reaction over the slaughter of the swine, and their tremendous terror of the Messiah. . But what does Leviticus says about, And also the pig; although it has a hoof splitting in half and it has a hoof clearly tearing in two, the pig doesn't bring back up its cud to chew. Living in rural Central Africa villages for ten years, I heard many stories from locals about demon spirits living in streams and trees and boulders. The Bible doesnt say. 141-144). Another command applies to women who have given birth to a child (Leviticus 12:6), so that would be easy for Jesus to obey, not to mention the monthly ritual baptisms Jewish women do for certain reasons!!! Some will respond to my rhetorical question, Why on earth would Jesus come to earth, by giving me the usual pat answer, None can keep the nasty old Law, so Jesus came to fulfill it perfectly, and now I dont have to do anything, at all, whatsoever, just believe, hallelujah! It may well be a picture of the reverse of what happened in the Garden of Eden. The Gemara on the passage gives a historical foundation for the practise in the times of Aristobulus. It is a wonderful fact, but unlike you and I, Gods character is constant and consistent I AM that I AM and understanding His unchanging nature is at the center of forming the right interpretation of Mark 5. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. Thats the exodus that Israel needs. WebThe Gadarenes was the place where Jesus confronted a man whose possession by demons gave him a level of superhuman strength like Samson (Mark 5:3 - 5, Luke 8:27). Looking back over the entirety of Gods Word, we do indeed notice many plagues rained down on the wicked in other books. Now the big-mouth irking this Greek artisan was our good friend, the Apostle Paul. I wouldn't care to speculate how many demons possessed this man, but the man can only identify himself as a person who is possessed by an almost innumerable host of evil spirits and he doesn't even remember his own name. Pastor MacArthur would do well to learn from his Jewish counterparts. We come to understand that the God of the Universe is willing to wait and to stall our own behaviour so as to give mother cows and mother sheep more time together with their babies. He had a new name and he had a new nature to go along with it. I trust the Lord Jesus to know what to do with demons and what ought to be done. Nevertheless, the interconnections within Scripture, from the beginning, to the middle, and to the very end, are wonderful to see, just like a beautiful flower. War II. He's set free. (Sidebar: During the whole Rob Bell Love Wins craze, I had a friend who claimed to believe the Bible, but denied that demons exist. Plus, when Jesus chased the sellers out of the Temple courts (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:12-19; Luke 19:45-48; John 12:13-16), there is a small, but wonderful, detail that is in complete harmony with Matthew 10:29. My question is: Now Jesus grants this permission. It is now called Jerash and is a deserted ruin. On the other hand, the Masters usually thick-headed students, the Tedious Twelve, didnt question him about this! And was the Master doing the right thing sacrificing someone elses pigs. 3). (Cf. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) Even so, the Bible never puts the worth of animals on the same level as the worth of human Seven facts why Jesus cast the demons to the pigs in Mark 5, but pastors still miss the point, We usually think of Jesus as the loving, forgiving guy from Galilee, right? Many will rush for cover behind the last four Greek words of this verse, despite all of its textual, translation and interpretation problems. They have therefore made important decisions about the proper treatment of animals. Most translations interpret the Hebrew to say, Canaanite, but both are more than possible and perhaps the double meaning was intended by the prophet. Lets re-examine the event in the light of seven important Scriptural facts. I beg you, do not torment me. And then the demons beg not to be cast into the abyss. The Son of God mercifully cast thousands of defiling demons out of a lost Jew and purposefully launched the legion killers into two thousand defiling swine. But it struck me as interesting that Bertrand Russell had the exact same reaction to this miracle that the people of the Gerasenes had. From Jesus's own mouth, we are informed of Gods special love and attention for defenseless animals and we know Jesus has the same heart for the weak. The concept of Gentiles is found in the Old Testament. You must there are over 200,000 words in our free online dictionary, but you are looking for one thats only in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary. He doesnt want to connect the dots and he doesn't want us to either. Systems of Transliteration Citation of Proper Names. Some will respond to my rhetorical question, Why on earth would Jesus come to earth, by giving me the usual pat answer. For you Tolkien fans it reminds me of a character in the trilogy of the Lord of the Rings. The demons, who in this man have terrified the whole countryside to the point that they had tried to retrain this man with chains they were so frightened of Him, those demons are now afraid of Jesus because they know who Jesus is and they know where Jesus can cast them. R.C. viii. The fact anyone dreamed up dispensationalism in the first place shows how some attentive folk saw contradictions within traditional interpretations of Scripture, but were unwilling to admit to them directly, but instead they desperately concocted those nonsense charts. Why do I say that book? That is why Its not clear exactly who is doing more killings, the LORD or Melchizedek, but the picture overall fits the image of Son of God cleaning the land of swine. Scripture also makes it abundantly clear that God Almighty cannot change, and no one, not even the Lord's Anointed Messiah can change the Law which they both wrote. Our ways are not as Thine. Those famous four are sufficient to back up the Church's bias and with them one could pretend they say, Christ is the [dead] end of the Law [of Moses] (Luther and Calvin taught this), or maybe it means something very vague like, an end of a law is Christ. For a more advanced discussion of the vague quality of the text have a look at George Howards scholarly article. In this immediate area, steep hills come down to the shoreline and fit the story of the swine rushing headlong into the sea. Besides, each of the synoptic gospels quotes the demons saying out loud that Jesus had the power to torture them all at will (Matthew 8:29, Mark 5:7 and Luke 8:28). The Matthew account mentions two demon-possessed men, while Mark and Luke only mention one. IV. led to the substitute reading Gergesenes, a reading that was suggested by a study of the geography of the area. After stilling the storm while crossing the Sea of Galilee, Jesus lands with his disciples on the eastern shore of the lake. Don Crowe and Nicholas Gentile direct the Oswego Players Scenes of Crime; Section X: Canton downs Heuvelton for repeat Overall Section 10 title; Section X: Lady Wildcats edge Hammond for Section Overall title; PROPERTY SALES; Local pro hockey: Former Wolves player Liarakos paces Mississippi past visiting Watertown (, Its not clear exactly who is doing more killings, the LORD or Melchizedek, but the picture overall fits the image of Son of God cleaning the land of swine. Its all so reminiscent of John MacArthur joking and John Piper giving pat answers because n body wants to be honest with the Word of God and face facts and Jesus killing pigs is one of those uncomfortable contradictions.). Obviously, they were Jewish pig farmers seeing judgement for flagrant disobey Gods Word and keeping and eating pig meat. 9 ) They were wild Ferrel hogs feeding near the cliffs. Jesus was a Jew. We have seen that God Almighty loves animals as much as humans, so Jesus randomly killing two thousand swine seems senseless, unless we remember God has commanded righteous people to avoid defiling food, such as pork. Israels real enemy is Satan. Echoes of Exodus in the Land of theGerasenes, Wesleys Eschatological Optimism Explains itAll, The Prophet in the Hometown A Pilgrim in Augsburg, The Methodist Million Dollar Appeal in World WarII. Therefore, when it came to sacrifices on it, the menu was even shorter. 2023 Christianity.com. Diana (Artemis) of Ephesuslovely without a nose! She needs someone strong enough to cast a legion of demons into the sea, like Pharaoh and his hosts. THE PIGS DID IT FOR HIM!! ]. There he meets a man seized with an unclean spirit (Mark) or with demons (Luke). The apostle had been busy preaching in Demetriuss hometown of Ephesus and Pauls message about the one true God was catching on. In 2 Samuel 17 we read of the young boy who would be king risking everything for one lamb. Jesus though he was The Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15-18 and John 1:21) had to play by the same laws. Acting as Israels Messiah, Jesus was carrying out actions that were predicted by the prophets, like when Zechariah said that no merchants in the house of the LORD (Zechariah 14:21).. It's just 8 or 9 verses before this passage. So many beautiful verses and motivating passages are in Scripture. (Please dont hold up Mark 7:19b, Jesus made all food clean. Relying on that isolated, half-verse with textual problems makes God look flippant, and therefore, unpredictable and untrustworthy. And he is sent out to negotiate with Aragorn and Gandalf, and the others. It was exactly due to his righteousness and his love for God that he killed two thousand pigs. Read it for yourself. They dont care about about the demon possessed men, they want their pigs back, (My opinion) Jesus was raised with sacrifice so animals were thought of for food, not so much as pets like today. (So much for those latter revelations or new religions arriving centuries later.). Therefore, by associating the two commandments together, and you catch some of the character of our Heavenly Father. What good to us that Thou hast made him whole, since we have lost our swine? Is that not a picture of people that love what they have or what they want more than they love the One who loves their souls? Dr. Ligon Duncan | December 13, 2009. Now the big-mouth irking this Greek artisan was our good friend, the Apostle Paul. 8 ) Their pork was kosher, kept out of the camp for 7 days, and circumcised. WebGERASA, GERASENES (, ). Luckily, they didnt find Paul anywhere, but they did haul a number of Pauls colleagues down to city hall. When this passage begins, we have a man who is possessed by demons who had gone about naked, who had lived in the tombs, who was out of his mind, and who did not even know his name. Three witnesses! The miracle referred to took place, without doubt, near the town of Gergesa, the modern Kersa , close by the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, and hence in the country of Gergesenes. 3 He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; 4 for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and The Syrians made reprisals, and took many prisoners. Them there pigs were going to try to hog the limelightthat Jesus was famous for but ended up being lost in more ways than one! "It became one of the proudest cities of Syria." Amen. Why explain something that is as plain as the nose on your face? What are you doing here, man of God? And then he attempted to intimidate him. In other words, they believe the one who killed the pigs with the demons is equal to the Father. It is a logical thesis based on historic accounts (Josephus, etc) Feel free to challenge this thought or pursue it from another angle. It deeply disturbed Bertrand Russell that Jesus allowed a herd of two thousand pigs to be destroyed. Gergesa (). To any Jew, Jesuss actions were crystal clear. And the good pastor doesnt give any rationale for a slaughter that huge. Learn how your comment data is processed. The lectionary reading for Trinity 1, Year C, is Luke's version of Jesus meeting and healing the demon-possessed man in the 'region of the Gerasenes' (Luke 8.2639). And you can ask yourself a lot of questions Why did Jesus do that? Now I must say that that really boggles my mind because Luke's main point is so crystal clear and it's set in the context of three other stories that are crystal clear. Secondly, theyre forgetting that Jesus also says that people are more important than sparrows. For heavens sake, why cant the good pastor try to explain the incompatibility of our loving Jesus wiping out hundreds of innocent creatures without a punch line? The opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of any other person, religious organization or governmental entity. How and why did this happen in the first place? In the story of the Gerasene demoniac, Jesus invades enemy territory and defeats a powerful army to deliver people from bondage. As to the second question, there is no doubt of the illegality, from a ritual point of view, of Jews keeping swine (B. WebWell pretend with him that the folks in Gerasenes were placid Gentile farmers happily raising their gentle Gentile pigs. Gods Law has a law that you cannot change Gods Law. That is the exact opposite of other godly men (compare with, Lastly, even if Mr. Pipers explanation were true, look what its, The hard-hearted views of the Bishop of Hippo are not biblical because righteous people are obliged by God to be considerate to all animals, even, Are not two sparrows sold for the smallest coin, and yet one of them cannot fall to the earth apart from your Father? (, Worse yet, dont trust one who says Scripture. In the three Synoptic Gospels and John 2:15, Jesus forces all the sellers out of the Temple courts. We see the power of Christ over Satan, don't we? The Word of God cant change any more than God can. WebWho were the gerasenes in the bible? It is true that we discover new thoughts or extra meaning over time, but Gods Word is permanent and cannot change. That is, they appear contrary, except for one thing: Gods Law forbids righteous people from eating pork. It goes like this: These are the people of Gerasene speaking to Jesus Rabbi be gone. Is there a connection? And His promise to make a new promise (covenant) with Israel and with Judah in Jeremiah 31:31-32 does not repeal the first promise (the covenant that Israel broke), it strengthens it. That is exactly what is happening here. We said the last time that we were together that in Luke 8 you begin four miracle stories, all of which either happen in Galilee or in Gentile lands. If Jesus had done anything less, he could not have been the Messiah. The Law of God. Fear and selfishness prompted the prayer. WebApparently Gerasa was rebuilt by the Romans before the revolt began, prob. Apparently Gerasa was rebuilt by the Romans before the revolt began, prob. These forces plundered Gerasa, Philadelphia, Pella, and others (Jos. Again, Gods anointed one faces down an army, one man against thousands. And what about trees or rocks? To feed the spectators who came there purposely to see those crazy chain braking tomb dwelling lunatics! The History of Rome - Brief Overview Of Roman History from Her Dawn to the First Punic War. This now then is our fifth fact in a nutshell. So he had to live according to the truth that had already revealed and to get everyone else in line with the program. The best text in Matthew reads Gadarenes, in Mark and Luke it reads Gerasenes, whereas some MSS preserve Gergesenes and Gergustenes (cf. Many New Testament manuscripts refer to the "Country of the Gadarenes" or "Gerasenes" rather than Who were the gerasenes in the bible? WebThe name Gergesa has led to the supposition that the Girgashites, one of the seven Canaanitish nations, originally occupied this territory. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with Him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you. And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.. Without a doubt, both men know God never came up with the line, Put pork on your fork. A city in Transjordania, situated about thirty-five m. SE of the S end of the [[Sea of Galilee]], one of the cities of the Decapolis; the WebScripture exhorts us to care for animals and not to be cruel to them. And what about commands for married people (Exodus 21:10), or the command that a man gives his wife a bill of divorce (Deuteronomy 24:1)? The man howled day and night and cut himself with stones. By using our website, you accept our use of cookies. Their dead bodies you must not touch. And he said that a good and virtuous man could not have allowed something like that to happen and therefore, Jesus was not the best and most virtuous of men and therefore Christianity was disproven. It's a picture of His great commission outreach, not just to Jews but to Gentiles also. Show us the sins of our hearts that we are captive to. OS Supported: Windows 98SE, Windows Millenium, Windows XP (any edition), Windows Vista, Windows 7 & Windows 8 (32 & 64 Bit). But MacArthurs logical is funny for another reason. Thus, in him, God found a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14 and 1 Samuel 16:1). Amen, and thus ends this reading of God's holy, inspired, and inerrant Word. II. For those near by the local name would be used; but in writing to a distant people, as the Greeks and Romans, the more comprehensive and general name would be given. And why werent they demanding compensation for their pigs? Those outside of the nation of Israel were considered gentiles. Both Gerasa and Gadara were cities to the east of the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan. He specifically banned pig in Leviticus 11:6 but to make sure we heard God repeats the command (Deuteronomy 14:8), adds that eating it makes a person unclean (Leviticus 11:43), adds that touching their carcasses defiles a person (Leviticus 11:28), adds that righteous people must not become defiled (Leviticus 20:25), and then sends His prophet a prophesy like, no one uncircumcised or anything unclean (/tameh) will anymore enter Zion or Jerusalem (Isaiah 52:1), and then openly judges pork-eaters as wicked (Isaiah 65:2-5), and then hotly repeats that identical point (Isaiah 66:15-17), and once more (Ezekiel 44:23-27) and once again, but now in the New Testament (Revelation 21:27), so where is that pastor who dares suppose the Almighty can change His mind about pigs? It seems Jesus allowed the demons to destroy the pigs so that the people could see just what demons are up to when they assault people. And at the end of the passage, look how he is described. But the height of ignorance, the most foolhardy statement is, Jesus fulfilled the whole Law so we dont have to. Only a person who knows absolutely zero about Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy would say such a thing. Besides this Biblical evidence that Jesus and the woman were within Israels inheritance, there is also a prophesy that God will settle His People in the future in Gilead (a sizeable part of todays Kingdom of Jordan) and in Lebanon too (Zechariah 10:9-10). He didnt give any new commandment. In other words, they believe the one who killed the pigs with the demons is equal to the Father. It was part of the Greco-Roman region known as the Decapolis, or ten towns. It was Gentile territory, the land of foreign gods, a place of idolatry. Jerash (aka Gerasa, Gerash or Gerasha) is the capital and the largest city of the Jerash Governorate in Jordan, but in ancient times it was one of the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan cities in the ancient Near East.Settled by humans as early as the Neolithic period (c. 7500-5500 BCE) and founded as a Hellenistic city in the 2nd century BCE, Jerash is But what are its implications? Third, I want you to see the change that results in this man after he is not only liberated from these demons, but after he clearly, because of a change of heart, becomes a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. 7). One day the prophet Samuel angrily told his king that God would not go back on His decision. So he gave them permission. get to know the Bible better! Such a pat answer to such a serious question is as irritating as it is ridiculous. It pains them to admit that Jesus was/is a, Sixth Fact: True identity of the pig farmers. If I still had some misgivings, Id be man enough to share them here. borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Medieval Latin galilea, probably after Galilea, Galilaea galilee, from a monastic and clerical comparison of the church porch, where the laity gathered, to biblical Galilee, regarded, in opposition to Judaea, as a country of Gentiles (as in Matthew 4:15) Gerasa. about a.d. 65. They were not. Do not add upon it and do not reduce it. Therefore we know that when Jesus helped the Syrophoenician woman (not a Jewess, but she came to him), he and the woman were both in Israeli territory. He seen himself demon possessed people that had extrodinary powers. They know that Jesus can cast them into the abyss, into the lake of fire, into the bowels of hell, and theyre frightened. It is repeated over and over. The power of the Lord Jesus Christ over Satan. The pagan religions continued among the Gentile population as is evidenced by the ruins of the temple of Artemis. Gerasa is identified from various sources as a city in Arabia, Decapolis, Gilead, or Perea. That is all I know. Now I want to say very quickly, my friends, that there is no power in this universe that can cause a rationale being to sin. All Rights Reserved. At this distance from the Sea of Galilee, Gerasa could not have been the site of the healing of Legion. It is doubtful that Jesus ever visited it. This, Also, this study shows that Jesuss actions in Mark 5 were on the surface contrary to the deep-rooted Jewish respect for domestic and/or wild animals. So its a fair comparison to place Pauls actions in Ephesians side-by-side with Jesuss actions by the Lake of Galilee. And not only that, he's about to be a witnessing disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. (eds.). Most Christians believe Messiah is the Second Person of the Trinity. Show us the only hope of deliverance from those sins and teach us these things from this passage. Webwere the gerasenes gentiles. Top Ten Reasons Why There Were Pigs in Gerasenes (Lk 8 ) 10 ) It was the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, the area of the Decapolis. After stilling the storm while crossing the Sea of Galilee, Jesus lands with his disciples on the eastern shore of the lake. But should you also doubt, my friendly blog reader, read on. it depends on the text you read, but one of the four Greek words is sometimes neuter, sometimes masculine a big deal in this language and in this verse. The conversation showed that the illness had a will, a coherent sense of past, present and future, knowledge of the supremacy and authority of Jesus Christ, and a compulsion to worship Jesus. The prophet Jonah is held up as the merciless messenger of God; not a great title. Learn a new word every day. 3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. And Christ went sadly.He had wrought for them a signOf Love, and Hope, and Tenderness divine;They wantedswine.Christ stands without _your_ door and gently knocks;But if your gold, or swine, the entrance blocks,He forces no man's holdhe will depart,And leave you to the treasures of your heart.