And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. ¹⁵ And they come to Yeshua, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. ¹⁶ And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. ¹⁷ And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. (Mark 5:14-17 KJV)

The verses above come from the story of Yeshua casting unclean (tamei) spirits out of a tormented man, and into a heard of swine, which promptly ran down a steep cliff and into the sea where they drowned.  The tormented man was liberated from his torment and restored to a right mind and life.  What is somewhat surprising in this story is the response of those who fed the swine and the city which received their report.  It seems that the possessed and tormented man was familiar to the people of the area.  It is reported that several attempts to bind the man with chains had been made but to no avail.

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. ⁵ And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. (Mark 5:4-5 KJV)

It is also interesting to note that the possessed man ran to Yeshua and fell before him.

But when he saw Yeshua afar off, he ran and worshipped him, (Mark 5:6 KJV)

The word “worship” may be a bit misleading.  The Greek word is “proskunasin” which means “he reverenced, greeted, or bowed down” to him.  Nonetheless, the man with the spirit of tamei ran to greet Yeshua and was delivered from his torment by his encounter with the Messiah.  Yeshua cast the spirit of uncleanness into a nearby heard of unclean (tamei) swine. Let us recall here that swine belong to the realm of tamei or uncleanness.

And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean (tamei) to you. (Leviticus 11:7 KJV)

And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean (tamei) unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass. (Deuteronomy 14:8 KJV)

Free from this spirit of tamei the tormented man was restored to his proper mind and life.  This should be encouragement enough for everyone to leave the realm of unclean or tamei things. Note, however, that those who fed the swine, as well as their fellow citizens, when they witnessed these events did not rejoice over the liberation of the man but instead rejected the whole event.

It is difficult from the text to discern whether it was Yeshua that was asked to leave or the restored man, the pronoun “he” remains undefined.  Regardless of which way you read the text, whether it was Yeshua or the restored man that was asked to leave, what is clear is that the citizens were threatened by what they observed.  The presence of Yeshua and his powerful teachings clearly were perceived as a threat to the familiar routine of the town’s folk and their routine lives.  Those who fed the swine resented Yeshua’s intrusion into their lives. 

We may note that this story of the death of the swine follows immediately after Yeshua’s parable of the sower which, in part, explains that not everyone who hears the word will receive it.  The story of the swine is a classic example of people encountering the powerful teaching of Yeshua and rejecting it. 

I cannot help but note that the story indicates that those who feed the swine do not want anything to do with Yeshua’s teachings.  We should not overlook the fact that swine are animals.  This story may serve as visible words for us.  Within the events of this story we should see that those who feed their lower animal nature rarely accept the teachings of Yeshua.  Yeshua spoke of his words as being spirit and life.

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63 KJV)

The Apostle Shaul rightly observed,

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:5-6 KJV)

These two natures often war within us all, tormenting and tempting us.

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. ⁸ So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:7-8 KJV)

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (Galatians 5:17 KJV)

The Creator created us to have two natures, a spiritual nature and a carnal or animal nature.  The spirit nature makes it possible for us to commune with the Spirit Creator and receive revelation knowledge.  The carnal or animal nature makes it possible for us to manifest the revelation knowledge in the world for the rest of creation to see.  Both natures are necessary if we are to be the image of YHWH in the world. To maintain our carnal nature we must feed our flesh.  The Torah teaches us how to “sanctify” our flesh or animal nature so that it may serve the Sovereign Creator’s holy purposes.  This is why YHWH gave us the dietary laws.  By following the dietary laws we sanctify or tame our flesh so that it does not run wild on us.  The men in our story represent those who not only feed their flesh, but do so in an unclean or unsanctified manner.

This story may serve in many ways as a parable of what continues to happen today, when people encounter the powerful teaching of Yeshua inviting them to embrace both the cross and the Torah.  We cannot receive the living word of Yeshua and remain unchanged.  The man who truly embraced the words of Yeshua was radically transformed, restored, renewed in mind and body.  We read in the story that the man became a disciple and preacher of the Messiah to his own people…he became a living testimony to all who saw and knew him.

And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. ¹⁹ Howbeit Yeshua suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. ²⁰ And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Yeshua had done for him: and all men did marvel. (Mark 5:18-20 KJV)   

But for the rest of the people in the story, the encounter with Yeshua threatened their routine, comfort, security and established lives.  These people simply loved their pork too much to embrace the life-giving words of Yeshua.  The majority of the people in the story would not tame their flesh and its desires and appetites.  The majority would not embrace either the cross or the Torah.  Instead they were content and happy with their lives.  It is sad to think that so many people continue choose to maintain the comfort of the status quo rather than embracing the cross and the Torah and be transformed and restored to the glory and image of YHWH.

As the disciples of Messiah, we should neither be surprised nor discouraged by such a response from the masses.  Instead, we rejoice in the one person who does receive the Messiah and his living word.  We must continue to teach, preach, and give our living testimony without being discouraged or frustrated by the world’s response.  Like the man restored, we must continue to serve as a living testimony to what the Master has done in our lives.  Those who have ears will hear.