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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 2
to send them away out of the country, but to let them enter into a herd of
swine that was feeding near. Their request was granted; but no sooner
did this occur than the swine rushed headlong down a steep precipice,
and were drowned in the sea. Light dawned upon the minds of the
restored lunatics. Their eyes beamed with an intelligence to which they
had long been strangers. The countenances, so long deformed into
the image of Satan, became suddenly mild, the blood-stained hands
were quiet, and the men praised the Lord for their deliverance from
the bondage of demons.
The design of Satan, in requesting that the demons might enter
into the swine, was to hedge up the way of Jesus in that region. By
causing the swine to be destroyed, considerable loss was brought upon
their owners; and the enemy was not deceived in thinking that this
circumstance would occasion Jesus to be held in disfavor throughout
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that country. The keepers of the swine had seen with amazement
the whole transaction. They had seen the raving madmen suddenly
become sane and calm; they had beheld the whole drove of swine
instantly afterward charge recklessly into the sea where they were
immediately drowned. They were obliged to account to the owners for
their loss; and they immediately hurried to publish the news to their
employers, and to all the people. This destruction of property seemed,
to the owners, of far greater magnitude than the joyful fact that two
lunatics had been restored to reason, and no longer endangered the
people who came in their way, nor needed the restrictions of bolts and
chains.
These selfish men cared not that these unfortunate beings were now
liberated, and sat calmly and intelligently at the feet of Jesus, listening
to his words of instruction, filled with gratitude and glorifying the name
of Him who had made them whole. They only cared for the property
they had lost, and they were fearful of still greater calamities following
the presence of this stranger in their midst. A panic spread far and
near; the citizens apprehended financial ruin. A crowd came to Jesus,
deploring the recent loss of property and begging him to leave their
vicinity. They looked with indifference upon the lunatics who had been
healed, and were then conversing intelligently with Jesus. They knew
them perfectly well, for they had long been the terror of the community.
But the miraculous cure of these men seemed of lesser importance
than their own selfish interests. They were thoroughly alarmed and
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