In Matthew 8, Mark 5 and Luke 8 is told the story of a man possessed by a spirit named Legion. That name said "many demons" were controlled by that spirit - which makes it be identified as an "elohim" or angel of Yahweh. Because the spirits Legion controlled begged Jesus "not to order them to go back into the abyss," those were lesser elohim, all of them fallen angels who had been banished into the depths of the earth. That says "Legion" was a nickname for Satan or Azazel-Lucifer.
When the evil spirits cried to be sent into a nearby herd of swine, Jesus (being the nice guy that he was) obliged. Off the demons went into pigs; and, this is an important thing to understand.
A demon spirit does not have the ability to fly into a rock and make the rock become some animate object. A demon spirit can only have powers when it enters a soul. They demonize a soul that possesses some body of flesh and they then make that flesh do wild and crazy things. That says pigs have souls.
Now, Jesus said, "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you." [Matthew 7:6, NRSV] While one can assume that dogs also have souls, it is more important to realize Jesus was using metaphor. As such, "dog" refer to "a worthless or contemptible person." [Merriam-Webster; 2a] Likewise, "swine" bears the same implication ["a contemptible person" - Merriam-Webster; 2a]. The reason Jesus would use "dogs" and "swine" is a dog has some value [man's best friend, when not all mangy, sick, or flea-ridden], while swine are known to eat anything in front of their faces. Apologies to Arnold Ziffel, but the truth is pigs will kill you and eat your corpse. They are not fun animals … and Jesus pointed that out.
The metaphor of Matthew 7:6 says do not allow friendly idiots to become priests. A dog in the pulpit might look lovable, but it is clueless about spiritual matters. A good dog name is thus Nicodemus. Dogs are the equivalent of hired hands, who are placed into positions of religious importance, while not knowing squat about spiritual matters. To hand over Holy Scripture to them [be it the Torah-Prophets-Psalms or the New Testament-Holy Bible] means their brains can only talk about things that make them happy … like getting a dog treat or being scratched behind the ears. To pay a dog to bark or howl at a congregation does nothing towards marrying any souls to Yahweh.
As for the swine caution, they might be smarter than dogs, but they are only in the world to please themselves. They are metaphor for the false shepherds, who pretend to be important, while planning on devouring everything made of flesh. So, any pearls of wisdom thrown to a pig won't be returned to you, like a good fetch dog would try to do. It makes them want more than your pearls (which they trample over). They want to eat the arms and hands that throw pearls at them; and, they will run fast towards you, with mauling being on their tiny brains.
The pearls Jesus spoke of throwing at them are like all the wisdom he threw at the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes on the Temple steps. They were the swine leaders of the Animal Farm and had no use for his pearls of truth. So, like all swine given free reign over an organization, they will plot anyone's demise that speaks up loudly, saying "You swine are evil and wicked!"
With this lesson on the minds of Sus domesticus [pigs], it is good to realize that "a large herd of swine feeding" says they were in some kind of confinement. Free-range pigs just aren't found, like are sheep, goats, and oxen. Swine taste the truth and say, "Gimme more slop!" With tastes like that, what do you think they plan to feed the other animals in the barnyard? Nothing good; that's for sure.
So, knowing how selfish swine are, to have a large herd suddenly become aware that each had a new demon spirit present within its soul …. Well, even a pig soul has some threshold of decency. They are too selfish to allow any spirit possession to last for long!
This says the large herd of pigs suddenly decided they would rather kill themselves, than be possessed by a demon spirit. They charged over whatever fence that was there and they ran down the hill, into the water, purposefully drowning themselves [pigs can swim, if they want to].
Knowing that even a pig can be self-sacrificial makes what Jesus said about throwing "pearls before swine" even more profound. Those metaphorical bastards are souls possessed by demons … maybe even Legion himself … and they love it!
If one of them ever became a Presiding Bishop or Archbishop or Pope …!
Well, let's just say the world would be going to hell in a handbasket, if that ever happened.
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