The complation
of Book of Danial15
Thursday, August 17, 2006
“Blessed are you who Look into
the depths from your throne on the Cherubim and to be praised and highly
exalted for ever.” (32)
God placed two Cherubim at the gates of the Garden of Eden after casting out
Adam and Eve (Gen 3:24)
CHAPTER FOUR
THE STORY OF SUSANNS4
The story of Susanna is told in Chapter 13. Susanna was a
very beautiful woman and one who feared the Lord” (2). She was the
daughter of Hhlldah and wife of Joakim,
a rich man, She and her husband lived in Babylon.
Their home was a meeting place for those with a legal problem or concern from
the children of Israel. Two elderly judges who regularly visited Susanna’s home
were manipulated by the devil. They both had desires for her but neither of
them knew of the other’s distress. One afternoon, they found each other in her garden
although neither of them had any obvious reason to he
there. When each pressed the other for the reason, they confessed their lust
and arranged for a time when they could find her alone. When the opportunity
came they threatened her saying that unless she slept with them they would
testify that she had a young man with her.
Feeling completely trapped Susanna chose to fall into the hands of the evil
judges rather than sin in the sight of the Lord. So she cried out with a loud
voice but the two elders shouted against her and one them ran and opened the
garden doors.
The next morning people were gathered in Joakim’s
house where Susanna and the two elders were brought. The two men claimed that
they saw Susanna come into the garden the previous day with her two maids, lock
the gates and ask them to leave. “Then a young man who was biding there came to
her and lay with her. We were in a corner of the garden and when we saw this
wickedness we ran to them, Although we saw them
embracing we could not hold the man, because he was stronger than we, and he
opened the doors and got away.” (37-9)
Susanna was sentenced to death, however as she was being led away, she “cried
out with a loud voice and said “0 eternal God, you know what is secret and are
aware of all things before they come to he”, “You
know that these men have given false evidence against me and now I am about to
die even though I have done none of the wicked things they have charged against
me!” (42-3)
Then God stirred the Holy Spirit of Daniel and he shouted, “I want no part in
shedding of this woman’s blood” (46). He then criticised the people’s
foolishness in not listening to all the facts before passing judgment. The
