Susanna 44-59

Relax, Read and Reflect

Prayer- Lord, Open our hearts and open our minds and help us to learn. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.

44 And the Lord heard her voice.
45 Therefore when she was led to be put to death, the Lord raised up the holy spirit of a young youth whose name was Daniel:
46 Who cried with a loud voice, I am clear from the blood of this woman.
47 Then all the people turned them toward him, and said, What mean these words that thou hast spoken?
48 So he standing in the midst of them said, Are ye such fools, ye sons of Israel, that without examination or knowledge of the truth ye have condemned a daughter of Israel?
49 Return again to the place of judgment: for they have borne false witness against her.
50 Wherefore all the people turned again in haste, and the elders said unto him, Come, sit down among us, and shew it us, seeing God hath given thee the honour of an elder.
51 Then said Daniel unto them, Put these two aside one far from another, and I will examine them.
52 So when they were put asunder one from another, he called one of them, and said unto him, O thou that art waxen old in wickedness, now thy sins which thou hast committed aforetime are come to light.
53 For thou hast pronounced false judgment and hast condemned the innocent and hast let the guilty go free; albeit the Lord saith, The innocent and righteous shalt thou not slay.
54 Now then, if thou hast seen her, tell me, Under what tree sawest thou them companying together? Who answered, Under a mastick tree.
55 And Daniel said, Very well; thou hast lied against thine own head; for even now the angel of God hath received the sentence of God to cut thee in two.
56 So he put him aside, and commanded to bring the other, and said unto him, O thou seed of Chanaan, and not of Juda, beauty hath deceived thee, and lust hath perverted thine heart.
57 Thus have ye dealt with the daughters of Israel, and they for fear companied with you: but the daughter of Juda would not abide your wickedness.
58 Now therefore tell me, Under what tree didst thou take them companying together? Who answered, Under an holm tree.
59 Then said Daniel unto him, Well; thou hast also lied against thine own head: for the angel of God waiteth with the sword to cut thee in two, that he may destroy you.

My father has always said the moral of the Book of Susanna is to get a good lawyer. Yes, this is that Daniel-of lions den fame. Since he was the kings chief counsel, he was a good lawyer. More importantly, Daniel was a man of God. The people respected him and God spoke to him. That is about as well respected as you can get.
God heard the cry of Susanna, and had Daniel intervene. He had the elders, (minus the two evil ones,) re-convene. He then told them of his plan to interrogate them separately. Notice that Daniel talks smack before he asks the magic questions. This was to make them anxious before they answered and to get them off their game. It worked.
So, now the elders have answered Daniels questions differently, do you think the other elders will smell a rat? If so, will they be lenient? And what about Joakim? Tomorrow all these questions will be answered.

Prayer- Lord, thank you for hearing our prayers. We know that good things happen when we call to you, but we do not always know what that good might be. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.