Oh Susanna!


There are times when I KNOW God is trying to tell me something, but I am struggling to figure out exactly what...Thursday was such an instance.

When I was first married to Chris he said my name reminded me of the Bible character Susanna.  Now I was a bit familiar with the Bible and I told him I didn't remember the story. He told me the story was in the apocrypha (portions of the Catholic Bible that are not in the Protestant version).

That morning, I was doing a little reading online and came across the story - however it was in Daniel, not Tobit.  I was surprised,  I was humbled.  I knew DANIEL was in my Bible and so I wondered why I hadn't heard the story many times before.

The tale is about a beautiful God-fearing woman named Susanna who was married to a man named Joakim.  Joakim was very rich and had a large garden near his house.  Two older men who were judges within the community saw Susanna entering the garden every day and began to lust after her.  

The men began to plot and look for an occasion when they could find her alone.

One day Susanna entered with two maids - seeking to bathe in the garden for the weather was warm.  Susanna told the maids to leave her so she could bathe in peace - unaware that the judges were lurking in the bushes.

As soon as the maids left, the two men ran to Susanna and told her to give in to their desires.  If she did not comply they threatened to testify against her.

Susanna replied "I am completely trapped.  If I yield, it will be my death, if I refuse, I cannot escape your power.  Yet it is better for me to to do it and to fall into your power than to sin before the Lord."  Then Susanna screamed.

People in the house heard the scream and rushed to see what happened.  As promised the two men then lied and said she had sent her servants out so that she could lie with them.

And because these two men were powerful and respected within the community, Susanna was sentenced to death.

However, Daniel interceded, and in questioning the two men found they had conflicting stories about what happened - so Susanna was saved from death and instead the two men were punished.

Ta-da!  A story of a virtuous woman claiming God over this world.  Beautiful.

I didn't think anything more of it until later that night - when on Jeopardy they showed a 16th century painting by Martino Altomonte and asked what it depicted - it was Susanna and the two elders!

It made me think, I haven't thought about this story in over 30 years, and now I've heard it twice in a day "God wants me to write about this - but I don't know why" and I began doing a little research.

The word "apocrypha" comes from the Greek word apokryptein which means "to hide away."  This particular book was removed because it was not found in the Hebrew or Aramaic text and was thought to have been added later.  

There are 14 books that are considered to be apocryphal.

Are these books superfluous?  Are they relevant?  Why is God asking me to dig...?!

Honestly, I think it is because God wants to know I have an interest in Him, and He knows that when I dig, I grow...

He gave each of us wisdom and discernment and He listens to our prayers.

"He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him." - Daniel 2:22

"Call to me and I will answer you and I will tell you great and mighty things which you do not know." - Jeremiah 33:3

"Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:12-13






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