seduced

September 11, 2017

The disputes and the resistance (Dan 11:32-11:35)

“He shall seduce,

With flattery,

Those who violate

The covenant.

But the people

Who are loyal

To their God

Shall stand firm.

They shall take action.

The wise among the people

Shall give understanding

To many.

For some days,

However,

They shall fall

By the sword,

By the flame.

They shall suffer

Captivity,

As well as plunder.

When they fall victim,

They shall receive

A little help.

Many shall join

Them insincerely.

Some of the wise

Shall fall.

Thus,

They may be

Refined,

Purified,

Cleansed,

Until the time

Of the end.

There is still an interval

Until the time appointed.

As indicated in 1 Maccabees, chapter 2, King Antiochus IV seduced some of the Hellenizing Judeans to abandon the covenant. However, there were many who remained loyal to their God. They stood firm and sided with the wise ones of Jerusalem. However, they also fell by the sword and the flames. They suffered captivity and plunder, but they received a little help. Some of these people were insincere. Even some of the wise ones fell, so that they could be refined, purified, and cleansed until the end times. Nevertheless, there was going to be an interval until this appointed time came.

January 5, 2017

The vision of not surrendering (Jer 38:21-38:23)

“But if you are determined

Not to surrender,

This is what Yahweh

Has shown me.

This is the vision.

All the women

Remaining in the house

Of the king of Judah

Were being led out

To the officials

Of the king of Babylon

Saying.

‘Your trusted friends

Have seduced you.

They have overcome you.

Now that your feet

Are stuck in the mud,

They desert you.’

All your wives,

All your children,

Shall be led out

To the Chaldeans.

You yourself shall not escape

From their hand.

But you shall be seized

By the king of Babylon.

This city shall be burned

With fire.”

Jeremiah told King Zedekiah that Yahweh had sent him a vision of what was going to happen, if he did not surrender to the Babylonians. In this vision, all the women of the household of the king were being brought out to the officials of the Babylonians. These women were saying that their trusted friends had deceived, seduced, and overcome them. Now that their feet were stuck in the mud, as Jeremiah had been in the well, their trusted friends had deserted them. Thus all the Judean wives and children would be were led out to the Chaldeans. The Judean king himself would not escape from the king of Babylon. The city of Jerusalem would be burned with a great fire. This was a grim vision of defeat.

June 14, 2016

The fears of a father for his daughter (Sir 42:9-42:10)

“A daughter is a secret anxiety

To her father.

Worry over her robs him of sleep.

When she is young,

He fears that she may not marry.

If married,

He fears that she may be disliked.

While a virgin,

He fears that she may be seduced.

He fears that she may become pregnant

In her father’s house.

Or having a husband,

He fears that she may go astray.

Though married,

He fears that she may be barren.”

Sirach lists all the fears that a father has for his daughter. He has a secret anxiety about her that robs him of sleep. When she is young, he is afraid that she will never marry. He is also afraid that she may be seduced and have a child in his house. If she gets married, he is afraid that her new husband will dislike her. He also is afraid that she may go astray from her new husband. Finally, he worries whether she might be sterile and have no children. He seems like an over protective concerned father who does not have the same concern about his sons.

March 28, 2015

Judith shows them the head of General Holofernes (Jdt 13:15-13:16)

“Then Judith pulled the head out of the bag. She showed it to them. She said.

‘See here.

The head of General Holofernes,

The commander of the Assyrian army.

Here is the canopy beneath which he lay in his drunken stupor.

The Lord has struck him down by the hand of a woman.

As the Lord lives,

He has protected me in the way I went.

I swear that it was my face

That seduced him to his destruction.

He committed no act of sin with me.

He did not defile and shame me.’”

Then Judith took the head out of the food bag that her maid had with her. She showed his head to them. She then told them that this was the head of General Holofernes, the commander of the Assyrian army. The bed canopy that wrapped his head came from his tent. She killed him while he was in a drunken stupor. The Lord gave her strength to strike him down so that he died at the hand of a woman. The Lord protected her as she seduced him with her facial appearance that led to his own destruction. However, no sin was committed since he did not defile or shame her.