Tag: Prophetic Women

Huldah: prophetess of doom

2 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 34

Huldah ©MicahHayns

I confess I had never heard of Huldah before and yet she is one of the seven female prophets in Jewish tradition.*

Huldah had the ear of kings and rulers and interpreted the Jewish Law with authority, and yet unlike most other biblical prophets we hear nothing about her family history, journey of faith, or personality. The frustrating thing is we get to learn more about her husband’s genealogy than hers, and he does nothing of any consequence.

Huldah, (her name means weasel which is unfortunate!) was a prophetess from Judah at the time when King Josiah was on the throne. She lived in Jerusalem with her husband Shallum, who had the enigmatic job title, ‘keeper of the wardrobe’.**

You will remember from yesterday’s post about Queen Athaliah that this period of history was one of a seemingly endless cycle of corrupt and cruel rulers of the divided nations of Israel and Judah. During this period (around sixty years) the temple in Jerusalem had been allowed to fall into ruin, the people turned to idolatry, and the laws and statutes given to Moses had been largely forgotten.

King Josiah was one of the few kings who ‘did what was right in the eyes of the Lord’. (2 Kings 22.2). He became king when he was only eight year old and he ruled with justice and equity, ensuring those who worked on the restoration of the temple were being paid and that all the temple funds were accounted for properly.

Whilst the building work to restore the temple was taking place one of the workers found an old copy of ‘the Book of the Law’ in the rubble. This would have been a collection of rolls of parchment containing sections of the Torah. This was read aloud to the king who was convicted by what he heard realising with horror how far they had moved from the Lord’s will:

When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes

2 Kings 22.11

He wanted to understand what he was hearing and so he sent his high priest (Hilkiah) and scribe (Shaphan) to ask Huldah the Prophetess for guidance. She interprets the text with authority, clarity and boldness, and speaks to them of God’s judgment towards the people:

Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and provoked me to anger by all the idols they have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.

2 Kings 22.17

She then tells them that God had seen and heard Josiah’s repentance on receiving the Law:

Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord…because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you.

2 Kings 22.18

God used Huldah’s prophetic voice to promise King Josiah protection and peace. The king responded by restoring God’s word to temple worship, renewing their vows to obey God’s law, and bringing back long forgotten Jewish festivals such as Passover. Alongside this he destroyed all the idols and shrines, sacked all the pagan priests and mediums, and pulled down the altars to Baal.

Neither before or after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did – with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with the Law of Moses. 

2 Kings 23.25

And this remarkable transformation came about through the words of a female prophet who very few have ever heard of… Huldah.

* the others are Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail and Esther
** the job probably involved looking after the robes of the priests, rather like a verger would in our churches today.

Reflection and Prayer

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity,
 to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 
Ephesians 4.11-13

What is remarkable about this story is that King Josiah clearly had other learned temple priests and scribes he could call upon, and yet none of them were able to interpret scripture and explain the Book of the Law in the way that Huldah could. Is this the first example of biblical interpretation in scripture? I think it may be.

As we learn of Huldah’s gifts for prophetic teaching perhaps we can give thanks for all those women and men who have opened up scripture to us and have taught us something of God’s word.

Lord Jesus, merciful and patient, grant us grace
ever to teach in a teachable spirit;
learning along with those we teach,
and learning from them when it pleases you.
Word of God, speak to us, speak by us, what you will.
Wisdom of truth, instruct us, instruct by us, if and whom you will.
Eternal truth, reveal yourself to us, reveal yourself by us,
in whatsoever measure you will;
that we and they may all be taught of God. Amen

A prayer for teachers by Christina Rossetti (1830-94)

Deborah: the warrior judge

Deborah ©MicahHayns

Judges 4 and 5

One of the memorable moments of 2019 in the UK was of Judge Lady Brenda Hale, President of the Supreme Court, declaring Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament unlawful. She was cool, calm, and resplendent in her spider brooch!

Lady Brenda Hale

She is a powerful advocate for a more balanced gender representation on the UK’s highest court, and yet she objects to the idea of positive discrimination:

“no one wants to feel they have got the job in any way other than on their own merits” [1]

Deborah Beneath the Palm Tree, c. 1896-1902, by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French, 1836-1902) or followers

It is unlikely that there was any semblance of positive discrimination going on in (around) 12th Century BC to enable Deborah to become a judge, and so we must assume that her position came about due to her own merits.

At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment

Judges 4.4-5

The book of Judges chronicles a cycle of rebellion and deliverance which follows this basic pattern: the people are unfaithful to God (Yahweh) and He delivers them into the hands of their enemies; the people repent and cry out for mercy, which He sends in the form of a leader or champion (a “judge”); the judge delivers them from oppression and they prosper; then after a while they fall back into unfaithfulness and the cycle is repeated.

The story of Deborah follows this pattern but is unique in the Hebrew bible as she is the only female judge.

A battle had broken out between the Israelites (with their general Barak) and Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army. Deborah summoned Barak and commanded him to go to Mount Tabor with 10,000 soldiers from the tribes of Naphatili and Zebulun. However, Barak refuses to go without her by his side.

If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.

Judges 4.8

She goes with him but not before warning him that if they won the battle then he won’t receive the glory for it as it would always be known that, ‘the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman’. (Judges 4. 9)

The battle is won and Sisera and his army of 900 chariots retreat with Sisera running away on foot into Jael’s tent (more on her and the fate of Sisera in tomorrow’s blog!).

The ‘Song of Deborah’ in Judges 5 is perhaps the oldest example of Hebrew poetry and is a victory hymn that retells the story and celebrates a military victory brought about by two women.

‘The peasantry prospered in Israel,
They grew fat on plunder,
Because you arose, Deborah,
Arose as a mother in Israel….
Awake, awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, utter a song!’   

Judges 5. 7, 12

Reflection and Prayer

Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
    my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
    and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
Matthew 12.18

Let us remember all those who work in judicial systems around the world: for the police, lawyers, barristers, judges and for all those who create our laws and work to ensure justice and peace. We particularly remember parts of the world where these systems have broken down, where justice isn’t administered with equality, and where the poor continue to suffer because of this.

O God of righteousness, lead us we pray, in the ways of justice and peace: Inspire us to break down all oppression and wrong, to gain for everyone their due reward, and from everyone their due service, that each may live for all, and all may care for each, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
A Prayer of Archbishop William Temple, 1881-1944)

[1] From Wikipedia,
 Bowcott, Owen (1 January 2019). “White and male UK judiciary ‘from another planet’, says Lady Hale”. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 1 January 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2019.