Prophets – Consider the Lilies

Huldah: prophetess of doom

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

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) 12^th 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.

Miriam: The Joyful Prophet

Exodus 2.4-6, Exodus 15.20-21, Numbers 12.1, Micah 6.4, Numbers 20:1

This blog series all began because of Miriam.

I was in a shop getting some pictures framed whilst wearing my clerical collar and the man at the desk said: ‘you’ll know the answer to this as you’re a Vicar’.

Church leaders may know the feeling of dread at that statement!

'So, Miriam from the Bible, who was she then?'

I floundered. I knew she was in the Old Testament and had something to do with Moses. Nothing else. Another customer came in so I took the time to hide behind the frames to google her! I came away determined I’d find out more about Miriam, and also all the other wonderful women of scripture: hence this blog.

So, who was Miriam? She was Moses and Aaron’s sister, the daughter of Amran (one of the Israelite leaders) and Jochebed. That was the simple answer I gave the framer. But there is so much more to her. She was also the first women to be described as a prophetess, a leader of women, a musician and the very first worship leader mentioned in scripture!

Jocheved, Miriam, and Moses, an illustration from the 1897 *Bible Pictures and What They Teach Us: Containing 400 Illustrations from the Old and New Testaments*, by Charles Foster

We first hear of her when Moses is a baby in the bulrushes having been hidden by his mother to protect him from Pharaoh’s wicked plans to kill the male children. Jochebed (another fabulous woman) placed Moses in the river and Miriam stands at a distance to keep watch. When Pharaoh’s daughter comes and scoops Moses out of the river Miriam steps forward and suggests an ingenious plan.

Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?
Exodus 2.7

Miriam suggests Moses’ mother, who is then paid a wage to look after her own son!

**Miriam’s Song**, by John Edward Poynter *(The Bible and Its Story, 1910)*

We next hear of Miriam after Pharoah’s army has been defeated and the Israelites escape from Egypt across the red sea into the wilderness. She leads the defiant ‘song of the sea’, a song of triumph which is still recited in jewish daily prayers to this day.

[Miriam] took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing:
“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.”
Exodus 15.20-21

I love the fact that when Miriam and the women fled Egypt, when they didn’t even have time to wait for the bread to rise, they took with them their musical instruments. It’s as if they knew there would be a time to celebrate again one day, and they wanted to make sure they were ready.

It is likely that she was one of the community leaders whilst the Israelites were in exile, and we hear that she wasn’t afraid to confront Moses when she disapproved of a relationship of his (Numbers 12.1). Her forthright nature leads to her being accused of being jealous of Moses and she contracts leprosy (which was understood as a punishment) and is ostracised for a week.

She died at a time of drought in the wilderness of Zin and she was remembered many years later by the prophets as having been one of the three (with Moses and Aaron) who were sent by God to deliver his people from slavery (see Micah 6.4).

So, who was Miriam? A courageous sister, a leader of women, a musician, a worship leader, a dancer, and so much more!

Reflection and Prayer

There is a fantastically catchy song by Debbie Friedman which is sung at Jewish children’s camps in America (and maybe in the UK) called Miriam’s Song. I love this version as it’s rough and ready but totally joyful and the clips of Jewish kids enjoying themselves is a delight. Have a listen. https://youtu.be/1dcBTze-T4o

And Miriam the prophet took her timbrel in her hand
And all the women followed her just as she had planned
And Miriam raised her voice in song
She sang with praise and might
We’ve just lived through a miracle: We’re going to dance tonight!!

Miriam was first to lead the community in joyful praise after many years of hardship. Sometimes it’s good to remember to be thankful, whatever else is going on in our lives. Perhaps you might like to think of five things you are thankful for right now? You might like to say them out loud, boldly, remembering Miriam as you do so.

May we accept this day at your hand, O Lord
as a gift to be treasured,
a life to be enjoyed,
a trust to be kept
and a hope to be fulfilled:
and all for your glory. Amen

(A prayer of Stanley Pritchard)