Huldah

Women In An Era Of Political Decline
Huldah

Huldah: The woman who unveiled the future of a nation.

Key Scripture: 2 Kings 22:14-20; 2 Chronicles 34:22-33.

Her Name Means: “weasel” (supposed to have been an old totem clan name).

Her Character: A Prophetess, who had an inner peace, a confidence in who she was in God, and was faithful to what God called her to do.

Her Strengths: Huldah had an inner peace she was confident in God she was faithful in what God asked her to do.

Pre-Story: She was a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah, during the reign of King Josiah.

Her Story: The Scriptures give us no graphic description of this early Hebrew prophetess, except to say that she was the wife of Shallum, whose family had been singled out as keepers of the King Josiah's wardrobe, and that she lived in the 2nd Quarter of Jerusalem, probably a suburb. At least this would place her close to life inside the palace and Temple.

Huldah possessed two great qualities, righteousness and prophetic insight. This prophetic power was given to her because she loved the loved God with all her heart. Education was primarily an oral thing at this time, and repetition would have been the way things were taught, so we can assume that Huldah was a teacher.

Josiah, at the tender age of eight years, becoming King of Judah. Josiah was a righteous ruler following in the foot steps of a long lineup of wicked kings. Under the leadership of his godless ancestors, Judah had descended into idolatry and forgotten God.

Josiah was attempting to rehabilitate the nation's standing with God. A major aspect of his reform was the repairing of the temple of the Lord. During these renovations of the temple, Hilkiah the high priest makes an amazing discovery by finding the Book of the Law.

The book of the Law reveals that covenant curses will fall down on the nation because of its many years of evil and rebellion against God. When the book is sent to the king and the contents read to him, he rips his robe in anguish and weeps. King Josiah commands five of his top leaders to go and inquire of the Lord, and see if judgment is indeed going to fall.

King Josiah sent, Hilkiah, Shaphan, and the High Priest, to go and seek out the counsel of the Prophetess Huldah so that they could follow the words in detail. Evidently Huldah was known in the kingdom of Judah far and wide or she would never have been sought out by King Josiah, 

He had faith in Huldah's spiritual powers and he wanted her to tell him whether the book was genuine or not. Here is a clue to Huldah's intellectual and spiritual perception. Huldah authenticates the book and presents a grim prognosis. She doesn't sugarcoat her response but plainly and truthfully presents God's verdict.

Huldah continues by prophesying that divine judgment will indeed fall on the nation of Judah. God, however, responds with mercy to the king. Because Josiah had shown humility and responsiveness to God, he will not see this horror in his lifetime.

Huldah's prophecy gave King Josiah greater courage to put into action the Laws written in the Book of the Law, which had been sent to her for verification. After this, Josiah had the scroll read in the house of the Lord and made a covenant to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments.

Judgment will not fall until after Josiah is dead and buried. Judgment did indeed fall upon the nation of Judah just as Huldah prophesied, but King Josiah did not die in peace.

Note worthy is that in the short account of Huldah's prophecy the scribe repeated four times her phrase, "Thus saith the Lord," making us know that Huldah did not think of herself as an oracle, but only as a channel through which God's word  came.

Her Place in God's Divine Plan: Huldah is not a high profile character of the bible, but God used this woman to bear testimony and deliver a message from Him to the High Priest and to the King. This message for a time changed her whole nation's religious consciousness and practice and re-ignited their love for God.

Lesson We Can Learn from Her Legacy: She possessed inner peace, a sense of wholeness, of well-being, that comes through a right relationship with God. When we trust him, when we obey Him, when we let Him have control of our lives, we receive an inner peace.

She was confident in God. Confidence in God is not a virtue but an inner strength and determination inspired by God. God has given us the means to stand confident in Him.

She was faithful to God. She gave the word from the Lord not knowing what reaction she would get. She trusted God and by being faithful she changed the religious ways of a nation.

Genealogy:

Birthplace: Israel Death

Lived during Josiah's reign: 649–609 BCE
Married: Shallum 
Died in Israel

*Six women in the Bible are stated as possessing the title of prophetess: These seven prophetesses were: Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah and Esther.

*Some historians and scholars also claim that her memory was kept alive through a gate in Israel called the “Gate of Huldah.”