And Hilkijah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter [of the town]; and they spoke with her.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And she said to them, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel Tell the man that sent you to me,
Josiah has just heard the book of the law read aloud, torn his clothes, and sent his officials to ask God what it means for him and his people. Verse 15 opens the answer they brought back. Two things stand out: who delivers it, and how God names the king who sent for it.
Josiah wanted more than a report from his priest or his secretary. He wanted the word itself. But the only person who could give it showed how far things had fallen.
And now, who will interpret this Word for us? This Word shows that we have brought God's displeasure on ourselves. How then are we to "inquire of the LORD" about what we should do? Only the prophet can interpret it for us, for he represents the Spirit of Christ (1 Peter 1:11). Josiah does not turn to Shaphan the scribe for this, or even to Hilkiah the high priest. He seeks direct contact with the Word. There were many prophets in the days of wicked Manasseh. In Josiah's time, days of revival but of deep weakness, we find a prophetess at Jerusalem. Prophets were not lacking in Judah, but work handed to a woman marks decline, just as with Deborah in the book of Judges. Like Deborah, Huldah does not seek a public ministry, as the false prophetesses of our day do. She uses her gift in the place appointed to her.
For a king, going to a woman for counsel looked humbling. Josiah's broken heart made the channel irrelevant.
Things were low. But the grace of God was unfailing and abundant. Josiah was so broken down that he was ready to take God's mind from whatever channel brought it to him. This was morally lovely. To nature's eye, it might seem very humiliating for a king of Judah to turn to a woman for counsel. But that woman held the mind of God, and for a humble and contrite spirit like Josiah's that was quite enough.
Huldah speaks in God's name, not her own. She does not soften the book or add to it.
Huldah was a faithful woman. She told Josiah's servants the plain, uncompromising truth from God. She confirmed what Josiah had read in scripture: a dreadful judgment would fall on Jerusalem. It expressed the fierce anger of the Lord against their wickedness.
Josiah had already heard these words read. Hearing them a second time, addressed to him by name, landed differently.
All this only repeated and confirmed what the king of Judah had already heard with an open and attentive ear. But now it came with fresh force, emphasis, and interest, as a direct personal message to himself. That earnest sentence gave it added weight: "Tell the man who sent you to me."
The reply then comes in two parts. Each part names the same man differently.
The message comes in two parts. The first part opens with 'tell the man'. It says the judgment will come and can no longer be turned aside. The second part speaks to 'the king of Judah'. It reassures Josiah that God had accepted his humbling of himself and would not bring the judgment in Josiah's day.
Jeremiah was already prophesying in Judah at this time. God passed him over here, and the writers do not pretend to explain it.
But although the above is true, we must never lose sight of the sovereignty of God. He works as He pleases, and gives no account of His matters. This is even more so when everything is in confusion among His people. Why the LORD chose to speak through Huldah to the king and to the high priest is known to Himself alone. Jeremiah was already in His service, for he began his prophetic ministry in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign (Jer. 1:2), and the book of the law was not found until five years later. Yet the LORD spoke through Huldah on this occasion, and not through Jeremiah!
The judgment stood. Josiah could have decided there was nothing left to do.
Josiah might have thought the case hopeless. He might have thought that nothing could turn back the mighty tide of wrath and judgment about to roll over Jerusalem and the land of Israel. He might have thought that any move of his was useless — that God's purpose was settled, the decree gone out, and that he had only to stand by and let things take their course. But Josiah did not reason this way. He bowed before the divine testimony. He humbled himself, tore his clothes, and wept. God took notice of this.
- Sent — Josiah would not settle for a second-hand report. He sought direct contact with God's word.
- Channel — a woman in the prophet's place showed how low things had sunk. A broken king still took the word, whatever channel God used.
- Sovereign — Jeremiah was already prophesying. God chose Huldah instead, and gives no account of why.
- Confirmed — the message added nothing to the book. It drove home what Josiah had already heard.
- Answered — the judgment still stood, yet God noticed Josiah's tears. "Tell the man" became a personal word for "the king of Judah."