Who was Huldah the prophetess in the Bible?

Wife of Shallum and a prophetess. King Josiah sent to her when a copy of the law had been found. Her message from the Lord was that God would surely bring the evils upon the people according to what the book said, because they had turned to idolatry; but Josiah having humbled himself, the Lord did not bring the evils in his day. 2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chr. 34:22.

To ask about the book that so affected King Josiah, his servants went to a prophetess, Huldah, who lived in Jerusalem (v.14). It is sad that there were no male prophets to consult. At times of a low condition amongst God's people, because of a sad faithlessness among men, the Lord will use a woman in the way a man would normally be used. Deborah is another example of this (Judges 4:1-4).

Huldah was a faithful woman who told Josiah's servants the plain, uncompromising truth from God: "Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants - all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read - because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands. Therefore my wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched" (vv.16-17). Huldah simply confirmed what Josiah had read in scripture, that a dreadful judgment would fall on Jerusalem, expressing the fierce anger of the Lord against their wickedness.

However, Huldah's prophecy also held some measure of comfort for Josiah. Because his heart was tender, and therefore he had humbled himself before the Lord when he heard the Word of God, he had torn his clothes in self-judgment and had wept before the Lord, the Lord had taken full account of his repentance (vv.18-20). For this reason the Lord assured Josiah that he himself would be taken away by death before the time of Judah's solemn calamity. This may remind us of Isaiah 57:1, "The righteous perish, and no man takes it to heart: merciful men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil." How often thus does God take away a godly person before some great trouble that would be most painful for him to witness!

The direct result of reading the Word of God was more than outward grief and repentance. The king gave the command, "Go ye, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people and for all Judah." Jeremiah and Zephaniah were then upon the scene, but we do not read anything of them in the record. It is Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum (retribution), the son of Tikvah (meaning "hope") the son of Harhas (meaning "extremely poor"). That he had to inquire of a woman, the weaker vessel, must have been humiliating to the king. And Huldah's message is one of judgment. To Josiah personally good is promised. He was not to see the evil. In spite of the great reformation-revival, judgment would fall upon Judah and upon Jerusalem (verses 15-17).

"And Hilkiah and they that the king had appointed went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem, in the college;) and they spake to her to that effect." At the opening of this paper we referred to the fact of a child of eight years old being on the throne of David as indicative of the condition of things amongst the people of God. Here, too, we are arrested by the fact that the prophetic office was filled by a woman. It surely tells a tale. Things were low; but the grace of God was unfailing and abundant, and Josiah was so thoroughly broken down that he was prepared to receive the communication of the mind of God through whatever channel it might reach him. This was morally lovely. It might, to nature's view, seem very humiliating for a king of Judah to have recourse to a woman for counsel; but then that woman was the depository of the mind of God, and this was quite enough for a humble and a contrite spirit like Josiah's. He had thus far proved that his one grand desire was to know and do the will of God, and hence it mattered not by what vehicle the voice of God was conveyed to his ear, he was prepared to hear and obey.

Christian reader, let us consider this. We may rest assured that herein lies the true secret of divine guidance. "The meek will He guide in judgement, and the meek will He teach His way." (Ps. 25:9) Were there more of this blessed spirit of meekness among us, there would be less confusion, less controversy, less striving about words to no profit. If we were all meek, we should all be divinely guided and divinely taught, and thus we should see eye to eye; we should be of one mind, and speak the same thing, and avoid much sad and humbling division and heart-burning.

See what a full answer the meek and contrite Josiah received from Huldah the prophetess — an answer both as to his people and as to himself. "And she answered them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah. Because they have forsaken Me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched."

And now who will interpret this Word for us? How are we to "inquire of Jehovah" regarding what we are to do, knowing that according to this Word we have incurred His displeasure? The prophet alone, the representative of the Spirit of Christ (1 Peter 1:11), can interpret it for us. Josiah does not turn to Shaphan the scribe for this, or even to Hilkijah the high priest, he seeks to be put into direct relationship with the Word. There were many prophets at the time of ungodly Manasseh (2 Kings 21:10). In Josiah's time, in these days of revival but of profound weakness, we find a prophetess at Jerusalem. Not that prophets were lacking in Judah (2 Kings 23:2), but activity entrusted to a woman characterizes decline, just as with Deborah in the book of Judges. Like Deborah, Huldah, this servant of Jehovah, does not seek to exercise a public ministry like the false prophetesses of our days; she employs her gift in the sphere appointed her. Josiah's servants come to her: "Now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter of the town" (v. 14). Here we are far from an Isaiah whose ministry embraced the whole range of prophecy and whose presence characterized Hezekiah's revival. But the Spirit of Christ speaks through this woman, to confirm "all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read" (v. 16), and, at the same time to reassure Josiah as to his own future. God had respect to the king's deep humiliation: "Because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before Jehovah, when thou heardest what I spoke against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and curse, and didst rend thy garments and weep before me, I also have heard thee, says Jehovah" (v. 19). To humble himself was, in fact, the only thing needful. This characterized Josiah and at all times characterizes the faithful remnant in the midst of evil (Ezek. 9:4) in the days of the ruin of the Church, and among those who profess to know the name of the Lord. Today one can recognize the hearts of the faithful by the humiliation they feel at the state of things. Josiah's heart was very sensitive to this; he rent his garments and wept. But according to verse 20 he was to be "taken away from before the evil," as Isaiah says (Isa. 57:1).

The reading of ‘the book’ prompted a profound twofold reaction. Josiah (i) rent his garments and (ii) inquired of the Lord. The word of God brings about repentance and dependence Huldah is the instrument to make known the Lord’s mind (exercising this give in the sphere given to her). A twofold message is given. The first part is introduced by: ‘tell the man’ and states that the judgement will come and cannot be averted any more. The second part is addressed to ‘the king of Judah’ and reassures Josiah that God had accepted his humiliation and would not bring the judgement in Josiah’s day.

But although the foregoing is true, the sovereignty of God must never be lost sight of. He works as He pleases, and gives no account of His matters. Particularly is this the case when everything is in confusion amongst His people. Why Jehovah 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 Jehovah spoke through Huldah on that occasion with which we are dealing and not through Jeremiah! God's saints need spiritual judgment in order to discern His sovereign actings. If it is important not to "lay hands suddenly" on a man, it is still more important that we should not "lay hands suddenly" on a woman (1 Tim. 5:22). This laying on of hands is not ordination, but sympathetic identification with the worker. After the war of 1914-1918, a woman who had been a political agitator ("Votes for Women") suddenly became a lecturer on prophecy, and attracted many hearers. There was no time after the great change in her life to digest the great principles of God's ways, which lead to separation from the world, with humility of spirit; but the lady's alert brain nevertheless grasped a good deal of Prophetic truth. Evangelical leaders sat behind her on Public platforms, and acclaimed her as the "modern Deborah." Much disappointment ensued for many of them.

The word of Jehovah was undoubtedly with Huldah the prophetess. She was the divine mouthpiece at a most serious moment in the history of Israel. Storm-clouds were gathering over the guilty nation; everything was breaking up; the kingdom was about to be extinguished; and David's throne was soon to be overturned, not to be set up again until the day of the Lord Jesus. At such a moment the word of prophecy flowed from the lips of Huldah. Her message was in two parts: The word of Jehovah to the man who sent the deputation is given in 2 Chron. 34:23-25; and her message to "the King of Judah who sent you to enquire of Jehovah" is given in the three verses which follow. The first part spoke of the ruin impending for the nation. Its cup of iniquity had been filling up for centuries; Manasseh's defiance of Jehovah's Word, and his excessive evil had caused the cup to overflow. In 2 Kings 21:10-15, we have a summary of Jehovah's messages to that wicked king. He had gone beyond the Amorites in sin, and in consequence Jehovah was "bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever hears of it, both his ears shall tingle." Jehovah would "wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down." He would forsake His people, and cause them to "become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies." They had provoked their God to anger "since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt." It was thus persistent and hopeless evil. Josiah's personal piety was a delight to God, but it could not annul His righteous judgement. "Notwithstanding, Jehovah turned not from the fierceness of His great wrath wherewith His anger was kindled against Judah because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked Him withal. And Jehovah said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said My name shall be there." (2 Kings 23:26 and 27). Leviticus 26 and Deut. 28 are two of the most terrible chapters in the Word of God. Therein, with a mass of fearful detail, Jehovah set before His people ere they entered the land what must be the consequences if they rebelled against Him. It was probably those very chapters which so alarmed Josiah, causing him to rend his clothes and weep before God. Israel's course from first to last had been sinful. From time to time Jehovah had sent messengers to them, "rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place" (2 Chron. 36:15). But it was all in vain. "They mocked the messengers of God and despised His words, and misused His prophets until the wrath of Jehovah arose against His people until there was no remedy." Pious kings had sought to lead the people aright, but their hearts never were with their kings in their endeavours. This is specially recorded of the days of Josiah (Jer. 3:10). Judgement must now take its course. Manasseh, who over-filled Israel's cup of iniquity is doubtless in Heaven, a sinner saved by grace late in life; but the governmental consequences of his transgressions remain to this day. Josiah was told by Huldah that "wrath was about to be poured out upon this place and shall not be quenched" (2 Chron. 34:25).

The condition of Israel was so low at this time that there was no prophet whom they could consult, but a prophetess named Huldah was available and they went to her (v. 22). She faithfully gave them God's answer that He would bring calamity upon Israel, all the curses written in the book Josiah had heard read. The reason is given plainly, "because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place, and not be quenched" (vv.24-25). Not even the exceptional faithfulness of Josiah could avert this judgment.

While engaged in the service of the house of God “a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses” was found, and brought to the king who, on reading it, rent his clothes, and sent to enquire of the Lord concerning what was written in the law. Huldah the prophetess confirmed that the Lord would bring His judgments upon His people because of their sins, but because the king’s heart was tender, and because he humbled himself on reading the curses of the law, the judgment would be deferred till after his death.

(2) We now reach the second phase of the revival. The money enabled Hilkiah, the High Priest, to make a thorough overhaul of the House. In the process he found the Book of the Law of the Lord, given by the hand of Moses. (2 Chron. 34:14). Hilkiah sent a messenger with it to the King. Wnen the latter heard the words or the Law read, of which apparently he had previously but slight acquaintance, he was greatly affected. The divine Laws had been broken in a flagrant manner and fearful judgment had been incurred. After rending his clothes the king sent messengers to Huldah the Prophetess to be informed as to his future course of action. She assured the messengers that on account of Josiah's godliness and grief for the prevalent wickedness, the stroke of judgment would not fall in his time.