Unsung Heroines-Huldah, The Prophetess

Introduction: When King Josiah of Judah heard the Word of God from Shaphan, he immediately tore his clothes and asked a group of men to “inquire of the LORD”. These men found Huldah, a prophetess, and God gave His message to them through her.

Text: 2 Kings 22:14-20. KJV: 14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her. 15 And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me, 16 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read: 17 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched. 18 But to the king of Judah which sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard; 19 Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD. 20 Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.

Thoughts: Nothing is known of Huldah except she was the wife of Shallum, who was the son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas. She (and apparently her husband if he was still living) lived in Jerusalem. The word translated “college” in the KJV is rendered “Second Quarter” or “second district” and the like. She didn’t live in an institution of higher learning, in other words.

But we do know that God spoke through her to the men who had come. Some wonder why they found Huldah and not someone else. There is no answer. Both Zephaniah (Zeph. 1:1) and Jeremiah (Jer 1:2) were living in that time frame; even so, God used someone else to deliver His message to those seeking it.

Oddly enough, the message which Huldah gave was very brief concerning Judah (verses 16-17) and it was nothing but judgment. God had had enough and He was going to punish Judah for their sins even as He had done to the Ten Northern Tribes nearly a century before (2 Kings 17). Manasseh, Josiah’s grandfather, had done too much evil and had gone too far for any redemption (2 Kings 21:10-16, 2 Chronicles 33:1-11, Jeremiah 15:4).

Her word from the LORD for Josiah, though, was one of comfort. Josiah had a tender heart (oh that more people would have one of these even today!) and humbled himself when he heard the Law read to him (Deuteronomy 27 and 28 have some curses which God promised to lay on Israel if they ever refused to “hearken to the word of the LORD (Deut. 28:15, e.g.)”. We don’t know what Shaphan read to Josiah but whatever it was, it worked, and Josiah knew trouble was coming. Huldah said Josiah would “be gathered into (his) grave in peace” and that he wouldn’t see all that was coming.

The men then returned to Josiah. Read 2 Kings 23 to follow this narrative and review what happened. What happened to Huldah, though, is never stated. Did she live to see Jerusalem taken? Or was she, too, spared as Josiah was? We’ll never know down here.

Huldah was one of the few who had remained faithful to the LORD, God of Israel during these last few years of Judah’s freedom (before the Babylonian Captivity). Although she’s only mentioned here, she was chosen to be God’s messenger and gave His message to a group of people. She was definitely an unsung heroine, for her faithfulness and care in giving God’s message to a group of seekers. She’ll definitely be rewarded for her faithfulness!

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).