Female Prophetesses are a rarity. Israel, like many nations, is a male-dominated society. Female Prophetesses such as Huldah, Miriam and Deborah are unique.
It is society that creates barriers and defines who we are. Women like the prophetesses, are proof that in God there are neither male nor female, Jew nor Gentile. All are equal. It is society that creates the barriers.
Female Prophetess Huldah
Huldah, a female prophetess, lived in the reign of King Josiah, a God-fearing king of Israel. She was the wife of Shallum, keeper of the royal wardrobe.
Huldah sat in the city centre and counselled any who wished to make inquiries to Jehovah God. Not only was it unusual to see a woman as a prophetess, but that she did so publicly, giving access to whosoever sought her counsel.
There is no record that 20-year-old Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, was jealous or threatened by the much older Huldah. Jeremiah became one of Israel’s most notable prophets.
Book Of The Law
Hilkiah, the priest, found the lost book of the law during renovations to Solomon’s Temple. During the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, Israel sunk into deep apostasy. Even the memory of the law had been lost.
King Josiah sent five of his to top men to approach the prophetess, Huldah. She was asked to attest to the authenticity of the scroll.
Huldah prophesied the nation’s ruin because of its disobedience to the commands of God. Israel had been warned not to worship the heathen and vile idols of Canaan.
Many of the Israelites combined the worship of heathen gods and man-made idols with the worship of the God. They conveniently forgot it was the God of Israel who had delivered them from the bondage of slavery.
Spiritual Revival
Huldah’s prophetic message and public reading of the book resulted in a spiritual revival. She assured the king that God had heard his prayers and that he would go in peace to his grave.
King Josiah cleansed Judah of idol worship and instigated a series of reforms. The king and his people vowed to follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This forestalled the fulfilment of the prophecy of judgement.
Prophetess Huldah and the short-lived spiritual revival, was so memorable that there are Huldah Gates in the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount. They were part of the extended Temple of Herod. The gates were walled up in the Middle Ages, but they are still visible in the wall.
Female Prophetess, Noadiah
Not all Israel’s prophetesses were godly women. Noadiah was a woman of importance and influence. She was the head of the Jerusalem-based prophetic guild and she had the power to appoint kings just as Elisha before her, but she sided with Israel’s enemies.
Nehemiah had been sent back from Babylon as governor to the Hebrew people. But he had powerful enemies, who objected to securing the city of Jerusalem. If Jerusalem became a stronghold, it would pose a serious threat. It would allow the Jews to re-establish themselves.
Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah an Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab, were all local governors. They served under the Persian King, but they feared the return of the Jews. The Ammonites and the Horonites had been driven from the Promised Land and remained firm enemies of the Jews.
The governors mocked Nehemiah, and those who worked with him on the walls of Jerusalem. They tried to intimidate Nehemiah through false reports and prophecies. The governors also wanted to influence the nobles of Judah against Nehemiah. They opposed Nehemiah on political, religious, and economic grounds.
Foreign Wives
Noadiah, the prophetess, conspired with Shemaiah, a Levite. He was in the pay of Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem. As a female prophetess, Noadiah had influence among the women.
Many of the Israelites had married foreign women, and their children could not speak the Hebrew language. The prophet Ezra had earlier commanded the men of Israel to divorce themselves from their foreign wives and children. Under Nehemiah, the foreign wives now faced the same threat.
Solomon’s foreign wives had been his downfall. They introduced their menfolk to the worship of pagan gods. Jezebel, a Gentile, not only introduced the worship of Baal, but caused the downfall of her husband, the king, and the destruction of his dynasty.
Female Prophetess Woman Of Influence
The foreign wives wanted to use the female prophetess, Noadiah, to stop Nehemiah. They needed him destroyed before he destroyed them.
The conspirators told Nehemiah that Noadiah had prophesied he needed to lock himself into the Holy Place of the Temple for his own safety. Nehemiah saw through the false prophecy. He knew only the priests could enter the Holy Place.
His authority in Jerusalem would have been undermined if he had listened to his enemies. The mission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem would have failed. The security of Jerusalem was vital for the ongoing return of the Jews from Babylon.
Nehemiah refused to argue with the satanically inspired woman and her evil companions. He looked to God for His protection and God answered his prayers. The opposition died away.
Nehemiah cleansed the families of their pagan gods and told the men to separate from their foreign wives and children. He finished the work of restoration on the wall in 52 days and made Jerusalem secure.
Female Prophetess Anna
Anna, an 84-year-old widow, was a New Testament female prophetess. Anna’s husband had died after only seven years of marriage. She stayed in the Temple, praying and fasting, and ministering before the Lord.
She was among the first to recognize the young child of Joseph and Mary as the promised Messiah. Anna was the first New Testament evangelist, as she proclaimed the 333 messianic prophecies in the Old Testament were starting to be fulfilled. Her many years of sacrifice and service were worth it, when she beheld the Messiah, the One for whom she had waited so long.
Today
More women are needed in this world of chaos, like the female prophetesses Miriam, Huldah, and Anna. Ladies who will not accept women’s limitations.
As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the return of the Lord. The world is hurtling into the coming judgement of God. It’s good to see strong women preachers rising up in a male-dominated industry. In God, there is neither male nor female. All have an equal voice when it comes to sharing the Word of God.
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