With heart and conscience thoroughly aroused, Josiah sought guidance from Jehovah concerning the words which had been read to him. It was clear that the people had long been disobedient to the law of their God, and Josiah rightly felt that the position was grave in consequence. It should be equally clear to us that the Church has long been disobedient to the written Word. As we read of the spiritual power and order of Apostolic days, and compare those days with our own, grief should fill our hearts, and we should turn as anxiously to the One against whom we have offended, as did the king of Judah long ago.
But the course that Josiah adopted arrests our attention. He sent a deputation of five leading men in his realm to consult Huldah the prophetess as to what Jehovah would have done. The leader of the deputation was Hilkiah the High Priest! The religious head of the nation sent by the King to a woman for counsel! Why was this? When priesthood was first established in Israel, Jehovah warned Aaron and his sons against the use of strong drink that they might be able to “put difference between holy and unholy and between unclean and clean.” They were to “teach the children of Israel all the statutes which Jehovah had spoken unto them by the hand of Moses” (Lev. 10:8-118And the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, 9Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: 10And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; 11And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. (Leviticus 10:8‑11)). At a much later date it was said, “The priest’s lips should keep knowledge and they should seek the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger of Jehovah of Hosts” (Mal. 2:77For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 2:7)). Here the high privileges and the spiritual distinction of the priesthood stands out clearly. Their special nearness to God should fit them to be His mouthpiece to the people. This would be particularly true of the High Priest. Yet Josiah sent the High Priest with others to learn the mind of God from a prophetess! Hezekiah did something similar in a time of national peril. The powerful Assyrian was at the door, and the King, “sent Eliakim who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos” (2 Kings 19:22And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. (2 Kings 19:2)). Although in this instance, the elders of the priests formed the bulk of the deputation, they were not sent to the High Priest, who is not even named in connection with the matter!
These facts must be understood if we would have intelligence in the ways of God. They show us how completely the priesthood had lost its original standing as the medium of communication between Jehovah and His people. The unfaithfulness of Eli and the wickedness of his sons brought about an entire change in God’s dealings. The priesthood passed into the shade. Instead of the King walking by his counsel, the High Priest was placed in subordination to the King. “He shall walk before Mine anointed forever” (1 Sam. 2:3535And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. (1 Samuel 2:35)). Doubtless in the days of the child-king Joash, Jehoiada the High Priest stood well to the fore, and was indeed the savior of the royal house, and of the nation, but this was exceptional (2 Chron. 24:2, 162And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. (2 Chronicles 24:2)
16And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house. (2 Chronicles 24:16)); and the case of Jehoiada illustrates two important principles, (1) the sovereignty of God, who works through whomsoever He pleases, and (2) the honor that He delights to put upon individual fidelity wherever He sees it. But God never re-establishes an order of things which has failed in the hands of men. In His exceeding grace He goes on to something better; and all that in which man has proved so incompetent will be seen in perfection in Christ in the day of His manifestation.
Hezekiah in his need sent to a man (Isaiah); but Josiah sent to a woman! Huldah had a husband; his name is recorded, but nothing more is said about him. The prophetess Deborah, in an earlier day, also had a husband, but in his case also nothing is stated but his name (Judges 4:44And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. (Judges 4:4)). Neither Lapidoth nor Shallum were used of God in moments of national emergency. Does all this perplex the reader, particularly in viewing the words of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 14:3434Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. (1 Corinthians 14:34) and 1 Timothy 2:10-1110But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 11Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. (1 Timothy 2:10‑11)? In these passages of Scripture women are charged to be silent in the assembly of God, and to learn “with all subjection.” Such Scriptures need to be carefully considered by all who fear God and tremble at His word. Lawlessness is increasing in the world, and the Church is affected by it in a greater or less degree, due to the unwatchfulness of saints and neglect of the Word of God. Women are becoming less and less disposed to fulfill the duties which properly belong to their sex, and are determined to push into positions of leadership and rule. The nations of the world are yielding to this; “the emancipation of women” has become a popular cry. In the professing Church we hear now of women “ministers” and “elders.” Such positions are a degradation to the women and a still deeper degradation to the men who “sit under” them, for the man “is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man” (1 Cor. 11:77For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. (1 Corinthians 11:7)). God in His wisdom has placed the woman in the delightful position of nearness to the man as his counselor and helper; but headship belongs to the man alone. Eve was built up from a rib taken from Adam’s side (Gen. 2:2222And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. (Genesis 2:22)); a simple fact with a great lesson. Several reasons are laid down in Scripture why the woman should be subject to the man, and in no wise intrude into leadership.
2. “Man was not created for the woman, but woman for the man” (1 Cor. 11:99Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. (1 Corinthians 11:9)). Thus the woman was intended to supplement the man, not the man to supplement the woman.
3. “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in transgression” (1 Tim. 2:1414And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. (1 Timothy 2:14)). It does not lessen Adam’s guilt that he was not deceived (it rather increases it); but the fact is placed before us that it was the woman who was beguiled by the serpent. Throughout human history, women have proved themselves particularly susceptible to deception, and in cases where they have gained the ears of the public, their influence has been disastrous. Witness Madame Blavatsky, Mrs. Besant and Mrs. Baker Eddy. The spiritual devastation wrought by these dupes of Satan is incalculable.
In the days of Isaiah, Jehovah said of His poor foolish people Israel, “My people children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people, they which lead thee cause thee, to err, and destroy the way of Thy paths” (Isa. 3:1212As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. (Isaiah 3:12)). This is the language of divine sorrow.
Christian women—whoever may read these lines—seek to be obedient in all things to the Word of your God. Be contented with the place which He has assigned to you. Follow not the ungodly in rebellion against His will. Cover your heads in the presence of men in recognition of their headship; dress neatly, be willing to learn, and do not seek to teach. One of the Lord’s, gravest rebukes in the early days of our era was addressed to the assembly in Thyatira thus: “Thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach” (Rev. 2:2020Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. (Revelation 2:20)).
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. 1:22To whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. (Jeremiah 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 “modem 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, riot 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 Chronicles 34:23-2523And she answered them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me, 24Thus saith 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: 25Because 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 poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched. (2 Chronicles 34:23‑25); and her message to “the King of Judah who sent you to inquire 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 21:10-1510And the Lord spake by his servants the prophets, saying, 11Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols: 12Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. 13And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. 14And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; 15Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day. (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 heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.” Jehovah would “wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth 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 judgment. “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 23:26-2726Notwithstanding the Lord 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. 27And the Lord 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 23:26‑27)). Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 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. 36:1515And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: (2 Chronicles 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 endeavors. This is specially recorded of the days of Josiah (Jer. 3:1010And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 3:10)). Judgment 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 unto 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. 34:2525Because 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 poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched. (2 Chronicles 34:25)).
While this page is being written, the Jews are clamoring with violence for the possession of Palestine. They have no claim, either politically or religiously, to the land. What their industry has accomplished there since 1918 is truly marvelous; but all their labor will be destroyed in the world’s last crisis by the King of the North (Daniel 11:40-4340And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 41He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 42He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. (Daniel 11:40‑43); Joel 2:1-111Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 2A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 3A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 4The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 5Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. 7They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: 8Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. 9They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. 10The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: 11And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? (Joel 2:1‑11)). God is not in the movement of our time, but He is watching it with interest (Isa. 18:44For so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. (Isaiah 18:4)). The Jews who may get possession of the country (for a Jewish State will doubtless be set up) will prepare it for the Antichrist, not for the Christ of God. The unbelieving mass share the overthrow of the arch-deceiver. A remnant only will be saved (Rom. 9:2727Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: (Romans 9:27)). Pray for the benighted children of Jacob who long for a home in Palestine, but will only find there a grave. That land will be the greatest of all sufferers when the judgments of God are abroad.
The second part of Huldah’s prophetic message was personal for Josiah. The kindness of the heart of God is expressed in it. We must quote it in full:
“Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel, concerning the words which thou hast heard, because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest His words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before Me, and didst rend thy clothes and weep before Me, I have even heard thee also, saith Jehovah. Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same” (2 Chron. 34:26-2826And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard; 27Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord. 28Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again. (2 Chronicles 34:26‑28)).
God deeply appreciated the piety of individual souls, particularly in days of abounding evil. Shall not both writer and reader cultivate to have always a heart tender and humble before God? The value of Josiah’s personal piety was inestimable to the nation. He had the promise of God that the judgments should not be poured out while he lived. He was twenty-six years old when Huldah spoke. Humanly speaking, many years of sovereignty lay before him. Oh, why did he not walk warily, knowing that so much depended upon his life? Oh, why did he, at the age of thirty-nine, plunge into a quarrel which did not concern him, and risk—yea, sacrifice—his precious life? How foolishly can even the choicest of God’s saints behave if they get away for a single moment from the controlling influence of the Word of God! What sorrow they can bring upon themselves and upon others! But the fact is thus emphasized that no one is absolutely trustworthy but God’s blessed Son, our Lord Jesus.