Sandy,

Here's two things I put together for a list that just brought up the topic.

 Let’s look at the Bible example of Huldah. She was a God appointed prophetess. (This story is also in II Chronicles 22.)

King Josiah sends the men listed in verse 12 to "enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah." He needed to determine what "the words of this book that is found" actually meant. He needed an interpretation, so he sent his men to talk to God’s man. Except that God’s man was a woman.

Notice that Huldah is called a prophetess and that she is married. Did God call her? Would God call a prophetess against the will of her husband? Did Shallum think he was blessed to have such a wife or did he sulk in a corner because "women should know their place"?

"Thus saith the LORD God of Israel" – this woman was speaking for God, and she was speaking to men in authority. I personally think it’s a hoot that she says "Tell the man that sent you to me." That man was King Josiah! But compared to her communion with God, she was obviously not impressed.

So then Huldah interpreted the scripture and pronounced God’s judgment.

Huldah "authorizes" the Book. She declares the words of the Book to truly be the words of God. For the first time in recorded history, a writing is declared to be scripture. And Huldah, the female prophetess, was the one to do it!

Those men never doubted Huldah’s authority or pronouncement. They promptly returned to the King and told him all.

"The authority to pass judgment on this initial entry into the canon was given to a woman. At the beginning of the Bible we find Huldah; in her we discover the first scripture authority . . . How could we have lost sight of her all these years" (Swidler, p. 1783)

Look at the context of Huldah’s story. Josiah had blamed Judah in the past because of their fathers (II Kings 22:13). But Huldah rebuked those in the present (II Kings 22:17) for forsaking God.

And Huldah not only declared the authenticity of the Book, but she also interpreted its words. She prophesied against that present generation.

This passage and its sister passage in Chronicles, indicate three things.

  1. The King and the High Priest recognized Huldah as a legitimate authority to speak for the Lord God of Israel.

  2. Huldah had the authority to endorse the Book as God’s words.

  3. Huldah had the authority to interpret those words and apply them to that present situation – both to men and the nation.

What authority God gave that woman! That reminds me of another woman.

What do conservative Christians do with Huldah? They ignore her.

Conservative Christians often do not have a biblical view of women in the ministry because they do not study the roles that women actually had in the Bible. Many actually believe and teach the women are not to have authority over men in any area of life – secular or religious. That belief, however, cannot be supported by scripture.

So what exactly is a prophet?

Many will say that a prophet only prophesies but never preaches, or teaches, or evangelizes. That might be a surprise to the Prophets Jonah and Moses who did all three.

The words prophet and prophesy and all its forms occur almost 700 times in the Bible. Of course, not all mentions are about the prophets of God. Many are about false prophets.

The first mention of a prophet is of Abraham.

So then a prophet makes intercession for the sinner.

The second mention is Aaron.

Second, a prophet speaks the words of God to others, as they are given to him.

The third mention is that of the prophetess Miriam. Let me repeat that. The third time prophets and prophecy are mentioned the prophet is a woman.

There are many instances of music and prophecy in the Bible. This is the first.

Here are other things about prophets.

Bible prophecy comes from direct communion with God himself.

Oh, oh. Here is another prophetess – a married one at that. Prophets are also sent to judge Israel.

Those in authority over the nation go to prophets to hear from God. Prophets represent the highest authority of the word of God.

Prophets tell those in authority what they should do.

Prophets of God are protected by God. So don’t discount those prophetesses.

2 Chronicles 15:8 And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.

Prophets encourage those in authority to do right.

Prophets can also write their prophecies.

Prophets preach the word of the Lord.

The Lord sends specific prophets to specific places and peoples to say specific things.

God’s true prophets should be heeded.

What is true of God’s prophets is just as true of his prophetesses.

Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, and Anna are named prophetesses of the Lord. Others would include Isaiah’s wife (Isaiah 8:3), Philip the Evangelist’s daughters . . .

. . . and these additional scriptures which mention female prophets.

Conclusion

Huldah is such an important figure, but she is all but forgotten. Her fellow prophetess Deborah is also overlooked. Why? I believe that good men have misinterpreted key passages concerning women in the Body of Christ.

Now, I am a Bible Believer. Paul is clear that pastors and deacons are to be men. And while I think that most female preachers are silly, there is no prohibition against such. Being a preacher is not the same as being a pastor. Does not a woman "preach" every time she witnesses? Doesn’t the Sunday School teacher also preach to her class?

Shouldn’t a woman with knowledge of the scripture be allowed to teach ANYONE who is willing to learn? Why are you reading this if you disagree with that last one?

One of the things the perverted Bibles do is change pronouns. They want God to be gender neutral rather than male, and they want words like 'man' to be people or persons.

 But anyone who has been taught English grammar correctly knows that words like 'man' and very often even 'he' are gender inclusive words - they refer to both genders, not males only.

 Gender inclusive language is all through the Bible. We ladies would be in trouble if this verse was only about males.

Let's look at another passage.

 Does this verse apply to men only or also to women?

 Does this verse apply to men only or also to women?

 Does this verse apply to men only or also to women?

 Does this verse apply to men only or also to women?

 Does this verse apply to men only or also to women?

 Does this verse apply to men only or also to women? Can women teach the Bible?

 Does this verse apply to men only or also to women?

 Now let's look at Corinthians.

Is Paul addressing males only or are women included?

Can/do women have spiritual gifts?

 Male Gentiles only or both male and female?

Is Paul addressing males only or are women included?

Is Paul addressing males only or are women included? Does the Holy Spirit give spiritual gifts to women? Does "all in all" include women?

 Does this verse apply to men only or also to women?

 Are the ladies included in "every man"?

 Women are also obviously members of the Body of Christ. Look at what Paul said earlier.

 There clearly are women praying and prophesying in the church. Paul doesn't tell them to stop; he tells them to be sure their heads are covered.

 Men only or women too?

Men only or women too?

Men only or women too?

 This is gender inclusive language. Paul is addressing all members of the church. In this chapter, he lists the rules for speaking in tongues. Those rules apply to both men and women.

 Now comes the pivotal passage.

 Now after saying that females may prophesy and speak in tongues, what does Paul mean here? The context is obvious. Paul is speaking of the husband-wife relationship, just as he is in I Timothy. The passage in question is NOT a male-female passage; it is a husband-wife passage. The last verse verifies that.

Let's look at the passage.

 Wives are not to dress to draw attention to themselves, but to adorn themselves with good works.

 Notice the parallel to the Corinthians passage.

 Ideally, the husband is to teach his wife, and she is to shut up and listen to him - not argue, not disagree, but listen.

 If the husband has got something wrong, then God is to correct him. He is the authority in the house. The wife is to pray, shut up, and trust God. That doesn't mean, however, that a wife can never teach her husband - only that she does it when he allows it. If he allows it, she hasn't usurped his authority. "What do you think, Honey?" is all that it takes.

 It is a wise husband who know when to listen to his wife and when not to. But a wise husband ASKS.

 This passage is about husbands and wives. Because Eve was deceived, wives became subject to their own husbands.

 This verse is not about spiritual salvation, but rather physical salvation.

 So what does this mean?

 It means that a wife's mouth should be subject to her husband - especially in church. There is nothing worse than a woman contradicting or arguing with her husband in front of the brethren. It is a shame!

 It also means that a husband can allow his wife to speak and teach. If he allows it, no authority has been usurped.

______________________________________________________

DJ Root's Homepage can be found at:

http://www.rightlydividing.net/

__________________________________________________________