When a book of the law is found in the Temple during a remodeling project, the good king Josiah desperately needs an audience with the Lord. The question is, where can he turn to find someone speaking the very words of God? Who is the prophet that the Lord will provide to be His mouthpiece?
It is unknown exactly which "book" of the law was found. It could be Deuteronomy or something similar. It seems to be one that mentions the harsh penalties that will come upon God's people if they forsake His covenant. Josiah knows that the previous two kings (his grandfather Manasseh and father Amon) were very big into idolatry and had led Judah down a path away from God for decades. Punishment in the form of military defeat and losing the Promised Land loomed as possibilities for the people's disobedience.
The king was, naturally enough, distraught to hear the convicting words from this book. "When the king heard the words of the law he tore his clothes. Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, the secretary Shaphan, and the king’s servant Asaiah: 'Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found; for the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us is great, because our ancestors did not keep the word of the Lord, to act in accordance with all that is written in this book'” (vs. 19-21).
So, just where are these servants of the king supposed to go to get an official answer from the Lord? When you need to talk with God, who ya gonna call?
Shockingly, at this particular point in time, these men head to a woman! "So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent went to the prophet Huldah, the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (who lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect" (vs. 22). Huldah then faithfully dispenses a message from God to the servants of the king (vs. 23-28). Complete with a "thus saith the Lord," Huldah stands unquestionably among the Old Testament prophets.
Personally, this passage is one of the biblical reasons that I support a place for women in ministry. While it may be more typical that God calls men to positions of authority in His kingdom, there are certainly times when He has roles of leadership in mind for women as well. These men of Judah did not hesitate to go to a woman to get the Lord's answer to the king's question. If God had no problem equipping Huldah to be His prophet, why should we think it is our place to put obstacles and burdens in the path of anyone responding to a legitimate call of God in their lives?
Like the question faced by Hilkiah and the others, the Church's question to God may sometimes be, "Who Ya gonna call?" And His answer might just surprise us!
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