#huldah

[alicent-florent]

The Testaments S01E06 "Stadium"

[bo-kryzze]

THE TESTAMENTS 1.06 "Stadium"

[wiirocku]

Sunflower fields at sunset in Huldah, Hamerkaz, Israel

[graceandpeacejoanne]

The high priest had just discovered the long-lost scriptures in a shuttered room of the temple. The king tore his clothes when he heard God's Law for the first time, ever. They were a nation in crisis! Who should they turn to for counsel?

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[graceandpeacejoanne]

The Prophet Huldah

Huldah, one of five named women prophets in the Hebrew scriptures, was perhaps the most influential prophet of her day. The fate of her people, her nation, and her king hung on the oracle she would deliver. #Huldah #Josiah #2Kings22 #2Chronicles34

Have you ever even heard of Huldah? I bet not! Most timelines for the history of ancient Israel place prophets alongside the kings they advised. Even prophets without their own books, such as the prophet Nathan who counseled King David, are listed. But as much as I look for her, I have yet to see the prophet Huldah listed as well. It is a strange choice, to leave her out of Judah’s timeline,…

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[drmariottini]

Huldah, A Prophet in Israel

Huldah, A Prophet in Israel

As I have demonstrated in my previous post on the female prophets in Israel (see below, there are only five women who are called prophetesses in the Hebrew Bible. In other cultures of the ancient Near East, however, the situation is different. In his study on “Female Prophets in the Ancient Near East,” Jonathan Stökl says that “Among the prophetic figures attested in the extra-biblical ancient…

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[dailybiblelessons]

Monday: Reflection on the Fifth Sunday in Epiphany

Hebrew Scripture from the Former Prophets: 2 Kings 22:3-20

There is a parallel passage at 2 Chronicles 34:14-33.

In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, “Go up to the high priest Hilkiah, and have him count the entire sum of the money that has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people; let it be given into the hand of the workers who have the oversight of the house of the Lord; let them give it to the workers who are at the house of the Lord, repairing the house, that is, to the carpenters, to the builders, to the masons; and let them use it to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the house. But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”

The high priest Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” When Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, he read it. Then Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workers who have oversight of the house of the Lord.” Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book.” Shaphan then read it aloud to the king.

When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. Then the king commanded the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary, and the king's servant Asaiah, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our ancestors did not obey the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; she resided in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter, where they consulted her. She declared to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you to me, Thus says the Lord, I will indeed bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants–all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. Because they have abandoned me and have made offerings to other gods, so that they have provoked me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. But as to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, says the Lord. Therefore, I will gather you to your ancestors, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring on this place.” They took the message back to the king.

Psalm 119:105-112

Your word is a lamp to my feet  and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,  to observe your righteous ordinances. I am severely afflicted;  give me life, O Lord, according to your word. Accept my offerings of praise, O Lord,  and teach me your ordinances. I hold my life in my hand continually,  but I do not forget your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me,  but I do not stray from your precepts. Your decrees are my heritage forever;  they are the joy of my heart. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever,  to the end.

New Testament Epistle Lesson: Romans 11:2-10

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.”¹ But what is the divine reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”² So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written,

“God gave them a sluggish spirit,  eyes that would not see  and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”³

And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,  a stumbling block and a retribution for them; let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,  and keep their backs forever bent.”*

¹1 Kings 19:10-14   ²1 Kings 19:18   ³Isaiah 29:10 and Deuteronomy 29:18   *Psalm 69:22-23.

Year A Epiphany 5 Monday

Selections are from Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings copyright © 1995 by the Consultation on Common Texts. Unless otherwise indicated, Bible text is from New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV) copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Image Credit:  Hilkiah with the newly found book of the law from The Pictorial Bible; Being the Old and New Testaments in three volumes, downloaded from http://www.rookebooks.com/product?prod_id=4072. This is a public domain image.

[drmariottini]

Beth Moore, Don’t Go Home

Beth Moore, Don’t Go Home

Many years ago, I was a witness to a degrading statement about women in ministry. In a conference about women in ministry, several women were discussing the problems they face when they say that God has called them to preach. One woman in particular spoke about all the criticism and the words of disapproval she had received from other pastors. During the discussion time, one pastor told the…

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