Greetings everyone and thanks for joining me for this edition of my Sunday School lesson commentary. This Sunday’s lesson is entitled “Huldah: Prophet of Wisdom” and is found in 2 Kings 22:14-20.
Huldah is one of the few female prophets that are mentioned by name in the Old Testament. She lived in the lower part of Jerusalem and prophesied during the same time as Jeremiah and Zephaniah. She was a possessor of the prophetic gift and it is said that the people communed and talked with her.
When the book of the law was discovered during the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem, the king Josiah wanted to inquire of the Lord what it all meant. Josiah’s servants had found the book and read portions of it to the king.
When the king heard the words of the text, he was very disturbed and torn his clothes as a sign of his distress because the book pronounced very hard judgements again the nation for disobedience.
Josiah was the son of Amon and the grandson of Manasseh. Manasseh was only 12 when he became king and ruled for 55 years. By all accounts he was one of the worst kings of Judah. He allowed and practiced all types of abominations and idolatries, even sacrificing one of his sons, and led the people to do the same idolatrous worship.
Before the end of his reign the prophets of his time warned him and called on him to stop what he was doing and return to the Lord, but he wouldn’t listen and refused. As a result of his and the nation’s sin, the Lord spoke through those same prophets and foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah.
When Manasseh died, his son Amon began to rule at the age of twenty-two, but his reign only lasted two years. He followed in his father’s wicked footsteps and did that which was also evil in the sight of the Lord.
His servants conspired against him and killed him. But the people rose up and killed all those who had a part in that conspiracy and Amon’s son Josiah followed his father and began to reign at the age of eight.
Josiah was completely different from his father and grandfather and walked in the ways of David and did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. In the eighteenth year of his reign, when he was twenty-six, he ordered the repair of the temple and the book of the law was found during the repair work.
The bible doesn’t say if Huldah knew the contents of the book before it was found. But she repeated what the prophets in the day of Manasseh had said. She told those who came to her to inquire of the Lord about the book and what it meant to go back and tell the one who sent them this word of the Lord.
The word was that indeed Jerusalem will be destroyed and it couldn’t be prevented for all the sins the people had committed. However, because of his heart, Josiah will not see the destruction in his lifetime because the Lord saw how he walked before him, had humbled himself and weep and tried to lead the people in the right way.
Josiah went on to reign thirteen more years. He had all the people to assemble and the book of the law read to them. After the reading, he led the people into renewing the covenant with God and to follow Him with all their heart and soul.
Jeremiah and Zephaniah were both prophets we know who were contemporaries of Huldah, but Josiah had faith in her and didn’t go outside Jerusalem and bypass her for a word from the Lord. She told him what thus said the Lord.
Well, I hope you will be able to attend SS this coming Sunday. Invite someone to come and share your thoughts with the class. Sunday School at Flag Branch will begin at 9:00 am and you are invited to join us at www.fbmbc.org and clicking the online services link. You and others can also join us by dialing 508 924-2890.
If you have any comments or questions before then, be sure to place them in the comment section of this preview and I will get back to you. So, as always remember to fear God and keep His commandments.
Pastor Jordan
