Huldah

In 2 Kings 22, King Josiah’s advisors discover the Book of the Law during repairs to the temple. Deeply grieved after accounts of Judah’s rebellion from the ways of God are read to him, Josiah, the chief priest Hilkiah, and the royal court turn to Huldah, a prophetess, to discern the divine instruction of God for Judah. On her word, they accept the validity of the text and ask how they should proceed. Wisely, she prophesies of coming judgment but reveals that Josiah will be spared because he humbled himself before the Lord, tearing his robes and weeping in the Lord’s presence. His response to listening to God’s Word means he will not witness the coming disaster but will be buried in peace. All that she speaks of comes to pass.

Although other prophets could have counseled King Josiah, Huldah’s contemporaries sought her out. Her wise assessments and reverence for the Divine were known and trustworthy in the eyes of the king and his priest. Upon her prophecy, King Josiah renews communal efforts to follow the Lord and hold Judah to their covenant agreement. Huldah’s competence is rooted in her wise discernment, and it informed national decisions that ushered in renewal.

As we mature, and moral, ethical, social, financial, and spiritual issues become more nuanced and complex, we find, as Charles Spurgeon is credited with explaining, “Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It’s knowing the difference between right and almost right.”* It requires that we approach tender subjects, teachings, or situations with a critical eye, sharpened mind, and wise heart to determine what to accept or reject.

Discernment doesn’t mimic the zeitgeist or popular opinion of one’s in-group, nor does it assume that whoever is loudest is right. Romans 12:2 reads, “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you” (Message). May our practice of discernment be rooted in our connection to the Divine and understanding of the Scriptures, so we can wisely navigate our days as we seek the fullness of Christ.

*Charles Spurgeon quote referenced by Costi W. Hinn, Knowing the Spirit (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2023), 8.

Tiffany Bluhm, The Women We’ve Been Waiting For, Brazos Press, a division of Baker Publishing Group, September 24, 2024. Used by permission.