While Zephaniah chapter 3 resumes with further judgments upon Israel and the nations, Huldah offers both Jews and Gentiles a path to escape God’s coming wrath. Her words and Zephaniah’s prophecy complement each other, together forming a unified call to repentance and hope. And fittingly, the book concludes with a glorious promise: The dawn of the Messianic Age.
It’s worth noting that there is something remarkable here. Although two prominent prophets, Jeremiah and Zephaniah were active at that time, God chose to speak through a woman. This decision puzzled many, and over time, various theories emerged to explain it. Some struggled with the idea that God would entrust such a significant and timely message to a woman. Yet this very choice reminds us that God sovereignly uses whomever He wills, regardless of human expectations.
Of the many reasons, one rabbi said that because of the severity of the upcoming prophecy, a woman would have more compassion than a man, and so they were directed to Huldah. In one midrash it is written: women are more easily stirred to pity than men, and that therefore the prophetess would be more likely than Jeremiah to intercede with God in his behalf (Meg. 14a, b; comp. Seder ‘Olam R. xxi.). That is a nice thought. Others said that Zephaniah and Jeremiah were both too busy and because Huldah lived right next to the palace of the king, they came to her first.
So, while the text does not tell us why they went to a woman prophetess, the point is, they did, and the text related it as if it was the most natural and unquestioned choice to make. And Huldah herself shows no surprise at their arrival. Many Christian denominations would be surprised by this text. But what we do know is this; if the Lord chose Huldah, it was surely because He knew her heart. He entrusted her with His Word, which was not only given to the Jewish nation of that time, but its message is for us today as well.
It is here with Hudah, where we find a way out from the coming wrath of God. Let us read this powerful vs. 27 of 2Chronicles 34 in its entirety. See what the Lord requires from us in order to avoid this coming wrath; and it is very simple. Speaking to King Josiah who was touched by the Word of God and had repented, Huldah had these words, “Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,” declares the Lord. The first thing we note is that Josiah believed in the Word of God. Huldah said, When you heard His words. In 2Kings 22:14 the Lord says, when you heard what I spoke. The word heard in Hebrew is shamah whose first meaning is to listen, to attend to, to hear and answer.
This is the first step and as a consequence, the heart became tender. This imagery is truly beautiful. The word tender is רָכַך (rākak) means to be tender or gentle and it is used in the Scriptures when a person or an object is softened with oil. In Isaiah 1:6 we read how the Lord complained that His people did not soften their wounds with oil, and He was speaking of the bruises caused by sin. The symbol of oil in the Bible is the presence of the Spirit of God which is needed to understand His Word and which the Lord is ready to pour on anyone who calls on Him. And so Josiah was touched, anointed by oil so to speak, by the Words of God!
Then we take note that God said something further to Josiah. Twice He told him, You humbled yourself. This is something that we ourselves are also called to do. The word humble, in Hebrew, כָנַע (kāna) means to bow the knee, to fall to one’s knee in repentance. This is what God is seeking.
This is one characteristic of the Messiah: to be gentle, to be humble. Abraham was so humble when he allowed his nephew Lot to choose the best place first. Stephen was so humble that when persecuted and being stoned, he looked up and said, do not hold this sin against them (Acts 7:60). Meekness is what describes the very core of Yeshua; He was oppressed and afflicted yet He did not open His mouth. (Isa.53:7). This was the way out of the wrath of God then and even for the upcoming wrath of God ahead. It is simple. God does not ask for much. Seek the Word of God, read it, and repent of your sins. Then you will be saved out of the coming wrath. This is what the Bible promises. For there you will meet Yeshua who fills the pages of the Tanakh.
Religion and tradition, even in their best forms, cannot save a soul. They may guide, inspire, or preserve, but salvation comes from one source alone: the Lord, through His Word and through His Spirit. This is the heart of Huldah’s message; a call back to the living God who alone has the power to save. Whether it will be through the Rapture for those believers like us who find themselves before the Tribulation, or whether it will be for the those coming to believe during the Tribulation, these words will save souls.
One last word about Huldah. We are told in vs. 22 of 2Chronicles 34 that she lived in the Second Quarter, that is “ha-Mishneh” (הַמִּשְׁנֶה), the same place that Zephaniah mentioned as being the place where the invading armies will pass through. And today in Israel, at this same place, we find Huldah’s Gate. This gate is found right under the Al-Aqsah mosque at the southern Wall of the Temple Mount. This gate has another name in the New Testament. It is called the Beautiful Gate in Acts 3: 10, where Peter and John entered the Temple at 9am for the morning prayer. It was at this gate where the lame man was healed.
But this southern wall of the temple had 5 gates. Through three of the gates, the people entered into the Temple compound and through the other two gates, the people exited the Temple (m. Middoth 1:3 B). The rabbis believed that Huldah was sitting there at one of those three entrance gates, proclaiming the Word of God.
Just like another prophetess, we have Anna who was also speaking the Word of God in Luke 2:36-38. Perhaps she too was sitting at the same place, at the entrance, where people could see her.
As for Hudah, the Targum on 2Kings 22: 14 says that She was dwelling in Jerusalem in the house of instruction… that is they believed that she was a teacher at a school of Torah. That was a high honor given to a woman.
Click Here for the Video : Zephaniah Part 6 – Huldah’s Prophecy