Charlton Rhinehart

The Bible has many examples of women who were able to prophesy in addition to the men who were prophets. Scripture speaks of many false prophets, but the way most biblical prophetesses are described leaves us no reason to regard them as false. True prophecy as we see in scripture is a miraculous gift from God, so we know that God chose these particular women to be speakers of His word. But why the prophetess? Why did God permit women to sometimes be the “spokesman” for His message through prophecy when at other times He forbids women from spiritual leadership in public? The answer to this question might expose the difference in prophecy and other acts of spiritual leadership.

One of the first prophetesses we see in scripture is Miriam, the sister of Aaron (Ex. 15:20). We can infer that her prophecies from God would have been true and right. Perhaps Miriam is most known for the mistake her and Aaron made in Numbers 12 leaving her struck with leprosy for a short time. As with any man or woman of God in scripture, we see those individuals can make mistakes and often do so, but prophecy itself is unique because it comes direct from God without error.

Deborah in the book of Judges is also listed as a prophetess (Judges 4:4). She is the only female judge of Israel, a position that served as a military and civil leader. While Eli was a judge of Israel who also served as priest, Samuel was a judge with priest like duties (not a Levite), the 13 previous judges were only judges. Still Deborah is described as a prophetess also, just like God was with many of them in some unique way.

In the book of Second Kings when Josiah had found the book of the law, he sent the priest and several men to Huldah the prophetess to inquire of the Lord, realizing that they had been living in error for quite some time. Huldah the prophetess spoke to the men by prophecy (2 Kings 22:13-20), specifically addressing the message from God that was to be given to the king and to the nation of Judah. Her prophecy serves as an important example to help us understand that a prophetess was not limited in who she could prophesy to.

The New Testament seems to hold similar examples of female prophets. Anna the prophetess joins Simeon who is telling what Jesus would accomplish at the temple when He was brought as a child (Luke 2). Philip is said to have four prophesying daughters in Acts 21:9, and prophecy among women appears to be a gift that is addressed in the Corinthian letters. Aside from this gift eventually being fulfilled in the completion of scripture, the New and Old Testament seem to hold little difference on the subject of the prophetess.

There is another similarity between the Old and New Testament I would like for us to consider. And that is that neither covenant of scripture has an example of a woman serving as a priest, preaching publicly, teaching publicly on spiritual matters, nor do we see a woman leading public prayers before any assembly with men. When we consider the overall absence of those examples along with the commands of the New Testament for a woman to not lead spiritually over men, we have to wonder; why did God use women at times as prophets to deliver His message to all of mankind? Especially if the prophecies were spiritual guidance for men or entire nations at times.

Although in our eyes preaching, teaching, and prophecy all appear to be much the same, we have to realize there is a significant difference. By our own judgment we tend to think that a person who can prophesy should have authority to preach also, besides that we usually think of the prophet as greater than the preacher being that prophecy is a miraculous gift. Certainly the apostle John for example could preach and prophesy, and had authority to do both. But it is not always the case that a person who delivers a true prophecy from God has the authority to teach and preach also. Let’s consider some examples.

Saul of the Old Testament was selected by God to serve as King of over Israel. Saul was a good and humble man and he served well as King for a period, however with time Saul made some mistakes and God choose David to become the king of Israel because of those failures of Saul. What could have been a moment of repentance and change for Saul became a moment of his true downfall, he began pursuing to take the life of David. In 1 Samuel chapter 19, Saul has made several attempts to kill David and he has reached a point of madness. By the end of the chapter Saul has pursued after David into the presence of Samuel and strips naked and prophesies (v.23-24). Clearly God is not with Saul at this point but rather He is protecting David who narrowly escapes time after time, however God still uses Saul even in his state of madness and sin to prophesy a message from God. Saul was in no position from here to his death that he should have been preaching or teaching men his understandings of God, but God still used Saul in this low point to prophesy.

A similar example is a prophecy made by Ciaphas high priest during the life of Jesus, even though Ciaphas took part in sending Jesus to be crucified. While plotting with the Pharisees and chief priests about the death of Jesus, Caiaphas prophesied, “…that it is expedient that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish” (John 11:50 NASB). The following verse (v.51), tells us this was a prophecy from God concerning Jesus, yet it was done mistakenly while plotting His death. Ciaphas might have done plenty of teaching and preaching also, but those teachings were not in accordance to God’s word. This prophecy from Ciaphas however was directly from God, exactly how God meant it to be delivered.

You might notice, prophecy does not depend on the ability, righteousness, authority, understanding, or any other aspect of the person delivering the prophecy, but it is a message direct from God delivered though an individual. When a person prophesies it does not necessarily authorize the individual lead in any other capacity. This can be seen also in examples such as Balaam’s donkey who spoke to him through God. Balaam himself serves as an example, caught between the bribes of a king and the prophecies God would give him, his prophecies blessed Israel while he desired to curse them. Jesus at His triumphal entry stated that the rocks would cry out if the people were silent (Luke 19:40), can even lifeless items prophesy and fulfill prophecies?

We make a mistake when we associate prophecy with authority. True prophecy is a direct message from God without error regardless of who it is delivered through. On the other hand preaching and teaching – interpreting and representing God’s word and thought comes with great responsibility and in some cases God-given qualifications. Elders are to be “apt to teach” (1 Tim 3:2 KJV), teachers will “incur a stricter judgment” (Jas 3:1 NASB), and women are not to be the ones teaching publicly on spiritual matters (1 Tim 2; 1 Cor 14). Why God chose the prophetess at times to deliver His word has been a stumbling block to many, especially to those who desire a woman to have more roles than she has been given; But with honest study we can see why God used men, women and even other creatures to prophecy His word. Those prophesies don’t contradict or negate God’s instruction for a woman to refrain from teaching and preaching.