What is Wrong With this Biblical Exegesis?

What is wrong with this biblical exegesis? At 28:22 minutes into the video he says the following:

“There was never a female prophet with an ongoing prophetic ministry like Elijah and Elisha. No book in the Old Testament was written by a woman, nor was any portion of an Old Testament book written by a woman.”

How many books were written by Elijah, Elisha, or Samuel? I am not aware of any. Books were written about them, or their ministry; but the Bible doesn’t say that they themselves wrote any books. So how is that any different from prophetesses mentioned in the Bible, about whom things were written? How does that make the prophetesses any less special? How is that any different from Deborah, about whom things were written? He then continues:

“Now there were some women throughout the Old Testament that on occasion spoke for God.”

How many “occasions” did Samuel speak for God, and how is that different from Deborah? I don’t recall that the number of “occasions” were significantly different. How does that make Deborah’s ministry any less special than that of Samuel? I am struggling to see a difference. He continues:

“Miriam is called a prophetess, or one who speaks for God; but hers was a kind of a musical event, wasn’t it, back in Exodus chapter 15.”

How many times did Aaron speak for God? His wasn’t even “musical!” Yet the Bible puts both of them on a par with Moses in their prophetic ministry:

Micah 6:

4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

He then continues:

“Deborah was a judge, and judges for, and in the absence of a man, the Lord used Deborah to bring about his will on one occasion; …”

That is more than just bad exegesis; it is dishonest and hypocritical. First of all, there were no “absence of men;” there were thousands of them around; but none of them evidently were as good as Deborah. Secondly, Deborah’s ministry was not an “occasional” one; it was very much an ongoing ministry, to the end of her life no doubt. Then he continues:

“… but when it came to going to war with the enemies, she was not about to lead the troops, and so she chose a man, Barak, to lead the troops.”

Another dishonest exegesis. How many “troops” did Samuel “lead to battle”? None that I know of. When God wanted wars to be fought in the days of Samuel, he did it in the same way that Deborah did, by appointing others to go and do it. The story of Saul is well known. In fact, Deborah did something that Samuel did’t! She did actually lead an army to war, which Samuel didn’t. When Deborah appointed Barak to go to war, Barak felt so fearful and inadequate to the task that he told Deborah he wouldn't go unless she went with him! And she did!

Judges 4:

4 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.

5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

6 And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?

7 And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand.

8 And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.

9 And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh.

So John MacArthur has got all of that badly wrong, on just about every account. He then continues:

“Another woman is mentioned as one who spoke for God in 2 Kings 22 by the name of Huldah.”

So what about her? Did she have an “ongoing prophetic ministry,” or didn’t she? If kings, priests, and ministers knew enough about her to seek her out, to inquire of the Lord through her, I describe that as an “ongoing prophetic ministry”. He then continues:

“And then in the New Testament you have Anna in the temple when Jesus was taken there, to be dedicated in the temple, and she spoke a word from the Lord. But she was not a lifelong prophet.”

Nobody is “born” a prophet. They become prophets at some point in their lives; and after that, they remain so to the end of their lives—unless they lose the gift and privilege by some kind of transgression. Every true prophet is a “lifelong prophet”. The Bible describes Anna as a prophetess, period:

Luke 2:

36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;

Once a prophet, always a prophet! You don’t become a prophet one minute, and then lose the privilege next. If she was a prophetess, then she remained one for the rest of her life. It was a lifelong privilege. He then continues:

“No woman ever had an ongoing prophetic role.”

Says John MacArthur, not the Bible! If there were prophets and prophetesses, then theirs were an “ongoing prophetic role”. Nobody becomes a prophet one minute, and loses it next. Some prophets were more vocal and public in their assignments, like Samuel and Deborah; while others were less so, which included both men and women. In the Old Testament, there were many prophets who did not have such a public role as others (e.g. 1 Samuel 10:5; 1 Kings 18:4, 13), and of whose names we are not aware, because they did not have such a public role to play as the others did. But that didn’t make them any less prophets. That equally applies to men as well as to women. He continues:

“But occasionally God used women to speak for him.”

Does that include Deborah and Huldah, one of whom was a lifelong prophet-judge, and the other a lifelong prophetess, with an “ongoing ministry”? Both unquestionably had an “ongoing ministry,” no doubts about it.