No “Ongoing” Women Prophets in the OT!?

[It looks like this video was deleted on the original site! I wonder why! He has, however, expressed similar sentiments elsewhere and in other videos, such as the one which I have already responded to here. At around 28:22 minutes into the video he says the same kind of thing.]

I was watching the above video by John MacArthur in which at 2.2 minutes he makes the following comment:

“… and just to support that, there is no woman in the Old Testament that had an ongoing prophetic ministry. There are a couple of occasions where God used a woman to speak; but there is no woman in the Old Testament with an ongoing prophetic ministry, none.”

That is obviously incorrect. There are at least two great prophetesses mentioned in the Old Testament who had an “ongoing prophetic ministry”. The first was Deborah, who was not only a great prophetess, but also the (chief) “judge” in the land during the reign of the “Judges,” which was a leadership position equivalent to being the chief ruler of the land (as well as a military position)—and was very much an “ongoing prophetic ministry”. It was like being the President of the United States—but much more powerful. It was a prophetic as well as a political, legal, and military position at the same time. She led successful military campaigns, presided over army generals and military officers—and did so by her prophetic office. It combined a prophetic office with that of a political, legal, and military one at the same time. It can’t get more powerful than that. And it was very much an “ongoing” ministry. It was a mission for life. It was not a “fixed term” appointment, and there were no “elections”. It was the same kind of prophetic office or ministry that Samuel had, no difference. Anything that Samuel could do, Deborah could do. It was as much an “ongoing prophetic ministry” for her as it was for Samuel:

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.

Judges 5:

14 Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer.

15 And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart.

That does not fit the description of the role of a “prophetess” in the Old Testament that John MacArthur gives. Another good example is that of Huldah the prophetess, who didn’t have quite such a powerful position as Deborah had, but came close to it. Kings, priests, rulers, and chief ministers of the land would approach her for advice, and to obtain the word of the Lord by revelation through her:

2 Kings 22:

12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying,

13 Go ye, enquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.

14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her.

15 And she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,

16 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:

17 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.

18 But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;

19 Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.

20 Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.

2 Chronicles 34:

14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses.

15 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.

16 And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it.

17 And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.

18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king’s, saying,

21 Go, enquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book.

22 And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect.

23 And she answered them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me,

24 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:

25 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.

26 And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard;

27 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord.

28 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.

She wasn’t the kind of powerful ruler that Deborah was, but she came close. Kings, priests, and chief ministers of the land approached her for advice, for divine guidance, and to inquire of the Lord through her. That made her position almost higher than that of the king. And her position was very much one of an “ongoing ministry”. She didn’t suddenly appear out of nowhere, and disappear into nothing. How did those people know that she was a “prophetess,” to want to go and “inquire of the Lord” through her, unless she had an “ongoing reputation” as such? Another renowned prophetess mentioned in the Old Testament is Moses’ sister Miriam: 

Exodus 15:

20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.

21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

Numbers 12:

1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.

2 And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.

3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)

4 And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.

5 And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.

6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.

8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed.

10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

11 And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.

12 Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother’s womb.

13 And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.

14 And the Lord said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.

15 And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.

16 And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.

Numbers 20:

1 Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.

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.

She is put on a par with Moses and Aaron in her leadership position and prophetic ministry—although Moses took the lead over the two. Isaiah refers to his wife as a “prophetess (Isaiah 8:3); and Joel informs us that there shall be prophetesses which shall arise in the future (Joel 2:28). So it appears that John MacArthur has got his understanding of the OT somewhat skewed. Now how that compares with Beth Moore, I wouldn’t like to say! This is a critique John’s commentary on the Bible, not his comments about Beth Moore! But I guess Beth Moore can take comfort from the fact that John’s biblical exegesis doesn’t quite meet all expectations.

1 Timothy 4:10 and Limited Atonement

One of the problematic texts that the advocates of Limited Atonement have to deal with is 1 Timothy 4:10, which quoted in context is as follows:

1 Timothy 4:

9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.

10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

11 These things command and teach.

My primary objective in this post is not to try to refute the Calvinistic and “Reformed” reading of that text, because there are others who have already done a good job of that, a good example of which can be found here. My primary aim in this post is to point out a peculiarity of that passage which others have missed; and that relates to the nuance that the word “specially” adds to the text.

What that passage is essentially saying is that you don’t have to “believe” in Jesus to be saved—but that you stand a better chance if you do! Calvinists, Evangelicals, and “Reformed” theologians say that if you have never heard of the gospel through no fault of your own, and thus not had the chance to “believe,” you are out of luck. You have lost your chance. You have no hope of salvation because you have not “believed”—even if it was through no fault of your own, because you never had a chance to. 1 Tim. 4:10 (and other passages of the Bible that we shall look at) tell a different story. People don’t necessarily have to be “believers” to be saved. People of all nations (and religions) who out of a good conscience do what is good and right in their lives will still be saved. They are saved by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. They don’t “save themselves”. They are not “saved by their own works”. They are saved by God because they do what is good and right in their lives. But their salvation still comes because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ—even if they are not aware of it themselves. What that scripture is saying is that they stand a better chance of being saved if they come to faith in Jesus Christ—but they are still saved if they do what is good and right in their lives, even if they have never heard of Jesus Christ. That is the most logical, exegetical meaning of the word “specially” in 1 Tim. 4:10; and that is what the rest of the Bible affirms:

Acts 10:

34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

35 But in every nation [and religion] he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

Romans 2:

6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,

9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew [or Christian] first, and also of the Gentile;

10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew [or Christian] first, and also to the Gentile:

11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

Galatians 6:

7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

James 1:

22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Ephesians 6:

9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.

Colossians 3:

25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons [with God].

1 Corinthians 6:

9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Peter 1:

17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

According to the Bible, on judgement day, judgement will take place according to men’s works, not according to their faith:

John 5:

28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life [i.e. salvation]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

That scripture does not discriminate between “believers” and “unbelievers;” between the “elect” and “non-elect”. It is made applicable equally to all people without exception or discrimination. It applies equally to believers or unbelievers—to Christians, Jews, or pagans alike. All will be judged according to their “works”—and saved or damned accordingly—and not according to their “faith”. The only thing that mitigates against sins is genuine repentance. If they have genuinely repented of their sins, they will be forgiven and saved—whether they have “believed” or not. “Faith alone” doesn’t save anyone; but faith with genuine repentance does. Genuine repentance without faith still saves; but “faith alone” without repentance doesn’t. God has “no pleasure” in the death (damnation) of the wicked; but that they should “turn” from their evil ways (repent) and be saved:

Ezekiel 18:

23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his [evil] ways, and live?

Ezekiel 33:

11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way [repent] and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

Repentance is the primary criterion for obtaining forgiveness and salvation. Repentance without faith still saves; but faith without repentance doesn’t. Faith without repentance damns people faster than no faith at all:

Luke 12:

47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

So going back to 1 Tim. 4:10, what that scripture is saying, in a condensed and abbreviated form, is what is said in the verses quoted above. Here it is again:

1 Timothy 4:

10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

What that is saying is that you don’t have to “believe” in order to be saved. You only need to repent of your sins and keep God’s commandments. But you stand a better chance if you believe. That does not mean that we “save ourselves,” or that we are “saved by our own works”. We are still saved by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. But we need to repent of our sins and keep God’s commandments to be saved. That is what that scripture is saying. That is what the word “specially” in that verse signifies. It means that you don’t have to be a “believer” to be saved—but you stand a better chance if you are. Those who repent of their sins and keep God’s commandments will still be saved, even if they have never heard of Jesus. They are saved by the Atonement; but the primary agent that triggers, or makes that redemption effectual in their lives is repentance rather than faith. And “repentance” means to stop sinning. It means to stop doing what is wrong, and start doing what is right; which is another way of saying, “keeping God’s commandments”. You have to keep the commandments of God to be saved; and you stand a better chance of doing that if you are a believer than if you are not.

Leighton Flowers is Working Too Hard!

I found the above video by Leighton Flowers responding to a podcast by John Piper in which he is answering a question put to him regarding the Calvinistic interpretation of Romans chapter 9. But Leighton Flowers is working a lot harder than he needs to. He spends nearly an hour and a half trying to unpick what John Piper is saying, when there is a much easier, quicker, and shorter biblical answer:

2 Peter 3:

16 As also in all his [Paul’s] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

Now wasn’t that a lot quicker and easier than all the time he is spending on it? 😊