Prophetesses in Israel
The official leadership for the worship of God was in the hands of the Aaronic priesthood. Unlike other religions of the ancient Near East, the Hebrew religion had no priestesses. There were, however, prophetesses. Five women in the Old Testament are called “prophetess”: Miriam, Deborah, Hulda, Isaiah’s wife, and Noadiah. Miriam was Moses’ and Aaron’s sister (see Exodus 15:20). Deborah was a judge in Israel (see Judges 4:4). Huldah lived in Jerusalem during the time of Josiah (see 2 Kings 22:14). In the case of Isaiah’s wife, “prophetess” may have been an honorary title (see Isaiah 8:3). * And Noadiah, whose name means something like “Yahweh has met by appointment,” was a false prophetess associated with Tobiah and San- ballat in opposition to Nehemiah (see Nehemiah 6:14).GP 26.2
Together with Moses and Aaron, Miriam was instrumental in leading the Israelites out of Egypt and making them into a new nation. In Micah 6:4, God told the Israelites, ” ‘I brought you up from the land of Egypt, / I redeemed you from the house of bondage; / And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.’ ” That she is called a “prophetess” indicates not only that she composed the song that is now part of Scripture (see Exodus 15:21), but also that the Lord spoke to her, something she claims in Numbers 12:2. Ellen White confirmed that Miriam indeed had the prophetic gift: “Aaron and Miriam had occupied a position of high honor and leadership in Israel. Both were endowed with the prophetic gift, and both had been divinely associated with Moses in the deliverance of the Hebrews” (PP 382). According to Jewish tradition, Miriam became the wife of Hur, who with Aaron held up the hands of Moses in the battle with the Amalekites (see Exodus 17:10-12).GP 26.3
Miriam is remembered, primarily, for two things. First, after the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian army, she led the Hebrew women in a song of praise (see Exodus 15:20, 21). This was Miriam’s great hour, she was the best known woman in the new nation of Israel, and “in the affections of the people and the honor of Heaven she stood second only to Moses and Aaron” (PP 382).GP 26.4
The second event for which Miriam is remembered is her rebellion against the leadership of Moses (see Numbers 12). The same kind of jealousy that had led to Satan’s downfall took hold of Miriam’s heart. Because Moses had accepted the counsel of his father-in-law without consulting Aaron and Miriam in the appointment of the seventy elders (see Exodus 18), they felt slighted. “In the organization of the council of elders they felt that their position and authority had been ignored. Miriam and Aaron had never known the weight of care and responsibility which had rested upon Moses; yet because they had been chosen to aid him they regarded themselves as sharing equally with him the burden of leadership, and they regarded the appointment of further assistants as uncalled for” (PP 383).GP 27.1
A second reason for her jealousy was Moses’ marriage to Zipporah (see Numbers 12:2). Some scholars think that Moses married the dark-skinned Cushite woman after the death of Zipporah the Midianite (see Exodus 2:15-21). “In Hab. 3:7, however, ‘Cushan’ and ‘Midian’ occur in parallelism, which suggests that the terms could be synonymous. Since the peoples of Nubia and Ethiopia were black-skinned, possibly the term was applied to other darker-skinned nomadic peoples like the Midianites.” GP 27.2
Miriam may have sinned because of pride in her own race. Perhaps she told Moses that he should have chosen a wife from among his own people. She compounded the problem by making the matter public, which tended to break down Moses’ authority among the Israelites. There is a peculiar irony to her punishment. She who had complained about the dark-skinned woman became a leper “as white as snow” (Numbers 12:10). Her “white skin” was anything but healthy and certainly nothing to be proud of. Moses interceded for her with the Lord, and after seven days she was healed of her leprosy. Most likely, the leprosy of her heart departed with the leprosy of her skin. Nothing more is reported of her except her death and burial at Kadesh (see Numbers 20:1).GP 27.3
Deborah, a prophetess and judge in Israel (see Judges 4; 5), must have been an extraordinary woman. In a society dominated by men, she became the political and spiritual leader of a whole nation, something few women achieved in those days.GP 27.4
For twenty years, the Israelites groaned under the yoke of Jabin, king of Hazor. Finally, they remembered their past, turned from their idolatry, and with repentant hearts cried to the Lord for deliverance. And the Lord heard them. However, the deliverer whom God sent wasn’t a man, but Deborah, a woman well-known for her piety. She was also known as a prophetess, and in the absence of the usual magistrates, she became a judge for her people, who came to her for counsel and justice.GP 28.1
“The Lord communicated to Deborah His purpose to destroy the enemies of Israel, and bade her send for a man named Barak . . . and make known to him the instructions which she had received. She accordingly sent for Barak, and directed him to assemble ten thousand men of the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun, and make war upon the armies of King Jabin” (RC 329).GP 28.2
This battle between the Israelites and the Canaanites in the Valley of Jezreel—also called the plain of Megiddo—became a symbol of God’s intervention in judgment upon the nations and a symbol for His deliverance of His people (see Joel 3:12-16). Consequently, in the book of Revelation, the final battle between good and evil is called the battle of Armageddon (see Revelation 16:12-16).GP 28.3
Megiddo, from which may come the word Armageddon (“mountain of Megiddo”), was on one side of the plain of Jezreel. But it was from a mountain (Mount Tabor) that God had designated previously that Israel proceeded to victory against the host that God had said would be gathered against them in that valley.GP 28.4
Thus, the 144,000 of the Israel of God in the time of the sixth plague, like the 10,000 of Israel of old on the sides of Mount Tabor, are to look to God for deliverance from their oppressors. They are to take their stand upon the mountain of faith and obedience that overlooks the valley of deliverance.GP 28.5
Following the defeat of Jabin’s army, Deborah ascribed all praise for the victory to God (see Judges 5:3-5, 13). She refused to accept any glory for herself or Barak. As a “mother in Israel” (Judges 5:7), she continued to watch over the people with maternal care, counseling, and aiding them in their search for justice.GP 28.6