THE WAILING WOMEN

Introduction

What is a wailing woman according to Scripture? Do such women still exist or should they?

Before exploring this divine calling, let’s begin by understanding the biblical meaning of mourning. In both Old and New Testaments, mourning is a spiritual and emotional response to sin, loss, or divine judgment. It is more than sadness it is a deep cry of the heart marked by repentance and intercession, often seeking God’s intervention, forgiveness, or mercy.

In the Hebrew language, the word for mourn (אָבַל – ‘abal’) and lament (קִינָה – ‘qinah’) both carry the weight of grief mixed with spiritual reflection and appeal.

Mourning in Two Seasons: Before and After

Scripture presents examples of mourning that happened in two contexts:

1. Mourning Before a Tragedy: Queen Esther’s Time

A striking example is seen in the book of Esther, during the reign of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). When Haman, the enemy of the Jews, plotted their annihilation, a royal decree was issued. The Jews mourned in anticipation of the coming destruction.

Esther 4:1–3 (NKJV)

“When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry.
He went as far as the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.
And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.”

Result: Their prayer and mourning moved the heart of God and the queen. Esther’s intercession led to the deliverance of the Jews and the downfall of Haman.

Spiritual Insight: God honors proactive intercession. Mourning before judgment falls can change outcomes. This is a call to be spiritually alert and intercede before disaster.

2. Mourning After a Tragedy: Jeremiah’s Lament

Another example is the prophet Jeremiah, who mourned after the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem, during which King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple, slaughtered thousands, and took many into exile.

Lamentations 3:47–52 (NKJV)

“Fear and a snare have come upon us,
Desolation and destruction.
My eyes overflow with rivers of water
For the destruction of the daughter of my people.
My eyes flow and do not cease,
Without interruption,
Till the Lord from heaven
Looks down and sees.
My eyes bring suffering to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
My enemies without cause
Hunted me down like a bird.”

Result: Jeremiah’s mourning expressed the brokenness of God’s people after judgment had fallen. His sorrow became a written testimony for generations, now preserved as the Book of Lamentations.

Spiritual Insight: Mourning after judgment is important, but God’s preference is that we mourn before judgment as a means to prevent it.

What Kind of Mourning Does God Desire?

Answer: Preventative Mourning.

God is calling His people to spiritual awareness, sensitivity to sin, and intercessory mourning before destruction comes. Jesus Himself wept over Jerusalem in Luke 19:41–44, foreseeing the coming destruction because they “did not know the time of [their] visitation.”

Today, nations, churches, families, and individuals may be under spiritual judgment. God desires women and believers generally to recognize the signs and intercede through tears, fasting, and repentance.

Women’s Divine Role in Intercessory Mourning

Throughout Scripture, God calls women specifically to take on this vital role. Women are uniquely created with emotional depth, sensitivity, and nurturing spirits, all of which make them effective intercessors.

Jeremiah 9:17–19 (NKJV)

“Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘Consider and call for the mourning women,
That they may come;
And send for skillful wailing women,
That they may come.
Let them make haste
And take up a wailing for us,
That our eyes may run with tears,
And our eyelids gush with water.
For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion:
“How we are plundered!
We are greatly ashamed,
Because we have forsaken the land,
Because we have been cast out of our dwellings.”’”

Key Insight: God instructs that women specifically skilled mourners be summoned to awaken intercession in the community. This was not just cultural, but spiritual, and remains relevant today.

Women’s Role Versus Men’s Role

This is not a statement of superiority or limitation, but of design and assignment. Just as God instructs men to lead and teach (e.g., 1 Timothy 2:12, 1 Corinthians 14:34–35), He gives women a unique assignment in intercession.

Titus 2:3–5 (NKJV) calls older women to “teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste…”

And Jeremiah 9:20–21 (NKJV) gives further instruction:

“Yet hear the word of the Lord, O women,
And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And everyone her neighbor a lamentation.
For death has come through our windows,
Has entered our palaces,
To kill off the children no longer to be outside!
And the young men no longer on the streets!”

God is raising a generation of intercessory women, called to pass on this legacy of spiritual mourning. The world needs Esthers, Hannahs, Deborahs, and Marys who cry out to God on behalf of their families, communities, and nations.

A Final Challenge

Woman of God have you wept over your home, your church, or your nation?
Have you mourned for the sin around you and pleaded for mercy before judgment comes?

If not, now is the time. God is calling His daughters to rise as intercessors to take their place in the spiritual realm.

Obey the call. Embrace the assignment. And teach others to do the same.

May the Lord bless you.

Print this post