Endeavoring Women of the Bible: Anna

Section 1

Aug 15

Guy’s I’m super stoked about today’s lesson. I think awhile back I had thought about looking at Anna’s story, but somehow kind of skipped over it. It, as many of the passages we have studied, is a bit shorter. However, she is this character I think a lot of people can connect with! She became a widow at a young age, but had a life that ultimately reflected Christ through it all. She teaches us a lot about retirement and how worship and discipleship isn’t based on age. I can’t wait to take a look, so let’s dive on in!

ANNA

Location: Jerusalem
Context: Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple
Passage: Luke 2: 36-38

Okay, so to first set the scene this was after Mary had had Jesus. The angels appeared to the shepherds, and the whole traditional “Christmas” shindig happened. But if you don’t remember what happened after the birth, there is some cool stuff that Jesus encounters even as a baby! He is circumcised, and presented in the Temple, which is kind of like a dedication thing. After that we see Simeon have this crazy God moment and call Jesus blessed. And this is already wild for Mary and Joseph. Can you imagine someone coming up to you randomly and saying your baby bringing salvation to a stranger?! So cool. So we see all this happening and then, starting in verse 36, we meet this character named Anna. The section is titled in my bible, the prophecy of Anna but I saw another version says she “bears witness to the redeemer”. Either way, let’s jump right in. Verse 36 says:

Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.

Quick note here. I didn’t know for awhile what a prophetess was. I thought it was like someone who spoke about what will happen in the future. And, I mean, it could be about the future… but in this context it just means her role was to speak for God. Proclaiming his truth to the people. Just to clarify. Okay let’s jump back in. So starting back at verse 37:

She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; 37 and this woman was a widow [i]of about eighty-four years,

Okay, so in these first two verses we learn that Anna was a prophetess, and we are encountering her at a very old age in the temple. So you can kind of picture that right? But we learn something else. GET THIS. She was most likely married at a pretty young age, as was more common at that time. But it tells us that 7 years after getting married, her husband passes away and so she had been a widow for about 84 years. Wow. Talk about a life! I can only imagine what my heart would be like.. that sounds like some difficult stuff. But let’s see what her life looked like. We learn more in the next few verses:

37 and this woman was a widow [i]of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

Wow. So cool. So it tells us in this passage, she dealt with some difficult stuff, but also did some amazing ministry. I think it can be easy to think we may not be able to do much, because of a situation, or because of our context but her story shows a life of difficulty turned to a life of praise and dedication to God.

So she is mentioned in this passage because it says she encounters Jesus as he is in the temple. Let’s read verse 38:

And coming in that instant she gave thanks to [j]the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

So, those are just the few verses that Anna is mentioned in. I know it isn’t long, but I think she is a unique woman in the Bible, and someone who sets a great example. So, what are a few specific lessons we can learn from her life? Well, let’s take a look:

RETIREMENT

When you get older, obviously I’m not there, but I can imagine it can be really difficult. You may feel like you’ve “done your time” and it may feel like you don’t have a place in some things any more. But here is the thing, Anna realized even in old age that God still could use her. That God still had work for her. Worship and praising God doesn’t have a “time limit”, it doesn’t retire. There are broken people who still need the Gospel. We can be tempted to have a “retirement” in our spiritual life. Whatever capacity you are in, whatever you are doing… God can use you.

Circumstances

I think Anna’s story can give us encouragement that even in difficulty, we can find rest and hope in God. Being married fairly young, I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be to be widowed at a young age. However, we see Anna, in these difficult situations, turning to God through the pain. As Job did, I think it can be so difficult to question why God does things, but I know for me personally, I have found that true hope, happiness, and peace rests in communion with God and trust in him. I think Anna’s story shows us that God’s story for our lives doesn’t end in hardship. He wants beautiful things for us, and he will use us in ways beyond our imagination. Do you think Anna knew she would be one of the few people to meet the Saviour of the world? Its funny how God can use situations that seem like the end to start something new. I can’t imagine how Anna felt losing her husband, but I think it is beautiful to see how God uses her in mighty ways.

Women in leadership

I know this is an extremely debatable topic, but I think I want to highlight quickly that Anna was recognized as a prophetess. This was an extremely high honor at that time. And the gift of prophecy, and being a “prophetess” can seem a bit confusing! To clarify, as Dictionary.com describes it, a prophet is “a person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God”. In the Bible, this is essentially a role that interprets the will of God for the people. This is a huge honor, and tells us something significant about Anna. And this actually makes so much sense as we see her pronounce that Jesus is Saviour without anyone telling her! She gives thanks to God for Jesus. As Robin Branch writes, this correlates so well to what Amos 3:7 says: that “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plans to his servants the prophets.” I can’t help but think as well that her prophecy gifts probably were developed form her time communing with God. I mean it even tells us she was a women who “served God with fastings and prayers night and day”.

Prophecy through time spent with God

This is essentially the same as the last point, but I just wanted to highlight that Anna was a prophetess. And, again, I don’t know exactly what that looked like but I can’t help but imagine that her gifts were developed by her fasting and praying to God every day and night. I hope it can encourage you to spend time with our Lord. I think it honestly is easier to hear his voice when we are spending time with him. If you feel like you haven’t heard God lately, I want to challenge you with the question: are you listening for him intentionally? Intentionally setting aside time to listen for him? Not just a thought, but a few minutes in silence without distractions listening for his voice. Read scripture and see where he leads your thoughts! Obviously, not everyone is operating the prophecy gift, but I can’t help but think that Anna could know Jesus was God by listening to God’s voice!

God uses everyone

Okay something small, but thinking through the different women in the Bible, I think Anna is a unique individual because I hadn’t seen too many women like her. A widow who is a prophetess? So cool. I just think wherever you are, there may not be one specific women in the Bible who matches your exact age/situation, but I think Anna is a reminder that the women that God uses are diverse. No one is exactly alike. You may think God can’t use you to reach a certain group because of this or that, but I think Anna reminds us that God uses people from all different places of life.

Using what God gives you

Finally, I want to challenge you this week with thinking about what God has given you. I think I can too easily become apathetic about my situation. In Anna’s story, we see that Anna is handed a really difficult deck. Like, I cannot imagine it. But I am so encouraged, and look up to, her example. She doesn’t just sit in that sorrow. Did she mourn? I’m sure. I don’t know what those years looked like without her husband, but she turned to God and he used her in mighty ways. I think we can be handed situations and not understand why God does things. And sometimes… we just don’t know. We aren’t God. But Anna’s story can encourage us that God never leaves us, and he brings blessings in time. He will give us knowledge when we spend intimate time with him.

If I had to pick a word for Anna I think it would be endurance. I think the obvious application is that she was older. She lived so many years, and still was doing ministry. How cool and what an encouragement for the older women in the church. But I also think her story speaks of endurance because of what she dealt with. I can’t imagine. Being a widow is difficult! And I don’t know what being a female prophetess was like, but I know the view of women was much different back then. But I think Anna is an example of the “long game”. And I think her story shows that God will bless us and show us that the Saviour is in our midst… if we choose to listen to him.

Lord, I pray for the endeavors this week listening or reading that you will give them rest. Give them endurance as they run this race called life. I pray that you will meet us where we are this week. As we try to make space for you, meet us there God. You are so mighty and larger than we even understand and we are so grateful that when we are weak you are strong. We praise you that our weakness is made perfect in your strength. Help us be like Anna this week, proclaiming your truth to a hurting world.