Anna prophetess
Anna chose to trust the LORD God and dedicate her life to His service. She accepted the direction He had chosen for her life and was able to fulfill the special mission He had for her against all odds of being a widower of great age. Luke 2:36-38
Anna was a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, one of the northern tribes of Israel. Anna became a widower after only seven years of marriage. How heart breaking for her. Just like we get confused and believe the pain we are experiencing will never go away. Anna must have felt so alone also felt the same way. Death is the most significant account of finality. Anna had the full responsibility for everything.
Eighty four year Anna was a widow and she lived in the Temple to serve the LORD God. She could have felt sorry for herself and had a life of misery and discontent. Instead she spent her life in fasting and prayer. This was a time of great political chaos and religious perversion. Anna trusted in the LORD God and in the purpose in which she had been chosen.
Anna spent her life serving the LORD God being devoted to prayers and fasting and walking after His ways. Anna had been chosen by God for a unique purpose. Luke tells us that she was a prophetess, gifted with special wisdom and insight. It was because of Ann’s obedience and humility and faithful service to the LORD God that had placed her in the right place, at the right time, to witness the dedication of Jesus Christ.
Mary and Joseph had done all that they were told to do by the angel Gabriel. Jesus was dedicated about 40 days after His birth and Mary and Joseph took Him to Jerusalem to be dedicated to the LORD. Leviticus 12:4-8 required every male child to be brought to the temple in Jerusalem for dedication to the LORD at the completion of the purification of the mother.
This faithful, devout, and Godly Anna recognized this baby named Jesus and confessed He was the long awaited Messiah. Anna began thanking the LORD for keeping and fulfilling His promise and sending the Deliver and allowing her to see the Savior before she died.
Anna being in the temple at the time of the dedication of Jesus was no mere coincidence. It was the purpose the LORD had for her to witness that the Messiah was come. She told everyone who would listen to her that the Messiah had truly come. The Redeemer of Israel had come. And Anna, the prophetess of the LORD God had had the pleasure of being the one to spread the announcement to others.
We have much to learn from this strong dedicated woman, Anna. Here is a woman who had many opportunities for giving up and taking another direction in her life. She lost her husband after only being married for seven years. She had many other choices for a direction such as remarking or living with another relative and being taken care of as a widower.
It was suggested in 1 Timothy 5:14 that young widow women should marry, bear children, guide the house, give no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. Anna followed what the LORD had intended for her life and that was to dedicate her life in the Temple.
Anna chose to trust the LORD God and dedicate her life to His service. She accepted the direction He had chosen for her life and was able to fulfill the special mission He had for her against all odds of being a widower of great age.
Like Anna we need to trust and be faithful to the calling of the LORD God. We need to be forever seeking His Will for us and not the seeking our will. Psalm 4:3 is a reminder that the LORD has set apart those that are godly for Himself: the LORD will hear when they call unto him.
Anna knew that her life was not hers to command. Her life belonged to the LORD God and He would guide her in the direction He chose for her. John 15:16 declares “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.”
Anna’s life was fulfilled when she saw the baby Jesus. All her life serving the LORD God being devoted to prayers and fasting and walking after His ways had been fulfilled at that dedication. We can experience that same enthusiasm and zeal that Anna felt by also following the journey that the LORD has intended for us.
We have that same expectation and anticipation when we think of the day when we will see the return of Jesus Christ our Savior. Just knowing in a twinkling of an eye we will all be changed and our Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and we will all see Him and we will be caught up together with Him in the clouds and will be forever with the LORD. Thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”(1 Corinthians 15:52).
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “Anna prophetess: .” Becker Bible Studies Library Oct 2014.<https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1426,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2014, October) “Anna prophetess:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1426,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2014) “Anna prophetess:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (October), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1426, (accessed).
