AN UNTOLD STORY

So after previously trying to be way too clever with these thoughts and musings four months ago I am going to try and put these together in a far shorter way.

Firstly may I remind you of the verses I was pondering over:

Luke 2 vs. 36 – 38

“Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.”

Do you ever wonder why you read about an odd character in the Bible and do not get the “full story” of who they are? They appear once and then they are gone. No, or very little, history on their background and noting to say what happens in their future.

Do you ever consider the significance of such characters?

I do not believe anything in the Bible is there by chance, or in error. Everything written has been done so in accordance with God’s will, the writers, writing, in tune with the prompting of the Holy Spirit their hands and thoughts guided by Him.

So in the Bible there are just these three verses recorded that contain this woman Anna. That’s not a great deal but it is more than some people in the Bible get. So what do we know fairly certainly about Anna from these three verses?

Her name was Anna

She was a daughter of Phanuel
She was a prophet(ess)
She was a member of the tribe of Asher
She was widowed after seven years of marriage
She was now very old
She was holy and devout and she regularly practiced prayer, praise and fasting
She spent most of her life in the House of God – the temple

So the above few highlighted comments are obvious and easy to see within the passage. So what is their significance?

Anna: Anna is probably derived from “Hannah” but both versions of the name carry the same meaning which is “favour” or “grace”. An interesting point is that the first “Hannah” I can find in the bible was also a Prophetess, and she was the mother of Samuel. There are also strong parallels between the birth of Samuel and that of Jesus.

Phanuel: Phanuel’s name means “the face of God”

A Prophet(ess): A prophet is a spokesperson for God. The prophet challenges, warns, directs, encourages, intercedes, teaches and counsels God’s people. He/she brings the word of God to the people of God and calls the people to respond to that word. The prophetic ministry begins in the presence of the Lord. When the prophet knows the heart and mind of the Lord, he/she speaks the word of the Lord to his people. He/she stands before the people, as one who has stood before God. Because his/her words come from the heart of God they are powerful and effective

Tribe Of Asher: is among the ten lost tribes of Israel

Widowed: in these times a girl became a woman around the age of 14 or 15 and this was the usual age of marriage. We then know that she had been widowed at a very young age, around 22.

Age: I have found two streams of thinking about Anna’s age. One that she was now 84 at the time Luke wrote this, and some say that what Luke was saying was that after the death of her husband she lived for 84 years as a widow before she met Jesus as a baby. That would have made her around 106 years old. Either way she was not a young person, but one that had been through some real "life" experiences as so many of us do.

Dedicated: we are told she was devout and also that she visited the temple DAILY. She did not live there but made it her duty to visit the temple each and every day.

So why do I believe these three verses are significant and important?

Here is someone who at a very young age was dealt a terrible blow, the loss of her partner. At that stage she could have just turned away from God, hated Him for that happening, abandoned the teachings she would have received and basically given up on life. But that was not Anna. She chose to dedicate her life to God. She chose to persevere each and every day faithfully spending time before Him just waiting for His promises for her and for mankind to come to fruition.

Surely she must have felt like giving up – haven’t we when things are a bit tough, when things don’t happen the way “we” want or the way “we” expect them too and when things take far longer than we have the patience for. I am sure there were those times but I am equally sure that she got through those times and remained faithful attending the temple on a daily basis.

And just when she may have been thinking she was too old and she had missed whatever God had planned for her suddenly God’s perfect timing came about, and she was in the temple when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus as a baby to the temple. After this she didn’t sit back and think well that’s it now I can relax. No it says that she “talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem”!! She continued in the ministry she had been given proclaiming the arrival of Jesus Christ

We may not see our purpose in God’s plan, we may not think there is anything left for us to do, BUT God has plans for all of us until our final day, and we need to be Anna’s faithfully seeking God’s purpose for our lives each and every day and keep pressing into Him without ceasing

Three small verses rarely referred to at Christmas but have so much to say to each and every one of us

God Bless