{"id":43,"date":"2003-10-05T20:08:57","date_gmt":"2003-10-06T00:08:57","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T04:00:00","slug":"anna-meditations-luke-225-38","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/anna-meditations-luke-225-38\/","title":{"rendered":"ANNA ?Meditations – Luke 2:25-38"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Barry Kirk<\/strong><\/p>\n

And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser. she
\nwas of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
\nAnd she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple,
\nbut served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
\nAnd she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all
\nthem that looked for redemption in Jerusalem<\/em>. Lk. 2:36-38

Could we consider for a few moments these last three verses? Truly we find that these few
\nlittle thoughts of this beautiful old saint who was totally committed to God are precious.
\nAnd I think we can see a nice little pattern for the believer today by her example. <\/p>\n

First we see that she is a prophetess. Now that doesn’t have anything to do with the
\npattern for the Christian today, does it? After all, isn’t that someone who sees visions
\nand dreams dreams of God and then tells the people what God said?<\/p>\n

Well, if we think of the real definition of the word prophet or prophetess as it’s used
\nhere, it’s really very clear that there is something here for us to follow. It simply
\nmeans one who is a proclaimer of a divine message. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if each of us
\nwere known as one who proclaims God’s message?<\/p>\n

Well it is a wonderful thought, however, we have to personally know the Word and His
\nmessage first and then proclaim it … not the other way around. And I believe that Anna
\nwas the example to follow in coming to know the Word personally as we shall see.<\/p>\n

As we continue, we see that she was the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. Asher
\nwas the least of all the tribes … he was the last son of Jacob’s unwanted wife’s
\nunwanted maid Zilpah … and this is the only reference in scripture to Anna’s father
\nPhanuel. Did all this mean they were insignificant? Maybe in social acceptance and status,
\nbut Asher means ‘happy,’ and Phanuel means ‘the face of God’ and Anna means ‘favored with
\nGod’. What a Godly example we find in this family … their social status was not their
\nstandard for joy in their lives. Asher, perhaps, was the least, yet he was known as truly
\n‘happy.’ Phanuel was only mentioned once yet he must have reflected and revealed ‘the face
\nof God’ at least to his family many times (truly not a small responsibility), and Anna, an
\nold, old woman, found ‘favor with God.’<\/p>\n

Can’t we take comfort in the fact that God uses ordinary, insignificant ‘earthen vessels’
\nto make known His glorious Gospel (2 Cor 4:7), and that those, no matter what their social
\nstatus before men, who give Him the preeminence will be significant with God (Mt
\n19:29-30).<\/p>\n

Doesn’t this describe Anna and wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if it described us? As we
\nsaid, she was a old, old woman-probably over a hundred years old. And even through
\nloneliness and tragedy and the normal troubles that came with age, she departed not from
\nthe temple.’ She stayed in fellowship! How about us? Are we inconsistent or do we stay
\nintimately close? You know one of the definitions of a prophet or prophetess is ‘one who
\nhas immediate intercourse or communion or relations or fellowship with God.’ Is our
\nfellowship with God characterized by immediacy or distance depending on the
\ncircumstances-Anna’s was immediate no matter what. ‘She departed not from the temple.’<\/p>\n

How serious are we about serving God? You know, everything we do reflects just how serious
\nwe are about being a Christian. Are we serious only when it is convenient?<\/p>\n

What’s the pattern here? Anna served God seriously all the time! When she spent time in
\nprayer, she was serious, and she demonstrated it to God by fasting. We not only see this
\npattern found here in Anna’s prayer life to be a beautiful one, but also quite a
\nchallenge.<\/p>\n

Not only did she show her seriousness by fasting, but also in the fact that she was
\nconsistent whether it was convenient or not-she prayed night and day! Oh how we need to
\n‘be instant (diligent) in season, out of season’ (2 Tim 4:2) … not just when it seems
\neasy.<\/p>\n

And then we notice the sum and substance of her whole life and her whole being culminate
\nas it reaches its highest point. Picture, if you can, the scene there in the place where
\nGod had chosen to place his name (I Kings 9:3) … not really a crowd, but just a few.
\nPerhaps only ‘two or three gathered together’ (Mt 18:20) … and those speaking are not
\nspeaking according to a pre-determined schedule or creed but only being led by the Holy
\nSpirit (vs. 27). There are no distractions. Every thought is perfectly in one accord, for
\nthere is only one focal point-the One ‘in the midst of them.’The one who is speaking calls
\nno attention to himself but rather lifts up the One in their midst and blesses God (vs.
\n28) and causes those gathered there to marvel ‘at those things which were spoken of Him’
\n(vs. 33), and what are these blessed and marvelous things that are being spoken? Why, it’s
\namazing the simplicity of the thoughts-he’s simply speaking of the peace (vs. 29) found in
\nthis One-the salvation (vs. 30) found in this One-the availability (vs. 31) found in this
\nOne -the glory (vs. 32) found in this One, and all the wonders found in His
\naccomplishments and what would come (vs. 34-35) It’s all about the one in their midst.
\nIt’s all about who He is and the things He’ll do!<\/p>\n

And who, likewise, do we see gathering instantly to the Lord’s Christ? It’s Anna! The old
\nsaint from the unwanted and insignificant family but yet the one who found favor with God.
\nThe one who was always willing to share His Word. The one who was consistent in her
\nfellowship with God whether in tragedy or loneliness. The one who was serious about
\nserving God-night and day. The one who ‘departed not from the temple’ and as a result she
\nhad immediate communion with God-‘And she, coming in that instant, gave thanks likewise
\nunto the Lord,’ (vs. 38a).<\/p>\n

Yes, my friends, her life was well poised to worship Him-it was automatic for her that she
\nwould gather there. There was no other possible place, because it was there that He was in
\nthe midst, and if she had not been there she would have missed seeing Him. She would have
\nmissed seeing God praised. She would have missed seeing the saints marvel at the thoughts
\nof Him. She would have missed the privilege of giving thanks likewise unto the Lord’ (vs.
\n38a), and surely her zeal to tell ‘all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem’ (vs.
\n38b) would not have been the same.<\/p>\n

It’s not until we see the One in our midst for who He is that we will have the right zeal
\nto tell all those who look for redemption about what He has done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Barry Kirk And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser. she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[32,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brethren","category-church"],"yoast_head":"\nANNA ?Meditations - 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