Today, we will dedicate our time to Anna the prophet. Her story happens in just 3 verses, but it’s a very important story.

“There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:36-38).

We’re going to look at what these three verses say about Anna, because she isn’t mentioned anywhere else. It may seem that her story isn’t important, but it is. One, because it’s in the Bible, and second, she is called by name. Let’s see what we can learn from her.

In verse 36, it says she is a prophet. In the Greek language, that means she was an inspirational woman. For example, in the Old Testament, we studied Deborah the judge and Huldah, both of which were prophets. It’s very clear that all of these women who have the title of prophet were highly regarded in their churches and communities as spiritual leaders.

Another element we see in Anna is that she was Penuel’s daughter, of the tribe of Asher. To look back in Israel’s history, the tribe of Asher was taken captive by the Assyrians and as a group, never officially returned to Israel. But it says in the text that Anna was at the temple in Jerusalem, so we can infer that someone, probably a man in her family, remembered their Israelite roots and either moved the nuclear family there or married her off to someone in Jerusalem. This shows that her family had spiritual values growing up and they wanted to maintain that.

The third element we see in this passage is that she had lived with her husband for seven years. Her husband died, but she didn’t have children. The situation of a sterile woman in this New Testament time period was very sad. The women who had children were called blessed, but those without were called cursed. From Genesis we see this with Sara and Abraham – Abraham had to sleep with Hagar the slave to produce an heir. The life of Hebrew women, and their happiness, depended on whether or not they had children. It wasn’t Anna’s fault that she couldn’t have kids, but others told her that she was cursed since she didn’t have an heir. The world knew she wasn’t able to have children, so she didn’t have any opportunities to remarry once her husband had died.

The fourth thing to note here is that she was a widow for 84 years. For Anna, she probably married very young as was the custom during this time, 15 or 16 years old. She was married for 7 years, so was 23 or 24 when she became a widow. The text says that from the time she became a widow, Anna didn’t leave the temple. She served night and day through fasting and prayer. Because. he never left the temple, her economic situation wasn’t the best. In Hebrew history, it was common for widows to continue living in poverty because they didn’t have a man to take care of them. That’s why the Bible says in both the Old and New Testament that the church needs to take care of widows and orphans.

In this time, women depended exclusively on men, so since Anna’s spouse died, the land and anything left of the inheritance would go to another male relative, which is why she continued to live in poverty. Normally, the inheritance would go to a male child, but she didn’t have any children, so Anna was truly left alone with nothing.

She decided to spend the rest of her life in the temple. She could have chosen to spend her time lamenting for what she didn’t have. She was an empty widow in the eyes of her society, but she didn’t choose this. On the contrary, what she chose was a life of worship. From there in the temple, she could experience abundance in her life through her need to have kids in her harms. What Anna did was open herself up to what she lacked. How did she do this?

She served others so that their happiness was her happiness. Let’s remember that the temple was the center of life for Jerusalem. It was there that children were brought to be dedicated, blessed, taught, married where people make to pray, make big decisions, find refuge from their problems. The temple was the focal point of the community, and Anna made it the focal point of her life.

It was at the temple where she tended to the needs of others. 84 years is a lot of a time, a LOT of time. Imagine how many people she would have seen in that temple and all the people who knew her. They knew Anna would always be there to greet them when they came, to laugh with them, hug their children, pray for the families in need, generations would know her. This faithful woman that helped them smile, cried for them, gave them joy and happiness – without bitterness of her life situation. She gave them the joy she felt. She waited to see who would come to redeem Jerusalem, and she did.

It says in previous verses that she saw a young couple in the temple, Joseph and Mary (v. 33). Joseph and Mary had brought Jesus to the temple to perform a blessing ritual according to the law. They were amazed by what people were saying about their baby, and Anna had the opportunity to see the baby Jesus – maybe even hold him – so she could feel completely satisfied. She was so happy, she “gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem” (v. 38).

Even though her life hadn’t allowed her to smile, she wasn’t bitter, but continued serving, praying, and fasting. In the perfect moment, the moment of Christ, her heart was so full it overflowed when she held the Messiah in her hands.

It could be a brother or sister that has an emptiness in their heart, a spouse that has died or abandoned them, a child that left home either by marriage or a different problem, maybe you’re experiencing a tough situation. Their hearts are sad, maybe your’s is, too. If you believe that you’re alone, you’re not. The Lord will fill your heart. What can we learn from Anna? Anna opened herself up to serve others, thing about other’s needs, pray for others, so she could experience joy.

Thank you, brothers and sisters, and may God bless you. We hope you join us for another installment of Women in the Bible.