Anna, the Prophetess
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 God with fastings and prayei-s night and day. And she, coming in that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. — Luke, ii. 36-38.
One of the names by which the Messiah was to be called, was the “Wonderful;” and the name was divinely appropriate. Nothing could be more marvellous than the constitution of his person, in which we see a union of divinity and humanity, of majesty and condescension, of independence and subjection, of indigence and riches. The same will apply to his history. Observe his death. He suffers every kind of indignity; he is bound, scourged, spit upon, buffeted, crucified between two thieves. But the sun is enveloped in darkness, and the earth shakes, and the rocks are rent, and the graves are opened, and the dead arise, the centurion exclaims, “Truly this man was the Son of God;” and the expiring thief adores him as the Lord of all; and prays, “Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”
Observe also Ins birth. Nothing could be more exyressive of the deepest humiliation; and adapted to scandalize all those that worship “the god of this world.” “And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” But the season of his birth is called “the fulness of time;” an angel addresses the shepherds; a multitude of the heavenly host descends, singing, “glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good- will towards men;” a new star adorns the heavens; and wise men come from the east, and fall down and worship him; and he is “justified in the Spirit,” and the Holy Ghost dignifies him by inspiring two distinguished individuals to bear witness of him.
These were Simeon and Anna. Of the former it is said,” And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose nanae was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by the Spirit ,into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.
which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”
Nor was Simeon alone.
“And there was also 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 God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she, coming in that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.”
This is all we know concerning her; but this is not a little. The first view it leads us to take of her is her Prerogative; the second, her Condition in Life; the third, her Devoutness; the fourth, her Privilege; the fifth, her Gratitude; the last, her Zeal.
I, Her Prerogative. — She was “a Prophetess.” Prophecy is the expression of foreknowledge. It is distinguishable from mere conjecture, however ingenious. Conjecture may be followed by a correspondence of events, but the event corresponds accidentally, and is not previously certified thereby. It is also beyond the reach of reasoning from causes to effects, accor’ding to the ordinary operations of nature. It is nothing less than a miracle; and God himself refers to it as supernatural and divine. “Who hath declared this from ancient time? Have not I the Lord?” “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.”
As God possesses the perfect knowledge of all futurities, so he is able to communicate any portion of it he pleases to any of his creatures; and he has often done this; and our appeals to it constitute one of the most undeniable proofs of the truth of revelation.
The spirit of prophecy was, with few exceptions, confined to the Jews. Among them, it manifested itself in all its fulness and glory. From age to age they had a succession of prophets; and they were not destitute even during the whole time of the Babylonish captivity. The prophetical spirit, indeed, ceased its communications from the days of Malachi; but it was revived again about the period of the Saviour’s incarnation; as we see in his forerunner, “for all held John as a prophet;” and in the case of Simeon, and of Anna of whom we are now speaking.
For this supernatural endowment was not limited to males. Miriam, and Deborah, and Huldah, and other females were honored with this ministry; and the time was now come when the language of God, by Joel, was to be accomplished. “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.”
Some may be ready to ask, if women were allowed to prophesy, why are they not permitted also to preach? To which we answer, because we are not to ar.gue from a miraculous age to an ordinary one; because our Lord has given us no example of this in the choice of his apostles, nor in the mission of the seventy; and because inspiration has interposed its authority, and said, “I suffer not a woman to teach” in the Church.
Though Grod is under no obligation to explain himself, and his decision itself should always satisfy us, yet nothing would be more easy than to show the reasons on which such a prohibition is founded. They are not to be sought for in a supposition of incapacity for the discharge of such a function, but in the order of nature, and in the line of demarcation which defines and separates the destinies and duties of each sex. Eccentrics may excite notice, but will never be admired, at least by the wise and judicious. Persons alwaj-s appear to most advantage in their own proper sphere; and if females desire to be useful, they need not be disappointed; if they are not called to fill a public oflSce, there are a thousand ways open to their talents and benevolence, in which they may serve their generation and the cause of the Gospel. “Greet Mary-,” says the apostle to the Romans, “who bestowed much labor on us;” and to the Philippiaus, “I entreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women who labored with me in the gospel.”
II. Observe her condition in life. — This was affecting and interesting. She was old and bereaved; of great age; had been early deprived of her husband; and was now a widow of about fourscore and four years.
First. She was of a great age; and what was this? About 84; and what was this to the duration of eternity? and what was this to the years before the flood? yea, -u hat was it to the longevity of Jacob? who said, in answer to the question, “How old art thou?” “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years; few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the da3’S of their pilgrimage.”
But SO reduced was the human standard, that Moses estimated it much lower: “the days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if, by reason of strength, they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor- and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Anna’s age, therefore, is a kind of prodigy and wonder; a period not often attained, but a period often earnestly desired. Yet what is life so prolonged, but a series of decays, infirmities, troubles, and losses; and “the years draw nigh in which we shall say, we have no pleasure in them.”
Accordingly, we remark secondly, that Anna had experienced affliction — affliction in the tenderest quarter, and early in life. She was now bereaved of the guide of her youth, after living only seven years in the happiness of conjugal life. Thus, she could no longer come up out of the wilderness leaning on her beloved, but was doomed to travel the rest of the long journey of life, alone!
The Jews, anciently, in their weddings, observed a very striking usage. They dashed a glass upon the floor, to show by its fraction the brittleness of the connection itself. And funeral solemnities have often been soon found to follow marriage rites. It becomes you, therefore, to “rejoice with trembling,” even in the day of your espousals, and the day of the gladness of your heart. Be thankful, ye whose relative comforts are yet spared; ye who, year after year, behold your dear connections still around you. But O, hold them with a loose hand. Remember that “all, all on earth is shadow;” and will you set your heart on that which is not? “This, I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.”
Anna probably began life under every pleasing prospect, but her hopes were soon torn up by the roots: yet,
Thirdly We observe that she did not alter her condition again, but lived the remainder of her days in the state the Providence of God had been pleased to place her in; and her very long widowhood is not mentioned to her disparagement. Unquestionably there is nothing sinful in a second marriage. The Apostle himself has determined this. “The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to v.diom she will; only in the Lord.”
Whatever differences there were among the first Christians, they all agreed equally to remember the poor; and, among these, widows were peculiarly regarded; and their condition required it. But as every institution must have some laws and limits, hear the apostolical admonition and decision — “Honor widows that are widows indeed. Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and jarayers night and day. Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man; well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.”
No one spoke more in praise of marriage than Paul. He pronounced it “honorable in all;” and branded, as among the “doctrines of devils,” the “forbidding to marry;” yet he remained single himself; and there were seasons and circumstances which led him to say, “I would that all men were even as I myself.” “I say, therefore, to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I.”
But we must learn from the Scripture to distinguish things that differ; and the Apostle reminds us that what is lawful may not be expedient, and that what is justifiable may not be praiseworthy Upon what principle, or for what reason, does he speak upon the subject before us? “I would have you without carefulness.” “The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit; but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.” Well, then, says Anna, let me continue as I am.
III. Her Devoutness. — “She departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.”
This may be viewed two ways, in addition to her prerogative as a prophetess. First, You will observe, that the gift of prophecy was always distinguishable from the spirit of holiness. It was sometimes possessed by those who, though God’s instruments, were not his subjects; witness Balaam, and Caiphas, and the declaration of the Judge of all, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” But Anna was sanctified as well as inspired.
Secondly, It may also be viewed in reference to her condition in life; for though real religion does not depend upon outward circumstances; a life of bereavement, privation, and trial, is much more friendly to its support and increase than a course of invariable prosperity. “Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.”
But, it may be asked, how are we to understand the representation of her piety? It cannot be supposed that her ‘’ not departing from the temple,” means her residence in it continually; or that her “serving God with fastings and prayers night and day,” is to be taken according to the letter; for then she could have had neither sleep nor food; but that her worship was regular and invariable, and that she took” every opportunity of attending the solemnities of devotion.
It may also include not only the frequency of her actual engagements, but the state and frame of her mind. Her sjDirit there found itself at home, according to the desire of David, “that I may dioell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.”
The circumstances of individuals are very various. Few persons, comparatively, have leisure for such devotions as this good woman. Many- females in common life have numerous cares, and often find it difficult to get to the house of God twice on the Lord’s day, or once in the week. They would always be gladly present when its open doors invite, but prudence forbids, even Christian duty forbids. Let such remember the Saviour’s commendation of Mary, “she hath done what she could.” Let them remember that “if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not;” and that they may serve him without wiping their hands out of the wordly business in which they are engaged; and that “whether they eat, or drink, or whatsoever they do,” they may “do all to the glory of God.”
But where leisure and means are aiforded, let them be valued and improved; and whatever our engagements may be, let the care of the soul be our chief concern, and let the whole of life be a scene of dedication to God. If we do not literally fast, let us exercise temperance, and “take heed, lest at any time our hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life; and so that day come upon us unawares.” If we are not always upon our knees, let us live in the spirit of devotion; and “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let our requests be made known unto God; and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
lY. Her Peivilege. — It was the sight of the Messiah. It was the same with good Simeon’s, and was enjoyed cotemporaneously, “She came in at the same instant.” What an assemblage was she now intermingled with. How pleasing must it have been to see Simeon, and Joseph, and Mary his mother, “blessed above women.” But here was one far above all these; it was “the consolation of Israel,” it was “the desire of all nations,” it was “the holy child Jesus.”
“Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; but when the desire cometh it is a tree of life.” And how richly is Anna gratified and recompensed for her long waiting and expectation. But “to him that hath, shall be given; and he shall have more abundanth”” Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the former and latter rain unto the earth.
But where did she find him? When she” came into the Teni’pler Ah! had she not been there at this season, what a loss would she have sustained! From whence, let us learn that if we would see Jesus, we should repair to his house, and obey like Anna the call of the Spirit. Thomas, being absent from the assembly at Jerusalem, when Jesus appeared and showed them his hands and his feet, missed the sight of the
Saviour, and remained a whole week in the anxieties of doubts and fears.
V. Her Gratitude. — “She likewise gave thanks unto the Lord.” And surely there was enough to call forth her praise, not so much as to the external and even miraculous part of the scene, as to the magnitude and importance of the event. “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?”’ — For now “the counsel of peace” is laid open; now the prophecies are verified; now the promises are fulfilled; and the hopes of believers from the beginning of time are realized. — And she knew that the blessing did not respect herself and her connections only, but the whole human race; that “in him all the families of the earth would be blessed;” that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
And should not we feel equal reasons and excitements to gratitude and praise? Though we have not seen him with our bodily eyes, “we know that the Son of God is come;” we know that he “is come to seek and to save that which was lost;” we know that he is come not only that we “might have life” but “have it more abundantly;” we know that “in him all fulness dwells:” — and shall we not exclaim, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift” and “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ”? Shall we bless him “for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life;” and not much more for his “inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace and for the hope of glory”? And shall we not “show forth his praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to his service, and by walking before him in holiness and righteousness all our days”? “Though,” says Henry, “thanksgiving is good, thanks-living is better.” Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me; and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.”
VI. Her Zeal. — “She spake of him to all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” And who were these? They consisted of two classes, (for all were expectants.) But, 1st, some were carnal expectants; they looked for a temporal and worldly deliverer, who should save them from the Romans, and set them in the high places of the earth. In speaking of him to these, she would endeavor to rectify their mistake, and proclaim him the King of glory, owning a kingdom not of this world.
2dlt/, Others, though few, were spiritual expectants, who longed to be saved from their sins, being “delivered from the bondage of corruption,” and brought “intp the glorious liberty of the children of God.” These she would congratulate and encourage; “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him; we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
To all these she spake of him at present, and also, doubtless, whenever she had an opportunity, afterwards, and by all the means of communication in her power. In this her character gains, rather than loses, by a comparison with her illustrious fellowwitness. Simeon seems, by his vision, to have had his fill of life, and only longs for his departure; but Anna thinks nothing of dying, but is only concerned to improve her few remaining days, making known that which she had seen and heard, that others might have fellowship with her.
And herein she becomes your example. You who have found a Redeemer yourselves, should make him known, and recommend him to others. You should not only seize, but seek after opportunities; and surely you can easily find them; for where are your children, your relations, your friends, and your neighbors?
Thon I will tell to sinners round,
What a clear Saviour I have found;
I’ll point to his atoning blood,
And say, behold the way to God.
And if this be your determination, remember three things. 1st. That a certain consistency of character and conduct will be expected from you. If you neglect this, it will be better for you to hold your peace; for inconsistency ip worse than omission. Though the jDCople of the world are strangers to your experience, they are, commonly, tolerable judges of your deportment. They know what kind of conduct becomes the profession you make, and will not fail to ask, “What do ye more than others?” Many things which they tolerate in others, they will be sure to censure and condemn in you. The whole complexion of a negro is less noticed than a single stain in the features of a white countenance.
But if while you speak of the things of the Saviour, you hold forth the word of life by your temper and behavior, and exemplify what you recommend; remember, 2dly, The Lord may bless your simple testimony and make you the means of bringing some soul to the Lord Jesus; as Andrew did Peter; and Philip, Nathanael; and the woman of Samaria, her neighbors. And,
Zdly, Remember that “he who winneth souls is wise;” that “verily there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth;” and that no benefactor will bear a moment’s comparison with him who is the blessed instrument to actiieve it. The success is infinite, and ought to be its own reward. “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him, let him know that he who converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”
The subject appeals to all, but especially to those who are advanced in years. Simeon is commonly supposed to be aged, but we know that Anna was, and her head was not only hoary, but “found in the way of righteousness.” “Days’ should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.” Surely you, whose hps are soon to be silent in the grave, ought to be thankful, and to speak well of his name, who has redeemed your lives from all adversity, and is so soon to “receive you to himself, that where he is, there you shall be also.” “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”