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The New Testament had many praying women who found their strength from the Almighty God. They understood the strength of a praying woman does not come to an end, because whenever she feels weak, she knows where to lean. Our first example of a woman who committed her life unto the Lord was Anna. Not long after the birth of Jesus, after the time for purification was completed as laid out in the twelfth chapter of Leviticus, Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem. The Scriptures where she is mentioned are brief, however, Anna, the first New Testament Prophetess was present when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple at 40 days old and watched as Simeon blessed Him. She lived a life of eager anticipation for Christ’s coming and testified to those in the temple about Him. Though the Bible doesn’t tell us much about her, it does reveal how her joyful witness was an enduring example of faithfulness. Anna after seven years of marriage became a widow. Anna is one of only a handful of women designated as prophetesses in the Bible. She was constant in her prayer and fasting, reminding others of the redemption that God had promised for Israel. “Therefore My people shall know My name; Therefore they shall know in that day That I am He who speaks: ‘Behold, it is I.’” How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 8 Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, With their voices they shall sing together; For they shall see eye to eye When the Lord brings back Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, You waste places of Jerusalem! For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem” Isaiah 52:6-9 (NKJV).
Anna the Prophetess: Anna or Anna the Prophetess is a woman mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. She was a daughter of Phanuel. According to that Gospel, she was an elderly woman of the Tribe of Asher who prophesied about Jesus at the Temple of Jerusalem. Although, Anna is mentioned in the Bible as a prophetess and one of the people connected to Jesus’ childhood. She was the daughter of Penuel from the tribe of Asher. Her name, which she shares with Hannah in the Old Testament, means “favor” or “grace.” All we know of her is found in three verses in the New Testament book of Luke. When Anna encounters the infant Jesus in the temple, we see that her life is indeed overflowing with favor and grace. At first, the couple met Holy Simeon, who quickly felt intense amazement over the Christ Child, strongly sensing that the baby was the promised Messiah. After Simeon’s blessing, the Holy Family encountered Anna.
She never left the Temple but rather focused her whole life there praying. She was a holy woman concentrating all her remaining energy on communion with God. Anna gave great thanks to God. She then shared with many others, who also hoped for redemption, and knowledge of the baby Jesus, her words and actions giving remembrance to the message of the prophet Isaiah: Break out together in song, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the LORD has comforted his people, has redeemed Jerusalem. Anna was patient and persistent in her faith. Luke tells us that she was “advanced in age,” but she had not grown resentful or discouraged in her worship of God. Depending on the interpretation of the text, she was either 84 years old or had been a widow for 84 years, she was elderly and had a difficult life. Yet, she was a devout Asherite Hebrew who was always or regularly at the temple, worshipping day and night, fasting, and praying. As a prophetess, Anna receives insight into things that normally remain hidden from ordinary people; she recognizes who this child is and tells of his significance to selected people in Jerusalem. Her actions affirm in writing in Amos 3, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets” Amos 3:7 (NKJV).
Anna the prophetess is among the first few to bring honor to the kingly babe born in a stable. Good news is meant to be shared, and Anna shares it with everyone who is anticipating the Messiah. The Redeemer had come, the prophecies were being fulfilled, and Anna was blessed to see it happen. Anna had spent the vast majority of her life without a husband and was ministering before the Lord in the temple. She appears in Luke 2 during the presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Anna had hope in what was to come, and God rewarded her steadfast faith by allowing her to see the Christ Child. She responded in joy and thanksgiving, telling everyone who was awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem, as Luke informs us. At the moment described in Luke’s gospel, Anna steps forward into center stage. Overcome with sublime joy, she begins praising God for what she knows has happened. The Greek word used by Luke suggests recognition and intuition. She ‘sees’ what others cannot. Her reaction is immediate and dramatic: she speaks in as loud a voice as she can muster, telling anyone near her about this extraordinary child. Anna, a holy and wise woman, saw things that were not yet apparent to others: she ‘saw’ the destiny of the small child Jesus when she held him in her arms. She recognized what many of the prominent Jewish leaders of the time could not see: that this little child, though He came as a humble servant, not as the conquering king that many looked for, was the promised Messiah who would save His people from their sins. “Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem” Luke 2:36–38 (NKJV).
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