2006-12-08
Good Morning Cherished of God,
As we continue our examination of occasions for fasting in the Scriptures, we come to a story which I love-that of the elderly lady, Anna, who spends her time in the Jerusalem temple of Christ's time worshipping and praising God. LK 2: 36-38, "There was a very old prophetess, a widow named Anna, daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She had been married for only seven years and was now eighty-four years old. She never left the temple; day and night she worshipped God, fasting and praying. That very same hour she arrived and gave thanks to God and spoke about the Child to all who were waiting for God to set Jerusalem free." This is all that is said about Anna, just this short paragraph. So you might wonder why I love this story so much. The answer is in Anna herself. The concept that a woman can be a prophetess is very appealing. You'll remember that we have seen a number of men-David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and John come to mind-who have been allowed to see into the future, because God esteemed them so much [PS 2: 1-9; IS 9: 6 and 11: 1-5; JER 25: 11 and 29: 11-13; DN 9: 24-27; the book of REV]. Anna joins a small number of women like Miriam [EX 2: 1-10 and 15: 20-21; NU 12: 1-15], Deborah [JG 4: 4-5 and 5:1-31], and Huldah [2 K 22: 14-20; 2 CH 34: 22-33] who were also given important roles and allowed to see into the future.
Because of my interest in women like Anna, I wanted to know as much as possible about her. Like Simeon, to whom Christ was presented in the temple, Anna was a member of the faithful remnant of Israel who were waiting for the advent of the Messiah. [You'll remember that traditional Jews haven't yet put together that Jesus Christ is the Messiah]. She was of the tribe of Asher (meaning "happy," "blessed"). Asher was one of the ten tribes carried into captivity by the Assyrians in 721 BC. As a prophetess, she surely received divine revelations and served as a mouthpiece for God. Her advanced age didn't deter her from serving God. Just as Christ was being presented to the Lord, and as Simeon was speaking to Mary, Anna came up to this littler cluster of people. She gave thanks to the Lord for the promised Redeemer, then spoke about the Lord Jesus to the faithful ones in Jerusalem who were expecting redemption. With this revelation can we call Anna a Messianic Jew [using modern terminology]? I think so. She was able to see Who the Messiah actually is, something I wish her traditionally Jewish brothers and sisters could do.
Most people would agree that many people who are advanced in years have more wisdom than young people, if one thinks about it. That wisdom comes from their many more years of life's experience. The same can be said of faith. That doesn't mean that there aren't young people with wisdom and faith that are mature for their chronological years. It just means that living longer changes and matures one's perspective. Anna is a woman I would like to emulate. Her worship, prayer, and fasting is rewarded by a grateful God with a more accurate vision of Who the Lord Jesus is and of the future. Because of her widowhood, she has had many years to spend more time in these pursuits in the temple than most. I don't know if there is any significance to the fact that Anna was married for seven years [God's perfect number], but I do believe that God allows the circumstances of our lives to lay out as they do to maximize lessons on what He wants us to learn. As for Anna's fasting, I see it as her God-given way to allow the activity around her to temporarily fade out and to concentrate her attention on God. In view of her advanced age, it is clear that she fasted in a healthy way for genuine reasons. We must remember that most people didn't live to such an advanced age in Christ's time on earth. Physical death normally came in one's forties or fifties, with some very notable exceptions. In 1 JN 5: 14-15, we are given some information that I feel Anna understood. "We have confidence before Him, that if we are in line with His will, He hears us and will answer our requests." Nothing is said in the Bible about Anna asking God for certain information, but remember that God knows the contents of all our hearts, including Anna's. It isn't out of line to assume that when she first saw the baby Joseph and Mary were bringing to Simeon to dedicate to God, that she might have asked in prayer and fasting Who He is and for God to have revealed His redemptive nature to her. Anna was willing to pray, allowing God to speak to her and listening for Him intently. Her fasting may very well have helped her do this. The kind of faithfulness that Anna showed is something I hope I can demonstrate in my earthly life. We can all take a lesson from the example of Anna in this tiny vignette in the book of Luke.
PRAYER: O Lord, the example of faithfulness to You that Anna set for us is something worth our time and emulation. It appears that Anna didn't allow her lack of a husband to interfere with her obediently faithful attitude and actions. Only You now have more to say about Anna's example to our hearts. You lead me to think You are appealing to us to be more like her in many ways. We are reminded of this in PS 100: 4, "Enter the temple gates with thanksgiving, go into its courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise Him." David's words in PS 17: 5-7 come to mind. "My steps have held to Your paths; my feet have not slipped. I call on You, O God, for You will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer. Show the wonder of Your great love, You Who save by Your right hand those who take refuge in You from their foes." Our enemies today are things that interrupt and/or interfere with our ability to listen for Your commands and wise advice, things that keep us from Your encouragement. They might be people working for the adversary or they might be material things, like electronic devices and efforts to acquire material wealth. Our relationship with You and the others around us should be first and foremost, but often isn't. 1 JN 4: 12, "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us." When we pray and fast, it should be with hearts open to Your responses, even if they are corrective in nature. You must love the Psalmist's words in PS 119: 10, words which reflect the right attitude we should take in approaching You. "With my whole heart have I sought Thee: O let me not wander from Thy commandments." There is real value in the discipline of daily prayer, sometimes accompanied by fasting. When he was suffering, Paul uttered, in EPH 3: 14, "For this cause I bend my knees [in an attitude of humble prayer] unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." David wrote, in PS 5: 3, "Each morning I will look to You in heaven and lay my requests before You, praying earnestly." The last word of that sentence is revealing, "earnestly." These are real prayers said for genuinely godly reasons, not ones said with a human-crafted agenda. If we were to pray and sometimes fast only for godly reasons, ones in line with His will, prayer would surely take up a portion of every day of our lives. Dearest Abba, we open our hearts before You ready to hear what You have to say and to obey Your commands. We do so without forgetting to adore, worship, thanks, and praise You every day, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Next week, we will begin a new segment of these True Faith messages on materialism. Tough subject; you bet! But it's a necessary one for people with the kind of wealth that we have here in North America. It seems that having such material wealth makes us more vulnerable to the dirty work of the adversary. Is there hope? I believe so, but it doesn't come easily. Spiritually, many of us have to do a complete about-face in what really matters to us. But remember RO 5 :3-4, "We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance brings God's approval, and His approval creates hope." We are not alone in our efforts to correct either our approach to God's throne or our efforts to redirect our priorities to align with God's. When we go to Him with our hearts open to His advice and leadership in our lives, God is pleased and will help us [JER 29: 12-13]. Remember His will is to convert the deceitful human heart to a heart of faith-one that is on a one-way trip to returning to His side in heaven [EZK 36: 26-27; JN 3: 16]. No other human being loves us with the completeness and profundity that God has for us. He brings us together with people who He can work through to teach us to be more sanctified and holy when we are active in Christ-led congregations. He is surely doing this for me! His and Christ's own mission statements are clearly with our redemption as first in importance [EPH 1: 4-5; JN 6: 39-40]. God loves each of us with His whole heart and deserves to have us love Him that way with ours.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn