Ladies Bible Class: A Glimpse of Anna ... Lesson 4

A Glimpse of Anna ... (Lesson 4)

By Patsy Norwood © 2026.  All rights reserved.  Any and all commercial use of this study is prohibited.  Permission is given for use in ladies Bible classes as long as there are no changes made in the study and no monetary gain involved.  This Bible study is written for women.

This week's lesson is short and sweet but packed with impact ... if we dare to 'take in' it's message and implications for our lives.

Luke 2: 36-38  (NASB)

And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.  She was advanced in years and lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four.  She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.  At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

This week we're looking at the phrase … 'she was advanced in years.'

We touched on the message behind this lesson earlier, but we're going to revisit it here and delve a little deeper ...

Anna was advanced in years or in other words, she was a senior citizen.  We know from reading Luke 2:36-38 that Anna was at least 84 and possibly as old as 104 years old (Scripture is unclear on her exact age.). 

We also know from reading this passage that in spite of her age, in spite of her being a senior citizen and in spite of enduring the ailments that aging brings, she continued to serve God. 

At a time in life when a lot of ‘senior citizens’ feel like they’ve done their part and that it’s somebody else’s turn to fill their spiritual shoes, Anna gives us a different example.

Draw a box around the phrase ‘she was advanced in years’ in your Bible (Luke 2:36) and draw an arrow to the closest margin.  Write ‘senior citizen.’  Anna, at the age of at least 84 and quite possibly 104 was still actively serving the Lord.

What an example!

Questions:

What are some ways ‘senior citizens’ can serve God?    (I hope you will really think about this and comment.  I'll compile the list with some I've come up with and post it in a separate post.)

If you are a younger woman, what kind of example would you like to see in an older woman serving the Lord?  (Here again, I hope you will really think about this and comment.  I'll compile the list with some I've come up with and post it in a separate post.)

For further study … Another aged woman of the Bible

Lois … a grandmother … II Timothy 1:1-5

Neither Anna nor Lois let their age stop them from serving God ... and neither should we!

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I love reading your comments, so don't be shy!

I'll meet you back here next Thursday for the next lesson.  

May you be blessed by this study!

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~ 

Ladies Bible Study: A Glimpse of Anna ... Lesson 3

 

A Glimpse of Anna

Heritage  (Lesson 3)

By Patsy Norwood © 2026.  All rights reserved.  Any and all commercial use of this study is prohibited.  Permission is given for use in ladies Bible classes as long as there are no changes made in the study and no monetary gain involved.  This Bible study is written for women.

Luke 2: 36-38  (NASB)

And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.  She was advanced in years and lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four.  She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.  At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

The next phrase in these verses we're going to look at is … daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher

In this lesson we’re going to look at Anna’s heritage.  Our heritage is simply what we pass down to the next generation, our family background if you will.

Scripture tells us that Anna'a father’s name was Phanuel and that they were descendants of the tribe of Asher. 

The name Phanuel means ‘face of God.’ We would like to think with a name with that meaning that Phanuel’s  (Anna’s) family had been among the few who had stayed true to God.

We see that Anna was connected to her father instead of her husband as most biblical women are.  Was that because Anna was widowed at a young age or was it maybe because of Anna’s roots in the tribe of Asher or was it for a completely different reason.  God’s Word does not tell us.

God wanted us to know that Anna was from the tribe of Asher so we’re going to take a closer look at it.   The tribe of Asher descended from the eighth son of Jacob.  His mother was Leah and Asher was her second son.  In Genesis 49:20 we find Jacob, on his deathbed, giving Asher the following blessing:  “As for Asher, his food shall be rich, and he will yield royal dainties.”  The blessing of “his food shall be rich and he will yield royal dainties” manifested itself in the form of a fruitful and fertile region where the tribe settled.  Asher’s tribe was located in the lowlands along the Mediterranean between Carmel and Tyre (Joshua 19:24-31) in modern day Palestine.  In I Kings 5:11 and II Chronicles 2:10 we see that Solomon supplied the household of King Hiram from the wheat and oil products that history tells us came from this area.

According to Deuteronomy 33, Moses, before his death, blessed the sons of Israel each with a blessing and verses 24 – 25 gives us the blessing he gave to Asher. “Of Asher he said, ‘More blessed than sons is Asher’ may he be favored by his brothers, and may he dip his foot in oil.  Your locks will be iron and bronze, and according to your days, so will your leisurely walk be.”  It seems that Moses was impressed with Asher as well.

Asher is not a tribe that we hear a lot about, in fact it is considered to be one of the ‘lost tribes’  meaning that most of the people had dispersed and assimilated into other tribes or cultures. 

We know by reading I Kings 12:1-20 that the twelve tribes of Israel split and that 10 of the tribes became known as the Northern Kingdom and that the remaining two tribes became known as the Southern Kingdom.  Asher was in the Northern Kingdom.

Before the split though, in Judges 1:31-32 we find that when the people of Asher were given their portion in the land of Canaan they did not drive out the enemy as God had told them to do, but instead  ‘dwelt among the Canaanites.”

In II Chronicles 30: 10-11 we read that when King Hezekiah restored the temple service and sent couriers to call the people to worship that those of Asher did not laugh, mock or scorn them as some did, but humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

Anna’s descendants were among the remnant of those who humbled themselves and obeyed.

Circle the phrase ‘Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher” in your Bible and put an asterisk at the end of the phrase.  Then go to the margin of your Bible, put another asterisk and write ‘biblical heritage.’

Anna’s heritage gives us insight into how she came to be the person she was.  

As parents and grandparents, we need to search deep in our hearts and ask ourselves ‘what kind of heritage are we building for our children and future generations of our families?’  

Are we building a biblical heritage or one that will show otherwise?  

Building a biblical heritage starts with the choices we make each and every day, day in and day out.  Building an ‘otherwise’ heritage requires no effort at all.

What kind of heritage am I building?

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I love reading your comments, so don't be shy!

I'll meet you back here next Thursday for the next lesson.  

May you be blessed by this study!

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~ 

Ladies Bible Study: A Glimpse of Anna ... Lesson 2

A Glimpse of Anna ... (Lesson 2)

By Patsy Norwood © 2026.  All rights reserved.  Any and all commercial use of this study is prohibited.  Permission is given for use in ladies Bible classes as long as there are no changes made in the study and no monetary gain involved.  This Bible study is written for women.

Last week we looked at the background in this study and this week we're going to begin the task of taking the two verses we have about Anna apart.  When we slow down and really look at what Scripture says, we get a better idea of the meaning ... and that always helps in our understanding, doesn't it?

Luke 2: 36-38  (NASB)

And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.  She was advanced in years and lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four.  She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.  At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

The first 5 words in verse 36 say … and there was a prophetess

The first thing we learn about Anna from this passage of Scriptures is that she was a prophetess.

Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary says that a prophetess is a female prophet.  It also says that a prophet is a person who spoke for God and who communicated God’s message courageously to God’s Chosen People – the nation of Israel.

Let’s talk about Anna’s role as a prophetess.  When we apply the above definition of a prophet/ prophetess to Anna, we find that she would have been a female prophet who spoke for and about God.  But how did she do that?  Was her role like that of any of the male prophets?

Rarely did God speak to His people through women and nowhere in Scriptures do we find that a woman had any kind of ongoing public prophetic ministry.  With that being said let’s look at Luke 2:36 again. It clearly states that Anna was a prophetess.  What did her role as a prophetess look like?  Taking all of what Scripture tells us about women’s role into consideration, we can see that Anna’s prophesying was likely done on a personal level, day in and day out, reaching out and talking with those whom she came into contact with about the coming Messiah.  She was a gifted teacher to other women and a faithful encourager of her fellow worshipers in the temple. 

Do we make an effort to encourage others we come into contact with on a regular basis, like Anna did?

Do we make an effort to share what we know about Jesus with others, like Anna did?

Matthew Henry, in his commentary, says :   (Regarding Anna, A prophetess)  Perhaps no more is meant than that she was one who had understanding in the scriptures above other women, and made it her business to instruct the younger women in the things of God.

In your Bible, underline the word ‘prophetess’ and draw an arrow out to the margin and write ‘mouthpiece for God.’

Anna lived her life solely for the Lord.  One can safely assume that she spent quite a bit of time, maybe the most part of her widowhood, studying the Old Testament and looking for its fulfillment in the coming Messiah.  When one saturates themselves in God’s Word on a regular basis, it pours out in most of their conversations.  This was most likely the case with Anna.  God’s Word and the coming Messiah were clearly what occupied her mind and conversation and as we all know what occupies our mind and heart is usually what comes out of our mouths. 

Are we diligent students of God's Word, like Anna was?

Does sharing about Jesus come naturally to us, like it did to Anna?

Anna sharing what she learned from studying the Scriptures was a form of ‘speaking for God’ and ‘communicating God’s message to God’s chosen people.’ 

But was there more to Anna’s prophesizing? Did God speak directly to Anna or did He only speak to her through His Word which at the time was the Old Testament? 

We'll talk more about that in a future lesson.

In closing, I want to give you a list of other female prophetess to consider.  Each one of these would make an interesting study in and of itself, wouldn't it?

 Miriam, the sister of Moses  (Exodus 15:20)

 Deborah (Judges 4:4)

 Philip’s Four Virgin Daughters (Acts 21:9) 

 Noadiah, it seems that this woman was trying to stand in Nehemiah’s way (Nehemiah 6:14) 

 Huldah (2 Kings 22:14) 

 Jezebel, a false prophetess (Rev. 2:20) 

 Isaiah's wife, it seems that Isaiah considered his wife a prophetess whether it was by association, wives of prophets were often referred to as prophetess, or if she too spoke of God to others, the Scriptures do not tell us. (Isa. 8:3).

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I love reading your comments, so don't be shy!

I'll meet you back here next Thursday for the next lesson.  

May you be blessed by this study!

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

~ a place for women to gather and study God's Word ~