Simeon’s Prophesy

You know you are getting older when your dreams are reruns; the stewardess offers coffee, tea, or milk of Magnesia; you sit in a rocking chair and can’t get it started; everything hurts, and what doesn’t hurt doesn’t work; a pretty girl prompts your pacemaker to open the garage … More

Elderly

In this passage we are introduced to Simeon, who is a man that is something like the Old Testament character, Melchizedek, in that he suddenly appears out of nowhere (vv. 25-35). We are told very little about this man Simeon. We do not know from what tribe he is a descendent, although it would appear that he was an Israelite. We know nothing about his family, whether he was married or had any children. We are told nothing about his occupation, but it does not appear that he was a priest, for he was directed of the Holy Spirit to go to the temple. The only things we are told about Simeon are those things which pertain to his faith and his character, things which tell about his relationship with God. We are told that Simeon was righteous and devout (v. 25), which speaks of his personal walk with God and his integrity among men. Finally, he was a man who was filled by the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit who had revealed to Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Lord, God’s Anointed One, Israel’s Messiah (v. 26).

We are also introduced to Anna who is a truly remarkable woman (vv. 36-38). While we are told less about what she actually said, we are given more information about her background than Simeon’s. Anna was an Israelite, of the tribe of Asher, one of the ten “lost tribes” of Israel, which were all but lost after 500 years of captivity in Babylon. It seems she was 84 years old, depending on how we understand Luke’s words. She was married for 7 years before her husband died, and had lived the rest of her life as a widow. Day and night she was in the temple, praying and fasting. She lived in absolute devotion to God, and the Lord blessed her with a sight of the infant Messiah, Jesus. I believe that Anna understood from the Old Testament that the “day of the Lord” was a day of divine judgment, and that Messiah would come to deal with Israel’s sin. It says “She talked about Jesus to everyone” (v. 38).

Application

Here we see older people setting an example of being at the right place at the right time. I want to be at the right place at the right time passing my values on to the next generation.

Luke 2:25-38 (English Standard Version)


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