The Christ Centred Cosmic Civilisation
Rod Dreher wrote “to order the world rightly as Christians requires regarding all things as pointing to Christ”
Christ is the One in Whom in all things consist and humanity is not the measure of all things. If a defining characteristic of the modern world is disorder then the most fundamental act of resistance is to discover and life according to the deep, divine order of the heavens and the earth.
In this series we want to look at the big model of the universe that the Bible and Christian history provides.
It is a mind and heart expanding vision of reality.
It is not confined to the limits of our bodily senses - but tries to embrace levels fo reality that are not normally accessible or tangible to our exiled life on earth.
We live on this side of the cosmic curtain - and therefore the highest and greatest dimensions of reality are hidden to us… yet these dimensions exist and are the most fundamental framework for the whole of the heavens and the earth.
Throughout this series we want to pick away at all the threads of reality to see how they all join together - how they all find common meaning and reason in the great divine logic - the One who is the Logos, the LORD Jesus Christ - the greatest that both heaven and earth has to offer.
Colossians 1:15-23
The Christ Centred Cosmic Civilisation
Episode 84 - Simeon and Anna: 600 years old Simeon ben Joshua from Sirach 48
Unlock the profound mysteries of the early days of Jesus, as we promise an enlightening exploration into the pivotal events that shaped his childhood. We feature PJ from the Global Church History Project, who brings his expertise to our discussion on the fascinating contrasts between the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, specifically regarding the presentation of Jesus at the temple. Through PJ's insights, we uncover the customs and historical context of the time, drawing connections to the Exodus story and the unique role of Jesus as the ultimate high priest.
Candlemas Book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Candlemas-Through-Church-History-Project/dp/B0DQDPX2T9/
Discover the captivating stories of Simeon and Anna, two figures whose encounters with the infant Jesus are rich with prophetic significance. We journey through their connections to the tribe of Asher and the Dead Sea Scrolls, revealing how these ancient texts foretell the coming of the Messiah. Simeon's divine promise of seeing Christ before his death and Anna's ties to her tribe's prophecies highlight the enduring faith and anticipation that permeated the era. Our episode weaves together these narratives, offering a tapestry of biblical and historical insights that enhance our understanding of their theological relevance.
Finally, we delve into the intriguing persona of Simeon ben Joshua, exploring his potential role in the creation of the Septuagint and his influence on interpreting key biblical prophecies. As we recount his legendary mentorship of Balthazar and Matthias, we celebrate Simeon's life and his long-awaited fulfillment upon meeting Jesus. Join us on this remarkable journey through history, prophecy, and faith, as we celebrate the legacy of these extraordinary biblical characters and their lasting impact on Christian theology.
The theme music is "Wager with Angels" by Nathan Moore
Well, welcome to the next episode of the Christ-centered cosmic civilization. And we are still enjoying Candlemas I'm assuming everyone's ordered the Candlemas book by now, if surely you've wanted to with all this church history background, and in the book there's recipes and liturgy and prayers and all sorts of stuff. But we're still in that because I've wanted to look at Simeon and Anna. That's part of this period of looking at the childhood of Jesus, the events that happen after, say the Magi kind of, and what comes next. And there's this presentation of Jesus at the temple and there Matthew doesn't focus on this side of things. Matthew focuses on the birth of Jesus from the perspective of Joseph. And of course, because Matthew does it all from the perspective of Joseph, the big thing is going to Egypt, miraculously going to Egypt, and then miracles in Egypt and then returning all that. So that's Matthew's take on it. And then, because he's coming at it from that angle, Matthew doesn't have loads of the things that focus down to Mary's experience of being a mother and all the other events that happen is Jesus as a baby, and the pregnancy doesn't have any of that because Joseph didn't get pregnant. So Matthew's like not interested in that and just wanting to focus on it all through the perspective of Joseph and this story, connecting it, showing it connects back to the book of Genesis and Joseph in Genesis and the Egypt and the Exodus from Egypt and all of that. That's Matthew's agenda. But Luke comes at the whole thing from the perspective of Mary and he, luke, doesn't even mention the trip to Egypt because that's again he's like, well, that's a Joseph thing and Matthew's already covered that or whatever. So I'm gonna, luke goes, I'm gonna cover these things from the perspective of Mary and the pregnancy, and he does that. But he also focuses in where Joseph and Mary take Jesus to present him in the temple. This is the purification rite and, as we thought, the purification rite is about the mother, the churching ceremony for the mother, so it's a Mary-centred incident. But they do that and the offering they make is a poor one. They make a poor offering of a pair of doves and two young pigeons and that in itself PJ may help us with why that is significant, that it's the poor person's offering, and we'll ask PJ as well in a moment what is going on in this business about the child being kind of redeemed and why Jesus has a different experience of it to all the other babies why he is. He does well. I don't want to say too much because PJ's got a great way of explaining this, the meaning of the ritual. But while he's there, it says this in Luke, chapter 2,.
Speaker 1:Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon. Now that name Simeon we're going to see who that is in a moment. He was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he'd seen the Lord's Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the law required, simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people, israel. The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother this child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed and a sword will pierce your own soul too. And then it just goes on to say there was also Luke also adds this about Anna there was also a prophetess, anna, a preacher.
Speaker 1:Anna, the daughter of Penuel of the tribe of Asher. She was very old. She'd lived with her husband seven years after her marriage and then was a widow for 84 years, and then she never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child, or preached to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. So that's what we're going to be focusing on, but let's right away begin by asking PJ from the Global Church History Project, the author of the Candlemas book, and there's a lot of details about Anna and Simeon and all that's going on here in the book. But what is the significance of the actual? What is the custom of the law requiring, and why is it significant the way they do it, and what has that got to do with Levites, for example?
Speaker 2:Right. So in the Exodus story, one of the key things that happens is this final plague on egypt, where the firstborn all have to die, but then the lord spares the firstborn of anyone that will believe in him, basically, and they will uh put blood on their door to show that they believe in jesus. And so that includes quite a lot of Egyptians and other strangers and things that gets mentioned as well. Anyone who believes in Jesus, they do the sign, they'll be saved, and then they get to be a part of this exodus. So then, when the exodus happens the way out of Egypt, jesus then says well, I've bought then all your firstborn children. They all belong to me. But what you can do instead is there's this one tribe, levi, because there was a curse in Genesis because Levi killed everyone in a city at one point. So there's a curse that he wouldn't be able to inherit any land. But then the Lord turns this into a blessing, where it's like their inheritance will be me. So one of these levites then can stand in your place, and then what you do is you pay this ransom as well. So there's a levite who takes the place, and then you have to purchase the child back from god, uh, so that someone else can stand in the place of your child. Um to that, yeah, that's the kind of idea.
Speaker 2:So originally the idea is every firstborn belongs to the Lord. Then he's like I know that will be loads of people find this like hard to put up with so you can have your child redeemed instead. And of course that's more than just like saying you can't put up with the real deal's, like that's a crucial thing that the someone stands in your place, and that is jesus, obviously. So when luke mentions the presentation that jesus goes through, because you present the child to god, so because the firstborn child initially belongs to god, first you have to show the child to god and say, look, this is yours. And then you say, actually I want him back, and then you purchase him back. So Jesus goes up for this presentation.
Speaker 2:But Luke mentions no ransom. There's the sin offering, the purification offering, rather for Mary, but not the ransom. So of course Jesus is the priest that stands in place for all of us, not just firstborns. So he it would be totally wrong for a Levite to take Jesus place in this and for Jesus to belong to Mary and not the father. And so he yeah, so that's basically what he does.
Speaker 1:That's an incredible thought then, isn't it? Yeah, so that's basically what he does. That's an incredible thought then, isn't it that, in a way, the Lord's saying you must all be like a, you must be redeemed, so that a Levite will serve instead of you, and you think, well, this is the great high priest of all creation. There cannot be a Levite standing in to serve him. So it kind of has to be done in such a way that, yes, mary is purified and comes to the end of that time, but Jesus is presented like a wave offering and held up, and Simeon gets hold of him and offers him up too. But no one can do priestly work for the great high priest of all creation. That would be laughable, and it's, you know.
Speaker 1:On that note, it's why we so strongly believe that Jesus is Melchizedek, for example, because Melchizedek, the king of righteousness, prince of peace, the priest of God most high, we'll say that's got to be jesus. Because if people say, well, there is this other eternal priest who is immortal and is ministering, kind, and jesus is in the order, in his order and it. So if you have melchizedek as not jesus, you've kind of got jesus serving in a priestly order that he isn't even the head of Some other priest is. And you get into that same problem where you're like well, you've got then the great high priest of all creation, the divine high priest, who is under the authority of some other priest and it's laughable or, in this case, some other priest doing his priestly duties for him. So it's a wonderful insight to notice that luke says now we see, jesus doesn't get uh ransomed out of priestly service. Uh, he, because he can't be ransomed out of priestly service because he is the priest from which all other priesthoods are derived and depend upon. So so that's a wonderful insight.
Speaker 2:But there's another really strange thing, which seems to be the opposite of what you'd expect, because Moses writes that any child conceived with seed makes the mother impure. So there is a bit of a question why does Mary need to be purified? Then there's a clause, basically written by Moses, specifically excluding her and only her, the only uh child to have, any human child to have ever been born this way.
Speaker 1:we thought bees were born this way, but the only human child born that way, and so yeah, moses specifically says a mother has to be cleansed if the child is born of a male seed. So it's as if Moses is saying so Mary obviously won't need to be purified.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but then she does.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, so why is she then? She's got a loophole.
Speaker 2:I think it's the same reason that Jesus is circumcised and that he's baptised. Same reason that, uh, jesus is circumcised and that he's baptized, that he the the parts of taking on sin and shame and owning that for himself and then undergoing purification. That's the most important thing for him to do, that's his role.
Speaker 1:So it's. It's showing that he hasn't been ransomed out of priestly service. But the very fact that they go through a purification and circumcision and then purification is showing that he is already doing priestly work. Is that right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and of course he could have been exempted from all of that. He could have been exempted from any shame of sin, any punishment, any cleansing the baptism, all of that.
Speaker 1:And circumcision. He doesn't need to cut off his old flesh and cast it away to get a new one, because it's like, well, he is the new human. But he does get circumcised and then he does it for us.
Speaker 2:So Mary shows us incredible wisdom in that she makes this choice, apparently, and we don't see an angel instructed to do it and we don't but she seems to know that she should do it yeah yeah, that she's like I've got to be purified, even though moses says I shouldn't be, and I'm the only person I don't need to be yeah, moses says she doesn't need to be.
Speaker 2:That is true. Uh, so she? She says that, yeah, it's like I'm exempt, but I'm not gonna go through this exemption in that case. But then also the one where it's like, um, are you gonna purchase jesus back and keep him all for yourself? And she's like, no, I can't do that. Okay, you know, he, jesus, has to belong to the father. And then it's that prophecy that comes true, that it's like sacrifices and offerings thou does not desire, but a body thou hast prepared for me. So when jesus is presented to the father in the temple, that's, that's what's going on there, the sacrifice that the father wants, and is jesus being incarnated, it's that body. And so she understands all this and does exactly what she needs to do to make sense of all of this, without it being spelt out in the law of moses. She like kind of contradicts it, almost not exactly because, but you know, seems to go against what it's suggesting.
Speaker 1:So she clearly has this incredible wisdom to know exactly how to ritually carry out the law and isn't there that way in which, when she is acknowledging that Jesus isn't exclusively mine, he is for everybody else, and so when Simeon takes Jesus out of her arms, away from?
Speaker 2:her go on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was often seen as one of her sorrows, like perhaps before Simeon even says that she's going to be having sorrows, there's this one where it is just suddenly this realization that, oh, he's got this other work, and we can see all these times she has to be reminded of it.
Speaker 2:And so, because Mary just freely gave Jesus to the Father, but then also all humanity, at this point we can see why Jesus is so confused, that later, when Jesus is like I've got to stay in Jerusalem for the sake of the Father and all humanity, she doesn't seem to have expected that, although, you know, she accepts it late and she ponds it in her heart. And then, similarly, when Jesus is like, look, my mother's got to be anyone who does my will, and then she has to accept that at that time. So she has this very tough thing where she had this time in the childhood they could totally give themselves to each other. And then, increasingly, as time goes on, it's like jesus going further and further away, more to everyone and then less to her, and that's this incredibly difficult thing so, um, we'll begin with think thinking about anna, and then we'll go to Simeon.
Speaker 1:Anna is this preacher there, and her age is important because she was married and then she was married for seven years. So maybe let's say she gets married when she's like 20 and then she's married for seven years 27, and then her husband dies and then she's a widow Some translations have it until she was 84, but it doesn't say that it's a widow of 84. So she's 84 years as a widow. So that puts her age in total now at like 111. So let's say she's like 110 years old, something like that. And Luke acknowledges she was very old. So he's saying she's very old. We'll get to Simeon in a minute, because if she's very old, simeon's on another scale entirely. So let's say 111.
Speaker 1:She kind of lives in the temple, but she's from the tribe of Asher, which is the tribe that's furthest away from Jerusalem of all the tribes. It's way up in the northwest and it was supposed to include Tyre and Sidon, but Tyre and Sidon remain as pagan places of Baal worship. I mean, there are times like Solomon time, david. He has better relations and they become more godly, but they all they generally throughout the old testament are centers of bale worship. And then jesus, when he goes up to that part of the tribe of asher uh, where there's that what we, who we call the syrophoenician woman, who's probably a bale, being involved in bale worship, and she has a demon, but her daughter and everything. And she's like, oh, isn't there some crumbs from under the table for me? And he's like, well, it's only for the lost tribe of lost children of Israel.
Speaker 1:And in a way it's like, well, she is within the tribe of Asher. Asher should have had Tyre and Sidon as utterly godly cities, but they did. But that's an interesting thing that she's from a tribe that is battled with Baalism all the way through for hundreds and hundreds of years and they haven't overcome Baalism. But it's almost as if, if you're from the tribe of Asher, you're either compromised because you failed to capture Tyre and Sidon for Christ, or you're presumably a fiery preacher who's combating it, but you probably don't have neutral ground. People from the tribe of Asher, you're either compromised or you're a zealous person like Anna, and her dad is named.
Speaker 2:One thing with Asher, before we forget. When there's tribes that humble themselves and come all the way from the north to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, that includes Asher. So that's at the end of the kingdom's period, after Israel's been defeated, I believe. And yeah so Asher has been one of those that's always had this like faithful remnant, which is always very interesting just to know who those tribes are, which ones.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's interesting that they do. Those tribes are, uh, which ones? Yeah, and that's interesting that they do. So there are zealous people that my daughter, anna, has taught me a lot about this prop, this preacher, anna, and she's done a lot of bible studies on it, and she was going on about how, if you were from the tribe of asha, surely that explains why she and as a preacher, because perhaps in her tradition and her family there's this idea of confronting bailism or something and there is.
Speaker 2:so we, we do discuss the dead sea scrolls quite a lot, um, and that well, they'll finish your point then, uh, but it's just, I know this, listen.
Speaker 2:Um, so in the dead sea scrolls it's got this one book called the testament of the patriarchs, which the armenian christians kept as a part of their Bible for ages. So obviously the Dead Sea Scrolls, people, that we think about a lot. They had it in and then the Armenians did, and when Asher is dying, he gives a warning to his children, but it's an absolutely incredible one in light of one of his descendants being there at this presentation. He says you, my children, shall be set at naught in the dispersion as useless water until the Most High shall visit the earth and he shall come as a man, eating and drinking with men and breaking the head of the dragon through water in peace. He shall save Israel and all the nations's, speaking in the person of a man. Therefore, tell these things to your children, that they disobey him not. The Lord will gather you together in faith, through the hope of his tender mercy, for the sake of Abraham Isaac and Jacob.
Speaker 1:Wow. So Asher, when he was dying, knew the incarnation's going to happen, and one of my distant descendants will be there to see that and it's Anna of the tribe of Asher. So that is a beautiful thing. That's from the Dead Sea Scrolls, which comes before the New Testament but after the Old Testament time. So there she is and her daughter of Penuel. Her dad's name is like it kind of means God's God turning towards, and then it's like muddled from when Jacob sees God face to face and my daughter, anna was very excited about this that Jacob sees God face to face Penuel I've seen God face to face. Then Anna's dad, like Penuel or Fanuel and it's a derivative thing God turning to face him. And there's this idea that Jacob says Peniel, I've seen God face to face. And then Anna, this preacher from so many, she also sees God face to face and her dad's name is kind of connecting those two events. So that's her. Um, there's lots more to say about her and, uh, what she does and how she gives thanks and so on. But and all of that's in the candle must book.
Speaker 1:But I in our remaining time we've got to talk about simeon. Now she anna's very old simeon has been. Now he's so old that there's a, there's a luke has to give an explanation for how someone can be this old. Because he's like saying, now he's so old it had been revealed to him by the holy spirit that he wouldn't die before he'd seen Christ. Now that's extraordinary because there has to be an explanation, because there's this dude who's been around for so long and he's so old that you need a miraculous explanation. How can a person have lived this long? And it's like, ah well, he has been insanely old. He's like really, really old. And the reason there's an explanation for that, it's by the power of the Spirit. The Spirit had promised that he was going to live and live and live and then he couldn't die until he'd seen the Christ. But how old was he?
Speaker 1:Now I sometimes see someone recently in a sermon said, oh, simeon, he was probably about 80. Well, you wouldn't need an explanation like, how could he have lived to be 80? Well, the Holy Spirit had promised. Like that's silly. Of course, that's just laughing, that's not being serious. Now, simeon, is there a Simeon in the Old Testament? And let's ask PJ who is this Simeon? And is there anything about him in the Old Testament? And let's ask PJ, who is this Simeon and is there anything about him in the Old Testament? And give us what you can about.
Speaker 2:Simeon, right. So again, a helpful starting point is the Dead Sea Scrolls, and this gets picked up by Bar Salobi. We've quoted him, I think, a few times. He's one of our favourite Oriental Orthodox theologians. He's classic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, in one of these books that's in the Dead Sea Scrolls, that's also in the Septuagint, is called the Wisdom of Ben Sirach or Ecclesiasticus. If you've got like an old Anglican Bible, it will still be in. Or if you've got a Catholic or an Orthodox Bible, that's still in. So you don't have to go to an old Armenian Bible or some. You know there's quite common to find translations of this, and in the dead sea scrolls they have the hebrew original. That was maybe not the copy that was written by his hand, but it will be in the same words, and the author is called simeon, the son of jesus or joshua. You know, simeon ben joshua, um. And so then obviously people are thinking, well, who's's the Joshua he's the son of, and so you get a few Joshua's or Jesus's in the Bible. You, obviously you've got God, but he can't be the son of Jesus because he obviously never gets married. He will, you know, he's the son of Jesus in one sense, but not in. You know the literal.
Speaker 1:But then there's the Joshua at the time of Moses yeah, but there's this other joshua, isn't like yeah?
Speaker 2:so, yeah, we can see. When you read the book you can see what he says happened before he was alive and what he doesn't necessarily say happened before he was alive. And so this, um, it kind of seems like, yeah, this joshua at the time of the exile and yes, mentioned in zechariah and things like that yeah joshua, who's the high priest at that time? Yeah, he's also very long lived, isn't he?
Speaker 2:but, maybe not quite this long lived, but he might have lived into his 90s. That the uh high priest jesus, the the other high priest jesus, the uh zechariah one. Um, so yeah, he's, this jesus got a son called simeon, and. But then some people think, well, these are common names. Even today in countries like Spain, lots of people are called Jesus and lots of people are called Joshua in England and things. So you think it's a common enough name? How do we know? It's exactly that Simeon the son of Jesus? And well, in this book of of sirach, he has this incredible sentence which bar salami and loads of others say is what really happens at home, like this has got to be the one he says blessed is the one who shall have seen you before he dies, for he will not surely die, but he shall certainly live well.
Speaker 1:So that is from the book of um, sirach 48, verse 11, and it's speaking about this simeon, who's the son of joshua at the time, and it literally just says you're not gonna die until you see, see, christ. So that when luke says this had been revealed to him by the holy spirit, that he would not die before he's in the laws's Messiah, that's not like just some private word that he claims to have had, but that's literally in this Sirach book, sirach 48, 11. So it's like he could actually turn up chapter and verse. So then people knew, because Luke knew that this was true of this man, simeon. So Luke's presumably saying well, everyone knew, because he's literally mentioned in this book, sirach, and so Simeon, it was there. And then this is going back then to sort of like what is that? The fifth or the sixth century BC? So he's like five, possibly 600 years old, is he?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's definitely Barth's alibi. I mean, saint Seraphim thinks he possibly 600 years old, is he? Yeah, that's definitely Bar Salome. I mean Saint Seraphim thinks he's only 365 years old, like Enoch. So I mean there's a bit of disagreement. He might be only a young whippersnapper 365. But he could be over 600 years old. Yeah, and that does seem the most secure. Like if we've got to think who's the Simeon ben Joshua.
Speaker 1:So it's the simeon ben joshua. So it's the simeon who's mentioned who is the son of yeshua the high priest. Now, is it possible that simeon was involved in the septuagint?
Speaker 2:that's the most common story people love to tell about him and that basically what happens is that, um, I mean we could tell that the whole story of the septuagint is in the cannabis, but I've gotten loads of different sources to give the full story. You know, it's a brilliant, it's one of my favorite. A lot of people think it's like practically scripture.
Speaker 2:I mean, you know, augustine certainly did, yeah, yeah it's brilliant story, so you've got to read that, um, but so I'll have to just summarize it basically that loads of israelites have been put into slavery again in Egypt, and don't tell us too much the whole story because people need to get the book together.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just the relevance of Simeon to the story. He might have been one of the 70. Yeah because there's 70 people who come from Jerusalem. Yeah, to do this Greek translation in Egypt. Yeah, because is it Ptolemy who wants them to do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like the Pharaoh.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and one of the 70 selected could have been this very Simeon. Yeah, and what is the story around him?
Speaker 2:on that. So what happens is he's getting to that verse in Isaiah which says a virgin will give birth, um, or will conceive and give birth, and then he stops then and he thinks our pharaoh is going to make fun of me, he's going to deride the scriptures and all of this, so I'll have to cover for God and I'll put young woman instead. People do that to this very day, but he's warned, because he's part of this septuagint thing, and each of these 72 elders um are each being guided by the spirit to translate it properly, because this is the version of the bible that jesus is going to use. So then, just as he's about to put young woman instead of virgin, the, the angel that's been watching him, bursts in and he says no, you've got to stop, and if you believe in the actual words of the prophecy, you'll see it come true before you die. So then he's like right, and then he puts in virgin, and then the rest of the story happens, which, uh, you know, as I say, you'll have to read the book, you'll have to get the whole story, um.
Speaker 2:So there's that that he's. He's one of the translators of the septuagint and that's where he got this specific verse and then in the next few decades he writes his book of syrac. And then, because he's one of the septuagint translators, that's why they include it in the septuagint version of the bible, but he obviously writes it originally in hebrew, then he does a greek and and then both of those got a lot of widespread use. So that's Sivian, that he's very old and he was also the tutor of the Apostle Matthias and the Mage Balthazar.
Speaker 1:He is the Mage Balthazar.
Speaker 2:No, he was the tutor. Yeah, I was going to say that's a busy guy.
Speaker 1:So he was the tutor of the Mage Balthazar. Where did he come from?
Speaker 2:Balthazar. He was the Ethiopian emperor, Ah the.
Speaker 1:Ethiopian emperor. So that figures, because he would have visited Jerusalem often enough. So he would have said, oh, I want to be tutored by this Simeon guy who's 600 years old. So yeah, he'd be an amazing person to be tutored by. Because he could literally say I remember when I I remember saying to zechariah you know, or when malachi wrote it, I remember it was a bestseller, um, amazing.
Speaker 1:So simeon is would have been a kind of celebrity almost at the time for those who knew about him, because he'd been there all that time and had been waiting and waiting. And then you can imagine the emotion that Simeon would feel when he eventually does hold the child Jesus and has this amazing sense of his journey's finally coming to an end and he can go and depart and join all the saints in the highest heaven, having run a long, long race to fulfill his course. That's it. Well, there we go. That's enough from Anna and Simeon. There's lots, lots more in the book, if you can get it.