Philippians - Introducing the Joyful Woman
(The following posts on Philippians are taken from a Bible Study that I wrote while taking a "Ministry Wife" course. It is a close study of Philippians 4:4-7. Each "Philippians" post contains many thoughts/quotes that are not my own ideas, but are simply facts/ideas with which I agree. Please refer to the footnotes for a list of my sources. Thanks!)
An Introduction to Philippians 4:4-7
The Joyful
Woman. Is there a way to be a genuinely joyful woman in the midst of everything
that goes on in our world today – even within
our own churches and families? I would say that I am a realist. I guess that is
just a sugarcoated way to say that I can be terribly pessimistic. Although I am
not proud of it, my personality is naturally critical and negative, which is pretty
much the opposite of being joyful and trusting in the Lord. I am not sure why I
am so drawn to Philippians 4. Maybe it is because I long to be the kind of
joyful person that is obedient to the commands found in this chapter. I long
for the Lord to do that work in my life.
In quickly
skimming over the topics of Philippians 4:4-7, which include commands to
rejoice, pray, set aside anxiety, and be constantly thankful, what feelings
arise in your heart and soul? Are you anxious at the mere thought that you
cannot do these things alone? Are you encouraged by the fact that God promises
to guard us with His peace when we pursue Him in these things? Are you
challenged to seek God on a deeper level as you dive head first into an
obedient pursuit of these rich Scriptures? Are you hit with the impossibility
of being completely anxiety-free as a woman in the 21st century? Are
you already living out these truths? Are you just worn out from reading the
list?!
Before we
jump into what the Lord wants to teach us in Philippians 4, it is important to
get some background about the book of Philippians. Sometimes the mention of
history and background information can have women running for a different book,
but hang with me. I hope you will
quickly see just how important the historical context really is in order to
understand the depth, beauty, and richness of the Scriptures.
The letter
to the Philippians was written by the apostle Paul. Paul was probably in prison
in Rome when he wrote this letter. Philippians is classified as one of the
“Prison Epistles”, which includes three other New Testament books that Paul
wrote from prison.[i]
I don’t know about you, but I can imagine a few other things I would be doing
while sitting inside of a prison cell, and rejoicing and encouraging others,
sadly, but honestly, probably are not on the top of my list. Listen to this
quote by Ralph P. Martin: “The example of a man whose life is filled with joy,
and his exhortations to ‘rejoice in the Lord’, do not proceed from some ivory
tower of peace and security. On the contrary, the writer is Paul the prisoner,
who is awaiting news which may spell his death.”[ii] How
challenging it is for us to know that he was writing to encourage the
Philippians as he was sitting in prison!
He was not at all unfamiliar with suffering, and yet he still urged them
to rejoice!
Paul loved
the Philippian church, which was probably mostly comprised of Gentile believers.
The population of Philippi, a Roman provincial municipality, was mostly Greeks
and Romans, with a very small Jewish population. There were also God-fearers
who lived there, even though they did not know of Jesus Christ until Paul
arrived to share the Gospel with them. When Paul first visited Philippi, he
encountered the worship of false gods, and he was even thrown into prison in
Philippi. There was a strong presence of pagan religions in Philippi due to the
traditional Roman religions, which included the worship of many gods, idols,
and statues.[iii]
The descriptions of the Paul’s missionary journeys listed in Acts show that he
was constantly forced out of town by trouble-making Jews who hoped to hinder
and ultimately put a stop to Paul’s missionary endeavors. Paul was not forced
to leave Philippi by Jews, and there was not even a synagogue in Philippi,
which shows that there were not many Jews there at all. It was in Philippi that
Paul founded the first church that he helped to start. This may be a reason why
this particular congregation was so near to his heart. They were generally a healthy
congregation in comparison with other churches that Paul encountered. That is
evidenced in the context of his letter, as opposed to many other letters where
he uses stronger language to correct immoral behavior and falling to false
teachings. In Philippians, he wishes to encourage the believers, thank them for
their faithful support, and remind them of the importance of unity. Because
Paul was imprisoned in Rome (probably under house arrest), it would have been
easy for the Philippian believers to end their support of Paul because
associating themselves with a prisoner would not have been beneficial for their
status, but they continued their faithful support. Multiple times in this
letter, Paul expressed his thankfulness ad overwhelming love for them.[iv]
As we go
through this passage, we will take it slowly – verse-by-verse
and phrase-by-phrase. We will note the key truths that we can glean from Paul’s
letter, and we will explore the personal ways these truths can be applied to
our lives. As we begin, please take some time to meditate on and echo the cries
of the psalmist in the following verses as a plea to the Lord to search our
hearts as we search for applicable truths in Philippians 4.
Psalm 19:14
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be
acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
Psalm 51:10
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit
with me.”
Psalm 62:8
“Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts
before Him;
God is a refuge for us.”
Psalm 139: 23-24
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my
thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me; and lead me in the way
everlasting!
[i] Ralph P. Martin, Philippians, Tyndale New Testament
Commentaries, Revised Edition, (Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 1994), 20.
[ii] Ibid., 45.
[iii] Markus Bockmuehl, The Epistle to the Philippians, Black’s
New Testament Commentary, (USA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 6.
[iv] Martin, 42
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