Paul, writing from prison, repeatedly tells his Philippian brothers- and sisters-in-Christ to rejoice in the Lord!
Philippians: Shine Like Stars – DAY 64
Family Discussions for the New Year
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DAY 64/TUESDAY
Philippians 3:1
Rejoice in the Lord!
“Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.”
Philippians 3:1 (NIV)
*Click here to read in the ESV, NLT, CSB, & NIrV.
Building Biblical Literacy
- Comprehension asks, “What does it say?”
- Interpretation asks, “What does it mean?”
- Application asks, “How should it change me?”
*Jen Wilkin, Women of the Word, p.87 (2014)
In our DAY 63 discussion, we said we would go through these three stages of good literacy-building here at the beginning of Philippians 3.
DAY 63 was Stage 1: Comprehension.
Today, we’re moving on to Interpretation.
Interpretation
Now that we have a good grip on what Philippians 3:1-9 says (see DAY 63: Rejoice & Watch Out), we can start figuring out what it means — keeping in mind that we still want to correctly handle the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
I agree with Bible teacher Jen Wilkin about interpretation:
“Most of us rely on sermons, study Bible notes, and commentaries to help us with interpretation. This is appropriate…
God gifts certain people among us with unique knowledge and understanding, and we would be fools to overlook their contributions to our study. They provide an indispensable service to the body of believers. But we must always keep in view that each of us individually is called to love God with our minds.
This means that it is good for us to earnestly attempt interpretation on our own before we read the interpretations of others. And this means we must wait to consult commentaries, study Bibles, podcasts, blogs, and paraphrases for interpretive help until we have taken our best shot at interpreting on our own.”
Jen Wilkin, Women of the Word, p.96 (2014)
Wilkin suggests cross-referencing and paraphrasing as our starting points for biblical interpretation. Let’s go!
Rejoice in the Lord!
“Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.”
Philippians 3:1 (NIV)
Cross-References
When I studied the Bible as a teen, I used a handy little book called God’s Promises for Your Every Need that had Bible verses grouped by topic, a kind-of lazy way to do cross-referencing. As a college student, I began using concordances (alphabetical indexes of all or most of the words in a text, showing every occurrence of each word*), as well as cross-references within my Bibles.
*The American Heritage College Dictionary, 4th ed.
Today, it’s easier than ever! Use a Bible app or website, type a word or two in the search bar, and voilà!
We are going to employ this method and start our search with the word rejoice.
Rejoice
After going to biblegateway.com, I set my Bible version to NIV (since that is the main translation I’m using for the Shine Like Stars study) and typed “rejoice” into the search bar. 154 results appeared; 123 in the Old Testament, and 31 in the New Testament.
*Click here to view my search results.
While I encourage you to slow down as you study the Bible, going through all 154 results is not required. Of first interest to us should be the use of “rejoice” in Philippians since that is the book of our focus.
Philippians has eight uses of the word “rejoice” in six verses. Notice that the verse that prompted our search, Phil. 3:1, is, of course, one of them.
Rejoice in Philippians
“But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.” Philippians 1:18-19 (NIV) |
“But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.” Philippians 2:17-18 (NIV) |
“Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.” Philippians 3:1 (NIV) |
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” Philippians 4:4-5 (NIV) |
“I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.” Philippians 4:10 (NIV) |
*Click here to view uses of “rejoice” in Philippians at biblegateway.com.
Next, we should take a look at Paul’s other letters that popped up in our search.
Philippians vs. Paul’s Other Letters
| Paul’s Letter | Verses with Rejoice |
| Romans | 3 |
| I Corinthians | 2 |
| II Corinthians | 2 |
| Philippians | 6 |
| Colossians | 1 |
| I Thessalonians | 1 |
By comparing these results, we can see Paul used rejoice more times in our letter, Philippians, than in any others, including his longer epistles.
Let’s do the same comparison with the rest of the New Testament.
Philippians vs. Other NT Books
| New Testament Book | Verses with Rejoice |
| Matthew | 1 |
| Luke | 6 |
| John | 3 |
| Acts | 1 |
| I Peter | 2 |
| Revelation | 3 |
The only other NT book with six verses containing rejoice is Luke, which is much longer, as it is a gospel account of Jesus’ life in 24 chapters rather than a four-chapter letter.
What can we infer (conclude from evidence*) about Paul’s letter to the Philippian Christians based on this little bit of cross-referencing research?
*The American Heritage College Dictionary, 4th ed.
We can infer that Paul wanted to emphasize rejoicing to his Philippian fellow believers.
Answering “Why?” will take more research.
DAY 64/TUESDAY Prayer
Father God,
We still long to honor You by correctly handling the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). It is so easy for us to want to rush ahead and skip the important steps of basic comprehension and careful interpretation so we can get to the “what am I supposed to do” part.
Expand our understanding of Scripture. It is not only a lamp for our feet and light for our path (Psalm 119:105); it is also “alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
Help us to be still with You and Your Word so we can get to know You, our God & our Father, better & better (Psalm 46:10).
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
DAY 64: Paul, writing from prison, repeatedly tells his Philippian brothers- and sisters-in-Christ to rejoice in the Lord!