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Hey guys this is Megan Rawlings and you are listening to the Talk Bible to Me podcast presented by The Bold Movement.

How are you, friend? I am thrilled that you are joining me on this very first episode of season 3. This season, we are going to be working verse-by-verse through the book of Philippians. If you are new to our podcast, howdy, -- so glad you found us and I hope you like the podcast. Real quick, I want to let you know that this podcast is an extension of The Bold Movement which is a ministry that trains women to boldly step into their role in the kingdom of God. There are tons of free resources on the website as well as Bible studies that not only teach you Scripture but also how to study it, and podcasts episodes just like this one. This is all designed to help you grow in your faith and find your role and purpose. You can visit our website at www.theboldmovement.com.

Okay sis, Here’s how we work. We will read a verse or two of Scripture and then we will pause to work through it and discuss what it means. Easy enough? Cool. With that being said -- get ready, get set, study! (Can you tell I’ve been watching the Great British Bake Off?)

Today we are actually going to be doing an introduction to Philippians. It is so helpful understanding a book of the Bible when you have Who, what’s, when, and wheres all figured out beforehand. This also helps us not to make it what we want it. I like to equate taking Scripture out of context to pulled muscles and let’s face it, if you have not completed the warm-up, you are more likely to pull a muscle. (my husband totally rolled his eyes at that cheesy analogy, but he’s not my target audience… so, there’s that.)

Alright, let’s start with the author of Philippians, Paul. For those of you who are not familiar with our good pal, Paul, here are some quick facts about him:

• In Acts 22:3-5 Paul says, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia (which is in south-central Turkey), but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

  • Paul was a Jew trained under Gamaliel

    • Here’s why that was important, “Gamaliel was a doctor of the law and a member of the Sanhedrin. Paul acknowledged him as his teacher in (Acts 22:3), and he was held in such high honour that he was designated ‘Rabban’ (‘our teacher’), a higher title than ‘Rabbi’ (‘my teacher’).” (from The New Bible Dictionary third edition)

  • As stated above, he did indeed persecute the early Church which was called “The Way.” It was on his way to Damascus that Jesus appeared to HIm and Paul converted.

• After Paul’s conversion, he spent 3 years evangelizing to those in Damascus and the surrounding area (Arabia). He wasted no time in proclaiming that Jesus was Christ. You can read more about that in Acts 9 and Galatians 1.

• Paul was a Roman citizen (which is actually a big deal for this book and I will tell you why shortly)

• Paul was a zealous man who cared deeply about the Church. He planted so many churches and even wrote letters requesting funds or thanking the churches he planted for investing in new churches.

• Paul wrote a lot of the books we have in the New Testament and eventually, died as a martyr for the cause of Christ.

There is so much we could say about Paul, but I feel like this gives you a pretty good handle on who he is.

Now let’s learn about who he was writing to and why. Get ready because it’s about to get nerdy. Paul was writing to the Church of Philippi. Now, Philippi is located in northeastern Greece and this was actually the first major center where Paul preached the gospel in Europe. The church in Philippi began when Paul saw a man from Macedonia beckon him to come help which is found in Acts 16:6-10. Since you are possibly driving, cleaning, working out (is working out to podcasts a thing?) or doing something, I am going to go ahead and read this passage to you. If you aren’t busy, follow along. “6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” Okay, so this is where it gets good. Ladies, what I am about to tell you is soooo interesting. 

Now, Philippi was given an incredibly high distinction call the ius italicum (but I don’t speak latin so that’s probably not how you say it). This meant that Philippi was foverned by Roman law. 

O’Brien says, “The rights of purchase, ownership, and transference of property, together with the right to civil lawsuits, were privileges included in the ius Italicum. The citizens of this colony were Roman citizens, while the constitution was modeled on that of Rome itself, with two collegiate magistrates at the head (referred to by Luke as στρατηγοί).”

Even though there was a strong Roman influence here, the religious aspect suggests that the inhabitants of Philippi were from mixed backgrounds although the official imperial religion tended to dominate the city as a whole. The Jewish community was not huge considering there was not a regular synagogue congregation (for which ten men were required). In Acts 16:13 we learn of Paul informally meeting outside the city by the river where several women met on the Sabbath for prayer (Acts 16:13 ). It says, “13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.”

Get this, In Peter O’Brien’s commentary on Philippians, he says, “Acts 16:13 , 16 identifies the gathering of the Jews on the Sabbath as a proseuchē (“house of prayer”) and notes that Paul spoke only to women gathered at the river. From these details, some postulate that this group had fewer than ten Jewish men and thus lacked the minimum number established in the rabbinic texts to form a minyan or quorum. However, this position fails to apprecia