Philippians, part 1, Linking to a Hebrew Letter

Hebrew letter "vav"

The book of Philippians links up with the Hebrew letter vav. Remember that the symbolic meaning of this little letter is nail or hook. It plays a very important part in Jehovah’s name. (I’ve written before about the symbolic meanings of the four letters in God’s Hebrew name. The name Jehovah or Yahweh is made up of the letters yod hey vav hey. These letters have symbolic meanings and they are Hand, Behold, Nail, Behold.)

Hebrew name for God (read right to left)

Philippians was written by the Apostle Paul to the Christians at Philippi. The major themes are that Christian experience is not what is going on around the Christian, but what is going on inside him and also that joy triumphs over suffering. The key verse to this letter is found in the first chapter, verse 21:

21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Three of Philippians’ four chapters contain Paul’s discourse on rejoicing in spite of suffering, rejoicing in lowly service and rejoicing over anxiety, with Christ being the believer’s strength. One chapter contains warnings against Judaizers and legal righteousness.

Read this beautiful passage on humility from Philippians 2: 5-11 and notice what I have put in red print:

 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:  6 Who, being in very nature God,
   did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
   by taking the very nature of a servant,
   being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
   he humbled himself
   by becoming obedient to death—
      even death on a cross!
 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
   and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father.

Remember our second vav book Hosea? Remember how he was obedient to God as he had to humble himself by marrying the prostitute Gomer? Jesus’ humility was far more demeaning, of course, but isn’t this a perfect vav match?