Humble Sacrifice

Introduction

This message is the last from this section of Philippians. Today we are considering Philippians 2:17-18 “Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.” The KJV is translated - 17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. 18 For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.

The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Php 2:17–18. It is striking that joy, in that translation, is a verb. It is an act, not a state of being.

So let’s see how Paul concludes this section of scripture with those two verses.

How many of us remember the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur? Without getting into the disgusting details, the Minotaur was a creature that was half man and half bull. He was hidden at the center of a labyrinth (maze) on Crete and every year 14 young men and women from Athens were sent into the labyrinth for the Minotaur to devour.

Theseus was one of these youths. The daughter of the king of Crete fell in love with him so, before he entered the labyrinth, she gave him a ball of thread to mark the path into and out of the labyrinth. Theseus killed the Minotaur and then followed the thread back to freedom.

The verses from 1:27 through 2:18 are connected by a thread that allows us to understand what God is saying through the Apostle Paul and keeps us from getting lost in our understanding.

Before we look at verses 17-18 in depth, I want to review how we have arrived at this point and the common thread that winds throughout this section.

Review/Synopsis

Manner of life

Worthy of the Gospel of Christ (1:27)

One mind, One faith, One Gospel (1:27-28)

Suffering (1:29-30)

In Christ

Encouragement, comfort, participation, affection and sympathy (2:1)

Joy in one mind, one love, one accord (2:2)

Humble (2:3-4)

The Mind of Christ

Equality with God (2:5-6)

Form of a Servant (2:7)

Obedient to death (2:8)

Exalted above all (2:9-11)

Application

Work in community (2:12-13)

No grumbling or disputing (2:14-16)

Sacrificial offering (2:17-18)

Sacrificial Service

Poured Out

As I read various commentaries and other material about these verses it became apparent there are two main schools of thought about Paul “being poured out.” He is metaphorically referring to the drink offering from the Old Testament sacrificial system. This offering is referred to in Leviticus 23:13,18,37 in conjunction with the offering of firstfruits, the Day of Pentecost, and any offering made during a Holy Convocation.

As the children of Israel are getting ready to enter the Promised Land there are more details about the drink offering provided in several verses in the book of Numbers.

Numbers 6:15,17

Numbers:15:5,7,10,24

Numbers:28:7 (x2),8,9,10,14,15,24,31

Numbers:29:6,11,16,18,19,21,22,24,25,27,28,30,31,33,34,37,38,39

These passages not only detail when the drink offering should be offered - with every burnt offering - but the amount of “strong wine” (not diluted with water) to offer. Most commentaries agree that the drink offering is symbolic of the joy of God. For what He accomplished and for what He provides for His people.

The two main thoughts about Paul’s use of this metaphor are:

He is referring to the possibility of his death and that his life is poured out as an offering similar to the way Jesus poured out his life.

He is referring to the joy of the Lord in light of the Philippians faith and service.

The first thought is usually supported by quoting

2 Timothy 4:6 “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.”

In either scenario, Paul says his life and works are the adjunct to the main sacrifice of the Philippians. In a section of Scripture tied together with the thread of humility, here we see Paul’s humility. Instead of bragging of his accomplishments, his knowledge, his super-Christianity, Paul instead tells the Philippians that his work is secondary to their sacrifice. It is an important work but it is not the focus of his letter.

I found the following discussion on a website theopolisinstitute.com

“To arrive at the meaning and rationale for the drink offering, it is

helpful, first, to note, as Kurtz points out, that the drink offering

was never to be offered except in the land of promise.((J. H.

Kurtz, Sacrificial Worship of the Old Testament [Grand Rapids:

Baker, {1863} 1980].)) The instructions in Leviticus are prefaced

with “when you enter the land which I am going to give to you”

(v. 10), as are the instructions in Numbers 15. If the sacrifices are

God’s food (literally, bread), then the libations are evidently

God’s drink. The law of the drink offering, therefore, tells us that

God would not drink wine with His bread until His people

entered the land.

This makes sense in terms of biblical theology. Drinking wine is

a sabbatical activity; it is a sign and a means of rest and

celebration. Specifically, the libation is a sabbatical offering,

particularly as described in Leviticus 23. Only after the Lord had

defeated the enemies of His people, and given His people a

restful dwelling in the land, would He accept the wine of the

libations.

This connection of victory and rest with the drink offering is

highlighted by the context of the laws of Numbers 15. These laws

were delivered immediately after Israel rebelled at Kadesh

Barnea, and then rashly attacked the Amalekites when God was

not with them. God punished the Israelites by leaving them to

wander in the wilderness for 40 years (Num. 13–14).

Immediately after this defeat, God gave Moses instructions on

the drink offering. In the context, the drink offering is a promise

of eventual victory and settlement in the land. It is a sign also of

God’s faithfulness to His covenant with Israel. Israel was to

suffer in the wilderness for 40 years, restless and wandering; for

40 years, they were unable to eat and drink and rejoice before

the Lord (Dt. 14:22-27). If God’s peculiar people were to be 40

years without wine, then God Himself would refrain from

drinking wine for those same 40 years. Wine is an eschatological

drink: it requires time for it to reach its maturity. So, God fasted

from wine until His people reached their eschaton, the land

where huge clusters of grapes grew. He wandered with His

people, sharing in their sufferings, for the joy that was set before

Him. Though the Israelites would wander for a generation, they

could take comfort in the assurance that God was wandering

with them.

Second, it should be noted that, even when the people of Israel

entered into a conquered the land, it was only God who was

given the wine of the drink offering. True, the people were

permitted to drink wine and strong drink at the sanctuary. But,

unlike most of the animal and grain offerings — a portion of

which were retained for the priests or the worshiper — the entire

drink offering was poured out upon the altar of burnt offering.

(Kurtz, convincingly, infers this from two facts: first, the priests

were forbidden to drink wine in the tabernacle [Lev. 10:9], and,

second, the requirement that all sacrificial food be eaten in the

tabernacle precincts [Lev. 6:16]). Thus, the drink offering was a

sign not only of God’s victory and His entering into sabbath rest,

but a sign of Israel’s exclusion from full participation in that

victory and rest. In the New Covenant, Christ, the God-man, has

entered into Sabbath rest, and we with Him. Therefore, we are

given not only to eat of the flesh of our peace offering, but also to

drink of the wine of the libation.

Third, the drink offering, like the grain offering, was symbolic of

the works of the worshiper. This is a further reason why libations

had to await entrance into the land; entering the land not only

brought rest from wandering and from enemies, but also

brought a renewed demand for dominion. The fruits of that

dominion over the land — grain, oil, and wine — were to be

offered to the Lord.

This background can perhaps shed some light on Paul’s

statement that he was being poured out as a drink offering (Phil.

2:17; 2 Tim. 4:6). Though often understood as a reference to his

impending death, it is more likely that Paul understood the

struggles and toils of his apostolic ministry as a libation upon

the sacrificial service of the churches among which he

ministered. ((See Gerald F. Hawthorne, Philippians. Word

Biblical Commentary 43 [Waco: Word, 1983], pp. 104-6)) In the

OT, the libation was offered as a portion of the fruits of the

worshiper’s labor, so it is fitting for Paul to speak of his labor as a

libation. His labor was offered up as drink for God, as wine to

make His heart glad. But, as is appropriate to a better covenant,

it is not only the Lord who drinks the wine of joy, but also the

people: hence, Paul says that he shares the joy of his libation labor

with the Philippians, and asks them to respond by pouring

their libations out upon him (2:17-18).

Sacrifice of Service

What is the sacrifice to which Paul’s work is the drink offering? It is the faith and service of the Philippians. Most likely, Paul is referring to their financial and spiritual support for Paul in his imprisonment. More widely, they are recognized for their continued work for the Kingdom in the midst of suffering and persecution.

Their faith may waver at times in the midst of their circumstances but it never fails. They continue to live as Micah describes in

Micah 6:6-8 ““With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

The Greek for service is the word leitourgia from which we derive the English word liturgy. In the first century, it did not have the meaning we assign to it today as a set pattern of worship for specific Christian denominations.

“In ancient Greece, particularly at Athens, a form of personal service to the state which citizens possessing property to a certain amount were bound, when called upon, to perform at their own cost. These liturgies were ordinary, including the presentation of dramatic performances, musical and poetic contests, etc., the celebration of some festivals, and other public functions entailing expense upon the incumbent; or extraordinary, as the fitting out of a trireme In case of war.” [Century Dictionary]

“When we study the Greco-Roman context, we discover that “liturgy” originally meant something more like “public service” or “public duty.” In the Greco-Roman world, a liturgy was something done for the sake of the public. In other words, it is more “work done for the people” than “work done by the people.” In the context of religion, a liturgy was worship offered on behalf of the public. The worship of God was performed for the protection and prosperity of the city.” https://media.ascensionpress.com/2019/10/24/what-liturgy-really-means/

The Philippians continued to live and work as God lives and works through them. In humility and service to others.

Joy

The outcome of this life of service is Joy. Joy for Paul in the church and how they are conducting their lives, joy for the church in Paul for his work, leadership, and encouragement. For all, joy in the Lord for the spread of the Gospel, work for the Kingdom, and humility before God and man.

Conclusion

Humility is not something that comes naturally to us. Honestly, neither is joy. In our natural state we think we are better than we are and we complain and grumble about everything. As Christians, we understand that our Savior was humble enough to become one of us and die for us. Yet, he did it joyfully for the love and glory of God the Father.

We are asked to do no less. God is glorified when we humble ourselves, put the needs of others before our own, and joyfully act on the other’s behalf. It might be something as major as working for prison reform, or missions, or sharing our material goods with those that do not have them. It might be something as minor as smiling and saying hello to someone you don’t know.

Every day brings us opportunities to show the world the love of Christ in the way we act and the service we offer. May we lean more and more on the Holy Spirit to lead us to live as our Savior lived. May our lives be examples of the KJV translation - we joy.