At the time the book of Philippians was written, the Judaizers were exercising their influence over the believers in Christ (3:2-4). The Judaizers were very strong for the Jewish religion. They not only practiced their religion, but they promoted it and even fought for it. The most zealous of the Judaizers were the Pharisees, those who were most orthodox in the religion of their fathers. As a result of the Jewish dispersion, these Judaizers were spread over the Mediterranean region. Wherever Jews were found, there would always be some Judaizers. No other group of people could match the zeal with which the Judaizers promoted their religion. Even in Philippi, a city in Macedonia, they were exercising their influence over the believers.
In 3:1 Paul says, “For the rest, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not irksome, and for you it is safe.” This word indicates that to rejoice in the Lord is a safeguard, a security. When we rejoice in Him, we are safe. Rejoicing protects us.
When Paul wrote the book of Philippians, certain believers in Philippi were not rejoicing in the Lord, for they were being troubled or distracted by those described in verse 2. In this verse Paul says, “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the concision.” On the one hand, Paul tells us to rejoice; on the other hand, he tells us to beware of the dogs. As we shall see, the “dogs” here refer to the Judaizers.
Today there are also “dogs” of which we need to beware. In fact, in Paul’s time there was just one group of “dogs,” the Judaizers, but today there are many different kinds of “dogs.” Whenever these “dogs” exercise their influence, perhaps by spreading evil rumors about the Lord’s recovery, we may find it difficult to rejoice. Thus, we need Paul’s exhortation to rejoice and to beware of “dogs.” According to the construction of 3:2, the dogs, the evil workers, and the concision all refer to the same people. The fact that the “dogs” are associated with the evil workers and the concision indicates that the “dogs” are religious people. The evil workers mentioned here were not thieves. They were those who advocated circumcision. But as they zealously promoted circumcision, they were like barking dogs. For this reason, Paul uses the terms evil workers and the concision, as expressions of extreme contempt. As religious “dogs,” the Judaizers were not only barking ones, but also biting ones. Wherever the gospel was preached and churches were established, the Judaizers came as barking, biting, religious “dogs” to trouble the saints. The barking and biting of the Judaizers was one aspect of the background against which the book of Philippians was written.
Today there are a number of different groups of barking religious “dogs.” Wherever we may go, we are troubled by the different religious parties. In principle, our situation is the same as that of the Philippians when Paul wrote to them. Like the believers at Philippi, we urgently need the experience of Christ. If the Philippians were in need of the experience of Christ because of their background, how much more do we need to experience Him because of the situation in which we find ourselves today! The Philippians had to deal with only one ism, but we must deal with many isms, with many groups of barking religious “dogs.” When we rise up to speak concerning the experience of Christ, these “dogs” come to bark and to bite. The writings of the opposers, in which many false accusations are made against us, may be regarded as the “barking” of religious “dogs.”
Because of the influence the Judaizers were exerting over the saints, Paul was compelled to warn the saints at Philippi to beware of “dogs.” It was not easy for him to utter such a word, for these barking “dogs” were his countrymen. Paul was very patriotic, and he had a deep love for the Jewish nation. This made it difficult for him to refer to certain of his countrymen as “dogs.” But the situation forced him to use such a strong expression. Even though the Judaizers were among Paul’s countrymen, his kinsmen according to the flesh, he could not refrain from calling them “dogs,” “evil workers,” “the concision.” The influence of these “dogs” was an important part of the background of the book of Philippians. Since, in principle, our situation is the same today, we must consider that Philippians was written for us also. In their situation, the Philippian believers needed the experience of Christ, and in our situation today we need all the more to experience Him.