Bible Study on James 4, verses 11 to 17, against judging and boasting

 

James 4:11 ¶  Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? 13  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. 16  But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

 

James, still focused on our speech, warns against malicious words against our brothers and, of course, we presume our sisters in Christ. We should not judge each other to our hurt as if we were a judge of the Law of God to use it against our brethren. It is too easy a matter to be self-righteous. Added to this he warns against promises that we cannot be sure to keep as the Lord God is in control of our lives. We should remember God’s sovereignty when we make such pronouncements. Finally, he makes an important point for us all, that not doing what is right is the same as doing what is wrong. This is extremely important for us to understand in our dark, fallen world. It is a great principle of Christian living which is emphasized by what James said previously.

 

James 2:14 ¶  What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16  And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Bible Study on Genesis 20, verses 14 to 18, God healed Abimelech

 

Genesis 20:14 ¶  And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. 15  And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee. 16  And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved. 17  So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children. 18  For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.

The graciousness of a heathen king should cause many so-called Christian leaders shame. He not only did what God told him to do, restoring Sarah, but he made Abraham even wealthier than he was. Not only did he offer Abraham material wealth but he gave him the right to live in his kingdom wherever he wished.

Abimelech then scolds Sarah, calling Abraham her brother, as she and Abraham had dissembled regarding. He has rewarded Abraham and tells Sarah, in so many words, to stay faithful to Abraham, her husband, to not risk other men’s intentions toward her. She is never to call Abraham her brother again. Both have been reproved in this. Reproof, from which reprove comes, is correction. See the synonyms to reproof in this verse and do a word search to see the phrases and words it is linked with elsewhere to confirm.

2Timothy 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Remember, as you read Abraham’s journey, that the Bible is the story of God’s work in reconciling man to Himself. Reproof is an essential part of that correction, that instruction in righteousness, and fundamental to that doctrine.

It is important to note here that Abraham prayed for Abimelech, whom he had wronged. Prayers of supplication for others are important, as God reveals throughout the Bible. Christians are commanded to pray for each other.

 James 5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

We are to pray for kings and all those in authority. As there were no Christian kings when this was written we are called to pray for the heathen leaders, that they come to Christ but for mercy and grace to be applied to them, as well.

1Timothy 2:1 ¶  I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2  For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

We are to pray even for those who abuse us for our faith. Notice the context of God’s perfection here.

Matthew 5:43 ¶  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

God honored Abraham’s prayer and healed Abimelech’s household.

Bible Study on James 4, verses 1 to 10, God resists the proud

 

James 4:1 ¶  From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2  Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 5  Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? 6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9  Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

 

Early Christianity was composed of mostly ethnic Jews who believed on their Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Jewish culture was in turmoil which would lead to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in or about AD70 and another catastrophe in the early 100s. Whereas James warned the Jewish Christians about strife and envy in the last chapter here he goes on to discuss wars and contentions, although the use of wars may have been a metaphor for their constant disputes between each other linking this to the last chapter.

 

Wanting what the world wants and holding valuable what the world holds valuable is the source of their constant disputes with each other. For Jesus said;

 

Luke 16:15  And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

 

1John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Pride goes along with this heresy, fierce pride in one’s own way. The implication here is that the Devil himself is behind this impulse. The promise is that if we resist he will run away. It is also said that we are to humble ourselves and mourn for our sinful ways and thoughts and in doing so God will lift us up. These are notable memory verses here in James that should always be rolling around in our heads.

 

Also see;

 

For verse 6;

 

Proverbs 3:34  Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.

 

For verse 7;

 

Matthew 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11  Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

 

For verse 10;

 

1Peter 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Bible Study on Genesis 20, verses 8 to 13, Surely the fear of God is not in this place

 

Genesis 20:8 ¶  Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid. 9  Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. 10  And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? 11  And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake. 12  And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. 13  And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

This Philistine king does not delay early in the morning to calling his servants together and telling them how God spoke to him in this dream. Apparently, the righteousness of this individual king is reflected in the culture of his household.

Proverbs 1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Understand God’s involvement in and control of every moment of your life and realize how badly you need to pray for His mercy and how happy you should be that He loves you.

Abimelech blames Abraham for deceiving him and bringing the possibility of great sin upon his household. He insists he has done nothing to deserve this treatment and wants to know why Abraham did it, what he saw in Abimelech that suggested this sinful deception was necessary. Abraham admits that he assumed that Abimelech was a godless reprobate who did not fear God. So, we can assume that this was the normal state of kings and kingdoms as Abraham knew. He had every reason to believe that Abimelech, as we have understood the customs of the time, would kill him and take his wife. It must have been a common concern of men.

Abraham then sort of halfway justified himself. “Well, what I said really wasn’t a lie. She is also my half-sister.” This scene makes a mockery of the times when we justify a lie, dissembling, insisting that since it was partly true it wasn’t really a lie. Oh, how many times I have heard that argument from a child, a teenager, or a grown person. The intent was deception but when found out we think we are so clever in that part of it was really true.

Finally, he says that this was what he told her to do everywhere they went where there was some danger. But, we see that Abraham’s lack of trust in God’s protection was unwarranted because even though he tried to deceive Abimelech for his own safety’s sake God revealed Himself to the king and warned him. In the two situations we see that Pharaoh, though wicked, was wise enough to know that, with the sicknesses brought on his house, he wanted to be rid of Abram and Sarai and even blessed them with abundance. But here, God, knowing Abimelech’s heart, revealed Himself, but protected Abraham.

Abimelech is a model of a righteous Gentile king.

2Samuel 23:3  The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

Bible Study on James 3, verses 13 to 18, the wisdom that is from above is first pure

 

James 3:13 ¶  Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. 14  But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 15  This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16  For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 17  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 18  And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

 

True wisdom, James says, is evidenced by good behavior as communications here is linked with works and meekness, not putting on airs that you know more than you do. Bitterness, envying, and strife contradict such wisdom. The sensual, devilish, as James puts it, wisdom from below fulfills itself in envying and strife in the assembly, which is confusion and just plain malicious and wicked and leads to other very bad things.

 

God’s wisdom, on the other hand, is peaceable and gentle and the person who possesses it is reachable and can be talked to about disagreements, is filled with mercy and beneficial actions, no preference of one opinion or person over another and without hypocrisy. The peacemaker in the assembly plants peace and God’s righteousness is on that person who makes peace.

 

These are powerful statements from James about what we say and our behavior within the church. What is your church like? What are you like within the church?

 

Bible Study on Genesis 20, verses 3 to 7, God came to Abimelech in a dream by night

 

Genesis 20:3 ¶  But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife. 4  But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? 5  Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. 6  And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. 7  Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.

There are other times that God speaks to men in dreams as to Jacob, Laban the Syrian, to Joseph, etc.

Abimelech is not the sort of man that the previous Pharaoh that Abram and Sarai encountered was. God dealt with that Pharaoh by visiting sickness on his house to cause him to bring no shame on Sarai/Sarah while God kept Abimelech’s household from conceiving as revealed later in verse 18. But, Abraham has misjudged Abimelech. God reveals to us that this king has integrity and wants to do right. He had not touched Sarah and truly thought she was Abraham’s sister. So, God moved in him to prevent him from having any relations with her. It was God who prevented this sin of ignorance that was possible but not completed.

God made provision for dealing with sins of ignorance, just not realizing what you were doing, in the Law given to Moses. You can read examples of this in the context of Leviticus, chapter 4, for example. But God does restrain us from following our “natural” impulses at times, our desires, as He did when he kept David and his men from killing, as Abigail believed, even though David considered it and felt justified by Nabal’s treatment of him and his men.

1Samuel 25:26  Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

God has restrained you from doing things that you thought were the right thing to do because you didn’t have all of the facts. How often have you thanked Him for that mercy? You have held your tongue when you really wanted to blast someone with your words only to find out that you were operating off incomplete understanding. We should always be careful and not to repeat the errors of Job’s friends in assuming we have knowledge we do not. A friend may get a serious illness, lose their job, have marital difficulties, or have a rebellious child and you assume there must be some secret sin in their life that they are being judged for but, if God is merciful to you, you managed to refrain from the evil of misrepresenting God and telling your friend what you think before you have all the facts. Of course, you may never have all of the facts so it is a good idea just to shut up and minister to your friend in their grief.

But, remember, as here, you may have some difficulty related to your intention to shoot your mouth off and hurt your friend. Think about what God is telling you. Abimelech’s household were having some problems with Sarah around. Something wasn’t right. Before God’s dream came to the king came the problem with conceiving. As you were intending to speak out of turn someone was saying things about you they had no knowledge of and this should have been a warning as God eventually prevented you from damaging your relationship with your friend. To see how God works in our lives we have to be sensitive to His guidance. This is very hard for you if you have adopted the modern sense of God not participating in your life on a moment by moment basis.

My problem has always been about assuming I knew someone’s intentions and motives when I did not. If that is your problem have you found yourself on the receiving end of someone accusing you of motives that you did not have as you contemplated the same error on someone else, even the same person? Did God prevent you from speaking your mind or, perhaps, did you not speak your mind in this instance and not realize that God had prevented you?

Think about when you don’t say something, did you really prevent yourself?

In God’s warning to Abimelech He refers to Abraham as a prophet. As Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the 12 heads of the tribes of Israel, and Israel itself went about doing God’s will, even if they had to be steered by God because of their stubbornness in not completely trusting and doing things their own way they received God’s protection.

Psalm 105:8 ¶  He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. 9  Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; 10  And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: 11  Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: 12  When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it. 13  When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people; 14  He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; 15  Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

Bible Study on James 3, verses 1 to 12, the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity

 

James 3:1 ¶  My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. 2  For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. 3  Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 4  Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. 5  Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 6  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. 7  For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 8  But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9  Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10  Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11  Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12  Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

 

Masters in this context are teachers.

 

Malachi 2:12  The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts.

 

Matthew 23:8  But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. (A Rabbi is a teacher.)

 

Teachers must be careful of what they say and how they handle God’s word. In fact, this whole passage warns us of how powerful our speech is to uplift or to condemn. Our speech shows others what we are just as the fruit we display tells others what kind of a metaphorical tree we are. See Galatians 5 and the fruit of the Spirit. Does your speech reflect this?

 

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

 

Pastors and teachers are set to a higher standard in that they have the ear of many rather than just musing on their own but we all are teachers to our children and to the new Christian and the unsaved. What proceeds out of our mouths must count for something which is why I have much trouble when people ask me off the cuff questions about the Bible and I haven’t had time to think and pray about them and study. “What do you think about this, Fred?” seems like an invitation for me to step into a minefield that has already blown off the legs of many others so if I look at you strangely when you ask me a question don’t be offended. It is terror welling up inside me.

 

Ephesians 4:29  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

 

Colossians 4:6  Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.