James, chapter 5, comments

 

James 5:1 ¶  Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2  Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3  Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. 4  Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. 5  Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. 6  Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. 7  Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8  Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 9  Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. 10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. 11  Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

In James day the rich were not hindered by any Constitution or Bill of Rights that protected the common man. The rich were only held back by their own good character or by the favor of a ruler or authority. The rich could be abusive and exploitative to the poorer person without any law to prevent them. However, there were certain standards that elevated a Roman citizen such as the right to face their accusers in a trial.

Here is an indictment of the powerful wealthy of the Roman and Judean world of the first century. Pay for workmen is held back and, in fact, they are guilty of murdering the just and innocent. James encourages the oppressed laboring class, the innocent victims of depredations, to patiently wait for the Lord to avenge the wrongs done to them. The return of Christ is always right around the corner and we are to wait expectantly.

Titus 2:11 ¶  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

 

God will hold these wicked, powerful men to account, but their victims may have to wait until Christ returns. This is a bitter pill for the suffering to swallow. I am reminded of the rich and powerful in socialist countries who stole from and slaughtered millions of their own countrymen in the 20^th century. The assumption in this first part of James, chapter 5, is that we live in a hostile world with people in power who would harm us if they are able. We should always be mindful of that and look to the Lord our God for deliverance and justice.

Don’t fight among and abuse each other but see to the prophets’ patience in your behavior and in your heart. Let us remember that Christ did not resist His murder. It is hard for us to accept if applied to our lives. Aren’t you grateful you were born in a country with protections from the powerful? God expresses tender mercy and He does pity us in our condition of which He is fully aware, having shared it with us in His walk as one of us on the earth.

James 5:12 ¶  But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation. 13  Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 14  Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 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. 17  Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. 18  And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. 19  Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

James concludes with several admonitions. First, our word is to be our word and we are not to swear. Our word should be drawn from such upright character that it would not be questioned. Christ said in the popularly called ‘Sermon on the Mount’.

Matthew 5:33 ¶  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: 35  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36  Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

From verse 13 onward the power of our communication with God is elevated. I take this passage in connection with all of the other passages and verses on prayer in the Bible which tempers these statements. Whether in sickness or health, praying for forgiveness or healing is very powerful. This is a great principle that is not lessened when the answer to your prayer is no. God sees things from the point of view of eternity, as if they are events that have already happened. He responds to your prayer, as He has always responded to that prayer He knew you would make and don’t think that He’s going to change a million other people’s futures or circumstances because of your prayer. Your prayer acknowledges God’s sovereignty over your life and should line your thinking up with His will, always taking the long view of eternity. You may not be healed in this life. You may even die but if you belong to Christ you will live forever. James finishes in verse 20 with the statement that when you pray for someone leaving the path of righteousness because it is, indeed, impossible to pursue righteousness when one is zealously clinging to error, and they turn back to the right path, you have done a great thing. You delivered them from their sin and changed their mind and their lifepath.

So, James is complete and this bold letter warns us to walk the walk and not just talk to talk. This is a nuts and bolts view of our faith. We pick up our Christian “toolbox” each day follow the path that Christ has laid down for us. It is worth reading again whether you agree with my interpretation or not.