Deeper Commentary
CHAPTER 5
5:1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming
upon you- The reference to rich men weeping again suggests a
link with the beatitudes: "Woe unto you that are rich... that laugh now,
for you shall mourn and weep... when all men shall speak well of you, for
so did their fathers to the false prophets" (Lk. 6:24-26). The mourning
and weeping was what they were advised to do as a mark of their repentance
in 4:9- perhaps this was therefore to be as a result of their no longer
being rich, i.e. sharing their wealth with their desperately poor
brethren. The beatitudes were saying that the rich would mourn and weep at
the judgment; James is advising them to do so now, i.e. to judge or
condemn themselves by their self-examination in this life, so that they
would not experience the weeping and gnashing of teeth then (cp. 1 Cor.
11:31). The weeping and howling were to be when "your miseries...shall
come upon you"- i.e. in AD70.
Thus the 'coming' of Christ then was also like the judgment seat at the
second coming; the misery of the AD70 judgments and subsequent Jewish
persecution was similar to that to be seen at the second coming. There
should also be a parallel with the true contrition which we ought to have
after repentant self-examination.
There is an allusion here to Zeph. 1:11,12: "Howl, you inhabitants of
Maktesh (i.e. the market area near the temple- see N.I.V.)... I will
search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on
their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither
will He do evil. Therefore your goods shall become a booty". The Jews
Zephaniah addressed were facing the coming day of the Lord at the hand of
Babylon; the materialism and subsequent money-making from the temple
worshippers that they were guilty of, was being repeated in a more subtle
form by their counterparts in the Jewish ecclesia in the days before AD70.
Zephaniah warned "The great day of the Lord is near, and hastes greatly"
(Zeph. 1:14), hoping to motivate them to repent. Similarly James: "The
coming of the Lord draws near" (5:8). Ripping off the temple worshippers
was paralleled by the financial abuses of the flock by the elders, to be
mentioned in v.4. The idea of howling in Israel as a result of the
impending day of the Lord due to their sins is common in the Old Testament
prophets: Is. 13:6; Jer. 25:34; 47:2; Ez. 21:12; Joel 1:5,8,11,13; Mic.
1:8; Zech. 11:3. Many of these refer to the priests or the prophet
howling. Thus James is saying that as well as howling in repentance, these
ecclesial elders as counterparts of the priests and prophets under the
Mosaic system should be howling out warning to the flock concerning the
coming day of judgment.
"Miseries" can also imply spiritual lowness; the rareness of the Greek
word and the other allusions to Rom. 7 in James suggest that we are
intended to see a connection with Rom. 7:24: "O wretched (same word as
"miseries") man that I am!"- an exclamation concerning the intense evil of
his natural mind that was called forth by Paul's self examination, maybe
implying that if they judged (condemned) themselves now in their self
examination, they would avoid the misery and self-realization they were to
have in the coming holocaust.
5:2 Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth eaten-
The similarities between them and the priests is continued by their
garments being described as moth eaten; which exactly fits the context of
Heb. 8:13, which describes the old covenant as a decaying garment about to
vanish away in AD70. Thus the Jewish ecclesial elders were so closely
associated with the Law due to their desire to justify their materialism
(which the riches and garments must also refer to) that they were to be
destroyed along with it. That these rich men were in the ecclesia is
confirmed by the reference back to the rich brother in goodly apparel
being given a prominent place in the ecclesial meeting place (2:2).
Note the present tenses: "are corrupted... are moth eaten". The
unlikelihood that they walked around in literally moth eaten clothes or
that their gold was literally corrupted indicates that James meant that
they were like this in the sight of God. This provides an interesting key
to Mt. 6:19-21, to which there is a clear allusion: "Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust corrupt... but lay up
for yourselves treasures in Heaven... for their will your heart be also".
Thus James read the moth and rust corrupting as being in God's sight- if a
man's heart is set on earthly things, God looks ahead to the distant day
when those possessions have decayed, perhaps after the person's death, and
as they are then, so God considers them to be in this present life. The
emphasis in Mt.6 is on where the heart is- which precisely agrees with the
context of James. Our mind is able to see our material possessions
in a similar light to how God does.
5:3 Your gold and your silver are rusted, and their rust shall be a
testimony against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. You have laid up
your treasure in the last days- Their riches were specifically
"gold and silver"- which we have identified as the main thing which these
brethren were desiring (see notes on 4:3). The idea of corruption of
financial wealth is repeated in 2 Cor. 8:15, where Paul likens the
Corinthians' giving of their financial blessings in order to make an
equality among the brotherhood, to the manna not being left to corrupt by
the morning, but instead being gathered and shared out (Ex. 16:18,19).
Those who refused to obey this command found their manna was corrupted by
morning- teaching that unless we share our manna or money (as 2 Cor. 8:15
interprets it) before the morning of the Lord's coming, we will incur His
wrath. This fits beautifully with the situation in James; in our notes on
v.1 we saw that there was probably the suggestion that they share their
riches with the poorer brethren, so that the curses on the rich and happy
in the beatitudes did not come upon them.
The eating of the flesh with fire connects the literal and symbolic use of
fire to destroy the Jewish heavens and earth (2 Pet. 3:7). Note the
equation of the believers with their riches- as rust ate gold and silver,
so fire would eat their flesh. Their life ("flesh") did consist in
the abundance of the things which they possessed (Lk. 12:15). The fire
also represents the Gehenna fire of the rejected at judgment; its
connection with the rust of their riches perhaps indicates that the
punishment of the rejected at judgment is at the hands of those things
which caused their rejection. Alternatively, this language may be similar
in idea to "delivering to satan for the destruction of the flesh" in 1
Cor. 5:5; the satan, or evil desires, in this case being their love of
riches.
The Greek for "rust" occurs also in 3:8 translated "poison", concerning
the nature of the tongue and the evil heart it is associated with. Thus
they are being reminded that their gross materialism was rooted in their
evil desires, and it is this fact that "shall be a witness (judicially)
against you". Again this is the language of judgment, as if they were to
be soon at the Lord's judgment seat. The idea of eating flesh at judgment
occurs again in Rev. 17:16 and 19:18- prophecies which must have an
initial application to the AD70 destruction of Israel. They describe the
military forces responsible for the AD70 punishments and subsequent
persecutions as eating the flesh; here in James the evil desires behind
their riches do the eating, implying that it was because of these that the
judgment came, again stressing the ultimate importance of the heart's
spiritual condition. Remember that the judgments on Jerusalem in AD70 had
repercussions for natural and spiritual Israel throughout the Roman world.
The heaping of treasure together is another allusion to the early chapters
of Romans: "Do you despise the riches of His goodness and forbearance and
longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to
repentance (cp. 2 Pet. 3:15 concerning the delay in judgment upon
Jerusalem in order to allow natural and spiritual Israel time to repent),
but after your hardness and impenitent heart (notice the emphasis on this)
you treasure up unto yourself wrath against the day of wrath" in AD70
(Rom. 2:4,5). The treasures they had heaped up were therefore directly
proportionate to the amount of wrath they would receive- perhaps because
their wealth was proportionate to the amount of defrauding and subsequent
lack of love shown to their brethren (5:4). The Heavens and earth (natural
and spiritual Israel?) were "kept in store" (2 Pet. 3:7)- the same Greek
phrase for "treasuring up" and heaping treasure together- for judgment by
fire in AD70. The fact this fire was to come on individuals (2 Thess. 1:8)
invites us to interpret the heavens and earth as referring to the
individual people that comprised the Jewish system; and we can conclude
that this included both apostate, largely Judaist-influenced Christians,
as well as the natural Jews.
This Greek phrase for laying up treasure also occurs in Lk. 12:21
concerning the 'greater barns' man laying up treasure for himself. Note
that Lk. 12:15, also in this context, has already been alluded to in James
5:3 (see above). The rich man was a farmer- as were some of the rich
brethren amongst James' readership (5:4); he thought he knew the future,
as the same class in James' letter thought they did (4:13), and the
suddenness of his destruction corresponds with the rich in the ecclesia
thinking that spiritually they were in peace and safety, and then the
sudden destruction of AD70 coming (1 Thess. 5:2,3) at "the day of the
Lord"- note the many links between 1 Thess. 4:15 - 5:9 and the Olivet
prophecy concerning the same destruction. Again, James opens up a parable
with an interpretation many of us otherwise would not have reached. The
emphasis on their time being "the last days" is doubtless because they
thought they knew the future- as indicated in 4:13-15 by their lack of
saying 'If the Lord will', presumably because they thought the Lord's
coming was far distant. Therefore along with their prototype in the rich
farmer parable, they thought that they could go on building up their own
Kingdom on earth.
Especially in our generation, we hold wealth- any wealth- in the full
knowledge that our Lord could return at any moment. James 5:3 brings out
the paradox- of hoarding up wealth for the last days! The Greek for
‘hoarding up’ means ‘to reserve’. And this is just what our flesh tells us
to do- reserve ‘our’ wealth for a rainy day, for long term security. It’s
as if James foresaw that in our last days, this would be a particular
temptation. See on 1 Cor. 7:29.
Our words are as fire, and are to be connected with the fire of
condemnation (James 3:5,6), which our words have already kindled (Lk.
12:49). Speaking of the last day Isaiah 33:11 had foretold: "your breath
[i.e. words], as fire, shall devour you". Likewise wrongly gained wealth
is the fire that will burn those who have it at the last day (James 5:3).
James is picking up a figure from Is. 33:11, again concerning the final
judgment: "Your breath, as fire, shall devour you". Their breath, their
words, were as fire which would in the end be the basis of their
condemnation. Nadab and Abihu kindled strange fire, and it was with that
fire that God burnt them up, in symbol of His destruction of all the
wicked at judgment day (Lev. 10:2). "He that believes not is condemned
already" (Jn. 3:18). A heretic is already condemned of himself (Tit.
3:11); our heart can condemn us now (1 Jn. 3:20).
There is an amazing ability in human nature to believe that wealth lasts
for ever. That's why we recoil in horror at the idea of forsaking all we
have. James 5:3 says well that gold rusts. Yet we know it doesn’t rust.
But in the very end, it does in the sense that it doesn’t last in our
hands for ever. Especially in the perspective of the soon return of Jesus,
materialism is totally inappropriate for the believer awaiting Him. James
5:3 RV says it so clearly: “Ye have laid up your treasures in the last
days”. It’s as if it’s self-evidently inappropriate to build up wealth in
the last days. Period. The men of Beth-Shemesh were smitten because they
looked into the ark (1 Sam. 6:19). I suspect this was because they wanted
to find any more jewels which the Philistines might have placed there. In
the face and presence of the things of the supreme glory of Jehovah of
Israel, they scavenged around in a spirit of petty materialism- just as
men gambled for the clothes of Jesus at the foot of His cross.
5:4 Indeed, the wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you
kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the
ears of the Lord of Sabaoth- We have frequently made reference
to this verse previously, showing how this was being done by the rich farm
owners in the ecclesia, under the pretext that the poor brethren who were
their employees were spiritually unworthy; and it is to this that 2:6
concerning despising the poor refers. This situation could well have
occurred within a small household ecclesia, thus putting much more
pressure on the labourer brethren.
There is a reference here to Mal.3:5, which is in the context of
describing the day of the Lord's sudden coming to the temple in fire in
AD70 (v.1-3), and primarily refers to the judgements on the corrupt
priesthood: "I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift
witness against... false swearers, and against those that oppress (mg.
'defraud', cp. James 5:4) the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the
fatherless (James 1:27), and that turn aside the stranger from his right
(James 2:2 cp. 2:6 implies unexpected visiting brethren were refused
material help), and fear not Me... return unto Me.. .But you said, Wherein
shall we return?... It is vain to serve God... we call the proud happy
(cp. glorying in their proud boastings)"- Mal. 3:5,7,14,15. Again, the
eldership of the Jewish ecclesias is being likened to the priesthood under
the Old Covenant (see notes on 4:8), and the priests' stealing of the
offerings matched the elders financially abusing the poor of the flock
within the ecclesias. The materialism and subsequent laxness of Israel's
shepherds has uncanny similarities with criticisms which could be levelled
at their latter day equivalent.
We have seen in our notes on "consume" in 4:3 and 5:3 that the weakness of
these brethren was for hard cash- hence it was "the hire" that was kept
back. Passages warning about the dangers of loving money (e.g. 1 Tim.
6:10) can now be interpreted with reference to this class of believers.
The cry of these brethren coming up to God connects with Elihu's inspired
accusation of Job causing the cry of the poor to rise to God (Job 34:28),
thus making Job a type of the rich Jews of the first century ecclesia who
had to learn the true ways of God through their sufferings.
A cry entering God's ears recalls he effect of the slaughter of Abel by
Cain (Gen.4:10), who as the first human liar and murderer was a prototype
of the Jewish devil (Jn. 8:44). His persecution and slaughter of Abel
represented the oppression of the poor Christians by these
Judaist-influenced brethren. Cain's killing of Abel pointed forward to
that of Christ by the Jews, and thus James is saying that by enduring the
abuses of these so-called elders in the ecclesia, the poor brethren were
fellowshiping the sufferings of Christ on the cross at the hands of the
Jewish elders of His 'ecclesia'. Each of our sufferings too can be
examined to show echoes of the cross. It appears that Cain's hate of Abel
was based on spiritual pride- Gen.4:3 speaks of their review by God "at
the end of the day" (AVmg.), and Gen. 4:7 suggests that then a choice was
made between them by God as to who should be priest: "If you do well,
shall you not have the excellency?... and unto you shall be his desire"
AVmg.). This type of hurt pride is easily discernible in the actions of
the Jewish elders towards the more spiritual believers, and in the
persecution of Jesus by the Jews. Thus the description of the brethren as
condemning and killing the just in v.6 applies both to Christ on the cross
and to the spiritual condemnation and lack of love ("killing", in terms of
the sermon on the mount) which was being shown towards the poor brethren
by their reprobate elders. Note how Rom. 12:14 speaks of brethren
persecuting each other within the ecclesia.
God's hearing of a sincere cry of affliction also looks back to Israel in
bondage to Egypt, whose cry was then answered by Angelic intervention.
Similarly the use of the title "Lord of Sabaoth" is the equivalent of the
"Lord of hosts" with all its Angelic implications. This emphasis is
doubtless due to the fact that Angels brought the punishment of natural
and spiritual Israel in the AD70 period (Mt.22:7 cp. Rev. 19:14; Dan.
4:35). The echo of Israel's experience in Egypt is surely intended: "The
children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and
their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage" (Ex. 2:23). This
would associate the rich Jewish believers with the Egyptians in their
persecution of God's people. And as natural Israel were delivered at
Passover, so these suffering poor believers would be at the second coming,
which the Passover deliverance typified.
"Reaped down" is a totally different Greek word to that used in "them
which have reaped". The latter means to harvest in the agricultural sense,
whilst the former means more 'to gather together', thus linking with the
idea of heaping treasure together in the previous verse.
The hard work of the labouring brethren had brought riches to the rich
elders, yet still they defrauded them of their wages, showing the degree
of their wide-eyed lust for money.
The complaint of the believer-labourers cheated by their masters is
paralleled with the cry of the wages which they were owed. This cry
entered into the ears of the Lord of judgment (James 5:4). The situation
was counted as the prayer of those brethren against the brethren employing
and deceiving them.
5:5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have
fattened your hearts only for a day of slaughter- Note
the certainty of James' accusations- "You have" occurs four times in as
many verses. This shows the certainty of inspiration, either through James
having seen how they had lived in Israel before their scattering, the
inspired reports of the 'messengers of the churches', or a direct
satellite-vision of their present situation given to James. Their living
in pleasure on the earth may refer back to the affluent man in the parable
of the rich man and Lazarus, who represented the Jewish priesthood (Lk.
16:19). Compare this with the same class being represented by the rich
farmer in the greater barns parable. The mocking of the requests of poor
Lazarus would refer to the rich Jewish eldership despising the welfare
requests of the poor believers.
The use of the phrase "on the earth" may be reminding them that they were
amassing pleasure on earth as opposed to Heaven, as v.3 had also made
clear. Alternatively, the past tenses here may refer to James' knowledge
of how they had lived "on the earth" or land of Israel. The words for
"pleasure" and "wanton" imply glorious feasting; "ye have nourished your
hearts" therefore equates their minds with their bodies. This is a theme
of James- that our way of thinking and our physical actions and sensations
are indivisible. Their glorious feasting was really feeding the evil
desires of their hearts which had led them to hold the feasts. Yet in
practice they were fattening themselves in readiness for the slaughter to
provide meat for another feast- that of God's wrath (cp. the description
of the day of the Lord's judgment as a feast with slaughtered beasts in
Is. 34:6). The Greek for "nourished" can also mean 'to stiffen', digging
at their refusal to let their hearts be changed by the word. "A day of
slaughter" suggests reference to Ez. 34:2-4, which condemns the pastors of
Israel for killing the spiritually fat of the flock but not spiritually
feeding the others; and also to the "day of slaughter" of those in Jer.
12:1-3 whose hearts were far from God because of their prosperity,
although they had a show of Godliness. There is probably another link to
Jer. 25:34, where the shepherds of the flock were to be killed in the AD70
slaughter (Jer. 25:38=AD70; 25:32=Mt. 24=AD70).
It is the Lord's will that we His people should be ready for Him; the
harvest is reaped when it is ripe; His apparent delay in returning is in
order to give us time for spiritual development. It seems not coincidental
that in these last days there is now unparalleled opportunity for giving
up what material wealth we have for the Lord's cause. To heap up
possessions (in whatever way) in the last days is absurd; it's like a cow
eating just before he's slaughtered (James 5:5), or in Jeremiah's terms,
like a bird building up its nest just before it flies off in migration.
There are concrete opportunities galore to give to the Lord's work,
whether it be a postage stamp per week in one context, or trying to pay
one's fares to a Bible School rather than presume on the generosity of
others, to a large regular donation of cash in another believer's context.
Who we leave 'our' property to (if we have any) is something else we can
ponder. We have been given all that we have from the Lord, it is not our
own, and He watches our attitude to it carefully. What we have is not ours
because we worked for it- although that, I know, is how it feels. It is
ours on loan. Surely this of itself ought to mean that each of us leaves
our property, if we own any, to the work of the Truth, or to a brother or
sister who we know will use the resulting funds in the Lord's work (after
the pattern of how David left all his personal wealth to the work of the
temple, rather than to Solomon personally- 1 Chron. 29:3 NIV).
5:6 You have condemned, you have killed the righteous, even though he
does not oppose you- We have shown in our comments on v.4 that "the
just" can refer to both the Lord Jesus Christ and the oppressed underclass of believers.
Their sumptuous feasts of v.5 were at the expense of killing fatted
animals- who represented the spiritually fat, ideal sacrifices of the Lord
and the poor brethren. The idea of killing being equated with lack of love
is popular in James- e.g. 4:2; 2:11, based on Mt. 5:22. There seems to be
a contrast here with 4:6, where God is said to resist (same word) the
prayer of the brethren. Maybe the maximum show of God's displeasure with
them was only in not answering their prayers for material things and
money. Thus an apparent lack of major signs of displeasure from God should
not lull any of us into thinking that this means we are totally acceptable
in God's sight.
"The just one" is a title of the Lord Jesus (Acts 3:14; 7:52; 22:14) whom
they crucified afresh, and "He doth not resist you" indicates that one
particular "just one" is being referred to. However, "the just" can also
refer to those justified by their faith, which is how it is used in early
Romans (1:17; 2:13), a part of Scripture which James' readers seem to have
been familiar with in view of the number of references made to it. By
being justified by their faith these believers were not relying on the
Mosaic law- for which they seem to have been condemned by their elders.
Yet they did not resist the abuses made of them, but followed Christ's
example on the cross. Thus we have the impression of this group of
brethren being condemned by pompous, materialistic elders claiming to have
some new revelation from God, who used this as an excuse to withhold their
wages and publicly humiliate them at the communion service (2:2); and in
the face of all this, they did not actively resist but took the sad state
of the ecclesia to God in prayer- cp. the faithful servants sorrowfully
telling their Lord about the abuses of one of their number by the
much-forgiven ecclesial elder (Mt. 18:31). The cry of those servants and
their fellow brethren whom James is referring to "entered into the ears of
the Lord of Sabaoth"- and He heard.
5:7 Therefore brothers, be patient until the coming of the Lord.
Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being
patient over it, until it receive the early and latter rain- This
final section of the letter appears to be addressed to the whole ecclesia,
with a bias towards those who were being persecuted by the rich brethren.
Its theme is an appeal for positive co-operation in order to help each
other repent and thus be ready for the imminent coming of the Lord. It is
therefore intensely relevant to the Lord's people of today. Note that
James appears to have expected the second coming in his time: "Unto the
coming of the Lord". "Patient" means literally to be 'long-spirited',
again showing the fundamental importance of the control of the mind. It
can also imply to suffer patiently, as if encouraging the abused brethren
to continue to use their spiritual minds to spiritually endure the trials
the others were giving them. Their patience is equated with that of God,
as a husbandman waiting for spiritual fruit to develop. This shows James'
urging of them to continue their non-resistance to these brethren so that
they would bear spiritual fruit, and maybe also the suggestion that they
were to be patient with the misguided elders until they too bore spiritual
fruit. James 5 goes on to speak of the patience of the prophets in
continuing to speak the word- as if to encourage these brethren to keep
using the word to help the others to bear spiritual fruit- cp. notes on
3:18.
"The coming of the Lord" is paralleled with receiving the early and latter
rain, which must be referring back to Joel 2:23 and Dt. 11:13,14
concerning the blessings of the Kingdom which would be experienced once
Israel repented. Note that there is a dearth of direct Biblical evidence
to support the idea that the early and latter rains refer to the
outpourings of the Spirit in the first century and the Kingdom- although
humanly speaking the idea fits nicely. Biblically they seem to refer to
the physical blessings of the land as a result of Israel's obedience. Thus
again there is the inference that James looked for the literal second
coming and establishment of the Kingdom being in AD70, conditional on
Israel's repentance.
The precious spiritual fruit of the ecclesia would only be fully harvested
by the Lord then- maybe indicating that the attitude of mind we develop
now will be fully manifested in terms of spiritual fruit by our reaction
to that great moment of absolute truth at the judgment. "Precious fruit"
carries the specific idea of great financial value in Greek- as if to
encourage them that the spiritual fruit being developed by their poverty
was the true riches, thus again connecting with the allusion in v.3 to the
Lord's words about treasure in Heaven rather than on earth.
The long patience of God for spiritual development until the coming of the
Lord is clearly parallel with 2 Pet. 3:7-15, which says that the apparent
delay in the Lord's coming was in order to give them the opportunity of
developing spiritual fruit. "As workers together with God" for their
spiritual growth and subsequent acceptance at judgement, they were to be
patient under the trials God was bringing- as God too was patient in
watching their gradual development of fruit. The husbandman receiving the
rains connects with Dt. 11:13,14 describing a repentant, obedient to the
word Israel being given the rains- again showing the Jewish audience of
the letter, and stressing the need for the whole ecclesia to repent.
5:8 Be you also patient. Establish your hearts. For the coming of the
Lord is at hand!- Again, James throws down an ultimate
challenge- to show the same supreme patience to our stumbling spiritual
development and blatant faults which God shows to us, to both the trials
which help us develop and also to our weak brethren.
"Establish" means both to set fast/ confirm, and also to turn resolutely-
which neatly makes it relevant to both groups in the readership, the one
who needed to continue to develop their already spiritual mind, and the
other who needed to resolutely turn their hearts around in repentance. The
word occurs relatively frequently in Thessalonians, also in the context of
preparing for the Lord's coming- showing that the main way of preparing
for the second coming is by a conscious development of our way of
thinking, which can only be achieved through true commitment to the word.
Very often the Greek word for "stablish" is used about God stablishing our
heart- showing that God will work on our hearts in accord with our
personal effort. 1 Thess. 3:12,13 even suggests that this stablishing or
confirming of the mind which we have personally developed will be done for
us at the judgment seat, where self-doubt as to whether we have had a
truly spiritual mind will loom large: "Abound in love one toward
another... to the end He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness
before God... at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ". Notice this
stablishing is dependent on loving each other now- very relevant in the
James context.
The coming of the Lord was drawing nearer on behalf of their patience. The
exhortation to patience was not just because they needed to patiently
endure in their spirituality, but also because James was probably aware
that the second coming of the Lord which he expected in the first century
was quite likely to be delayed, due to the lack of Israel's repentance.
Both James and the parallel Peter (2 Pet. 3:11,15) are saying: 'Be patient
for the second coming and continue your spiritual patience so that it will
come quicker and you won't have to be patient for so long'. Thus Peter's
parallel to this v.8 is "The end of all things is at hands: be therefore
sober (self-controlled- by having a stablished mind), and watch unto
prayer. And above all things have fervent love among yourselves" (1 Pet.
4:7,8). They were to continue their effective love to those brethren who
so abused them, praying earnestly for the second coming. This would only
be achieved by their continued attention to stablishing their thinking, so
that it was consistently controlled by the word rather than just being
partially controlled- which was the root cause of the semi-faith and
lukewarm commitment to true spirituality that had been the downfall of the
other brethren.
"Draws near" literally means 'is made near'- the more spiritually aware,
especially those who had heard of Peter's reasoning in 2 Pet.3, would have
seen in this the implication that a stablishing of the mind would draw
near the Lord's coming. The same Greek phrase occurs in 4:8 "Draw near to
God, and He will draw near to you"- and we have seen that this refers to
praying to God acceptably from a heart influenced by the word. Such prayer
would hasten the second coming- a basic principle taught in the Lord's
prayer, seeing there is no point in praying "Thy Kingdom come" unless we
believe those prayers will result in the days being shortened to that day.
James 5:8 cp. v.11 seems to connect "the coming of the Lord" and "the end
of the Lord" with Job in Job 42. The fact that the Lord was "very pitiful,
and of tender mercy" with Job thus reminds us of how He will be in our day
of judgement.
5:9- see on Lk. 12:2.
Brothers, do not complain about each other, so that you are not judged.
Behold! The judge stands at the door!- In view of the gross abuses
going on, it must have been a sore temptation for the poor brethren to
grudge against their elders- not least when they turned them away empty
handed at pay day (v.4). James is pleading with them to keep up their
excellent attitude of not resisting (v.6)- because at any moment the true
judge would come. And note too that if they did resist by grudging, they
also would be condemned at the Lord's coming- for taking the judgment of
these renegade servants of the Lord into their own hands. How much less
have we any right to judge our fellow servants of today! James' reasoning
implied that the verdict of condemnation pronounced on them by the other
brethren (v.6) was not valid- but they would only be condemned if they
grudged against such treatment.
The Greek for "grudge" is normally used concerning the groaning of sincere
prayer, often in silence, brought about by suffering- e.g. Mk. 7:34; Acts
7:34; Rom. 8:23,26; 2 Cor. 5:2,4- although it also carries the idea of
complaining. Thus instead of making their complaints to each other, they
were to quietly make them to God- and the Lord Jesus, with "groanings
(same word as "grudge") which cannot be uttered" (Rom. 8:26) would make
powerful intercession for them. Peter's equivalent for them being
condemned is in his warning that Sodom and Gomorrha were "condemned with
an overthrow", making them an ensample unto those that after should live
unGodly" (2 Pet. 2:6). If this is a valid connection, James is saying that
vicious bitterness against brethren who are wrongly abusing you, leading
you to condemn them, is the same magnitude of sin as living the reprobate
life of the Sodomites. Similarly "the judge stands before the door" is
clearly matched by 1 Pet. 4:4,5, which says that some - the same group of
Judaizers within the ecclesia?- "think it strange that ye run not with
them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you (this is the sort of
accusation often made by the Judaist infiltrators- cp. their smear
campaign on Paul): who shall give account to him that is ready (cp.
"before the door") to judge the quick and the dead".
Thus a life of "excess of riot" is the same as giving way to bitterness in
the heart that leads to condemnation of the brethren. This connection
between 5:9 and 1 Pet. 4:5 parallels the coming of the Lord in judgment
with the resurrection- the judging of living and dead. Thus James and
Peter did not think of the Lord's coming in any sense other than how we
think of the second coming- to raise and judge the dead, and establish the
Kingdom on earth (see notes on 5:7). Thus Paul, probably writing to the
same group of Jewish believers: "Wherefore we receiving (i.e. being so
near to receiving it we are practically receiving it now) a Kingdom which
cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably
with reverence and Godly fear" (Heb. 12:28)- i.e. in the development of
truly spiritual characteristics in our heart. Such acute awareness of the
imminence of the Lord's coming should surely be matched by us, as we live
on the very edge of time and human experience as we know it, when "the end
of all things is at hand" (1 Pet. 4:7).
This likening of the second coming to Christ standing at the door must
surely connect with Rev. 3:20: "I stand at the door, and knock: if any man
hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with
him". Having a formal meal ("sup") with the believer must connect with the
Lord's parable of the marriage supper representing the Kingdom. These
letters having been written before AD70, Christ is maybe saying that if
only there was a true response to His word on an individual basis ("If any
man..."), then he would fully come in the glory of His Kingdom in AD70.
The principle of interpreting Scripture by Scripture- in this case Rev.
3:20 by James 5:9- surely has violence done to it if the Lord's standing,
knocking at the door is not understood with some reference to the second
coming. James 5:9 pleads with believers not to grudge / groan /
sigh (Gk.) against each other on the very eve of the Lord's coming.
5:10 Brothers, take for an example the suffering and patience of the
prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord- We have suggested in our
notes on v.7 that the example of the prophets patiently speaking forth the
word of God amidst opposition from others in their ecclesia, was an
example of the patience the wrongly denigrated brethren needed in
continuing to gently rebuke the erring brethren with the word; and to
continue patiently letting the word dwell in their minds so that they did
not let bitterness develop. This appears to be another allusion to the
beatitudes- this time to Mt. 5:11,12: "Blessed are you, when men (even in
the ecclesia, in their case) shall revile you, and persecute you, and
shall say all manner of evil against you falsely... rejoice, and be
exceeding glad (cp. James 1:2)... for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you". This enduring physical suffering not only
associated them with the Lord Jesus, but also with a whole band of men who had
faithfully spoken forth the word in the past. The fact the prophets had
suffered for speaking forth the word to an apostate Israel indicates that
the persecution of the brethren was due to their Biblically hitting the
rest of the ecclesia below the belt.
The Greek for "suffering [affliction]" really means 'hardship', referring
to the obvious domestic hardship brought about by the holding back of the
wages by the criticized brethren. We have suggested that the eldership in
the Jewish ecclesias probably had the gift of prophecy, and even if they
did not, these to whom James was writing certainly thought they did. Thus
James is pointing out from much Biblical precedent that being a prophet
was associated with experiencing hardship as a result of persecution and
unfair treatment by those who claimed to be brethren (so the Mt. 5:12
allusion intimates); and also with being patient with many opposers. Such
reasoning would have been very telling on these elders. It is hard to see
why the reminder should be given that the prophets spoke in the name of
the Lord. Maybe it was because the poor brethren's Scriptural protests
were being ridiculed as not being spoken in the name of the Lord. In this
case James would be encouraging them that by reason of their being
persecuted for their message, they were proving their association with
those who were truly inspired to speak in the Lord's name. Speaking forth
the word is often associated with carrying the name of God; not only in
the sense that prophets spoke God's word in the Lord's name, but that the
word develops the attributes of the Name (Ex. 34:4-7) in a man's
character, thus leading him to carry God's Name if he shows forth the
truth, mercy and patience of the Lord. By their correct response to the
word these believers were similar to the prophets in that they spoke in
the name of the Lord.
5:11 Behold, we call them blessed that endured. You have heard of the
patience of Job, and have seen the result that the Lord intended, how the
Lord is full of pity and is merciful- The concluding theme of
this letter is that despite their faults, all the ecclesia should pray for
God's forgiveness for the others, especially bearing in mind the physical
affliction that had been brought on some of them because of the grossness
of their sins (see notes on 4:12). Job was a prophet (Job 29:4), one of
those referred to in the preceding verse, and his example seems to be
behind much of what James says in this chapter. "Happy" being the same
word translated "Blessed" in the beatitudes encourages us to see an
allusion here back to Mt. 5:10-12, which v.10 has already referred to:
blessed are those who endure tribulation for speaking the word. The Jews
("we") counted the prophets as blessed people because of their sufferings
(Mt. 23:29; Acts 13:15,27). Indeed, the Greek for "count" means 'to
beautify', and is from the word for "happy/ blessed". The suffering which
Job endured was not just physical but more especially from the mental
trauma created in him by the criticisms of him by his friends with their
(false?) claims to be inspired prophets, saying that his sufferings were
due to gross spiritual weakness. This was probably the elders' reason for
not supporting the poor brethren- they would have reasoned that their
hardships were a sign of God's displeasure because of their lack of
spirituality. We have discussed the problem of Job being credited with
"patience" despite his mistakes elsewhere; his patience seem to have been
in continuing to speak forth the true word of God, and in having the
humility at the end to accept his failures. That Job did have failures is
indicated by James saying that in "the end of the Lord" He showed great
mercy and pity, which would imply forgiveness. The same word is used in
Heb. 10:28 concerning the man dying without mercy, i.e. forgiveness, under
the Law as a punishment for sin.
"Full of pity" is very intense in Greek- elsewhere it is translated
"bowels", "inward affection". Thus the position of Job touched the Lord's
heart in a way few other human experiences are said to in the word. We
have elsewhere shown Job to have been a man who allowed himself to be too
far influenced by the Judaist-type philosophy of the friends, the 'elders'
of his ecclesia, and yet to have kept doggedly reflecting on and believing
God's basic principles so that he eventually came to an appreciation of
human nature and God's greatness which few others have done. The poor
brethren in the Jewish ecclesias were in a similar position- being worn
down by the spiritually cocksure reasoning of their elders, feeling
increasingly spiritually desperate because of their words, as Job did, and
therefore needing every encouragement to patiently continue rather than
give way in bitterness, so that they might come to the same end as Job.
The tremendous pity which God showed for Job would also be shown to them
if they fully fellowshiped his example by their patient endurance.
It is not only so that we can limit God by our prayers. It is also true
that prayer and spirituality can to some degree change the stated
intentions of God, such is His openness to it. That God has intentions
proves of itself that there can be a degree to which what He intends to do
is governed by human response. James reasons that because we have seen
“the end intended by the Lord” (James 5:11 NKJ) we ought therefore to do
the maximum of our ability. Thus Amos pronounced what the Lord had
shown him: that the land would be destroyed by grasshoppers, and then by
fire. But each time he begged Yahweh to relent. And “the Lord repented for
this: It shall not be, says the Lord” (Am. 7:1-7).
5:12- see on Mt. 23:28.
But above all things, my brothers, do not make oaths. Neither by the
heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath; but let your yes, mean
yes, and your no, mean no, so that you will not fall under judgment- This may well be referring to Job again, in his
over-dogmatism brought about by the intensity of his sufferings; e.g. his
cursing of the day he was born, and his swearing that he will never
confess to being a sinner or admit that his sufferings were justified
because of his sinfulness (see Job 27:5 and context). This was the type of
statement which he repented of at the end. Similarly, James wants the
brethren not to let the emotionally charged nature of their situation lead
them to make any other response apart from a humble response governed by
the word. Hence v.13 and 14 go on to say that the response to affliction,
sickness or falling away should always be expressed in the form of prayer,
rather than in self-generated oaths. The stress of "above all things" is
hard to understand until the passage in the sermon on the mount which this
verse is based on is properly appreciated.
Mt. 5:33 quotes Lev. 19:12 concerning swearing, which warns that oaths by
the Lord's name should not be made lightly but had to be fulfilled,
otherwise the name of the Lord would be blasphemed. Therefore the Lord
quotes this as saying "You shall not forswear thyself (i.e. swear
falsely), but shall perform (His emphasis being on that word) unto the
Lord your oaths" (i.e. oaths made in His name). But because Christ so
appreciated the extreme proneness to failure which we have by nature, He
correctly declared that whatever men claimed they would do 'by the Lord's
name' was likely to be "of the evil one", i.e. the devil of their own
heart (Mt. 5:37), and therefore plans to do the Lord's work should be
expressed in straightforward, unassuming language. Even with the best
intention in the world, the Lord knew that oaths could so easily go
unperformed. Christ concluded His advice with His reason for it: "For
whatsoever is more than these cometh of the evil one" (AVmg.). The
phrasing of James 5:12 is similar, and matches this with "Lest you fall
into condemnation"- which connects with the theme of the whole letter,
that "above all things" the believer must not give way to his innate evil
desires because doing so will lead to rejection at the judgment. And
again, he singles out the expression of those desires through the tongue
("swear not") as being the most likely form of failure.
The Greek word used for 'falling' here does not carry the idea of falling
headlong, as in "Fall from your own steadfastness" in 2 Pet. 3:17, but
rather of a more gradual stepping down from their high spiritual position-
as if to say that whether they dramatically fell by renouncing their faith
or apparently just stepped down a little by responding to the trials given
by these false brethren, the result was the same- condemnation at the
judgment which James believed was so imminent. "Condemnation" is also
translated "hypocrisy"- i.e. they could step down into a
semi-spirituality, which was tantamount to being condemned.
Those who speak strong words with Divine oaths will 'fall under judgment'
for those words (James 5:12 RV); if they don't use them, they won't have
to have them considered at the judgment. And thus "He that keeps his mouth
keepeth his life; but he that opens wide his lips [in this life] shall
have destruction" at judgment day (Prov. 13:3). The children of Edom will
have their words against Zion remembered against them at judgment:
"Remember, O Lord, against the children of Edom The day of Jerusalem; Who
said, Rase it, rase it" (Ps. 137:7 RV). The link between the final verdict
and the words we use today is that clear.
5:13 Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him
sing praise- The previous verse has been emphasizing the
importance of not letting our words run away with us- and therefore James
now tells us to channel all our words through prayer, rather than indulge
in the circular talking of Job and the friends which was the exact
opposite of "Yes, yes... no, no". "Afflicted" is the same word translated
"affliction" in v.10 concerning Job's hardships.
"Cheerful" really means 'To be cheered up' after hardship, and is only
used elsewhere in the record of Paul's shipwreck concerning the company
being of "good cheer" after Paul's stirring exhortation on the deck-
surely one of the most dynamic and powerful appeals for faith ever heard
(Acts 27:22,36). It may be that some of them had found legitimate release
from their sufferings, perhaps by contributions from other ecclesias.
Alternatively, James may be talking hypothetically: 'Even if any of you
find relief, then express your joy in the words of the psalms rather than
giving reign to your own natural inclinations to make a rash oath to God
in gratitude'. Those who had been 'cheered up' may refer to the rich
brethren- instead of expressing their joy in rowdy parties dressed up with
spiritual excuses (Jude 12; 1 Cor. 11:21; James 2:2), they should express
it in the words of psalms.
"Sing" here is also translated "making melody" in Eph. 5:19, where Paul
speaks of doing so in the heart by singing "psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs". It is perhaps significant that Paul advises them to do this as an
antidote to being drunk (Eph. 5:18)- and if James is speaking about the
need to sing psalms instead of indulging in drunken revelry at the
communion service, then he would be saying the same thing as Paul.
Drunkenness at the breaking of bread must have been a regular occurrence
at Corinth at least, from how Paul writes (e.g. "Another is drunken...
when(ever) you come together... this is not to eat the Lord's supper”, 1
Cor. 11:20,21). Singing psalms would have been done at the breaking of
bread service to imitate the singing of the Hallel Psalms (113-118) at the
last supper (Mt. 26:30); and the reference to Psalm singing in 1 Cor.
14:26 also seems to be in the communion service context. Thus it may be
that v.13-16 are describing what should have been happening at the
memorial feast- there should have been prayer rather than complaining by
the suffering, psalm singing rather than drunkenness by the joyful, the
time given over to conversation- which would have been considerable, if
the service was based on that of the Jewish Sabbath or Passover- should
have been spent confessing faults rather than bragging, condemning and
spreading false doctrine (Jude 10-12 cp. 2 Pet. 2:18,19), and this should
have given way to loving prayer for those who had been struck sick because
of committing such sins.
5:14 Is any among you sick? 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- There are two different words translated "sick" in :14 and :15
The first implies more 'weariness of mind', as if spiritual weakness is
being referred to. The references to "save a soul from death and... hide a
multitude of sins" in v.20 is in the same context of spiritual sickness.
In any case, it is unlikely that James would be saying that any physical
sickness could be cured, bearing in mind Paul's thorn in the flesh.
"The elders of the church" may be those of the Jerusalem ecclesia, as that
is whom "the elders" often refers to in the New Testament. However, it is
just as likely that they refer to the Spirit-gifted eldership of the
individual ecclesias to whom this letter was sent- their anointing with
oil shows their control of the use of the Spirit. This pouring out of oil
not only recalls the use of the Spirit to heal the physically sick by the
disciples (Mk. 6:13), but also the outpouring of the Spirit in the gift of
forgiveness in Acts 2:37,38. In this case James would be emphasizing the
need to respect the eldership because of their possession of the Spirit,
which made them God's representatives regardless of their personal
spirituality. Compare this with David's respect for apostate,
Spirit-gifted Saul, and the respect Israel had to give their reprobate
judges (Ps. 82:1-5). Notice that it was possible for "the prayer of faith"
by these elders to "save the sick" despite their unspirituality. Similarly
Paul warned an identical group at Corinth that although they had faith to
move mountains through the Spirit- e.g. curing the sick- their lack of
love would deprive them of salvation personally (1 Cor. 13:2). Spiritual
success in any form- be it in preaching or the triumph of faith in a
particular problem- can so easily tempt us to feel that therefore in all
other areas our life must be acceptable with God. But not necessarily so.
5:15 And the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick and the Lord
shall raise him up, and if he has committed sins, it shall be forgiven him-
"The sick" in v.15 does refer to physical sickness, although "raise him
up" is also used concerning a spiritual revival (Rom. 13:11 cp. Eph.
5:14). This confusion between physical and spiritual sickness is
understandable once it is appreciated that physical sickness was brought
upon weak members of the first century ecclesia in order to lead them to
repentance (see notes on 4:12). Therefore v.16 tells them to confess their
faults to each other so that they could pray for forgiveness and
subsequent healing for their brethren.
5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to each other, and pray for each
other, so that you may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man
avails much in its working- Note the parallel effect of the
prayer of a friendly brother and that of the eldership in v.14,15- again
indicating that in ultimate terms an elder had no spiritual power that was
not possessed by any brother who had a humble faith. The Job allusions
continue, this time to his prayer for the forgiveness of his friends (Job
42:8). Job himself was ill at the time he prayed for the friends- his
"captivity" was ended "when he prayed for his friends" (Job 42:10). That
James too was counselling the sick to pray for the sick is implied by
"pray one for another, that you may be healed". The sickness being brought
on as a result of their sins in holding false, Judaist doctrine confirms
that James read Job, under inspiration, as a type of those influenced by
Judaist thinking. Based on Job's example, James is probably advising them
to concentrate on forgiving and loving one another, as this would lead to
their personal repentance and thus their cure too. This would imply that
the fundamental sin that was causing their sickness was their gross lack
of love and spiritual concern for each other.
As these sick brethren were to call for the elders of the ecclesia to pray
for them, it may be that the rich, spiritually proud brethren whom James
has been reprimanding in his letter may not have been the true eldership,
although they fancied themselves as such. However, it appears that the
problem of spiritual and subsequent physical sickness was widespread in
all groups of the ecclesia, including the eldership. There seems, at first
glance, two types of prayer spoken of in v.15 and 16; a calling of the
elders to pray for the sick person, and the afflicted ones confessing
their sins to each other in order to effect a cure. Yet in view of what we
know of the corruption of the eldership, it would seem better to treat
these two descriptions as parallel- the elder who had been struck
seriously sick was to call the others to him, and at the pathetic bedside
of the once arrogant rich farmer they, too, were to confess their sins, so
that not only would he be cured, but their less serious sicknesses would
also be lifted. To be successful this kind of prayer had to be
"effectual". The Greek energeo
gives the idea of dynamic expenditure of energy. Such effort in prayer for
the spiritual welfare of others can only come from a truly selfless
spirit. The prayer of our Lord for us and the disciples in Gethsemane
springs to mind. The connection is strengthened by "fervent" being the
same word translated "earnestly" in Lk. 22:44 concerning the Lord's
praying more earnestly with huge tears. This would suggest that James
understood Christ's prayer in Gethsemane not just to have been for
personal strength but also for our forgiveness and salvation. Thus in Lk.
22:46 He could encourage the sleepy disciples to rise and pray also-
i.e. as well as him praying for them- that they did not fall into
temptation. Note how "watch" in Mt. 26:38 is elsewhere used about
spiritual watching rather than being on the look out for people
approaching. Heb. 5:6,7 lends support by saying that Christ's agonizing
prayer in the garden that God would save Him from death was fulfilling the
type of Melchizedek, who prayed to God for other people, not just himself.
The only way of reconciling all this is to see Christ's prayer for
salvation from death as being motivated by His desire for our salvation
from death. No wonder James refers to this as the supreme example of
showing spiritual love for our brethren in our prayer life.
"Avails" means literally to 'in-work'- as if prayer for others will help
us personally by our offering it. This idea seems to be picked up in the
next verse.
James 5:16 speaks of the need to pray for one another, that we may be
healed. This is an undoubted allusion back to mighty Moses praying for
smitten Miriam, and to Aaron staying the plague by his offering of incense
/ prayer (Num. 16:47). Surely James is saying that every one of us can
rise up to the level of High Priest in this sense.
Elijah could be so sure his prayer would be heard because he knew that he
was genuinely motivated. His reason for withholding the rain and dew was
so that Israel would come to repentance (James 5:16-18)- perhaps through
them perceiving that lack of rain was a sign that they had broken the
covenant. In this case, Elijah was somewhat harsher than God Himself, who
had not yet withdrawn rain from His people. Elijah “shut the heavens", even
though Israel rejected him at that time (Lk. 4:25,26). Their rejection of
him is unrecorded in the Kings record, but we are left to reflect upon the
wonder of the fact that Elijah’s response to rejection was not to merely
hurt back, but to earnestly seek their restoration to God. He “prayed in
his prayer” (James 5:17 Gk.)- there was a deep prayer going on within his
prayer, words and feelings within words- the prayer of the very inner
soul. This was how much he sought their repentance. The James passage sets
Elijah up as a pattern for our prayer for our wayward brethren. He really
is our pattern here. He clearly saw prayer as requiring much effort; and
the way he prays at the time of the evening sacrifice on Horeb suggests
that he saw prayer as a sacrifice (1 Kings 18:36).
5:17 Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently
that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years
and six months-
Elijah's prayer exemplifies how intensely
we should pray for the spiritual benefit of others, and how that in itself
helped him spiritually. In view of the exalted status of Elijah in Jewish
theology, James stresses how he was of "like passions" to us (cp. Acts
14:15)- i.e. he too, because of his inherent human nature, did not find
intense prayer easy. Elijah's fervent prayer was that it might not rain,
and in the context of James his prayer was for the spiritual good of Ahab
and apostate Israel. In the same way as apostles like Paul and Peter could
pray for physical sickness to come upon men to lead them to repentance, so
Elijah prayed for the famine to come upon Israel to make them realize
their sin. James is saying that if the sick brethren and indeed the whole
ecclesia prayed for forgiveness with the same intensity that the apostles
and Elijah had prayed for such physical problems to come upon the
spiritually weak, then those problems could be lifted. But it was only
those who were sensitive to the true spirit of the word, in this case in
the Elijah record, who would have grasped this. The intensity of Elijah's
prayer needs some thought to appreciate, as superficially it appears that
it is hardly recorded that he prayed for the drought. However, it must
have been as a result of his prayer that he could say "there shall not be
dew nor rain these years, but according to my word". This is because of a
principle outlined by Eliphaz in Job 22:27,28; he said that one of the
blessings of living in good conscience with God was that one's prayers
were powerful, and therefore "You shall make your prayer unto (God), and
He shall hear you... you shall also decree a thing (i.e. in prayer), and
it shall be established unto you". Thus the power of prayer is such that
effectively requests became decrees, so sure can we be of their being
answered. So many of the great prayers of Scripture are not littered with
"If it be your will"- instead, because those who prayed were saturated
with knowledge of God's will through their familiarity with the word which
contains God's will (Jn. 1:13 cp. 1 Pet. 1:23), they could pray whatever
they willed, and could be confident of being heard because the word
was in them. And our Lord had said that nothing less was possible for His
people now- Jn. 15:7. Therefore if a man of our passions like Elijah could
pray so powerfully for the weak in his ecclesia, the same was possible for
that of the first century.
One way of realising the seriousness of our sin is to recognise that each
sin we commit, we could have avoided. We must hang our heads, time and
again. In the very end, we can blame neither our circumstances nor our
natures, even though these are factors in the committal of each sin. We
must each bear total personal responsibility for every sin, both of
commission and omission. We must hang our heads. James, as he often does,
foresees how in practice we may reason that fervent prayer isn’t possible,
because…we are angry, low, tired, don’t feel like it. So we tell
ourselves. But James cuts across all this: “Elijah was a man subject to
like passions [RVmg “nature”] as we”- and yet he prayed earnestly
(James 5:17). We can’t excuse our lack of prayer by blaming it on the
“passions” of our natures. Men like Elijah had the same nature as we do,
prone to the same depression and mediocrity, and yet they prayed
fervently.
We are intended to connect Elijah's 3.5 year ministry (James 5:17) with
the 1260 days/42 months (i.e. 3.5 years) of the tribulation of God's
people spoken of in Daniel and Revelation. The description of the whore of
Babylon in Revelation is based upon Jezebel as a prototype. As she ruled
over Israel through her puppet Ahab during Elijah's ministry, so latter
day Babylon (through a puppet Israeli leader?) will dominate Israel during
Elijah's future ministry. Whilst it is quite possible that Israel's
holocaust will last for a literal 3.5 years, during which time 'Elijah'
will be among them, it may be that the similarity of the time periods is
just to indicate that the work of the latter-day Elijah will coincide with
the holocaust period.
Prayer is perhaps the area where it is easiest to have only a surface
level of spirituality, without getting down to real faith, real
perseverance in prayer, real wrestling with God. Elijah "prayed in his
prayer" (James 5:17 AVmg.) reflects the Spirit's recognition that there is
prayer, and real prayer. “Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer” (Ps. 64:1)
seems to say the same: there is our true, pleading voice: and the outward
form of prayer. The form of words we use, the outward form, conceals the
real thing; the real groaning of spirit which is counted by God as
the real prayer.
5:18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth
brought forth her fruit- Again we are left to imagine when,
where and how Elijah made this prayer, seeing that it is unrecorded. After
his glorious triumph of faith on Carmel in the sight of all Israel, there
appeared at last to be a significant repentance: "When all the people saw
it, they fell on their faces: and they said, Yahweh, He is the God", and
promptly proceeded to massacre the priests of Baal. No doubt finding the
four barrels of water to put on the sacrifice as the ritual required had
involved considerable effort- making them reflect on the God whom they
knew in their hearts provided rain. Elijah then went up to the solitude of
the crags of Carmel, "cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face
between his knees (in fervent prayer), and said to his servant, Go up now,
look toward the sea" for rain. This command was repeated seven times.
Being a man of like passions as us, it took seven repeated prayers, a
widow continually coming and not taking no for an answer, for there to be
even an indication of a response. Thus Elijah's 'praying again' was for a
lifting of the physical curse on the land because of their repentance.
Note his running before Ahab's chariot as the rain started to come down,
symbolic of his belief that by his repentance Ahab was the righteous king
that he had come to herald (1 Kings 18:39,33,42-46). This same calibre of
head-between-the-knees, up-in-the-mountain prayer, consistently repeated,
would lead to the lifting of the sickness placed on the first century
ecclesia.
The heaven giving rain is associated with the earth bringing forth her
fruit- miraculously, seeing that it is unlikely that anything had been
planted in the previous three and a half years of total drought. Similarly
God would act over and above their personal ability to develop spiritual
fruit in them, given this basic prerequisite of total faith in prayer,
based on the word truly dwelling in them as it did in Elijah. Similar
victories of faith and repentance are just as possible for us, especially
during the three and a half year period of tribulation which may well come
upon us in the last days. James' specific, inspired mention of the three
and a half year period of drought must be significant, as the duration of
the drought is not mentioned in the Old Testament record. It is possible
to historically demonstrate that there was a three and a half year period
of especial difficulty in the land and among the Jews empire-wide before
the final cataclysm of AD70; during this period the Jewish ecclesias would
have had special opportunity to repent. The situation of AD70 is more than
likely to be replicated in our last days. The way to ensure that we will
stand up to that test is by each showing unlimited love and concern for
the true spiritual welfare of our brother. The final two verses sum this
up, and thereby the whole theme of the epistle.
5:19 My brothers. If anyone among you wanders from the truth, and
someone turns him back- Erring from the truth in the terms of
James' letter is not only limited to doctrinal deviance in the sense of
'first principles', but in showing a lack of love of each other and of the
word, having a selfish materialism rather than a truly spiritual mind, and
having a heart uninfluenced by the word, resulting in uncontrolled words
and a lack of true compassion towards the Lord's brethren. In the context
of the previous verses, James is giving extra incentive to pray for each
other's repentance and forgiveness- such prayer as well as personal
discussion and example really can "convert him". This shows that to some
degree our prayers can influence the spiritual state of another brother
over and above his personal level of spirituality- given certain
prerequisites. If this is not so, and we each totally determine our own
spiritual destiny regardless of the effort of others, then these closing
exhortations of James 5 are without purpose.
5:20 Let him know, that he who turns back a sinner from the error of
his way, he shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of
sins- "Convert" here means literally 'to revert'. It is used in the
New Testament particularly of the conversion of the Jews- i.e. a reverting
of their hearts to the true spirit of their father Abraham (cp. Lk.1:17).
Interestingly, Is.6:10 and Acts 28:27 talk of the Jews refusing to be
sensitive to the word preached in the first century, and therefore not
being healed- both physically and spiritually. This background of the word
'convert' nicely fits the context of James in its associating the ecclesia
with the apostate Jewish world by which they were influenced, and warning
that unless they were more sensitive to the word they would not be healed.
By the same token those who did speak forth the word to try to convert
their brethren were being classified along with Christ and the apostles,
who also spoke the word to try to convert the Jews.
"If... one convert him, let him know..." sounds as if the brethren were
not consciously trying to win converts- yet James encourages them that
their conscious 'preaching' of the word to their wayward brethren and
praying for them were all to the same effect as preaching, seeing that
these brethren were spiritually dead anyway. By re-awakening them to a
truly spiritual life they were saving their soul from death. The 'soul'
here may mean the body or life, in the sense that ultimately acceptance at
the judgment seat would mean that their "soul" or life would not die;
however, it is more likely that the soul here refers to the spiritual
record of the believer. The language of preaching- i.e. conversion and
saving souls- is being used here about the upbuilding of brethren. The
same style is found in Dan. 12:3: "They that be wise (Heb. 'teachers',
i.e. prudent guides) shall shine as the (stars)... and they that turn many
to righteousness as the stars". 1 Thess. 1:8 similarly speaks of the word
of the Lord sounding out from the Thessalonian ecclesia- in the sense that
all the ecclesias near and far were inspired by their evident faith. Thus
it was their spiritual example to others that was their sounding out of
the word. Another example is Phil. 2:15 speaking of the ecclesia
witnessing as lights in the world to "a crooked and perverse nation". A
closer examination of this passage shows that this was through their
holding forth the true word of life to the Judaizers amongst them. The
specific nation referred to cannot be the Roman world in general, but
rather the Jews. This suggestion is clinched by the fact that Paul is here
quoting Dt. 32:5, which is describing the apostate among the ecclesia in
the wilderness as "a perverse and crooked generation".
Thus Paul like James is using the language of preaching, to describe how
they should work through the word and prayer to build up the apostate
amongst the new Israel during their wilderness walk to the Kingdom.
Likewise Acts 20:7 speaks of Paul "preaching unto" the Troas ecclesia in
his breaking of bread exhortation. The language of preaching being used in
upbuilding existing believers may help explain why Paul sometimes speaks
to believers as if he is imparting basic doctrine to them; thus "Behold, I
shew you a mystery: We shall not all sleep" (1 Cor. 15:51) was written to
believers. Writing to the same ecclesia a while later there is more of the
same: "As though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead,
be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:20).
The exact parallel of these verses in James is found in 1Pet. 4:7,8: "The
end of all things is at hand: be therefore sober, and watch unto prayer
(for each other, we may imply from the James parallel). And above all
things have fervent love (cp. fervent prayer, James 5:16- through which
true love can be expressed) among yourselves: for love shall cover the
multitude of sins". This parallel shows that fervent prayer for each other
spiritually is the way fervent love is shown. Converting the erring
brother will "hide a multitude of sins", alluding to Prov. 10:12: "Love
covers all sins". True love is therefore shown by loving rebuke, rather
than turning a blind eye. Truly "the end of all things is at hand" for us,
as never before. There is a special need in our last days to show these
qualities of true love to each other. We have to seriously ask ourselves
personally whether we have that degree of selfless concern for the
spiritual welfare of each other that we would climb mountains to find the
solace conducive to prayer; to have our face between our knees in the
intensity of our pleading with God, for the sake of our brother's
spiritual growth.
Elijah and the brethren of the first century did this for men who were far
gone in their declension; how much more motivated should we be for our far
less errant brethren? Many of us do not have the fear of sin, both in
ourselves and in our brethren, which leads us to such intensity of effort
either for others or for ourselves in our own weaknesses. Surely each of
us needs to assimilate more the idea of striving for God's glory in the
conquest of the flesh. But this is the high challenge of the letter of
James- to drive ourselves onwards to an altogether higher and fuller
spirituality, which by its very nature concerns itself with the triumph of
others in the day of judgment to the same extent as we care for our own.
Our ‘conversion’ of people doesn’t just mean that we teach them true
doctrine and see them baptized; the priests were to ‘turn’ [s.w.
‘convert’] believers away from the life of sin and behind the way of God
(Mal. 2:6 LXX, applied to all of us in James 5:19).
The book of Malachi stresses what the priesthood should have been
like, compared to what it actually was. Indeed, many of the Old Testament
prophecies against Israel are specifically aimed at the priests. The
priests should have followed the example of the early descendants of Levi:
"The law of truth (God's word- Jn. 17:17) was in his mouth, and iniquity
was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did
turn many away from iniquity" (Mal. 2:5,6). These words are alluded to in
James 5:20 concerning how we, as the new "royal priesthood" (1 Pet. 2:9)
should turn our brethren from the error of their ways. This covenant was
given on account of Eleazar's going in among the people to slay them, and
thereby turning many others away from iniquity. He was not just showing an
iron fist to those who were being disobedient; his real role was to turn
men away from sin. As the future priests, our role will also be to execute
the judgments written; but it will be to the end of bringing men to
appreciate the seriousness of sin, and to turn them away from it. To this
end, "the priests lips should keep knowledge (i.e. they shouldn't
apostatize from it), and they should seek the (meaning of the) law at his
mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts" (Mal. 2:7) by reason
of accurately speaking forth His word. The priests were to use their
knowledge of God's word to turn the people away from sin. If we have a
real hate of sin and a true love of God's righteousness, we ought to have
a burning wish to take the Gospel to the kids in the tower blocks, to the
call girls and drug addicts. Yet we are frustrated by the knowledge that
somehow they are deaf to God's word. The joy of the Kingdom is that we
will be able to speak forth the word with convicting power within the
community we rule over, and to see its very real effect.
The Lord spared Aaron because of Moses' intercession for him (Dt. 9:20);
and this is perhaps the basis for James' appeal to pray for one another,
that we may be healed, knowing that through our prayer and pastoral work
for others, we can save a man from his multitude of sins and his soul from
death (James 5:20). The very ability we have to do this for each other
should register deeply with us. And in response, we should live lives
dedicated to the spiritual welfare and salvation of our brethren.
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