<p>4:8<em> Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you doubleminded sinners, and purify your hearts</em>- The Greek phrase for &quot;draw near&quot; is used in the Septuagint to describe the priests drawing near to God in the offering of sacrifices and prayers. The elders were being reminded that they were equivalent of priests in the new Israel and therefore had a responsibility to acceptably and reverently draw near to God on behalf of the congregation, as well as to accurately expound the word publicly (Mal. 2:7; Hos. 4:6; see too comments on 2:9). This drawing near to God in prayer was only possible through a pure heart and therefore pure hands or actions. God would only hear their prayers if these things were in order; which is why the feeling we should have that our prayers are heard should give us confidence that spiritually we are going the right way (1 Jn. 5:14). &quot;Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you&quot; (Zech.1:3) and &quot;Return unto me, and I will return unto you&quot; (Mal. 3:7) must be the basis for these words of James. Both these passages are in the context of Israel's restoration at the time of the second temple; there are a number of other connections between James and the restoration prophets:</p><div align=center><table border=1 cellspacing=4 cellpadding=0 width=60%>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td width=34% valign=top>            <p><b><font size=3>James   </font></b></p>            </td>            <td width=66% valign=top>            <p><b><font size=3>Restoration   prophets </font></b></p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=34% valign=top>            <p>1:13</p>            </td>            <td width=66% valign=top>            <p>Mal.3:15</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=34% valign=top>            <p>1:17</p>            </td>            <td width=66% valign=top>            <p>Mal.3:6</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=34% valign=top>            <p>1:27</p>            </td>            <td width=66% valign=top>            <p>Mal.3:5; Zech.7:10</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=34% valign=top>            <p>2:1</p>            </td>            <td width=66% valign=top>            <p>Mal.1:9</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=34% valign=top>            <p>2:4</p>            </td>            <td width=66% valign=top>            <p>Mal.2:9</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=34% valign=top>            <p>4:3</p>            </td>            <td width=66% valign=top>            <p>Mal.2:13</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=34% valign=top>            <p>4:4</p>            </td>            <td width=66% valign=top>            <p>Mal.2:11</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=34% valign=top>            <p>5:3</p>            </td>            <td width=66% valign=top>            <p>Mal.4:1</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=34% valign=top>            <p>5:4</p>            </td>            <td width=66% valign=top>            <p>Mal.3:5</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=34% valign=top>            <p>5:17</p>            </td>            <td width=66% valign=top>            <p>Hag.1:10,11</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=34% valign=top>            <p>5:20</p>            </td>            <td width=66% valign=top>            <p>Mal.2:6</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table></div><p>As it was the duty of the priests to convert the people of Israel by the word (Mal. 2:6), so it was too for the ecclesial elders of the New Israel (James 5:20). But as the temple was neglected due to bickering, materialism and fleshly living among the priests, so was the ecclesia of the first century. The problems of Malachi's time and also those of James were solved by a coming of the Lord (Mal. 3:1,2). Living on the brink of Christ's return, there must be similarities with the present ecclesial position. All these types highlight the key position of elders in influencing the ecclesia, and therefore the standards required of them. A fair degree of our current ecclesial problems may be traceable in some measure to our inattention to the importance of elders' qualifications.</p><p>The idea of drawing near may have feint connections with the day of the Lord in AD70 drawing near; the same Greek phrase is used in Mt. 24:32; Lk. 21:20,28; and see notes on 5:8. The Greek root is 'to squeeze close', which we can do to God by prayer, and which He will therefore do to us. The parallel in 1 Pet. 5:6 says that in response to humbly drawing near to God, He will &quot;exalt you in due time&quot;- i.e. answer your prayers eventually, and especially with a place in the Kingdom (cp. &quot;friend come up higher&quot; at the judgment seat). God's immediate drawing near to us as a result of our drawing near to Him is therefore not necessarily in the immediate answering of prayer, but in the sense of peace with God which we have after acceptably placing our requests before Him- &quot;by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds&quot; (Phil. 4:6,7), even before we receive the answers.</p><p>The language of physical movement in verses 7 and 8 paints a fascinating picture of a man walking towards God (&quot;drawing near&quot; is often used in the sense of literal walking), thereby resisting the devil, and therefore the devil turning tail and fleeing in the opposite direction. As we walk towards God, he walks towards us- perhaps alluding to the parable of the prodigal son, where the man's walking towards the Father is matched by His running towards him (Lk. 15:20), so eager is our God to respond to any real spiritual effort on our part. The context here in James 4 is of prayer- the drawing near to God is in prayer.</p><p>The idea of cleansing the hands suggests a link with Is.1, which has other connections with James: &quot;When you spread forth your hands (in prayer), I will hide My eyes from you: yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear (as was happening to these brethren): your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean (cp. &quot;cleanse your hands&quot;); put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes... seek judgment, relieve the oppressed (what the brethren had not done- James 2:14-16; 5:4), judge the fatherless, plead for the widow (cp. James 1:27- what they didn't do)... if you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land (i.e. inherit the Kingdom): but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword&quot; (AD70; Is. 1:15-20). These scattered members of the Jerusalem ecclesia were therefore being equated with the &quot;sinners in Zion&quot; at the time of Sennacherib's Assyrian invasion; it was in their capacity to enable the Kingdom to be established in AD70, but if they continued in sin both they and Jerusalem along with natural Israel would be destroyed. Sadly they chose the latter, and their counterparts in Hezekiah's time made such a shallow reformation that they only succeeded in deferring judgment.</p><p>The Greek word is often used for the 'cleansing' of leprosy; the Lord likened the Pharisees to cups that needed cleansing, i.e. the cups were defiled by leprosy and needed purification; His description of Jerusalem's destruction stone by stone recalled the method of destroying a leprous house. The Jewish system was leprous because <em>inwardly</em> it was defiled; externally it looked fine (Mt. 23:26). It was their fleshly way of thinking that was the real leprosy, and this is also the context here in James 4:6; the cleansing of actions is parallel to purifying a double-minded heart, because in James the thoughts of the heart and actions, especially words, are treated as identical. Cleansing or purifying ('washing') the heart suggests Jer. 4:14, which is also in the context of the impending destruction of Jerusalem: &quot;O Jerusalem (ecclesia), wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your vain (cp. 2:20 &quot;vain man&quot;) thoughts lodge within you?&quot;. The parallels between these believers and apostate Israel are unmistakable. &quot;Purify&quot; is often used about Mosaic purification (Jn. 11:55; Acts 21:24 etc.)- cp. the idea of cleansing being associated with the Law's commandments about leprosy. This purification by washing comes from &quot;the wisdom that is from above (that) is... pure&quot; (3:17)- i.e. the word, &quot;the washing of water by the word&quot; (Eph. 5:26), which is the new covenant's equivalent to the purification process performed in the laver. For this reason John Thomas translates Titus 3:5 as &quot;the laver of regeneration&quot;, cp. &quot;the washing of regeneration...of the Holy Spirit&rdquo;. &quot;Purify your hearts, you double minded&quot; implies that having a mind which was only semi-spiritual was as bad as being totally defiled and needing cleansing. It looks back to the description of those who had only semi-faith in prayer as &quot;double-minded&quot; in 1:8. Here in chapter 4 the context is the same (see notes on 4:1-3). Thus James is saying in 1:6-8 'Ask for wisdom, the spiritual strength from the Spirit, in full faith, not the double-minded prayers you have been making for your pleasures (&quot;lusts&quot;, 4:3)'. See notes on 1:8 for more on &quot;double minded&quot;.</p>