<p>1:11 <i>For the sun rises with the scorching wind and withers the grass, and the flower of it falls and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So also shall the rich man fade away in his business- </i>This is an obvious allusion to the person who received the word and quickly &quot;sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth&quot;, referring to the person who falls away due to temptation (Mt. 13:5,20,21). The rich members of the ecclesia had therefore only let the word enter them skin-deep; it had not penetrated far through the &quot;earth&quot; of the flesh. The rising of the sun can refer both to Christ's coming (Mal. 4:2) and also to trials. In a sense both these meanings were fulfilled in AD70, when the rich Jews converted just prior to AD70 fell away, having endured only &quot;for a while&quot;. The call to let God's word fully penetrate our flesh goes out to us with great urgency, living as we do on the brink of the final period of trial, and the full coming of Christ.</p><p>&quot;So also shall the rich man fade away in his business&quot;. &quot;Business&quot; is elsewhere translated &quot;journeyings&quot;, and would connect with the reference to the itinerant Jewish traders in 4:13: &quot;You (amongst the believers) that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain&quot;.</p>