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Scripture Reading: James 5:1-11
In this message we shall consider 5:1-11. Verses1 through 6 may be regarded as a parenthetical section, and this section may be addressed, according to its contents, to the rich class among the Jews in general, since James regarded his recipients as the twelve tribes of the Jews (1:1). In 5:1 James says to the rich, “Come now, you rich, weep, howling over your miseries which are coming upon you!”
In verses 2 and 3 James says of the rich that their riches have rotted, their garments have become moth-eaten, their gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be a testimony against them and eat their flesh like fire. Then in verse 4 he goes on to say, “Behold, the wages of the workmen who mowed your fields, which has been withheld by you, cries out, and the cries of those who reaped, have entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts.” As in Romans 9:29, “Lord of hosts” is the equivalent of the divine title in Hebrew, Jehovah-Sabaoth, which means Jehovah of hosts, Jehovah of armies (1 Sam. 1:3). Such a title bears a Jewish character, color, tone, and flavor. This is a further confirmation of the fact that James still cared very much for Jewish things.
In verse 5 James goes on to say, “You have lived luxuriously on the earth and lived in self-indulgence; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.” Here “fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter” indicates that they satiated their gluttonous desire in indulgence, even in a day of slaughter (Jer. 12:3), that is, in a day of judgment, when they were to be slaughtered as animals by God’s judgment. This implies that they were in a stupor, unaware of their coming miseries, their miserable destiny (5:1).
In verse 6 James says, “You condemned, you murdered the righteous; he does not resist you.” In this verse “the righteous” is in the collective singular with the article used for the class. It does not refer directly to any individual, but pictures the death of the Lord Jesus, who is the Righteous (Acts 7:52; 3:14).
It is difficult to say to whom 5:1-6 is addressed. There is some disagreement among Bible teachers concerning this point. It is rather certain that these verses were not addressed merely to believers. I believe that 5:1-6 is addressed to the Jewish people in a general way.
This understanding is confirmed by the fact that according to 1:1, this Epistle is addressed to “the twelve tribes in the dispersion.” James’ concept probably was that the Jewish believers were to be regarded as still among the Jewish people. Therefore, he addressed his Epistle to the Jewish believers but also to all the Jews. This may help us to understand why James addressed this Epistle to the twelve tribes.
If the Epistle of James is addressed both to Jewish believers and to Jewish people in general, this may help us understand what James says in chapter four about wars, fightings, and murder (vv. 1-2). Among the Jews there probably were fightings and even murders. This may mean that in 4:1-2 James speaks concerning fightings among the Jews that originated with their lusts.
As a whole, James’ writing is somewhat ambiguous. Because he was under the thick cloud of Judaic concepts, his view was not clear. Furthermore, at least to some extent James was sympathetic with Judaism. On the one hand, his Epistle touches New Testament concepts; on the other hand, in this Epistle James still keeps certain Old Testament concepts. Hence, his writing is a mixture. As we have pointed out, the title Lord of hosts in 5:4 points to the Jewish character of this book.
After the parenthetical section in 5:1-6, we have a word concerning awaiting the Lord’s coming with longsuffering (5:7-11). This also is a practical virtue of Christian perfection.
Awaiting the Lord’s coming back is not an Old Testament matter. Rather, this is fully a New Testament matter. This indicates that after speaking to Jews in 5:1-6, James now speaks to Christians, to believers, in 5:7-11. First he talks to the rich among the Jews, and then he speaks to Christians about waiting for the Lord’s coming back. I find it difficult to believe that James could write in this way. Nevertheless, this is what we find in 5:1-11.
In 5:7 James says, “Therefore, be longsuffering, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the earth, being longsuffering over it until it receives the early and late rain.” The Greek words for longsuffering in these verses are makrothumia (noun, as in Heb. 6:12; Rom. 2:4; 2 Tim. 4:2; 1 Pet. 3:20) and makrothumeo, as in James 5:7-8. Longsuffering expresses patience toward persons, as toward those who persecuted the prophets (v. 10).
The Greek word for “coming” in 5:7 is parousia, presence. Christ’s coming will be His presence with His believers. This parousia will begin with His coming to the air and end with His coming to the earth. Within His parousia, there will be the rapture of the majority of the believers to the air (1 Thes. 4:15-17), the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10), and the marriage of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9).
In verse 8 James continues, “You also be longsuffering; establish your hearts, because the coming of the Lord has drawn near.” While we are awaiting the Lord’s coming with longsuffering, He, as the real Farmer (Matt. 13:3), is also awaiting with patience our maturity in life as the firstfruit and harvest of His field (Rev. 14:4, 14-15). Our maturity in life can cut short the period of our longsuffering and His patience.
Verse 9 says, “Do not complain, brothers, against one another, that you be not judged; behold, the Judge stands before the doors!” This verse indicates that the Lord will come back not only as the Bridegroom to meet the bride (Matt. 25:1, 6; Rev. 19:7-8), but also as the Judge to judge all peoples. First, the Lord will judge His believers at His judgment seat (1 Cor. 4:4-5; 2 Cor. 5:10). We need to pursue maturity in life to meet the Lord and be prepared to be judged by Him.
In verse 10 James continues, “Take as an example, brothers, of suffering evil and of longsuffering, the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord.” This is a further development of verses 7 and 8 concerning the suffering and longsuffering of the faithful believers. James uses the prophets as an example. The prophets spoke in the name of the Lord. Speaking in the name of the Lord indicates that the prophets were one with the Lord. Hence, their suffering and longsuffering were with the Lord and for the Lord. The suffering and longsuffering of the faithful believers should be the same.
In verse 11 James says, “Behold, we count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and full of pity.” In this verse “endured” and “endurance” are translations of the Greek words hupomeno, verb, and hupomone, noun, as in Romans 5:3 and 2 Corinthians 1:6. This endurance expresses patience toward things, such as the things which afflicted Job.
In 5:7 James uses the illustration of a farmer awaiting with longsuffering the precious fruit of the earth. We have seen that the Lord Jesus is actually the real Farmer, the unique Farmer. As we are awaiting His coming, He, as the real Farmer, is awaiting our maturity. We may pray, “Lord, come back quickly.” However, He may say, “My children, mature quicker. While you are awaiting My coming back, I am awaiting your maturity. Do you know why it has been nearly two thousand years and I have not yet come back? The reason is that My people are not yet matured. Only your maturity can hasten My coming back. You exercise your longsuffering, and I exercise My longsuffering.”
It is a great help for us to realize that if we are serious about awaiting the Lord’s coming back, we need to grow in life. Most Christians today view the Lord’s coming in an altogether objective way, in a way that has nothing to do with our spiritual condition or spiritual growth. Their expectation is that one day the Lord will suddenly come, and that His coming will have nothing to do with their maturity. It may be that the concepts many Christians hold regarding the Lord’s coming back are actually causing Him to delay His coming.
The illustration of the farmer in 5:7 implies that the farmer is waiting for the crop growing in the field to ripen. According to Revelation 14, the Lord is also waiting for the harvest to be ripe. When the harvest in the field is ripe, He will come back. This harvest will be the issue, the outcome, of the Lord’s sowing of Himself as a seed. This was accomplished during the Lord’s first coming, and it is described in Matthew 13. We need to realize that it is the ripening of the harvest that will hasten the Lord’s coming back.
In these verses James speaks both of longsuffering and endurance. He uses the prophets as an example of longsuffering and Job as an example of endurance. How shall we differentiate longsuffering and endurance? After much study I have concluded that longsuffering is a matter of patience toward persons. When we are persecuted, we need longsuffering. Therefore, longsuffering is an expression of our patience toward people. The prophets were persecuted, but they were longsuffering toward their persecutors. Endurance, on the contrary, is an expression of our patience toward the things that afflict us. Therefore, when Job suffered affliction, he displayed endurance. Job’s suffering was not that of persecution but that of calamities.
In his writing James uses the Greek words for longsuffering and endurance. While we are awaiting the Lord’s coming back, we need both longsuffering and endurance because we face suffering from two sources. These sources are persons who persecute us and the environment that afflicts us. For example, a brother may have an accident, and his new car may be damaged. For that, he does not need longsuffering; he needs endurance. The car has not done anything to persecute him, but he does suffer from a particular environmental affliction. For that affliction he needs endurance. However, if this brother is mistreated by his boss, he will need longsuffering toward his boss. But if he loses his job, suffering as a result of that environmental affliction, he will once again need endurance. We need to exercise longsuffering toward people and endurance toward environmental afflictions.
For the Lord’s coming back, we need longsuffering, endurance, and the growth in life. As we are exercising longsuffering toward those who persecute us and endurance toward afflictions, we need to grow in life. Then we shall be able to say, “O Lord Jesus, come back sooner. Lord, can’t You see that I am growing in life? Today I am growing faster than yesterday. Because I am growing, Lord, I ask You to speed up Your coming back.” Have you ever prayed like this? I doubt that many Christians have prayed in this way concerning the Lord’s coming back.
We need to realize that the Lord’s coming is related to our growth in life. If we fulfill the condition of growing in life, the Lord will fulfill the condition of coming back sooner. Therefore, we need to grow in life, and as we are growing, to exercise longsuffering and endurance. This is the proper way to await the Lord’s coming back.
Earlier in this message we pointed out that the Greek word for “coming” in 5:7 and 8 is parousia, which means presence. The Lord’s parousia will last for a period of time, at least three and a half years, the length of the great tribulation. The parousia is likely to begin a little earlier than the tribulation, and it may conclude a little before the end of the great tribulation. It is very difficult for us to know when this will be, because the Lord Jesus has said that only the Father knows the time of His coming. This means that the time of the beginning of the Lord’s parousia is a secret kept confidential in the Father’s heart. But according to the study of prophecy in the Scriptures, we can say that the parousia will begin a little earlier than the start of the great tribulation.
Most Christians do not understand the Lord’s coming as being a matter of the parousia, His presence over a period of time. Instead, many believers think that the coming of the Lord will be somewhat like an accident. Actually, the Lord’s parousia will last for a period of time. According to James’ word, we need to await the coming of the Lord, His parousia, with longsuffering and endurance. Furthermore, as we are waiting we need to grow in life unto maturity.
