Gospel Light Christian Church Thru-The-Bible Series (32.1)

The General Epistle of James

James Chapter 5:1-4 - Read this Bible passage once through before referring to the notes below.

Memory Verse James 5:12  But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

Introduction

In this concluding chapter, James address 2 issues, namely, to appreciate the need for patience in times of oppression, and to see the value of prayer and confessing sins in times of sickness

True religion displays patience under oppression (vv1-12)

God’s anger directed at rich oppressors

v1.       Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. This final chapter starts with a strong condemnation toward the rich who were oppressing the poor while living in pleasure and luxury.  The opening phrase, go to now, is one designed to call attention.

Who are these rich men? Most likely these were rich unbelievers such as those mentioned earlier (Jas 2:6-7).   Why did James now condemn these rich men?  Because up to this point, James has been developing the theme of the need for our complete dependence on God. In the preceding chapter, James drove this point home forcefully: Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that (Jas 4:10,15).  So it is quite naturally that he now rebukes those most likely to live independently from God, namely, the rich men.

Weep and howl – this is a call to mourn.  James had already said: Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin (Jas 4:17). So now James tells those who have neglected the true enjoyment of riches, which consists in doing good, to mourn.  They are to mourn because of the miseries that shall come upon you (literally, miseries that are coming upon you).  This has a primary reference to the destruction of Jerusalem foretold by our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 24 and fulfilled in A.D. 70. But this is also a reference to the miseries that are coming upon them at the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power and glory to judge the world (Jas 5:7). Significantly therefore, James uses the phrase, weep and howl, and not weep and repent.  This in effect is his way of denouncing rather than admonishing the rich men.  In this world they can weep and howl, but in the world to come, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt 8:12).

v2.       In this verse, James goes on to elaborate that their misery shall arise from the very things in which they placed their happiness. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.  James is here referring to the destruction of three kinds of wealth, two of which are mentioned in this verse: stores of food are corrupted (rotted), and garments are moth-eaten.  What James says here reminds us of what the Lord Jesus Christ said in His sermon on the mount:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matt 6:19-21).

v3.       The third kind of wealth to be destroyed is now stated: Your gold and silver is cankered (literally, rusted through). Gold and silver are considered as precious metals, and yet James here says these will be cankered.  The Apostles never hoarded such earthly treasures in their time. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk (Acts 3:6). There is nothing more precious in this world than eternal life and this is a gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Now James goes on to say that the rust of them shall be a witness against you. The corruptible nature of their riches will witness against them! How so? Well, in the sense that in the Day of Judgment, all their riches will be of no use to them. In what sense can gold and silver become cankered (i.e. rusted)?  In the sense that these so-called precious metals will be of no use then, and thus will be lying idle, which in turn is a picture of metal contracting rust.

But James goes further.  He says your gold and silver is cankered, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.  The meaning is this: The rust which once ate your riches, shall then gnaw your conscience, accompanied with punishment which shall prey upon your bodies for ever.  Yes, the soul lives on, even after death, and those in hell will forever be tormented by their conscience and by the fire of hell. The only difference is that this is not a slow process of rusting, but with the swiftness of consuming fire. For our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29).

Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. The fact that James here says the treasure is being heaped for the last days, and not in heaven, means that he is referring to worldly treasure. Why do people insist on hoarding earthly treasures when they cannot bring anything with them at death?  Long ago, Job said: Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD (Job 1:21).  It behoves us to be more concerned about heaping treasures in heaven than on Earth.

Reasons for God’s anger

v4.       Why is God so angry with the rich oppressors?  Several reasons are given in this and the following verses.  First, these rich oppressors have withheld the wages of their labourers.  Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth. Long ago God said:  Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee (Deut 24:14-15). 

Did you notice that God is very insistent that the wages that are due and deserving must be paid?  Is it any wonder therefore that God is also equally insistent that the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23a) and that therefore it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Heb 9:27).  The only way for sinner to escape hell is to accept the gift of God: the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 6:23b).

This sad fact of life here on Earth is that very often, those who are poor have little recourse to justice; but their cries are heard by God, who guarantees, ultimately, to right every wrong and answer every injustice:  and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.   The term Lord of Sabaoth is different in meaning from Lord of the Sabbath. Lord of the Sabaoth is the Hebrew equivalent of Lord of Hosts which means "the Lord of armies", especially heavenly and angelic armies.