AM Bible Study Group; August 22, 2012
James 5:1-6
Theme: James describes the just judgment of those who make themselves rich through oppression of God’s people.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
So far, James has expressed himself as a tender pastor. But as we come to this point of his letter, we find him suddenly to speak as a bold and fiery prophet.
We need to interpret this section carefully. It may seem, on the surface, as if was saying that it’s evil to be rich. But many of the Bible’s most notable saints were also blessed by God with prosperity and had acquired substantial material wealth. Just think of such godly Old Testament saints as Abraham, Jacob, Job, and King Solomon. Or from the New Testament, think of Lydia, the first Christian convert in Europe. She was a wealthy businesswoman who was a great help to the ministry of Paul (Acts 16:14). Or think even of Paul himself. He was able to say that he had learned by experience the secret of both having abundance and suffering need (Philippians 4:12).
It helps if we remember that James isn’t speaking the harsh words of our study this morning to believers. In fact, he seems to be very careful to make the distinction between these folks and believers. He speaks first to “the rich” in verses 1-6; and then, he suddenly begins again to speak words of comfort to persecuted Christian brethren in verses 7-8. And we need to remember what we’ve already studied in 2:6-7; and how unbelieving rich people were people were using their positions of wealth and power to harm the believers to whom James wrote. If we take James’ words in chapter 2 literally, they were openly oppressing these believers, using their wealth and influence to personally dragging the Christians into courts, and arrogantly blaspheming the name of Jesus Christ in the process.
Christians suffering under such oppression would be tempted to despair, or to take vengeance, or to grow envious and bitter. But as a good pastor, James points his brothers and sisters to the promised return of the Lord Jesus. He shows how fixing their minds and hopes on His coming helps them to be patient when oppressed and treated unjustly, and to keep on with the work of the kingdom—knowing that, at His return, He will set all things right.
Note, then, how in the first six verses of this section, we see that . . .
I. JUDGMENT IS IMMANENT (v. 1).
A. James writes, “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!” James drew much of his material from the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus Himself had addressed the matter of Christians being patient while suffering oppression. In Luke 6:20-26, the Lord said, “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” In our passage this morning, James is simply calling upon the ungodly rich to mourn now over what Jesus said they will experience at the day of judgment.
B. James literally tells them, in chilling words, to “weep, howling”, or to “cry, crying loudly”—using a Greek word that is itself sounds like howling or loud crying: (ololuzo). A related word, (alalazo) is used in Mark 5:38 to describe mourners in the house of the synagogue official whose daughter had died; that there was a commotion, and that the people not only wept but “wailed loudly”. And what’s more, James tells them to do so “for your miseries which are coming upon you”—literally, according to the tense of the Greek verb, coming upon them even as he spoke!
II. JUDGMENT IS DESERVED (vv. 2-6).
A. The words of verse one are harsh, and some may find them distasteful and be offended by them. But look carefully at what it was that these rich people were doing that would provoke such harsh words of judgment. First, they were hoarding their goods. In verses 2-3, James writes, “Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.” This is a powerful indictment against them; because the only reason such things would happen to such goods is because the rich were hoarding more than they could use. Such hoarding always comes from a sinful motive—either from a fear of the future that comes from a lack of faith in God’s providence; or from a desire to impress men by the display of their goods in an ostentatious way; or simply from a desire to gorge like pigs on the things of the world in a selfish, self-centered manner. They are like the man who said to his own soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry;” but to whom God said, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” (Luke 12:19-20).
B. Second, they were withholding the pay of their laborers. In verse 4, he writes, “Indeed the wages of the laborers 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.” The Bible condemns strongly the evil of intentionally withholding the pay of those who work hard for it. The Bible connects it with ‘robbery’. Levicitus 19:13 says, “You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning.” Deuteronomy 24:14-15 says, “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you.” And note how, according to James, the pay these ‘rich’ ones withheld—not just the workers, but the pay itself— cries out against them! How ominous it is that the cry of the oppressed has reached the ears of none other than “the Lord of Saboath” or “the Lord of Hosts”; that is, the Lord of Armies!
C. Third, they were engaging in sensual self-indulgence—perhaps with the very wages they were withholding. In verse 5, he writes, “You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury . . .” The word James uses for living in luxury literally means “to break down”; and it almost suggests the idea of someone passively “going to pot” in the process—as if the ‘good life’ was really bad for them. But he also uses a word that describes them as actively giving themselves over to self-indulgent and sinful pleasures. Amos 6:4-7 speaks ‘woe’ upon those ‘luxury lovers’ “who lie on beds of ivory, stretch out on your couches, eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall; who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, and invent for yourselves musical instruments like David; who drink wine from bowls, and anoint yourselves with the best ointments, but are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph, Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives, and those who recline at banquets shall be removed.” And notice the tragic irony of their self-indulgence will end! He tells them, “. . . you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter”—just like hogs gorging away in the butcher’s shop, or turkeys fattening-up on Thanksgiving Day. As Romans 2:5-6 puts it, “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds'” (see also Psalm 62:12; Proverbs 24:12).
D. Finally—as if to make their condemnation even worse—they were unjust and oppressive to the righteous. In verse 6, he writes, “You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.” This is both a general statement of the oppressiveness of the ungodly rich, and the most indicting witness against their behavior. Notice that they “condemn” the righteous man; and this may have reference to the fact that they dragged believers off to courts of law. But notice also that it says that they “murdered” him as well. One Jewish writer, Joshua ben Sira, wrote, “The bread of the needy is the life of the poor; whoever deprives them of it is a man of blood. To take away a neighbor’s living is to murder him; to deprive an employee of his wages is to shed blood.” And so, it’s possible to take James’ words in a figurative sense. But it may also be literal as well, in that the were, apparently, “dragging” the Christians “into court.” And take special note of the response of the righteous man toward this treatment. James says, “he does not resist you.” These persecuted “righteous” Christians faithfully followed the instructions of Jesus in Matthew 5:38-42; “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.”
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It’s plain from all this that James isn’t condemning the possession of wealth in and of itself. Nor is he saying that it’s evil to be a rich person. But it is a powerful condemnation of the evil behavior of evil people who oppress those who belong to God. The ungodly rich who hoard their goods to the point of wastefulness; who withhold the pay that they owe to their workers; and who greedily consume their wealth in wanton, sensual self-indulgence; and who openly oppressed the righteous—even perhaps to the point of murder—these are the things for which James says that judgment is imminent and deserved.
It’s in the light of these oppressions that James calls God’s people to show where their hopes truly lie. “Therefore, be patient, brethren . . .” (vv. 7-11).