James's Final Warnings (Part 1)
a commentary on James 5 (Context)
Thank you, Lord, for this day. May it be used for your glory!
Good morning everyone and welcome to this week’s Biblit on James chapter 5!
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The final chapter of James is both an encouragement and a daunting call to action.
He has given us numerous gut punches along the way, called us to multiple actions, and left us convicted as he continues to shovel out how to live in Christlike wisdom.
Today, he leaves us in a similar way Jesus left us: a daunting task. But just like with Jesus’s calling, he leaves us with hope that it’s not all on us, and all we simply need to do is call upon the name of the Lord.
Let’s jump into the context of James chapter 5!
Context
James chapter 5 is divided into 4 parts that flow together very well.
On a first glance, they seem like random subjects similar to chapter 1. But they actually flow together pretty well.
Warning to the Rich
The first section is our second warning from James on the danger of yearning for riches instead of yearning for the Lord.
His first warning here is that for those who yearn for riches, miseries are coming for you.
He goes on in his chastisement by asking a similar question as to what we find in Ecclesiastes: what did you really gain?
You stored up fleeting treasures for the last day, but at what cost?
You lived luxuriously on this temporary earth, but at what cost?
He says these people swindled to get ahead, hurt people, and refused to pay fair wages to their workers. They are left wealthy beyond measure at the end of their days, but with a blood bath in their wake.
James tells a final warning that these people have fattened their own hearts for slaughter by condemning and murdering the righteous.
Waiting for the Lord
James transitions from the focus of the wealthy sinner to the righteous person.
Perhaps one of the righteous people the wealthy mistreated.
He commands the righteous, us Christians, to wait patiently in suffering because Jesus Christ will return!
Just as the farmer waits for the fruit and harvest with patience, knowing with full assurance it is coming, so we must wait and strengthen our hearts, for Jesus is returning soon.
Therefore, do not complain or judge each other. For God is coming soon to judge.
And if we remember, chapter 2 said that if we judge another without mercy, then we will not receive mercy either.
As a final testament, James uses the prophets of old as examples, who suffered in patience. And oftentimes, they suffered and waited for long periods of time. We’re talking 70 years, hundreds of years, literal generations coming and going while still waiting for the Lord.
James specifically calls out Job who endured a lot and was rewarded with double at the end.
If you don’t remember, Job was a man who, most historians believe, lived sometime before Abraham or in that time period.
He was righteous and devout to God. Satan came along and God told him about Job, asking if he’d seen how righteous Job was. Satan said obviously Job loves you, you’ve blessed him beyond measure!
See, Job was super wealthy. He had like 10 kids, a happy marriage, wealth beyond measure, happy employees, etc etc.
So, slowly God allowed Satan to torment Job to prove Job’s character. Through this trial, Job lost everything:
His children were killed
His servants were killed
His wealth was stolen by invaders
His wife turned against him and blamed him, severing his marriage
Job’s own physical body was tormented with disease to the point his own friends didn’t recognize him
And yet, despite all of this, Job still believed God even though he didn’t understand.
In the end, Job knows God better, trusts Him more, and God restores everything he had double.
Truthful Speech
This section is pretty short and sweet.
Don’t lie. Speak in truth.
James tells us not to swear by heaven or earth or any other oath. Simply yet your yes mean “yes” and your no mean “no.” Otherwise you will fall under judgment apparently.
We’ll get into this a bit more tomorrow!
Effective Prayer
This last section is all about prayer.
He says that if anyone is suffering: pray.
If anyone is cheerful: pray.
If anyone is sick, go to the elders of your church and have them pray over you, and anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord.
James says that the prayers of the faithful will save the sick person, and that God will forgive their sins.
Therefore, James tells us since we have spiritual sickness, to confess sins to one another (not just a priest) and to pray over each other (not judge each other).
Both God and James know our own hearts and know we might still be skeptical, so once again James uses a powerful example of prayer from the Old Testament.
1 Kings 17-19 tells us about a prophet named Elijah. If you don’t remember, Elijah once prayed for the rain to stop and for 3.5 years it didn’t rain. Then he told it to rain, and boom, we got rain again!
The prayers of the righteous is a powerful thing.
Finally, if any brother or sister strays from the truth and another brother or sister turns them back, that brother or sister has turned a sinner from an error worth a multitude of sins and death.
And that was James chapter 5. Tomorrow, we’ll dive deeper in, answer some lingering questions, and talk more about what James’s big lessons here are.