The Power of Fervent Prayer

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In James 5:13 the author calls for the persecuted brethren to pray, to have their focus on the Lord, rather than their difficult position. They need to remember the Lord is merciful and loves them, despite his seemingly far off context. No sorrow is so great nor pain so unendurable as that in which there is no hope for relief. The Lord does see, and he has promised vindication, and the afflicted need to focus on this. He also mentions those who seem to have escaped persecution, or, if they hadn’t, it wasn’t strong enough to change their happy disposition. They, too, are advised to focus on the Lord and sing to him who has helped them. What would be wrong for them to do is rub their happy disposition in the faces of their brethren who cannot bring themselves to smile. No one sings joyful tunes or dances at a funeral. There is a place for joy, but there is also a place for sorrow, and mutual respect should be shown among the faithful for their brethren’s state of mind. I believe this is James’ point.

 

A Call for Patient Endurance

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In James 5:10 the author of this epistle holds up the prophets of old as examples of patience during times of suffering. If James was speaking of literal rich land owners and literal laborers of the field, who had been defrauded of their wages, why would he hold up the prophets as examples of patience during seasons of suffering? Where would be the similarity between the two? On the other hand, if the legitimate church leaders had been rejected by the brethren in favor of the arrogant men promising better things (James 3:5; 4:16), so had the prophets been rejected, held up as unpatriotic (cp. 1Kings 18:16-17; 22:7-8), purveyors of gloom and doom etc. (cp. Matthew 5:11-12). Yet, they endured the wrongdoing with patience, commending their way to the Lord who would judge their cause (Hebrews 11:24-27, 36-40; cp. Acts 20:29-32; 2Timothy 1:12)

 

Vindication Follows Patience

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Much of the wealth during the first century AD lay in the hands of landowners. They worked their land for profit, whether in cattle, produce or mining, and more often than not they employed laborers to work their lands for them or with them, depending upon how rich they were. The very rich didn’t need to work at all. They simply enjoyed the fruits their lands produced, and which were worked by folks they employed. That said, it is odd, that James speaks kindly of the husbandman or farmer in James 5:7, who is quite rich, while he judges the wickedness of the rich in James 5:1-6. If he had been speaking of the literal rich, the physically rich in verses 1 through 6, calling them wicked, how is it that he makes the rich husbandman (farmer) in verse-7 to be a metaphor for the Lord?

 

The Rich Man’s Faith Without Works

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All of the commentaries, which I have on the epistles of James, agree, in that in James, chapter 5, he is speaking of literal rich men who have literally defrauded their laborers of their just pay for the work they did for them. However, it seems odd to me to conclude a literal accusation of a physical sin here, when he wasn’t speaking literally when he called them adulteresses in James 4:4; neither was he speaking of the literal poor in James 2:5,[1] but those who were poor in spirit. He personifies the tongue in James 3, while speaks of spiritual warfare and fights in James 4:1 and of presumption, while doing the business of the Lord and not for themselves in James 4:13. Why would he suddenly turn literal in James 5? While there is much to be said about the rich and powerful defrauding the laborer of his just wage (James 5:4), why would James’ topic of spiritual behavior suddenly change to the physical, and that without warning, while he sums up his letter?

 

Come Now You Rich Men

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James begins the final chapter of his epistle with, “Come, now, you rich men…” (James 5:1), and he then proceeds to condemn their behavior of hoarding and defrauding the laborers who worked in their fields. Once more, most Biblical scholars apply James’ words to dishonest businessmen, as though James’ main interest was social and humanitarian. While much of James’ content can be applied to dishonest businessmen as a secondary point, the main focus of his epistle was how the Gospel was being defrauded by false teachers, and how the legitimate teachers of the word of God were being slandered and abused. No doubt, it was because of such a wrong understanding of James that Martin Luther pegged this epistle as, An Epistle of Straw! Nevertheless, I am convinced that this epistle is what got James killed, and this chapter, more than any other, lays the blame for all the wrongdoing mentioned in this epistle at the feet of the Jewish authorities at Jerusalem.

 

Considering the Lord’s Will

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James told his readers to stop speaking evil of one another (James 4:11). The Greek is an imperative together with a negative particle, which means that he was telling them to stop doing something that was already in progress. He went on to say that he who judges his brother judges the law, but which law is that? Certainly not the Mosaic Law! James couldn’t have been referring to the Law of Moses or the 10 Commandments, which are part of the Law of Moses. That law was added to the Old Covenant because of the transgressions of Israel, in order to show what sin was. It was to serve only until the coming of Christ (Galatians 3:19). Thus, the Law served as a kind of teacher that would bring God’s people to the time when they would serve him through faith, i.e. until the time of Christ, wherein men would be justified, not by the law but through faith (Galatians 2:16; 3:11, 23-24).

 

James’ Call for Repentance

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In James 4:7-10 the author of this epistle delivers ten imperative statements to his readers. He begins with “Submit yourselves to God,” then “resist the slanderer” (James 4:7) followed by “draw near to God,” “cleanse your hands,” and “purify your hearts” (James 4:8), “be afflicted,” “mourn,” “weep,” and “let your laughter be turned to mourning” (James 4:9), and, finally, “humble yourselves in the sight of Lord” (James 4:10). All ten statements are commands or directives that anyone who wishes to be in a relationship with the Lord must obey and do them. Many of James’ readers were not obeying these instructions and were placing themselves squarely under the same judgment, which would fall on all the unbelieving Jews at the end of the then current age—the Old Covenant Age, which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in 70 AD.

 

Friendship with the World Is Rebellion

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James calls his readers adulteresses (G3428) in James 4:4. Some translations have James addressing adulterers and adulteresses, but most ancient manuscripts have only the feminine, showing James is addressing all in the feminine gender metaphorically as the adulteress wife of the Lord. The masculine adulterer is an addition to the text.

 

Spreading the Gospel in the Flesh

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The very first thing James says about his readers in James 4:2 is that they lust (KJV) or desire (NET).[1] Most translations put the Greek word (G1937) in a negative sense. Nevertheless, the Greek word is often used in a good sense. For example, it was used by Jesus of his disciples in the future desiring to see one of his days (Luke 17:22). It was also used by Paul to say someone desires a good work when he wants to be an overseer (1Timothy 3:1). It was used of Peter for messengers of the word desiring to look into the ancient prophesies (1Peter 1:12), and other examples could be put forth. The point is that James’ use of the word could very well be a good desire, but sought after for the wrong reasons, and I believe this to be the case in James 4:2. I believe the whole controversy about which James wrote his epistle concerned questions and strivings over church leadership and what goals the local churches should have in the wake of Paul’s imprisonment.

 

James’ Man of Peace

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James’ question in verse-1 follows immediately upon his description of the man of peace who is endowed with wisdom from above. (James 4:1; cp. James 3:17-18). In an earlier study I mentioned that Paul’s list of qualifications for a church overseer in 1Timothy 3:2-7 takes into account the idea that he shouldn’t be a brawler (G269), a Greek word made up of a negative particle ‘a’ (G1) and mache (G3263), which is used in 2Corinthians 7:5 and James 4:1 for fights and in 2Timothy 2:23 and Titus 3:9 the same word is translated strife. In other words, the man of peace (James 3:18) is a person who doesn’t engage in fights or disputes (strife).

 

Hostility, Disputes and the Lord’s Will

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When churches disagree among themselves, how should this be handled? Sometimes open hostility occurs over what should or should not be done. How should believers react? It seems Paul (then Saul) and company left Antioch with a certain agenda. Barnabas was from Cyprus and used to own land there (Acts 4:36-37). He was probably known by many Jews on the island, and it may have been assumed they might be open to the Gospel, because they knew him. However, by the time the group met the island’s governor, Sergius Paulus, who was a leading resident of Antioch of Pesidia, the plan changed. The governor asked Paul and Barnabas to visit his chosen residence on the continent in Pesidia and preach the Gospel there. However, John (Mark) was opposed to the idea. After all, hadn’t the whole church prayed and the Spirit separated them for this work (Acts 13:1-3)? The dispute was so strong that Mark eventually left the party[1] and returned to Jerusalem (not Antioch of Syria, from where the group departed). Long-story-short, his actions probably provoked the killing of James, the Apostle (Acts 12:1-2),[2] and brought on the subversive activities of the Jerusalem authorities (Galatians 2:4, 12-13) that resulted in the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:1-2).

 

I Set Before You a Blessing and a Curse!

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In James 3:13 the author of this epistle exhorts his readers in a positive manner, but in verse-14 he exhorts with a negative twist, warning his readers against envy (KJV; jealousy in most other translations), and strife (KJV; but selfish ambition and rivalry in many other translations). The Revised Version translates the word into faction, which is a party spirit, like Republicans and Democrats in politics. A faction is a group of people who share a common opinion, which is different from the other folks who are not in their group, and this is expressed in strife (KJV) and selfish ambition or rivalry (NASB, Vulgate). It is as though James had Moses in mind at this point in his argument: “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse” (Deuteronomy 11:26), a blessing for obedience to the Lord and a curse for disobedience (Deuteronomy 11:27-28), and the blessings and curses can be found in Deuteronomy 28.

 

Against All Nature

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I don’t believe James is arguing that man has tamed every form of life that exists, although he has tamed many animals that live in the wild. What James is saying, in my opinion, is that man has been able to tame animals from all four main groups of living creatures (James 3:7): wild beasts (four-footed), birds (things that fly); reptiles (creeping things) and fish (living creatures in the water). In other words, Every “nature” (G5449 phusis or kind) of beast has been tamed by man (G442 anthropinos).

 

The Power of Man’s Tongue

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In James 3:3 the author of this epistle puts a horse’s bridle for a tongue. At first I thought pointing to the bridle meant one should control his speech. While it is true that everyone of us should control what we say (cp. James 1:19), yet, James is using the bridle of the horse to show what the tongue actually is able to do (James 3:3). Just as the bridle is used to bring the whole body of the horse into obedience to its rider, so, too, the tongue is able to demand the obedience of many listeners.

 

The Perfect Man

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In James 3:2 he tells us we all often (G4183; cp. Matthew 9:14) stumble (G4417). In fact, the Scriptures tell us that there isn’t a righteous man in this world who does good who doesn’t stumble (Ecclesiastes 7:20). If there would be a man who never stumbled or erred (G4417) in what he says, that man would be perfect and would be able to control his whole body (James 3:3). The word perfect (G5046) is not meant to be flawless. Rather, it is used to point to a mature man, perfect / mature as in James 1:4 (cp. 1Corinthians 2:6; 14:20; Ephesians 4:13; Philippians 3:15; Colossians 4:12; Hebrews 5:14).