October 12th 2025
James ch 5
James starts with the Judgment of the unscrupulous Rich people
V 1. The rich addressed here are not Christians but, nevertheless, the warning sounded applies to all men, including Christians. James is consistent with the NT teaching generally in attacking the rich not simply because they are rich, but because they have failed in their stewardship.
The weeping and howling are not signs of repentance but expressions of remorse in the face of judgment.
V 2. The statements of the real worthlessness of this wealth. Wealth is to be used for good purposes, not hoarded.
V 3. The rust of the hoarded wealth will be a witness against the rich, because God meant wealth to be used for the good of mankind.
It also will destroy the rich themselves -shall eat your flesh as it were fire. The phrase, for the last days probably should he changed to in the last days.
It points to the fact that, though the rich did not realize it, the last days were already present.
V 4. Another sin of rich men was the cruel defrauding of poor farm labourers. This action was particularly serious because it was explicitly contrary to the Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 24 v 14,15).
God, who is here called Lord of Sabaoth, a title that suggests his sovereign omnipotence was not oblivious to this injustice. …..His ears were open to the cries of the poor workmen.
V 5. A third sin of the rich was their luxury and pleasure. …Extravagant living was simply fattening them up for the day of slaughter. This phrase is. taken from Jeremiah 12 v 3.
In the inter-testamental period ( I Enoch 94 v 9) It took on an eschatological significance, and in this passage it is used of the day of judgement.
V 6. The just man is not Jesus but the poor man who has been treated without mercy by the rich.
Moffatt (op. cit., p. 70) points out that the word murdered had a wider range of meaning in Jewish ethics than it has today. Particularly relevant are the statements in the apocryphal, Ecclesiasticus 34 21,22: "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 neighbour’s living is to murder him; to deprive an employee of his wages is to shed blood."
Here the reference in James is probably to "judicial murders," since the statement follows the word condemned. Poor people are hauled into court (James 2 v 6) and can do nothing to defend themselves.
They are completely at the mercy of the unscrupulous rich men.
Despite all of this mistreatment, the poor do not resist.
V 7. His instruction is that the poor should bear patiently their social and economic situation in view of the imminent return of the Lord. There is no suggestion here of the forceful overthrow of the rich.
As an example of one who must exercise patience, James tells of the case of the farmer who waits for the precious fruit of the earth. In Palestine the early rain (October-November) came after the crops were planted, and the latter rain (April-May) when they were maturing.
Both were crucial for the success of the crops.
V 8. So the Christian, James says, is not to lose patience in the face of adversities but is to establish his heart in view of the fact that the coming of the Lord is very near.
V 9. Adversities cause tensions, and these in turn express themselves in human relations.
James warns, Grudge not (Better, Do not grumble, RSV) one against another.
Such action places them in danger of judgment, and the Judge standeth before the door.
V 10 11. In addition to farmers, the prophets are now recalled as illustrations of suffering and patience
It is strange that Christ's example is not cited here as it is in 1 Peter 2 v 21-23. Job was traditionally considered to be a prophet, and here he is explicitly cited as an example of steadfastness.
This is the only place in the NT where Job is mentioned. The main point of the illustration of Job is that "patient endurance can sustain itself on the conviction that hardships are not meaningless, but that God has some end or purpose in them which He will accomplish ... " V 12
Oaths. The subject under discussion is not profanity, but truthfulness. learn to make a simple :Yes' or 'No'
V 13. Suffering, calamity of any sort) calls for prayer; a joyful heart,give praise.
Let him sing psalms is too limited a translation of psalleto.
V 14 Any sick among you In the case of serious illness, James says, the elders (a reference to definite officers) of the church should be called. Their prayers were to be accompanied by anointing with oil in the name of the Lord. In some cases oil may have therapeutic value, its use is as an aid to faith.
V I5. It is clear from this verse that it is not the oil that heals the sick man, but rather the Lord shall raise him up in answer to the prayer of faith. This is not to suggest that God always answers believing prayer.
All prayer, including prayer for healing, is subject to the will of God. Sometimes, certainly not always, sickness is the result of personal sin. Perhaps this is what is meant by if he have committed sins.
In any event, the sick man is assured of forgiveness.
V 16. Prayer, to be most effective, must be intelligent. Confess your faults one to another. This does not mean that Christians are to indulge in indiscriminate public or even private confessions.
And certainly the passage has nothing to do with secret confessions to a priest.
Believers are to confess their faults only that they may pray one for another. There is no agreement as to how to render the last part of this verse, but the meaning is clear: a good man has great power in prayer.
V 17. The example is Elijah, a man of like nature with ourselves …His prayers both brought the drought and caused its end.
James seems to be drawing on other sources than the OT, since Elijah's prayers for the drought and its cessation are not mentioned in the OT account.
The length of the drought as being three and one half years is also not found in the OT.
V 19,20. The statement, Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and the two references to bringing him back seem clearly to indicate that the man under discussion is a Christian.
If a fellow Christian sees that his brother has left the great doctrines of the Christian faith and the moral responsibilities that spring from these, and is able to bring him back into fellowship with Christ and His Church, the consequences will be twofold:
(1) he shall save a soul (the sinner's) from death, and (2) shall hide a multitude of sins.
Since the NT teaches the security of the believer in Christ, it is best to take the reference to death as physical death. The early church believed and taught that persistence in sin could cause premature physical death ( I Cor 11 v 30).
News from the Church New dates
15th October…. Knit and natter is a time to finish old projects or learn new skills
if you just want to talk well that’s OK too
5th November..…..Friendship Group, (this covers all ages and the lonely people)
ANSWERS TO 5th October QUESTIONS
1) Diana 2) Deborah 3) Boaz 4) Orpah 5) Rahab 6) Agrippa 7)Bathsheba 8) Jacob 9) Isaac
10) Martha 11) Moses 12) Adam 13) Miriam 14) Joshua 15) Stephen 16) Nicodemus
Bible Quiz this week’s Quiz is Mothers in the Bible
1 The mother of Moses?
2 The mother of Samuel?
3 The mother of Obed?
4 The mother of John the Baptist?
5 The mother of Timothy?
6 The mother of Seth?
7 The mother of Isaac ?
8 The mother of Ishmael?
9 The mother of Jacob and Esau?
10 The mother of Joseph?
11 The mother of Jacobs first son?
12 The mother of the wisest man?
13 The wife of Joseph sons Manasseh and Ephraim ?
14 The mother of Mahlon and Chilion?
15 The mother of Jesus?
God Bless