James 5:1 - Meaning and Application

James is here speaking first to sinners and then to saints. Here he follows what his Master had already said, “Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort” (Luke 6:24). The rich people in view were not Christians who only claimed the faith. They were worldly and unbelieving Jews, the kind James later says condemned and killed the righteous, which Christians could not do.

Though this letter was written for believers, James can still turn and speak directly to those unbelieving Jews. They would not listen to the word, so it is written for them to read. Notice too that the letter opens differently from Paul’s letters. It is not addressed to “the brothers in Christ,” but more generally to the twelve tribes, and its greeting is simply “greetings” (James 1:1).

Many poor Jews received the gospel and believed, but most of the rich rejected Christianity. They hardened themselves in unbelief and hated those who believed in Christ. James addresses these rich, oppressive, unbelieving, and persecuting people in the first six verses.

He begins by warning them of God’s judgment that was coming on them, James 5:1-3. They should expect misery, and such misery that even the thought of it should make them weep and cry out. Their trouble would rise from the very things in which they had placed their hope. In the end, those very things would stand against them and lead to their ruin. He calls them to think carefully about how they will stand before God in judgment: “Come now, you rich people.”

He means this, very severe troubles are coming on you. There will be no comfort in them, only misery. It will be misery in this life and misery forever, misery in outward loss and misery in inward distress, misery in the world and misery in hell. This is not just one hardship, but many miseries. The ruin of their nation and church was near, and the day of wrath was coming when riches would not help anyone, but all the wicked would be destroyed.

Even the thought of such coming misery should make them weep and cry out. Rich people often tell themselves, or hear others tell them, to eat, drink, and enjoy life. But God says, “Weep and cry aloud.” James is not here calling them to repentance. He is warning them of judgment. When their doom comes, there will be nothing but weeping, mourning, and teeth-grinding sorrow. People who live like animals are told to howl like animals. Public disasters are especially bitter for rich people, who live in ease, pleasure, and self-indulgence. That is why they will weep and howl more than others when trouble comes.

Their misery will come from the very things they loved most. Corruption, decay, rust, and ruin will come on all their fine possessions. “Your wealth has rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten” (James 5:2). The things they now cling to so tightly will later hurt them deeply. They will be useless to them and will only bring sorrow.

These things will also witness against them, and they will “eat your flesh like fire” (James 5:3). Scripture often pictures inanimate things as testifying against wicked people. Heaven and earth, the stones of the field, the produce of the ground, and here even the rust and decay of hoarded treasure all rise up as witnesses against ungodly rich men. They think they are storing up wealth for their later years, but really they are piling up treasure for others to take. That is what happened to the Jews when the Romans stripped them of their wealth. In the end, such treasure becomes only a treasure of wrath on the day when God’s righteous judgment is revealed.

Then their sins, along with the punishment for them, will burn like fire in their flesh. At the ruin of Jerusalem, many thousands died by fire. At the final judgment, the wicked will be condemned to everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. May the Lord keep us from the fate of wicked rich men. To avoid that, we must also avoid their sins.

James next shows what those sins were that brought such misery. Such a terrible condition must come from very serious guilt. One sin he charges is greed. They stored up garments until moths ate them, and they hoarded gold and silver until it rusted and corroded. It is a shame that these things carry within them the seeds of their own decay. The garment breeds the moth that destroys it, and the gold and silver breed the corrosion that eats them. But the shame falls most heavily on those who keep these things for themselves until they rot away. God gives us worldly goods so we can honor him and do good with them. If we instead hoard them because of selfish desire or distrust in God’s care for the future, that is a serious sin. Even the rust and decay of the treasure will testify against such people.

Another sin James charges is oppression. “Look! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out” (James 5:4). When people gain wealth, they often gain power with it. Then they are tempted to use that power to oppress those under them. Here the rich used poor laborers in their fields. The rich needed the poor’s work, just as the poor needed the rich’s wages, and neither side could well do without the other. Yet they still held back the pay that was due. They likely made harsh bargains and then failed to keep them fairly.

This is a crying sin, one that cries out to God for justice. In this case, God is called the Lord of hosts, the Lord of armies. That title often appears in the Old Testament when God’s people were weak, unprotected, and surrounded by powerful enemies.

The Lord of hosts, the Lord who commands every rank of beings and creatures, hears the oppressed when they cry out because of cruelty or injustice. He can command any of the powers under him, such as angels, demons, storms, sickness, or anything like them, to punish wrong done to people who are treated badly and without mercy. So take care to avoid this sin of cheating and oppressing others, and stay away even from anything that looks like it.

Another sin named here is sensual living and indulgence. “You have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton” (James 5:5). God does not forbid us from enjoying things, but to live for pleasure as if that were life’s whole purpose is a serious sin. And to do this on the earth, where we are only strangers and travelers, where we are here for a short time, and where we should be preparing for eternity, makes the sin even worse.

Luxury often makes people careless and wild, as in Hosea 13:6: “According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was lifted up, therefore they forgot me.” Great wealth and plenty often lead to this kind of behavior. It is hard for people with large estates not to give themselves over too much to bodily pleasures. “You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter,” means they lived as if every day were a feast day or sacrifice day, and in doing so they made their hearts fat, dull, proud, and unmoved by the needs and troubles of others.

Some may ask, “What is wrong with good food and comfort, as long as people do not spend more than they have?” But is it really no evil for people to make their bellies their gods, and to give all their care to that instead of giving more to charity and godliness? Is it no harm to make themselves unfit to care for their souls by satisfying the desires of their bodies? Surely what brought fire on Sodom, and what would bring the misery that rich men are here told to weep and howl over, must be a dreadful evil. Pride, idleness, and plenty of bread mean the same thing here as living in pleasure, being wanton, and feeding the heart as on a day of slaughter.

Another sin charged against the rich is persecution: “You have condemned and killed the just; and he does not resist you” (James 5:6). This fills up the full measure of their guilt. They oppressed others and acted unfairly to gain wealth. Once they had wealth, they gave themselves over to luxury and pleasure until they lost all feeling for the needs and sorrows of others. Then they persecute and kill without remorse.

They may claim they are acting legally, since they first condemn before they kill. But unjust trials, whatever legal appearance they may have, will still be counted when God investigates bloodshed, just as he counts open murders and massacres. The just may indeed be condemned and killed. Yet when they suffer this way and quietly submit without resisting the unjust sentence of oppressors, God notices it. That honors the sufferers and brings shame on their persecutors. It usually shows that judgment is near. We can be sure a day of reckoning is coming, to reward the patience of the oppressed and to break the oppressor in pieces.

So far, the address has been to sinners. Next comes an address to believers. Some have been quick to mock or dislike this way of preaching, when ministers speak a word to sinners and a word to saints in the same message. But since the apostle uses this method here, we may conclude it is the right way to handle the word of truth properly. From what has been said about wicked rich oppressors, there is now an opening to comfort God’s afflicted people: since God will bring such misery on the wicked, you can see both your duty and your greatest encouragement.

First, attend to your duty: “Be patient” (James 5:7), “establish your hearts” (James 5:8), and “do not grumble against one another, brothers” (James 5:9). Think carefully about these three commands.

“Be patient” means bear your troubles without complaining, and bear wrongs without revenge. Even if God does not quickly show himself on your behalf in a clear way, wait for him. “The vision is for an appointed time; at the end it will speak, and will not lie,” so wait for it. “Yet a little while, and he who is coming will come, and will not delay.” Stretch your patience out into endurance, which is the sense of the word used here. When we have done our work, we still need patience while we wait for our reward. This Christian patience is not mere submission to necessity, as some philosophers taught. It is humble acceptance of God’s wisdom and will, with our eyes fixed on a future glorious reward. Be patient until the Lord comes. And because this is a lesson Christians must learn, even though it is hard, it is repeated in James 5:8: “Be you also patient.”

“Establish your hearts” means let your faith be steady and unshaken, let your practice of good be constant and not wear out, and let your resolve for God and heaven be firm, no matter what suffering or temptation comes. The prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous have always been a great test of God’s people. David says his feet almost slipped when he saw the prosperity of the wicked (Psalm 73:2, Psalm 73:3). Some Christians to whom James wrote may have been in that same shaky state, so they are told to strengthen their hearts. Faith and patience will steady the heart.

“Do not grumble against one another” means, literally, do not groan against one another. That is, do not trouble one another with complaining groans about what has happened to you, or with distrustful groans about what may still come, or with revengeful groans against the people who caused your suffering, or with envious groans toward those who are free from your troubles. Do not make yourselves miserable and do not make each other miserable by grieving and wearing one another down in this way.

Manton says this warning is aimed at the mutual wrongs and resentments that Christians in those days had against one another. Some were grouped under the names of circumcision and uncircumcision, and they hurt each other and gave one another reason to groan. So they were not only sighing under the pressure of rich persecutors, but also under injuries from fellow believers who shared the same holy faith.

Those who live among common enemies, and especially those who are already suffering, must be very careful not to grieve or complain against one another. If they do, judgment may come on them as well as on others. The more these complaints spread, the nearer judgment seems to be.

There is also strong encouragement here for Christians to be patient, strengthen their hearts, and stop complaining about one another. James points to the farmer. He waits for the precious crop of the earth and has long patience until the early and late rains come. When you sow seed, you wait many months for the rain and then for harvest, and you are content to wait for the fruit of your work.

If that is so, should this not teach you to bear a few storms and wait for a little while, when you are looking for a kingdom and endless joy? If a farmer waits for a crop of grain, will you not wait for a crown of glory? And if your waiting lasts a little longer than the farmer’s, is not what you wait for far greater and far more worth it?

We should also remember how short our waiting time may be. “The coming of the Lord is near” (James 5:8). “The Judge is standing at the door” (James 5:9). So do not grow impatient, and do not quarrel with one another. The great Judge, who will set everything right and will punish the wicked and reward the good, is near. We should think of him as close enough to be knocking at the door.

When James wrote this letter, the Lord’s coming to judge the wicked Jews was very near. And whenever God’s people are tested in a special way, the certainty of Christ’s coming as Judge, and how near it is, should steady their hearts. He is now much nearer to judging the world than when this letter was written, by more than seventeen hundred years, and that should have an even greater effect on us.

The danger of being condemned when the Judge appears should also move us to do our duty. “Do not grumble, so that you will not be condemned.” A fretful and discontented spirit puts us in danger of God’s just judgment. By our murmuring, distrust, envy, and complaints against one another, we often bring more trouble on ourselves than we realize. If we avoid these sins and stay patient under our trials, God will not condemn us. That should encourage us.

James also strengthens us by pointing to the prophets. “Take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience” (James 5:10). The prophets, whom God honored most and loved greatly, often suffered the most. When we remember that the best people have often had the hardest lives in this world, we can better accept affliction.

We should also notice that those who became the clearest examples of suffering were also the clearest examples of patience. Tribulation works patience. So James says what faithful people commonly know, “We count those blessed who endure” (James 5:11). We look on righteous and patient sufferers as the happiest people. See (James 1:2-12).

Job is also set before us for encouragement. “You have heard of Job’s patience and have seen the end the Lord brought about” (James 5:11). Job suffered in many ways, and his sufferings were very heavy. Yet through it all he could bless God, and in the main direction of his heart he was patient and humble.

What was the outcome? God brought about things for Job that clearly show the Lord is very compassionate and full of tender mercy. The best way to bear suffering is to look to its end. God’s pity is so great that he will not keep afflictions going once his purpose is reached. His tender mercy is so great that he will make his people more than amends for all they have suffered. His heart is moved toward them while they suffer, and his goodness is shown afterward.

So let us serve God and endure our trials as people who believe the end will crown everything.