Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of James 5:7

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

7 11. Comfort and Counsel for the Poor

7. Be patient therefore ] More literally, Be long-suffering. The logical sequence implied in “therefore” is that the “brethren” whom St James addresses should follow the example of the ideal “just man” of whom the previous verse had spoken. There is a terminus ad quem for that long-suffering, and it is found in “the coming of the Lord.” Here, with scarcely the shadow of a doubt, it is the Lord Jesus who is meant. St James had learned from the discourse recorded in Mat 24:3; Mat 24:37; Mat 24:39, to think of that Advent as redressing the evils of the world, and he shared the belief, natural in that age of the Church, that it was not far off. It had already drawn nigh (Jas 5:8). The patient expectation of the sufferers would not be frustrated. We see that the hope was not fulfilled as men expected, but we may believe that even for those who cherished it, it was not in vain. There was a judgment at hand, in which evil-doers received their just reward, and which made glad the hearts of the righteous.

hath long patience for it ] The verb is the same as that just translated “be patient.” Better, perhaps, is long-suffering over it, as implying a kind of watchful expectancy. The prevalence of a long-continued drought in Palestine when St James wrote (see note on Jas 5:16) gave, we can scarcely doubt, a very special emphasis to his words of counsel.

until he receive the early and latter rain ] The MSS. present a singular variety of readings, some giving “rain,” some “fruit,” and some no substantive at all. “Rain” gives the best meaning. The “early rain” fell in the months from October to February; the latter, from March to the end of April. Comp. Deu 11:14; Jer 3:3; Jer 5:24; Joe 2:23. An ingenious allegorising interpretation finds in the “early” rain the tears of youthful repentance; in the “latter,” those of age.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Be patient therefore, brethren – That is, under such wrongs as the apostle had described in the previous verses. Those whom he addressed were doubtless suffering under those oppressions, and his object was to induce them to bear their wrongs without murmuring and without resistance. One of the methods of doing this was by showing them, in an address to their rich oppressors, that those who injured and wronged them would be suitably punished at the day of judgment, or that their cause was in the hands of God; and another method of doing it was by the direct inculcation of the duty of patience. Compare the notes at Mat 5:38-41, Mat 5:43-45. The margin here is, be long patient, or suffer with long patience. The sense of the Greek is, be long-suffering, or let not your patience be exhausted. Your courage, vigor, and forbearance is not to be short-lived, but is to be enduring. Let it continue as long as there is need of it, even to the coming of the Lord. Then you will be released from sufferings.

Unto the coming of the Lord – The coming of the Lord Jesus – either to remove you by death, or to destroy the city of Jerusalem and bring to an end the Jewish institutions, or to judge the world and receive his people to himself. The coming of the Lord in any way was an event which Christians were taught to expect, and which would be connected with their deliverance from troubles. As the time of his appearing was not revealed, it was not improper to refer to that as an event that might possibly be near; and as the removal of Christians by death is denoted by the phrase the coming of the Lord – that is, his coming to each one of us – it was not improper to speak of death in that view. On the general subject of the expectations entertained among the early Christians of the second advent of the Saviour, see the 1Co 15:51 note; 2Th 2:2-3 note.

Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth – The farmer waits patiently for the grain to grow. It requires time to mature the crop, and he does not become impatient. The idea seems to be, that we should wait for things to develop themselves in their proper season, and should not be impatient before that season arrives. In due time we may expect the harvest to be ripened. We cannot hasten it. We cannot control the rain, the sun, the season; and the farmer therefore patiently waits until in the regular course of events he has a harvest. So we cannot control and hasten the events which are in Gods own keeping; and we should patiently wait for the developments of his will, and the arrangements of his providence, by which we may obtain what we desire.

And hath long patience for it – That is, his patience is not exhausted. It extends through the whole time in which, by the divine arrangements, he may expect a harvest.

Until he receive the early and latter rain – In the climate of Palestine there are two rainy seasons, on which the harvest essentially depends – the autumnal and the spring rains – called here and elsewhere in the Scriptures the early and the latter rains. See Deu 11:14; Job 29:23; Jer 5:24. The autumnal or early rains of Scripture, usually commence in the latter half of October or the beginning of November; not suddenly, but by degrees, which gives opportunity for the husbandman to sow his fields of wheat and barley. The rains come mostly from the west or south-west, continuing for two or three days at a time, and falling especially during the nights. The wind then chops round to the north or east, and several days of fine weather succeed. During the months of November and December the rains continue to fail heavily; afterwards they return only at longer intervals, and are less heavy; but at no period during the winter do they entirely cease to occur.

Snow often falls in Jerusalem, in January and February, to the depth of a foot or more, but it does not last long. Rain continues to fall more or less through the month of March, but it is rare after that period. At the present time there are not any particular periods of rain, or successions of showers, which might be regarded as distinct rainy seasons. The whole period from October to March now constitutes only one continued rainy season, without any regularly intervening time of prolonged fair weather. Unless, therefore, there has been some change in the climate since the times of the New Testament, the early and the latter rains for which the husbandman waited with longing, seem rather to have implied the first showers of autumn, which revived the parched and thirsty earth, and prepared it for the seed; and the latter showers of spring, which continued to refresh and forward the ripening crops and the vernal products of the fields. In ordinary seasons, from the cessation of the showers in spring until their commencement in October or November, rain never falls, and the sky is usually serene. – Robinsons Biblical Researches, vol. ii., pp. 96-100.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Jam 5:7-8

The husbandman waiteth

Persuasives to patience

Here the apostle inculcates–

I.

A PATIENCE THAT, IN THE CONSCIOUSNESS THAT LIFE RIPENS, WAITS. This is taught in the allusion made to harvest. The husbandman waits. He waits from the season of the autumnal till after the vernal rains. These rains, and all the ripening influences of sun and earth succeed each other in unhastened order, tie waits for what is worth the waiting. To him the clusters of the grape, the sheaves of the corn, are precious fruit. And all the time he waits, he knows that the ripening process is going on.

1. The human race advances to maturity. Notwithstanding the blight of its early spring, and the many perils of all its seasons, the great Restorer points to its harvest when He says, Then cometh the end.

2. Our individual life is under the same law, the law of growth. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Every life ripens, every life tends to and culminates in a harvest. Towards it in all our seasons we are advancing. To the Christian man the produce, the result of his ever-ripening life, will be in its habits, experiences, and fellowships, a harvest of precious fruit. Even now he reads pages of his own inner history, which prove that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope.

II. A. PATIENCE THAT, BY THE HOPE THAT CHRIST WILL COME, IS UPHELD. The expression of patience at which we have been looking is that of a somewhat spiritless resignation. Now we are summoned to a fortitude prepared for all that may happen. Stablish your hearts. The Septuagint uses the word translated stablish to describe the upbearing of the hands of Moses by Aaron and Hur on the mountain. Those two men sustained the prophets arms from hour to hour till the war was over, and the victory won. So there is a hope which our patience, though often like Moses hands thus heavy, may be upheld. What hope? That the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. The coming of the Lord may mean at least one of the three things:

1. His coming in some special dispensation of Providence.

2. His coming to judge the world.

3. His coming at our death.

III. A PATIENCE THAT IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRISTS PRESENCE IS UNMURMURING. The Judge standeth before the door, and though Judge, it is He who was the Man of sorrows, the despised and rejected of men. Does not His history, from the stable to the Cross, shame our murmurs? The Judge standeth before the door, and knows the circumstances and deserts of us all. Before we judge others we need that our eye should, like Christs, search souls as well as circumstances, and that our hand, like His, should weigh character as well as condition. The Judge standeth before the door, and will rightly reward our destiny. Dare we anticipate His sentence? Need we?

IV. A PATIENCE THAT IN THE SENSE OF ITS FELLOWSHIPS REJOICES. High among the heroes of the good stand the prophets. Having held communion with God, they have turned to the world of men, and charged with God-given thoughts, have stood and taught in His stead. Thus, theirs has been the dignity not of mere nobility, nor royalty, but of Divinity. Their sufferings have become as famous as their mission–so famous that we are bidden to take them as examples of suffering affliction. In our sufferings, therefore, we can look round to those that have spoken in the name of the Lord, and wonderingly ask one and another of them, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? But as eminent as their sorrows is their endurance. When we think of them we reckon them not as sad, unfortunate, pitiable. Listening to the voice that on the mountain pronounced who among men are blessed, we know that these prophets are indeed blessed.

V. A PATIENCE THAT THROUGH CONFIDENCE IN GODS CHARACTER IS ALLCONQUERING. The expression, The end of Lord, may mean one of two things, either of which reveals Him as being very pitiful and of tender mercy.

1. It may mean the termination to which God brings sorrow. For illustration of this, perhaps, Jobs name is cited.

2. Or it may mean the object of the Lord in permitting sorrows. Well has it been said that it is rough work that polishes. Look at the pebbles on the shore! Far inland, where some arm of the sea thrusts itself deep in the bosom of the land and expanding into a salt loch, lies girdled by the mountains, sheltered from the storms that agitate the deep, the pebbles on the beach are rough, not beautiful–angular, not rounded. It is where long white lines of breakers roar, and the rattling shingle is rolled about the strand, that its pebbles are rounded and polished. As in nature, as in the arts, so in the grace: it is rough treatment that gives souls, as well as stones, their lustre. The more the diamond is cut, the brighter it sparkles; and in what seems hard dealing, their God has no end in view but to perfect His peoples graces. (U. R. Thomas.)

Are missions a failure?

It is a matter of common remark that Christian missions are often looked upon somewhat coldly even by well-disposed people. The main reason for this coldness is, at least in very many cases, a mistaken estimate of what missions can be reasonably expected to achieve. Now the first point to be observed in this estimate of what missions can be expected to do, is that it is the natural product of one feature of the temper of our day. The human mind is largely influenced by the outward circumstances of the successive forms of civilisation in which it finds itself; and within the last half century railroads and telegraphs have successively altered human habits of thought in more respects than one. We assume that the rate at which we travel and send messages must necessarily have its counterpart in all meritorious forms of human effort; and in this way we accustom ourselves to regard rapidity in producing results as a necessary test of good work–a test failure to satisfy which is not easily, if at all, atoned for by other tokens of excellence. This impatience of delay in production may have its advantages in certain limited districts of activity. But is it not a mistake to assume that all forms of human effort are improved by this acceleration of pace, or, indeed, that they will adapt themselves to it? Take art, and consider the old and true saying, Time is short and art is long. Do what we will, art cannot be hurried. Even if a painter or a sculptor creates with great rapidity this or that masterpiece, the rapidity is limited to the moment of production; the real preparation which has enabled him to project the idea, and has perfected the methods of expressing it, is the work of a lifetime, and rare, indeed, are the occasions when even a great artist can produce rapidly and to order. Or take literature. As a rule, the composition of a great poem, or history, or treatise, which shall live extends over many years, not because the mechanical labour involved formally in writing out a considerable work requires a great deal of time, but especially because to produce anything that shall have on it the stamp of maturity requires time stilt more urgently–time for redressing, so far as may be possible, some defects whichnecessarily attach to the first effort at production, time to reconsider what is ill-judged, to supply what is deficient, to anticipate in some degree the sentence which an impartial posterity would pass upon a composition in its original crudity. Now, to-day, we are remarking how this impatience for immediate results which marks our time extends itself beyond those activities which are mainly or wholly human, and claims to mould and to govern undertakings in which God is the main agent, and man only Gods instrument. Only here the impatient demand is apt to meet with a different kind of reception from there. Artists and men of letters adjust their work to the temper of the day, but the Eternal Workman heeds not the varying moods and fashions of the creature whom He has made, and, in spite of the demand for rapid production, is at this hour as slow and as sure in His work as at any past time in history. A mission is essentially a work in which man counts for little, although his active exertion is imperatively necessary. In a mission, the influences which fertilise human effort, and the date at which this fertilisation shall take place, are alike in the hands of God. When this is felt, it will be felt also that an order, so to describe it, upon a given mission for so many converts, at least, within such and such time, is an indefensible thing. But St. James in the text supplies us with an illustration which may enable us to see this more clearly. What the coming of the Lord certainly means in this passage may be open to discussion. Our Lord comes to us in blessings and in judgments, and St. James may be thinking of some political or social event which would put a stop to the oppressions of which his correspondents had complained; or he may be thinking of our Lords second coming to judgment: But either coming, St. James implies, is in this respect like the natural harvest–that while mans activity leads up to it, it depends on agencies which are beyond mans control. When St. James points to the presence and operation of God in nature, every countryman in Syria would have understood him. The corn was sown in September; in October there came the early rain, which made the seed sprout; the latter rain fell, as a rule, in March or the beginning of April, in time to make the ears swell before they ripened. In a soil of remarkable fertility, but generally of no great depth, spread as it was over the limestone rock, everything depended on the two rainfalls. The husbandman could only prepare the soil and sow the seed: the rest he must leave to God; and St. James dwells on the long patience with which, as a rule, a Syrian peasant waited for the precious fruit of the earth, and for the rainfall which was so necessary to its growth. And his language illustrates an old observation, that, as a rule, people who live in the country are more religious–by which I mean more constantly alive to the presence and the working of Almighty God–than are people who live in towns. The habit of Watching God in Nature is of itself a lesson in the school of faith. If anything is clear about Gods work in nature, it is that it proceeds gradually, that it cannot be precipitated. This truth finds, perhaps, unintentional expression in the modern word of which we hear so much–evolution. One period in the earths earliest condition introduces to another; one phase of natural life leads on to the confines of another; this epoch of human history is the parent of much that first emerges to view in that–the truth being that the one presiding and controlling Mind is throughout at work, never ceasing from, never hesitating about His task, and that eternal wisdom which reaches from one end to another mightily and sweetly doth order all things. And in nature, so, as St. James implies, it is in grace. Man does his part; he sows the word of life, he prepares the soil, he plants with St. Paul, he waters with Apollos, but he can do no more, and God, who sends the early and the latter rain, alone gives the increase. So it is in the history of individuals when that great change takes place which is called conversion, whether from error to truth or from ungodliness of life to obedience of Christ. St. Augustine tells us that long before the change which was precipitated by his reading the passage in the Epistle to the Romans he had met with teachers, events, examples which had set him thinking. He put those thoughts aside, but they returned. He again dismissed them; again they came back to him. He was, in truth, ill at ease; his Manichean creed, his dissolute life were the husks on which this prodigal son long fed, but those husks had a work of disenchantment to do, though time was needed in which to do it, and at last this preparatory process was over. The hesitations, the misgivings, the yearnings, the relapses, the near approaches to grace, and the shrinkings back from grace had all come to an end; the fruit had ripened, whereby the Christian Church received the greatest of her teachers since St. Paul. And so, too, in the history of societies. It took three centuries to convert the Roman empire to Christianity, if, indeed, we may rightly so describe the numerical superiority, for it was not much more, on the part of the Christians at the end of the first quarter of the fourth century of our era. And yet even so described what a wonderful work it was! Three centuries before such a result would have seemed impossible to any man of sense and judgment. In view of these natural analogies, and of this history, let us turn once more to the modern demand that so many missionaries shall produce in such and such a time so many converts, and to the impatience, if not the indignation, which is felt or expressed if this expectation is not realised, as though something had taken place which was akin to a commercial fraud. What is this modern way of looking at missions but an endeavour to apply to the kingdom of Divine grace those rules of investment and return which are most properly kept in view in a house of commerce? Do you not see that this demand leaves God, the Great Missionary of all, out of the calculation? God has His own times for pouring out His Spirit, His own methods of silent preparation, His own measures of speed and of delay, and He does not take missionaries or the promoters of missionary societies into His confidence. He has a larger outlook than they, and more comprehensive plans, and whether He gives or withholds His gifts, of this we may be sure, in view of the truest and broadest interests of His spiritual kingdom: we appeal to His bounty, but we can but do as He bids us, and abide His time. Not that this reverent patience in waiting for Gods blessing is any excuse whatever for relaxing the zealous activity with which missionary efforts should be prosecuted by the Church of God. The husbandman does not the less plough the soil or the less sow the seed because he is uncertain whether his labour will be followed by the early and the latter rain. If he does not plough and sow he knows that the rain will be useless at least to him. It is quite possible for a secret indifference to the interests of Christ and His kingdom to veil itself under the garb of reverence, to refuse to help the work of Christian missions because we do not know how far God will promote a particular mission; but that is only one of the many forms of self-deceit which we Christians too often employ in order to evade Christian duties. Duties are for us, the results with God. (Canon Liddon.)

Waiting

I. BEHOLD THE CONTINUED AND PERSEVERING DILIGENCE WHICH PRECEDED THE EXERCISE OF THE HUSBANDMANS PATIENCE, HOW various and multiplied are his labours: he ploughed, dressed, fallowed, sowed, harrowed, his fields–and for what?–to wait until the softened furrows should allow the tender grain to sprout. Can you behold his preparatory efforts without emotion? Alas I we are verily guilty in this matter. What little diligence have we evinced–how disconnected have our toils been–how unwilling to repeat the effort, which appears pretentious!

II. MAKE THE SUBMISSIVE ACQUIESCENCE WITH WHICH HE EXPECTS THE PROMISED ISSUE OF HIS LABOURS. He, indeed, knows not which field shall best prosper, or whether both shall be alike good; but he quietly, and without distraction, waits the arrival of spring, when the tender herb shall appear. And shall he be wiser in his worldly ways than you, who are the husbandmen of the Most High? In providential concerns you are perplexed, and your fears are many; but why be careful for the morrow? Of what avail is this tumult of mind, this agitation of spirit? Under tedious delays, does this rebellion of heart do other than increase your misery? Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord; observe how the husbandman waits, how deep is the conviction that impatience will never accelerate his harvest. Moreover, in your case, your hopes are delayed by this temper. Suffer not your fears-I had almost, but for pity, said, your follies–to triumph. You are no proper judge of the length of time you have waited: every minute has been to you as an hour, or as a year. You misjudge the motive of his delay; it is, that he may commend your patience, as well as reward your labours.

III. OBSERVE THE ANXIETY WITH WHICH THE HUSBANDMAN EXPECTS THE SPRINGING OF THE CORN. Man is prone to extremes; if he may not be impatient, he thinks he must be indifferent; if he is condemned for standing still, he runs like some restive horse which will either not stir, or furiously gallop. But the farmer unites the two; though not impatient, he is far from unconcerned. Do you take an equal interest, as lively a concern, in the field you cultivate for your Great Employer? Go to the husbandman, thou careless and unconcerned parent; consider his anxieties, and be wise: recollect the domestic trust confided to you.

IV. But once more, notice the CERTAINTY characterises the patient expectation of the farmer; he waits till he receive the early and the latter rain. The expression may be considered as comprehending all the kindly and sweet influences of the heavens, which are necessary for the precious fruits of the earth; and have these ever been withheld? But the profits of our fields are not so certain, by many degrees of probability, as is the reward of grace which is ensnared by His promise who cannot lie.

1. Before we conclude, let our attention be directed to One who has towards us exemplified long patience; who has frequently come and sought fruit from us, and found none. You think much of waiting a few months for your crops; or if your desires are delayed for a year or two, prayer and effort are both discontinued. Has He not reason to expect abundant returns from you? What more could He have done for you?

2. Let me point you to those inferior husbandmen who fairly expected to have reaped from you the reward of their labours, and yet have hitherto waited in vain.

3. Should the expectations of the husbandman in reference to any of his fields fail, he will again plough up the land; and, notwithstanding a few sickly plants sprinkled here and there on the surface of the ground, sacrifice all his toils and hopes, and prepare it for another crop. Thus has the Great Husbandman dealt with the nations at large: their privileges have been taken from them, and given to such as bring forth the fruits thereof: and thus will He act towards individuals who trifle with the means of cultivation they enjoy. (W. Clayton.)

A visit to the harvest field

The earth that yields seed to the sower and bread to the eater has received its constitution from God; and it is governed through His wise providence by fixed laws that are infinitely reliable: and yet, at the same time, with such diversified conditions and minute peculiarities as may well convince us that the Almighty intended the operations of nature to supply us with spiritual instruction as well as with material good.

I. First, then, How DOES THE HUSBANDMAN WAIT? He waits with a reasonable hope for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and the latter rain. He expects the harvest because he has ploughed the fields and sown the grain. Out on the folly of those who flatter their souls with a prospect of good things in time to come while they neglect the opportunity of sowing good things in the time present. They say they hope it will be well with them at the end; but, since it is not well with them now, why should they expect any change–much less a change contrary to the entire order of Providence? The husbandman waits with a reasonable hope; he does not look for grain where he has cast in garlic. Save then that thou art a fool, thou wilt like him count only on the fruit of thine own sowing. While he waits with a patient hope, he is no doubt all the more patient of the issue, because his hope is so reasonable. And not only does he wait with patience, but some stress is put upon the length of it; and hath long patience for the precious fruit of the earth. Now, our waiting, if it be the work of the Holy Spirit, must have this long patience in it. Are you a sufferer? There are sweet fruits to come from suffering t Have long patience for those peaceable fruits. You shall be brought out of your trouble when the discipline for which you were brought into it has been fulfilled. Have long patience, however, for not the first month does the husbandman find a harvest. If he has sown in the winter, he does not expect he will reap in the early spring: he does not go forth with his sickle in the month of May and expect to find golden sheaves. He waits. The moons wax and wane; suns rise and set; but the husbandman waits till the appointed time is come. Wait thou, O sufferer, till the night be over. Tarry thou a little longer, for if the vision tarry it shall come. Are you a worker? Then you need as much patience in working as you do in suffering. We must not expect to see immediate results in all cases from the preaching of the gospel, from the teaching of Scripture in our classes, from distributing religious literature, or from any other kind of effort. Be patient, O worker, for impatience sours the temper, chills the blood, sickens the heart prostrates the vigour of ones spirit, and spoils the enterprise of life before it is ripe for history. Wait thou, clothed with patience, like a champion clad in steel. Wait with a sweet grace, as one who guards the faith and sets an example of humility. Wait in a right spirit, anxious, prayerful, earnest submissive to the ways of God, not doubtful of His will. Disciple of Jesus, learn to labour and to wait. With regard to the result of Christian obedience, the lesson is no less striking. The first thing that a farmer does by way of seeking gain on his farm is to make a sacrifice which could seem immediately to entail on him a loss. He has some good wheat in the granary, and he takes out sacks full of it and buries it. You must not expect as soon as you become a Christian, that you shall obtain all the gains of your religion, perhaps you may lose all that you have for Christs sake. And, while the husbandman waits, you observe in the text he waits with his eye upward, he waits until God shall send him the early and the latter rain. None but the eternal Father can send the Holy Spirit like showers on the Church. He can send the Comforter, and my labour will prosper; it will not be in vain in the Lord; but if He deny, if He withhold this covenant blessing, ah me! work is useless, patience is worthless, and all the cost is bootless: it is in vain. Note, however, that while the husbandman waits with his eye upward, he waits with his hands at work, engaged in restless toil. He cannot push on the months; he cannot hasten the time of the harvest-home; but he does not wait in silence, in sluggishness and negligence; he keeps to his work and waits too. So do you, O Christian men I wait for the coming of your Lord, but let it be with your lamps trimmed and your lights burning, as good servants. The husbandman waits under changeful circumstances, and various contingencies. Only a farmer knows how his hopes and fears alternate and fluctuate from time to time. Yet he waits, he waits with patience. Ah, when we work for God, how often will this happen! There are always changes in the field of Christian labour. At one time we see many conversions, and we bless God that there are so many seals to our testimony. But some of the converts after a while disappoint us. There was the blossom, but it produced no fruit. Then there will come a season when many appear to backslide. Some deadly heresy creeps in, and the anxious husbandman fears there will be no harvest after all. Oh, patience sir, patience. When God shall give you a rich return for all you have done for Him, you will blush to think you ever doubted; you will be ashamed to think you ever grew weary in His service.

II. WHAT DOES THE HUSBANDMAN WAIT FOR? He waits for results, for real results; right results; he hopes also rich results. And this is just what we are waiting for–waiting as sufferers for the results of sanctified affliction. Oh that we might have every virtue strengthened, every grace refined, by passing through the furnace. And you are, also, like the husbandman, waiting for a reward. All the while till the hat vest comes, he has nothing but outlay. From the moment he sows, it is all outgoing until he sells his crops, and then, recovering at once the principal and the interest, he gets his reward, in this world look not for a recompense. You may have a grateful acknowledgment in the peace, and quiet, and contentment of your own spirit, but do not expect even that from your fellow-men. Wait till the week is over, and then shall come the wage. Wait until the sun is gone down, and then there will be the penny for every labourer in the vineyard. Not vet, not yet, not yet. The husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth. This is what we wait for.

III. WHAT IS THE HUSBANDMANS ENCOURAGEMENT IN WAITING? The first is, that the fruit be waits for is precious. Who that walks through a cornfield where the crops are plentiful, but will say, Well, this was, after all, worth all the trouble and all the expense, and all the long patience of that winter which is over and gone? If the Lord should draw you near unto Himself by your affliction, if He should make His image in you more clear, it will be worth waiting for. And if, after your labours, He should give you some soul for your reward, oh, will it not repay you? We may wait, therefore, with patience, because the reward of our labour will be precious. Above all, the reward of hearing the Master say, Well done, good and faithful servant, is worth waiting for I Even now to get a word from Him is quite enough to cheer us on, though it be a soft, still voice that speaks it, but oh, the joy of that loud voice Well done. A godly husbandman waits with patience, again, because he knows Gods covenant. God has said seed time and harvest, summer and winter, shall not cease, and the Christian farmer knowing this is confident. But oh, what strong confidences have we who have looked to Christ, and who are resting on the faithful word of a covenant God. He cannot fail us. It is not possible that He should suffer our faith to be confounded. The covenant stands good, the harvest must come as surely as the seed time has come. Moreover, every husbandman is encouraged by the fact that he has seen other harvests. And, O brethren, have not we multitudes of instances to confirm our confidence? Let us cheerfully resign ourselves to the Lords will in suffering, for as others of His saints who went before us have reaped the blessing, so shall we.

IV. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF PATIENCE? To patiently wait Gods appointed time is our business. Suppose a man should be impatient under suffering. Will it diminish his suffering? We all know that the irritability of temper which is caused by impatience is one of the difficulties which the physician has to battle with. When the patient is calm there is a better chance of his recovery. O that ye would endeavour to conquer impatience. It cast Satan out of heaven, when he was impatient at the honour and dignity of the Son of God. But the benefits of patience are too many for me to hope to enumerate them. Suffice it to say, patience saves a man from great discouragement. Expect to wait for glory; expect to wait for the reward which God hath promised; and while you are waiting on the Lord your bread shall be certain, and your water shall be sure: you shall often eat meat, thank God, and take courage. The short days and long nights shall not be all charged with gloom, but full often they shall be tempered with good cheer. When we have patience it keeps us in good heart for service. Great haste makes little speed. He that believeth shall not make haste; and as the promise runs, he shall never be confounded. Above all, patience is to be commended to you because it glorifies God. The man that can wait, and wait calmly, astonishes the worldling, for the worlding wants it now. You remember John Bunyans pretty parable of Passion and Patience. Passion would have all his best things first, and one came in and lavished before him out of a bag all that the child could desire. Patience would have his best things last, and Patience sat and waited, so when Passion had used up all his joy, and all he sought for, Patience came in for his portion, and as John Bunyan very well remarked, there is nothing to come after the last, and so the portion of Patience lasted for ever. Let me have my best things last, my Lord, and my worst things first. Be they what they may, they shall be over, and then my best things shall last for ever and for ever. There is one other respect in which our case is like that of the husbandman. As the season advances, his anxieties are prone to increase rather than to abate. In like manner we have a closing scene in prospect which may, and will in all probability, involve a greater trial of faith, and a sterner call for patience, than any or all of the struggles through which we have already passed. Perhaps I can best describe it to you by quoting two passages of Scripture, one specially addressed to workers, the other more particularly to sufferers. The first of these texts you will find in Heb 10:35-36. This is sweet counsel for thee, O pilgrim, to Zions city bound. When thou wast young and strong, thou didst walk many a weary mile with that staff of promise. It helped thee over the ground. Dont throw it aside as useless, now that thou art old and infirm. Lean upon it. Rest upon that promise, in thy present weakness, which lightened thy labour in the days of thy vigour. Cast not away your confidence. But there is something more. The apostle says, Ye have need of patience, after ye have done the will of God. But why, you will say, is patience so indispensable at this juncture of experience? Doubtless you all know that we are never so subject to impatience as when there is nothing we can do. Hence it is that after our fight is fought, after our race is run, after our allotted task is finished, there is so much need of patience, of such patience as waits only on God and watches unto prayer, that we may finish our course with joy and the ministry we have received of the Lord Jesus. And what about the second text? Turn to Jam 1:4. Seemeth it not as though patience were a virtue par excellence which puts the last polish on Christian chastity? We will hire us back to the cornfields again: I am afraid we were forgetting them. But this time we will net talk so much with the farmer as with the crops. Knowest thou, then, what it is that gives that bright yellow tinge of maturity to those blades which erst were green and growing? What, think you, imparts that golden hue to the wheat? All the while the corn was growing, those hollow stems served as ducts that drew up nourishment from the soil. At length the process of vegetation is fulfilled. The fibres of the plant become rigid; they cease their office; down below there has been a failure of the vital power which is the precursor of death. Henceforth the heavenly powers work quick and marvellous changes; the sun paints his superscription on the ears of grain. They have reached the last stage; having fed on the riches of the soil long enough, they are only influenced flora above. The time of their removal is at hand, when they shall be cut down, carried away in the team, and housed in the garners. So, too, it is with some of you. The fall of the year is most thickly strewn with the fall of human life. You have long been succoured with mercies that have come up from mother-earth; you have been exposed to cold dews, chilling frosts, stormy blasts; you have had the trial of the vapoury fog, the icy winter, the fickle spring, and the summer drought; but it is nearly all over now. You are ready to depart. Not yet for a brief space has the reaper come. Ye have need of patience. Having suffered thus far, your tottering frame has learnt to bend. Patience, man–patience! A mighty transformation is about to be wrought on you in a short space. Wait on the Lord. Holiness shall now be legibly, more legibly than ever, inscribed on your forefront by the clear shining of the Sun of Righteousness. The heavenly Husbandman has you daily, hourly, in His eye, till He shall say to the angel of His presence, Put in your sickle. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Be ye also patient

Christian waiting

I. SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTIAN WAITING.

1. Christian waiting follows conscientious effort. It is not until we have striven to do our duty in Divine strength; it is not until we feel ourselves hemmed in, unable to take another step, that we are to stand still and see the salvation of God. The apostolic injunction is: Having done all, to stand. It is not until we have laboured that we are to learn to wait. To act otherwise would be to play the part of a farmer who may be waiting for a harvest before he has sown the seed.

2. Christian waiting is an outcome of faith. Faith in the Divine promises, fidelity, ability, and love.

3. Christian waiting is patient. It is a state in which fluttering and murmuring have no place; it is a state in which there is dignified self-restraint, and sweet acquiescence to that will which is recognised to be infallible, sovereign, and good.

4. Christian waiting is expectant. It is ever on the outlook. An attendant, who was asked to wake a visitor in time to meet an appointment, was lingering hard by for the purpose, when some one exclaimed, What, sitting here and doing nothing! No, was the quick reply, I am busy waiting. The man who is truly waiting for the salvation of the Lord is busy waiting–busy like one waiting for the day-dawn, or like one waiting to take the tide at the flood.

5. Christian waiting is necessary. God does nothing hurriedly. Did the earth, with her hills and vales, lakes, rivers, and seas, dark mines, and gigantic rocks, reach her present state in swift transactions? Did Jesus sweep down from the heavens as the Saviour of man immediately He was promised? Is human life rapid in its physical, mental, and spiritual growth? The development of that which is great cannot be forced. Perfection is not reached in a leap.

II. THE ENCOURAGEMENT BY WHICH CHRISTIAN WAITING IS HERE ENFORCED. The farmer is encouraged to wait by the thought that every sunrise prepares for, and accelerates the gleeful reaping time. So the believer is incited to wait for Christ by the assurance that His coming draweth nigh.

1. His coming in some signal dispensation of Providence may be nigh. If there is no longer a needs be for our waiting, we may be sure that He will speedily come to crown our temporal and spiritual efforts with appropriate success; to solve perplexing problems; to deliver from envy, slander, oppression, and to satisfy the desires which He Himself has kindled.

2. His coming at the end of the world may be said to be nigh. Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly.

3. His coming at our dissolution may be said to be nigh. It cannot be far distant from any one of us; every clock-tick and pulse-beat hastens it. (E. H. Palmer.)

Christian persistence

When men have entered upon a religious experience, or a religious life, they are warned that there are perils in that life or experience–especially the peril of getting tired of it; of losing interest in it; of having their enthusiasm waste away like a summers brook, and die like a fugitive cloud. Weariness may take on either of three forms–that of simple fatigue, that of discouragement, or that of disgust. Now,there are no callings in life that are continuous in which we do not experience weariness in the first form–that of fatigue; and rest is the cure for it. We get tired of daily tasks–especially those that consist in bearing heavy burdens and responsibilities; and the night is a blessed relief to those who perform them. But then come the other forms of weariness–namely, discouragement, want of hope, and disgust, aa inexplicable state of mind which oftentimes drives a man to the other extreme, so that he loathes things that once were attractive to him, and not only renounces his purposes, but stands in direct antagonism to the very ends that before he sought violently to serve. I shall speak of some of the occasions on which this weariness and this reaction take place, and of some of the causes which produce them. Weariness often takes place in regular and necessary business life–especially where our avocations are not such as minister pleasure. We should seek as far as possible to reduce that which is necessary in our daily calling to a pleasure. Although there are some things that can scarcely be made pleasurable, yet to a far greater extent than men believe it is possible to subdue to liking things that are not naturally likable. There are odours that are intolerable when we regard them with disgust, but that, nevertheless, when we dwell by them day by day, if we have rational minds, we may come to so regard as to overcome our repugnance to them. And if one man can do it, another can. Tasks that are disagreeable should first be essayed. To all those who have a wearisome life; to all those who have mixed responsibilities to all those who are obliged to have anxiety; to all those who are compelled to bear these things in bodies enfeebled by disease, or in bodies whose nervous organisation has been very much supplanted, there is this exhortation: Be not weary in well doing. In due season ye shall reap if ye faint not. If by complaint, if by repugnance, if by weariness, you could change your affairs for the better, it would be different; but you make them worse by these things; and discretion, as well as the exhortation of revelation, points out the true any Be bold, be patient, be not weary, continue instant in season and out of season. Follow these directions, and in due time ye shall have relief. Then a still more critical weariness comes upon persons who, having set before them a vivid notion of their faults and failings, attempt to shape their whole character to a higher pattern and to live their whole life on a higher plane. There is nothing harder than to rise from any level where we have permitted ourselves to spread, out to a higher level. We hug the sphere in which we have invested the most of ourselves; and when we are called to forsake it and to go up to a higher level it is a thing of displacency; and we do it with the utmost fatigue and reluctance. Yet, every man should set his face against the ruling of lower tendencies; and should determine to measure himself by, a higher standard; and when a man, carrying out these purposes in succession, finds himself attacking pride, besieging vanity, doing battle with lusts, and passions, and appetites, he has a campaign on his hands which may very well breed weariness and discouragement, for many and many of the tendencies of our nature are like streams which seem to dry up in summer, but which come Booming again in spring when the rains descend upon the mountains; and where we thought we had achieved victories we find ourselves quite overthrown and swept away. In some respects it is true that men are worse when they begin to be better: The conflict with morbid nature with unwholesome nature is disturbing. Therefore men who attempt to carry out the rule of righteousness with temperance often find themselves very tired of sitting and watching at the door of the mouth, and saying, Let your moderation be known [be made apparent] to all men. They forget, they relax vigilance, they faint; and the inordinate appetite which they have striven against for days and weeks at once overtakes them, and they are swept away; and in looking back, when they examine the tendencies of anger, and irritableness, and envy, and jealousy, and avarice in the actual strifes of life, when they think of their relations to others, and of the relative conditions of others and themselves, and when they, from year to year, mark whether they grow in grace or not, it is not strange that weariness and discouragement come over men. Then there is weariness in our social duties and relationships. In days of sickness, in days of labour, and especially in days of poverty, when one can almost say, Heart and flesh have failed, is it strange that there is discouragement? And is there no need of the injunction, Be not weary in well doing? and of the promise, In due season ye shall reap, if ye faint not? When dealing, not within the sacred precincts of the family, but in our relations with those around us–with our neighbours, of every clime, of every disposition, of every kind of education, and of every temperament–an amount of forbearance, of patience, of gentleness, of wisdom, and ofgoodness is required that cannot be measured in words. And when it becomes necessary to co-operate for the public good, or for the good of special classes or conditions of men, human nature is a thing that torments the patience. It is hard to bear with men, and it is hard to bear with them just in the proportion in which they are strong and multiform in their nature. We are disposed to be weary in doing good to others, so slow is the result of anything we undertake in developing itself, so unfruitful is this result, and so material and uninteresting are people. Is it the work of charity? To do good among those who need you most–the poor and the ignorant–will require all the patience, all the gentleness, all the self-denial that you can command. All men, therefore, who go out into the community as reformers should bear in mind the difficulty of managing human nature, and should remember that reformation is effectual only in proportion as it touches the fundamental wants of men. The temperance reformation is slow, is intermittent, and has its reactionary periods, because it strikes at the very strongest passions and appetites which exist in human life. It is an attempt of goodness to overcome badness. It is a promiscuous campaign carried on by all sorts of men. And the marvel is not that it is so slow, but that it is so fast, and that there is so much in it that is permanent. To the end of life and society, however, the work of temperance will be a thing to be done over and over again; and every generation will have to go through precisely the same process. Yet men must not be discouraged nor faint. Then, other men grow weary on account of injudicious labours, on account of undertaking too much, and on account of constantly attempting to work from wrong standards in themselves. Many a man works from the impulse of praise; and as long as he is praised, not to say flattered, he is encouraged, and works cheerfully; but when the praise ceases he begins to grow weary and discouraged, and it seems to him as though life had lost its savour. Others work from the feeling of pride; and so long as that feeling is gratified, and men look up to them, and show them difference, and submit to their control, they are buoyant, and work willingly; but when the gratification of their pride ceases, and men do not yield to them any longer, and they are obliged to humble themselves before others, they grow weary. The trouble comes from the fact that they are attempting to work from the standpoint of prominence and dominance, and wish to be masters. Other men work because they have a sense of duty, and a sense of duty ought to underlie every action of their life; nevertheless, if there is nothing but a sense of duty, it is a hard master that grudges reward; for the sense of duty increases with the performance of duty. The ideal of what we should be and should do grows with actual attainment, so that a man will live for ever in the seventh chapter of Romans, if his inspiration in life is for ever an inspiration of conscience or of duty. In view of these considerations, it is not strange that so many are weary in well-doing, and we see how manifestly it is right that we should exhort men, saying, Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season ye shall reap if ye faint not. Be seed-sowers. Be husbandmen in the harvest-field. Sow and reap day by day. Sow at morning and at evening. Withhold not your hand anywhere. You know not which shall prosper, this or that, or whether both alike shall prosper; and be not weary of the work that you leave behind you; take it up again wherever you go; and in the spirit of the Master, carry blessedness, cheerfulness, hopefulness, happiness in your rounds, whether of rest, of pleasure, or of duty. (H. W. Beecher.)

The duty of expectation

In the order of the phenomena which we call natural, everybody knows that time must be taken into account, and that the impatience of men has no effect whatever upon the regular progress of things. The harvest can be expected only after a regular number of months, and when fruit-trees or plants such as the vine are to be brought to maturity, years of patient waiting are required. It is front the habit of reckoning with nature that the peasant derives his proverbial patience and his unwearied tenacity. The artisan of our cities handles matter at his will, and his task is sooner completed; nevertheless, he also knows that nothing solid or good can be produced at a moments notice. Thus it is as regards the culture of the intellect; it has its successive stages, which can neither be suppressed nor inter-vetted; the greatest of mathematicians must proceed step by step from the elements of arithmetic to integral calculus. Nothing can be absolutely improvised in this world, and, as the poet said, Time soon destroys what has been done without its aid. We all accept this law: but when the Divine works are in question, it seems to us to be out of place. On this point our opinion partly rests upon the true idea that God is above time. Now we may draw a false inference from this principle which, however, is both true and necessary: we may imagine that whatever is Divine must needs be instantaneous. It is certain, however, that Jesus Christ never encouraged this tendency; He declared that prodigies in themselves might be an effect of the evil spirit, and it is upon the moral character of His natural or supernatural works that He always insists upon most strongly. Is it not this very prejudice which leads so many fervent souls to acknowledge the action of the Holy Ghost only in those manifestations which are sudden and striking? Two equally fatal consequences follow from this conception: in the first place, disdain for the ordinary means of grace, for the regular ministry, for the institutions of the past, for the measures which assure and prepare the future. God, it is asserted, hath need of none of these. The other consequence is the impatient zeal which would hurry on the progress of souls, which exaggerates the results already obtained, sees conversions in factitious emotions, creates an over excitement which it takes for an evident effusion of the Holy Spirit, and passes the most uncharitable judgments upon those who have kept outside of this sacred contagion. Now the truth is this: It has pleased God, who Himself is above time, to act in time and by means of time. To convince yourselves of this, behold God at work, as revealed to us in Scripture; His actions will enable us to understand His purposes. God creates the world. It seems as though an instantaneous creation should have responded to an almighty will. But the Bible gives us a totally different account of our origin. In it time appears to us as the very condition of the existence of things. Everything is subject to the twofold law of succession and progress. What I say of creation may also be affirmed as regards the work of grace. If I seek the reason of the existence of all things, Scripture replies by this sublime expression: the reign of God.
Everything tends towards this end, everything is subservient to it, and the entire universe knows no other. Nevertheless, despite this decisive reason which appears to us so completely self-evident, Gods triumph is not immediate; there is a history of the reign of God. A history, that is to say, a beginning, then successive actions which prepare the final consummation; a history, that is to say, the secular, difficult, laborious development of a germ deposited in the depths of humanity. That is the substance of the teaching of Scripture; if you misapprehend it, the Word of God will be for you an eternally sealed book. God takes time into account when the destinies of His kingdom are in question. The history of Christianity is the visible realisation of this Divine plan. We must acknowledge, doubtless, that the sins, the indifference the apathy, the dissensions of Christians have manifestly contributed to this delay; but, even had the influence of these causes been null and void, the conversion of the world had not been the work of a day: the rains of the early and latter seasons must have fallen ere that magnificent harvest could be gathered in. What we say of the conquest of nations, we must also affirm of the salvation of individual souls. God might subdue them in a day; sudden and often striking conversions occur at all times to remind us of the sovereignty of grace; but these are exceptions, and in these very exceptions, a discerning eye easily detects a hidden and latent preparation. In the parable of the prodigal son, the gospel points to the successive phases of the sinners estrangement, of the awakening of false independence, of selfishness, pride, rebellion, of the intoxicating delights of passion, of the final shame and degradation, and only in this supreme hour does the distinct remembrance of the Fathers house spring up in that broken heart. For the salvation of a soul, as well as for the salvation of the world, we must learn to wait. Oh! I am not ignorant of the surprise, murmurs, and criticisms which these delays of the Divine action rouse in our hearts. Before us continually stands out that unsolvable contradiction between the notion of the Omnipotence of the good Being and the duration of evil which unceasingly braves His justice and goodness. God is patient, He tolerates the follies of human liberty until the day which He has Himself fixed upon. What He does, that must we also do. Ay, more than this; we are compelled to do this by our very position, for what is a Christian but a sinner, whom God bears with, towards whom He acts with an often extraordinary patience? I have reminded you of the duty of expectation. The expectation of faith is not inaction of the soul: it is its very opposite. We must act as though everything depended upon us, we must wait as if everything depended upon God–act, that is, accomplish the Fathers will, day by day, faithful to the duty of the present hour, without impatience, without feverish ardour, without personal ambition; wait in the immovable assurance that in all things the final victory shall be on the Lords side. (E. Bersier, D. D.)

Quieting thoughts about life

I. THERE IS A PERIOD HASTENING ON THAT WILL TERMINATE FOR EVER THE TRIALS OF THE GOOD. This period is not far off. It really takes place with the individual man at death. It emphatically draweth nigh, and emphatically may it be said to us all, The Judge standeth at the door. It is not something that is far off in the distant ages; it is all but transpiring. We shall soon have struck the last blow in lifes battle, and won the crown; heaved over the last billows in lifes ocean, and reached the desired haven.

II. THE TRIALS OF THE GOOD ARE CONGRUOUS WITH THE PRESENT STATE OF OUR HISTORY. It is a fitful spring with us–a moral April: the struggle of sunshine and shower–the genial glow and the nipping frost. It is a season of fluctuation, not settledness: outlay, not income: labour, not wages: seeds, not results. It is the season for burying the grain, not for plucking the golden ear. It is wise and well for the husbandman to labour patiently in the spring, for he has the assurance from testimony and experience that the glorious summer will reward him for his toil.

III. A MORAL ENDURANCE OF TRIALS IS ESSENTIAL TO AMIABILITY OF CHARACTER. The man who has not that patience which results from a loving confidence in the character and a loving acquiescence in the will of the Supreme Ruler, will feel an annoyance in every trial. He will pass through the trials of life, as we have sometimes seen a little cur passing through a hailstorm, barking at every step. But the man who cultivates this magnanimous quality of soul will be, in trial, like the imperial bird in the storm, when beaten down from its heavenly flight, it still keeps its wings expanded, looks calmly up, and with the first gleams of sunshine soars away into the radiant and the high again.

IV. THE GREATEST TRIALS HAVE BEEN ENDURED BY THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS MEN IN HISTORY. The prophets were men of genius and of God; great in talent and in virtue, the loyal servants and moral organs of Heaven; the most majestic trees in the forest, the brightest stairs in the firmament of their race. Yet they suffered (Mat 23:37; Act 7:32). The morally great have always been sufferers.

V. TRIALS HAVE EVER BEEN THE CONDITION OF TRULY HEROIC AND HONOURED LIVES We count them happy which endure–not only because affliction tendeth to spiritual good (2Co 4:17-18), but because they are enabled by their sufferings, when rightly endured, to display the highest attributes of greatness. In the history of true men, when the sun of prosperity goes down, the brightest orbs of virtue come out to light up the moral firmament of the world.

V. ALL TRIALS BEING UNDER THE DIRECTION OF AN EVER-MERCIFUL GOD, WILL, IF RIGHTLY ENDURED, YIELD A GLORIOUS RETURN. (D. Thomas.)

Waiting upon God

The true Christian idea of waiting upon God patiently implies self-restraint, trust in God, and the exertion of superior elements of manhood. Patient waiting upon God where it exists is not only founded in intelligence, and in that faith which is the handmaid of intelligence, but it is a state of submission and sweet relinquishment of ones own urgent and importunate feelings. It is the yielding up of everything into the hands of God, with confidence that the Judge of all cannot but do justly, and that in His own time and way He will fulfil the desires of our hearts, if they be right; or, if they be wrong, He will meet our wants with things ether than those which we seek. Consider now the text: Be patient, therefore, etc. Here is the measure of the waiting. It is to continue clean through till the Lord appears; till the enigma is solved; till the mystery is cleared. Behold the husbandman waiteth, &c. There could be no more admirable analogue than this of husbandry; for there is in it the most obvious union of persistent natural laws with human activity, which bears the same relation to natural laws that the rider does to the horse. It is the horse that performs; it is the rider that steers and guides him. Natural laws, of themselves, are brute forces, wandering wide, and doing little. It is not until great natural laws, if I may say so, are inspired by human volition and human intelligence, that they become productive of good–that they know how to converge and co-operate so as to multiply blessings upon the earth. Without natural laws man is utterly helpless. Without men natural laws are largely useless. Man, knowing how to use those great physical, permanent laws, directs them to certain purposes. This combination it is that makes fruitfulness in our fields. Human strength makes natural laws productive. What are cities but the insignia of thought applied to brute and dead material? What are gardens, vineyards, orchards, grain-fields, railroads, canals, tunnels, bridges, highways, but the union of Divine natural law and human intelligence? Without the one and the other they were impossible. Human society itself is a vast museum and exhibition-hall, as it were, showing what mans nature has been able to do when it has worked upon the Divine law. See what husbandry does every year. We prepare the soil. We do not make it. It is remedy at our hand. For generations Gods mills have been grinding; the glacier and the rock have come together; the subtle water, made solid by cold, and moving per force, has ground and ground; and behold, the soil that has in it the results of the workings of cycles of centuries. Man finds it ready waiting for him. It is waiting for man as much as man is waiting for it. It is only when by his skill the plough opens the furrow, and he sows intelligently, studying the seasons, the markets, and the pressing necessities of men about him; it is only when, waiting patiently through months if it be fields of grain, or if it be orchards and vineyards through years, that he begins to find remuneration. Farmers wait, and wait patiently, and wait confidently; and their waiting is from no laggards indolence. It is from a consciousness that they have done that which, co-operating with natural law, will produce the desired results. Gods stamp is upon natural law, and it is warranted to cut, and not to fail. The farmer waits in intelligence; the sluggard waits in laziness. The farmer thrives; the sluggard degenerates. The farmer has abundance; the sluggard suffers cold in winter, and want the year round. Men who refuse to do anything in Gods vineyard oftentimes pretend to honour Gods sovereignty by waiting upon God; but who would think that he was honouring natures sovereignty by waiting on it thus? There be those who say it is presumptuous for man to put forth his hand and touch Gods work. They are afraid of interfering with the sphere of Divine authority and Divine sovereignty. It is their own spiritual indolence that leads them to wait, for no one of them that owns a ship sails that ship as he does his soul. No one of them that has a farm manages that farm in husbandry as he does his soul in spiritual things. He must know how to work who is to know how to wait. He must experience fatigue who is to appreciate the blessing of rest. He must have enterprise who is to understand the great charm of patient waiting upon God. Look, then, at the sphere in which this virtue of waiting is to operate. Bearing in mind the nature of that waiting which brings a blessing, we shall see that there is a sphere for it in our lives fully as great as there was in the eyes of those of old, though we are differently placed from what they were. We shall see, also, that one of the most common traits of a true piety is that of patient waiting. As in all the emergencies of secular life we are called to wait patiently, so we are in all the emergencies of religious life. (H. W.Beecher.)

Christian patience

Christian patience supposeth a sense of evil, and then, in the formality of it, it is a submission of the whole soul to the will of God: wherein observe–

1. The nature; it is a submission of the whole soul. The judgment subscribeth, Good is the Word of the Lord, &c. (Isa 39:8). Though it were to him a terrible word, yet the submission of a sanctified judgment can call it good. Then the will accepteth, If they shall accept the punishment (Lev 26:41); that is, take it kindly from God that it is no worse. Then the affections are restrained, and anger and sorrow brought under the commands of the word. Then the tongue is bridled, lest discontent splash over; Aaron held his peace (Lev 10:3).

2. Consider the grounds and proper considerations upon which all this is carried on; usually there is such a progress as this in the spiritual discourse.

(1) The soul seeth God in it, I was dumb and opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it (Psa 39:9).

(2) It seeth God acting with sovereignty, None can say unto Him, What debt Thou? (Job 9:12). And elsewhere, He giveth no account of His matters.

(3) Lest this should make the heart storm, it seeth sovereignty mitigated in the dispensation of it with several attributes. With justice. With mercy, Thou hast punished us less than we deserved (Ezr 9:13). They were afflicted, they might have been destroyed; they were in Babylon, they might have been in hell. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might keep Thy statutes. Gods faithfulness would not suffer them to want such a sweet help. With wisdom, God is a God of judgment (Isa 30:18); it is meant in His dispensations. Let God alone; He is too just to do us wrong, and too kind and wise to do us harm. (T. Manton.)

Christian patience advocated

Julius Pflugius, complaining to the Emperor, by whom he had been employed, of great wrong done him by the Duke of Saxony, received this answer–Have a little patience; thy cause is my cause. So says God to His abused. (J. Trapp.)

Patience a strength

It would be far easier, I apprehend, for nine men out of ten to join a storming party than to lie on a rack or to hang on a cross without repining. Yes, patience is a strength; and patience is not merely a strength, it is wisdom in exercising it. We, the creatures of a day, make one of the nearest approaches possible for us to the life of God who, because He lives for ever, can afford to wait. (Canon Liddon.)

Stablish your hearts

An established heart

1. Our hearts are settled in our afflictions by the sweet promises we have from God of our deliverance. David thereof saith, Many are the troubles of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth them out of all. In another place to like purpose, The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord, He st)all be their strength in time of trouble. Therefore Almighty God saith to His people, Call upon Me in the day of trouble and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.

2. As by the promises of our deliverance our hearts are settled through patience in our oppression; so also ought they to be settled in the experience we have of the power of God in the deliverance of the righteous. If we look to others, or ourselves, we shall find experience of this truth. Hath not God delivered Moses and Israel, His people, from the army of Pharaoh? What, did not God deliver David from sundry attempts of Saul?

3. Neither thus only are our hearts settled in our miseries, but also when we cast our eyes upon the crown of glory, which we shall receive, and the glorious hope whereof we shall be partakers, if we endure with patience, we should settle and quiet our minds in our miseries. Thus Paul, exhorting the Romans to settle their hearts, and in their afflictions which by the ensample of Christ they should suffer, comforting them, telleth them that the sufferings of their mortal life were not to be compared to the glory which should be revealed to the sons of God.

4. Our hearts shall the better be settled if we would consider that nothing cometh unto us but by the will of God.

5. Our hearts shall be settled in afflictions if we know the manifold uses and good ends of the afflictions which God sendeth to the saints.

6. Our hearts in affliction shall be settled if we did consider that our time of sufferings is limited, and is but short, but the time of rest, of peace, of joy, eternal.

7. If we consider that the saints in all times have suffered adversity, that Jesus Christ Himself, the Lord of Glory, hath by many tribulations entered into His glory, that we are no otherwise fellow-heirs with Him, but upon this condition that we suffer with Him.

8. Finally, our hearts in affliction are settled when we recount often the fearful judgments of God upon them which have afflicted and cruelly persecuted His Church and saints in all times. (R. Turnbull.)

The coming of the Lord draweth nigh

The approaching of Christ in the revolution of time

I. EVERY YEAR BRINGS HIM NEARER TO EVERY MAN TO TERMINATE HIS CONNECTION WITH THIS EARTH.

1. What a solemnity does this give to time.

2. What significance to death.

II. EVERY YEAR BRINGS HIM NEARER TO ESTABLISH HIS SPIRITUAL EMPIRE IN THE WORLD. Indications of His approach are multiplying and brightening as years come and go. Every true thought, every moral conversion, every true revolution in the minds of individuals and nations, announce the fact that He is coming whose right it is to reign.

III. EVERY YEAR BRINGS HIM NEARER TO WIND UP ALL HUMAN AFFAIRS ON THIS EARTH. On this wonderful day He will–

1. Stop the increase of the race.

2. Terminate the infidelities of the race.

3. Open the graves of the race.

4. Settle the destinies of the race. (D. Thomas.)

The impending hour

The feelings with which we await the coming of any person or tiling depend very much upon the nature of the person or thing advancing, or upon the fittedness to meet him or it. It is evening in a very pleasant household. There is a key heard at the front door. The children come down the stairs with a bound, clapping their hands, and shouting, Fathers coming! But disaster has entered that home. The writs have been issued. The front door bell rings, an official is about to enter, and the whisper all through the rooms of that house is, The sheriffs coming! March weather gets through scolding, and one day the windows toward the south are opened, and old age feels the flush of new life in its veins; and invalidism looks up and smiles, and all through the land the word is, Spring is coming! December hangs icicles on the eaves of the poor mans house. No wood gathered. No coal. The cracked window-pane invites the sleet to come in. The older sister, with numb fingers, attempts to tie the shoe latchet of the little brother, and stops to blow warmth into her blue hands, and the father shiveringly looks down and says, Oh, my God, winter is coming! Well, it is just so in regard to the announcement of my text. To one it sounds like a fathers, to another like an executioners, footstep. To one it is the breath of a June morning; to the other it is the blast of a December hurricane. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. I do not see how God can afford to stay away any longer. It seems to me that this world has been mauled of sin about long enough. The Church has made such slow headway against the Paganism, and the Mohammedanism, and the fraud, and the libertinism, and the drunkenness, and the rapine, and the murder of the world, that there are ten thousand hands now stretched up beckoning for God to come, and to come now. I also see a sign of the Divine advance in the opportunity for repentance which is being given to the nations. God, and angels, and men calling. Messages of salvation in the air. Telegraphs flashing the gospel news. Steamships carrying Christian ambassadors to and fro. Yes, we are on the eve of a universal moral earthquake. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. But there is a deeper stop in the organ of my text that needs to be pulled out, and that organ stop is the judgment trumpet. My text distinctly points toward that august arrival. Now, there is one secret that God has never told even to an archangel. The time when. It may come this autumn. It may come next spring. It may be farther off. I cannot tell. But the fact that such a day will come cannot be disputed. The Bible intimates, yea, it positively says, that in that last day God will come in by a flash of lightning. When the roll-call of that day is read your name and my name will be read in it, and we will answer, Here! These very feet will feel the earths tremor, these eyes will see the scrolled sky, these hands will be lifted in acclamation or in horror, when the Lord shall be revealed from heaven, with mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance upon those who know not God, and who obey not the gospel of His Son. It will be our trial. It will be our judge. It will be our welcome or it will be our doom. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. But my subject takes a closer grapple, and it closes in and closes in until it announces to you and to me that Christ is coming very soon to put an end to our earthly residence. The most skilful theologians may make a mistake of hundreds of years in regard to the chronology of the judgment; but it is impossible for us to make a very wide mistake in regard to the time in which Christ will come to put an end to our earthly existence. Oh, if you knew how near you are to the moment of exit from this world, do you know what you would do? You would drop your head and pray just now. If you knew how certainly the door of Gods mercy is gradually shutting against your unpardoned soul, you would cry out, Stop! till I enter. My subject closes in once more, and closes in until I have to tell you that God, who in the text is represented as drawing nigh, has actually arrived. No longer drawing nigh. He is here. Get away from Him, you cannot. Trust in Him, you ought. Be saved by Him, you may. This God who has been arriving, and who is now come; this God who has been drawing nigh, has come for one thing, and that is to save every one of you. He has come a long pilgrimage, treading over nails, and spikes, and thorns, until the sharp points have struck up through the hollow of the foot to the instep. He has come to carry your burdens, and to slay your sins, and to sympathise with your sorrows. He is here to break up your obduracy, and make you feel the palpitations of His warm, loving heart. Oh, the love of God, the love of God! (T. De Witt Talmage.)

The great court of appeal

There will be a great court of appeal from all mans injustice. (Dean Plumptre.)

Importance of the end

We were, writes a Christian traveller, on a little steamer on the Volga A young Russian officer was on board with his wife. They bad plenty of money; they seemed perfectly well; the scenery around was beautiful and the weather was fine; but, for all that, the officer looked sad and was silent. Every day, as we went on and on, he was more and more unhappy, and I soon found out the reason. He was going from home and friends, far off into Siberia. Each mile of progress brought him nearer to the cold, bleak wilderness where he was to spend many long years of banishment. And it is just so in the journey of life. If a man feels that each day he grows older only brings him nearer to a dark, unknown future, his heart cannot be really happy, even if all around seems gay. A little while afterwards I had to return to Moscow with another Russian officer. We travelled in a miserable plight, hurried over rough roads in a cart with only straw to sit on, and a few apples to eat. The scenery was dull, the weather was bitterly cold, but that officer was exulting in buoyancy and delight. He was hastening to the emperor to bear the news of a great victory, and to be decorated with an honourable reward. Even so, again, it is on lifes journey. The man who feels sure he is getting nearer the heavenly King each day he lives, and that he will be welcomed as a faithful servant of that Master who has won a victory over the enemies of God and man–this man will be happy in his heart, even in days of trial and toil, mid darkness, want, and sorrow. (Sunday at Home.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 7. Be patient, therefore] Because God is coming to execute judgment on this wicked people, therefore be patient till he comes. He seems here to refer to the coming of the Lord to execute judgment on the Jewish nation, which shortly afterwards took place.

The husbandman waiteth] The seed of your deliverance is already sown, and by and by the harvest of your salvation will take place. God’s counsels will ripen in due time.

The early and latter rain.] The rain of seed time; and the rain of ripening before harvest: the first fell in Judea, about the beginning of November, after the seed was sown; and the second towards the end of April, when the ears were filling, and this prepared for a full harvest. Without these two rains, the earth would have been unfruitful. These God had promised: I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thy oil, De 11:14. But for these they were not only to wait patiently, but also to pray, Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so shall the Lord make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field; Zec 10:1.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord; viz. to judgment, and that either particular, to avenge the quarrels of innocent sufferers upon their tyrannical persecutors; or rather, to the general judgment, in which a full retribution is to be made both to the just and unjust, Rom 2:5,6, &c. To which judgment the Scripture calls all to look, especially those that are under oppression and persecution, 2Th 1:6,7, &c.

Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth; which cost him hard labour, and by which he receives great benefit, the sustentation of his life.

Until he receive the early and latter rain; the rain soon after the sowing, which caused the corn to spring up; and that before the harvest, which plumped it, and made it fit for reaping, Deu 11:14; Jer 5:24; Hos 6:3; Joe 2:23.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

7. Be patient thereforeasjudgment is so near (Jas 5:1;Jas 5:3), ye may well afford tobe “patient” after the example of the unresisting Justone (Jas 5:6).

brethrencontrastedwith the “rich” oppressors, Jas5:1-6.

unto the coming of theLordChrist, when the trial of your patience shall cease.

husbandman waiteth forthatis, patiently bears toils and delays through hope of the harvest atlast. Its “preciousness” (compare Ps126:6, “precious seed”) will more than compensate forall the past. Compare the same image, Gal 6:3;Gal 6:9.

hath long patience forit“over it,” in respect to it.

until he receive“untilit receive” [ALFORD].Even if English Version be retained, the receiving of theearly and latter rains is not to be understood as the object of hishope, but the harvest for which those rains are the necessarypreliminary. The early rain fell at sowing time, about November orDecember; the latter rain, about March or April, to mature the grainfor harvest. The latter rain that shall precede the coming spiritualharvest, will probably be another Pentecost-like effusion of the HolyGhost.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Be patient therefore, brethren,…. The apostle here addresses himself to the poor who were oppressed by the rich men, and these he calls “brethren” of whom he was not ashamed; when he does not bestow this title upon the rich, though professors of the same religion: these poor brethren he advises to be patient under their sufferings, to bear them with patience,

unto the coming of the Lord; not to destroy Jerusalem, but either at death, or at the last, judgment; when he will take vengeance on their oppressors, and deliver them from all their troubles, and put them into the possession of that kingdom, and glory, to which they are called; wherefore, in the mean while, he would have them be quiet and easy, not to murmur against God, nor seek to take vengeance on men, but leave it to God, to whom it belongs, who will judge his people:

behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth; ripe fruit, which arises from the seed he sows in the earth; and which may be called “precious”, because useful both to man and beast; see De 33:14 and between this, and the sowing of the seed, is a considerable time, during which the husbandman waits; and this may be an instruction in the present case:

and hath patience for it until he receive the early and latter rain; the Jews had seldom rains any more than twice a year; the early, or former rain, was shortly after the feast of tabernacles u, in the month Marchesvan, or October, when the seed was sown in the earth; and if it did not rain, they prayed for it, on the third or seventh day of the month w; and the latter rain was in Nisan, or March x, just before harvest; and to this distinction the passage refers.

u Bartenora in Misn. Taanith, c. 1. sect. 2. w T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 4. 2. & 6. 1. & 10. 1. & Bava Metzia, fol. 28. 1. Maimon. Tephilla, c. 2. sect. 16. x Targum, Jarchi, Kimchi, & Miclol Jophi in Joel ii. 23. Vajikra Rabba, sect. 35. fol. 175. 3.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Be patient therefore ( ). A direct corollary (, therefore) from the coming judgment on the wicked rich (5:1-6). First aorist (constative) active imperative of , late compound (Plutarch, LXX) from (, , of long spirit, not losing heart), as in Mt 18:26. The appeal is to the oppressed brethren. Catch your wind for a long race (long-tempered as opposed to short-tempered). See already the exhortation to patience () in Jas 1:3; Jas 1:12 and repeated in 5:11. They will need both submission ( 5:11) and steadfastness ( 5:10).

Until the coming of the Lord ( ). The second coming of Christ he means, the regular phrase here and in verse 8 for that idea (Matt 24:3; Matt 24:37; Matt 24:39; 1Thess 2:19, etc.).

The husbandman ( ). The worker in the ground (, ) as in Mt 21:33f.

Waiteth for (). Present middle indicative of , old verb for eager expectation as in Ac 17:16.

Precious (). Old adjective from (honor, price), dear to the farmer because of his toil for it. See 1Pe 1:19.

Being patient over it ( ‘ ). Present active participle of just used in the exhortation, picturing the farmer longing and hoping over his precious crop (cf. Lu 18:7 of God).

Until it receive ( ). Temporal clause of the future with and the second aorist active subjunctive of , vividly describing the farmer’s hopes and patience.

The early and latter rain ( ). The word for rain ( Ac 14:17) is absent from the best MSS. The adjective (from , early) occurs here only in N.T., though old in the form and . See Deut 11:14; Jer 5:24, etc. for these terms for the early rain in October or November for the germination of the grain, and the latter rain (, from , late, here only in N.T.) in April and May for maturing the grain.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Be patient [] . From makrov, long, and qumov, soul or spirit but with the sense of strong passion, stronger even than ojrgh, anger, as is maintained by Schmidt (” Synonymik “), who describes qumov as a tumultuous welling of the whole spirit; a mighty emotion which seizes and moves the whole inner man. Hence the restraint implied in, akroqumia is most correctly expressed by long – suffering, which is its usual rendering in the New Testament. It is a patient holding out under trial; a long – protracted restraint of the soul from yielding to passion, especially the passion of anger. In the New Testament the word and its cognates are sometimes rendered by patient or patience, which conceals the distinction from uJpomonh, uniformly rendered patience, and signifying persistent endurance, whether in action or suffering. As Trench observes, “uJpomonh is perseverantia and patientia both in one.” Thus Bishop Ellicott : “The brave patience with which the Christian contends against the various hindrances, persecutions, and temptations that befall him in his conflict with the inward and outward world.” ‘Upomonh contains an element of manliness Thus Plato joins it with the adverb ajndrikwv, in a manly way, and contrasts it with ajnandrwv, unmanly, cowardly. roqumia is exercised toward persons; uJpomonh, toward things. The former is ascribed to God as an attribute (Luk 18:7; 1Pe 3:20; 2Pe 3:9, 15), the latter never; for the God of patience (Rom 14:5) is the God who imparts patience to his children. “There can be no resistance to God nor burden upon him, the Almighty, from things. Therefore uJpomonh cannot find place in him” (Trench). Rev. retains A. V., be patient. The thought links itself naturally with that in the preceding verse : the righteous doth not resist.

Therefore. Since things are so. Referring to the condition of things described in the previous passage.

Brethren. In contrast with the rich just addressed.

Waiteth [] . With expectation. Compare Mt 13:30; Mr 4:27.

The early and latter rain [ ] . Both adjectives only here in New Testament. ‘Ueton, rain, is rejected by all the best texts. The early rain fell in October, November, and December, and extended into January and February. These rains do not come suddenly, but by degrees, so that the farmer can sow his wheat or barley. The rains are mostly from the west or southwest (Luk 12:54), continuing two or three days at a time, and falling mostly in the night. Then the wind shifts to the north or east, and fine weather ensues (Pro 25:23). The latter rains, which are much lighter, fall in March and April. Rain in harvest was regarded as a miracle (1Sa 12:16 – 18). See Introduction, on James’ local allusions.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) As a farmer plants, cultivates and patiently and faithfully awaits the needed rains for planting and for reaping – so children of God are to plant and cultivate and prayerfully wait for the fruits of their labors, even in the lives of their own children, assured that the good harvest day will come, Gen 8:22; Ecc 11:1-6; Pro 22:6.

2) Pay day, though delayed, surely comes to the faithful sower, Psa 126:5-6; Isa 55:11-12.

3) The term “early rain” refers to the October and November showers; the winter rains of December, January, and February were heavy rains, the “latter rains” fell in April. Little rain falls in all Palestine May 1st to October 15th. Jer 5:24; Hos 6:3; Job 29:23; Psa 84:6. The rain and reign of Christ’s blessings are never far away. Wait for them.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

7 Be patient therefore. From this inference it is evident that what has hitherto been said against the rich, pertains to the consolation of those who seemed for a time to be exposed to their wrongs with impunity. For after having mentioned the causes of those calamities which were hanging over the rich, and having stated this among others, that they proudly and cruelly ruled over the poor, he immediately adds, that we who are unjustly oppressed, have this reason to be patient, because God would become the judge. For this is what he means when he says, unto the coming of the Lord, that is, that the confusion of things which is now seen in the world will not be perpetual, because the Lord at his coming will reduce things to order, and that therefore our minds ought to entertain good hope; for it is not without reason that the restoration of all things is promised to us at that day. And though the day of the Lord is everywhere called in the Scriptures a manifestation of his judgment and grace, when he succors his people and chastises the ungodly, yet I prefer to regard the expression here as referring to our final deliverance.

Behold, the husbandman. Paul briefly refers to the same similitude in 2Ti 2:6, when he says that the husbandman ought to labor before he gathers the fruit; but James more fully expresses the idea, for he mentions the daily patience of the husbandman, who, after having committed the seed to the earth, confidently, or at least patiently, waits until the time of harvest comes; nor does he fret because the earth does not immediately yield a ripe fruit. He hence concludes, that we ought not to be immoderately anxious, if we must now labor and sow, until the harvest as it were comes, even the day of the Lord.

The precious fruit. He calls it precious, because it is the nourishment of life and the means of sustaining it. And James intimates, that since the husbandman suffers his life, so precious to him, to lie long deposited in the bosom of the earth, and calmly suspends his desire to gather the fruit, we ought not to be too hasty and fretful, but resignedly to wait for the day of our redemption. It is not necessary to specify particularly the other parts of the comparison.

The early and the latter rains. By the two words, early and latter, two seasons are pointed out; the first follows soon after sowing; and the other when the corn is ripening. So the prophets spoke, when they intended to set forth the time for rain, (Deu 28:12; Joe 2:23; Hos 6:3.) And he has mentioned both times, in order more fully to shew that husbandmen are not disheartened by the slow progress of time, but bear with the delay.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES

Jas. 5:7. Margin, suffer with long patience. St. James inculcates a systematic course of action. Early and latter rain.Early rain fell from October to February, latter from March to end of April.

Jas. 5:9. Grudge not.A caution against an impatient, querulous temper. Complain not. Groan not.

Jas. 5:11. Endure.Some prefer endured. Pitful.Large-hearted; tender-hearted. The word used, , is peculiar, and it is thought may have been coined by St. James.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Jas. 5:7-11

Our Duty in the Waiting-times of Life.Throughout his epistle St. James keeps before him the suffering and distressed condition of the Jewish Christians. There was grave fear lest they should be led to give up their faith in Christ; but there was even a greater fear lest they should come to reproach one another, and so spoil their life of kindly relations, and deteriorate their own Christian characters. The times called for the spirit of endurance. The call of the hour was to waiting-work. In every sphere of life and relationship, in those days, the Christians were called to quiet waiting. There was so little that they could do. They had no power of control over the social and national movements of the age. Their strength was to sit still, holding their own with a quiet persistency. Their endurance was their witness to their age. But that waiting is the hardest thing ever given to man to do; and it is a great help to him in the doing if he can have the inspiration of an ideal, if he can have some great waiting in mind to which he may be constantly lifting himself, and in the great effort making all lesser efforts at waiting come easier. The typical waiting then was for the coming of the Lord. The typical waiting still is for the coming of the Lord. It was not realised then as men imagined it, but it was realised. It is not realised now as men imagine it, but it is realised. This is the mission of that expectation of the Lords coming which so many devout souls still cherish: it inspires endurance; it nourishes the spirit of quiet bearing of present ills; it enables a man to be patient amid the cares and disappointments of the earthly life; it uplifts with the cheer of a high hope. No doubt our Lords great discourse on the last things, which is recorded in Matthew 24, led to a general belief of His speedy return in human form, but with heavenly powers, to rectify those abuses and disorders of society, which pressed so heavily upon His disciples. It was only the form of His coming that was misconceived. It is only the form of His coming that is still misconceived. He did come to waiting souls. He does come to waiting souls. He came in providences. He came in spiritual manifestations. He came as the relieving angel Israfil. It was, and it is, the support of our waiting moods that His disciples keep quite sure that He is always just upon coming to help them. That leads them on, enabling them cheerfully to bear their burdens day by day. And it is but the Christian translation of the feeling that has been cherished by Gods saints in all the ages. It expressed itself in this way in the older timesThou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God. And in this way in the newer timesCome, Lord Jesus; come quickly.

I. What are the duties of Christians during their waiting-times?St. James does not deal with all the dutiesonly with such as were relative to the needs of those to whom he wrote.

1. They ought to keep from restlessness. That is the idea of patience as here commended. The restlessness that keeps going to the door, or looking out at the window, and so takes men off from the duty of the hour. We cannot do our work well while we keep a restless state of mind. If we are expecting an arrival at our home, but are uncertain of the precise time, it altogether spoils our work for the day; it compels us to do nothing, if we suffer ourselves to become restless and anxious. In this way our hope of Christs coming may become morally mischievous. It will, if it makes us restless and dissatisfied. We shall undervalue our present work, and think lightly of our present responsibilities; and instead of spending our strength in service, we shall spend it in worrying and restless watchings. Our Lord pointed out this danger, when He taught that the servant who expected his masters home-coming watched best by quietly waiting, fully occupied at his servant-duties, and actually found at work when the master entered the house. Restlessness never becomes a Christian virtue by disguising itself in pietistic forms. Be patient unto [in respect of] the coming of the Lord.

2. St. James points out another duty of the hour. They should keep from doubting. Restlessness might make them neglect their work; but doubting would altogether change the character of their work. It would soon cease to be work for Christ, and come to be work for self. If the servant began to say within himself, My lord delayeth his coming; if he said to himself, doubtingly, He will not come soon, and I question whether he means to come at all, that servant would soon begin to lose all wise restraint of himself, and to eat and drink with the drunken. St. James bids the Jewish Christians who were tried by the seeming delay of their deliverance from present evils, stablish, or strengthen, their hearts. If we gave the advice in these days we should say, Dont lose heart, Dont give way to doubts and fears, Buttress your hearts against all temptations to doubt, Nourish your souls into such spiritual strength that you can throw off from you all poison atmospheres of doubt. Hearts are stablished and strengthened, not by trying to force a way into the mysteries of Gods doing or delaying, but by meditating on what God has done, by realising what God is, and by inquiring, with a full purpose of obedience, into what God would have done by us. Three things are always at hand for the mastery of temptations to doubt:

(1) the revelation of God, which contains the exceeding great and precious promises;
(2) communion with God, which brings personal satisfactions to the soul; and
(3) active service, which takes a man off from perilous broodings. Those who dwell unduly on the coming of the Lord are especially liable to doubt, if they are active-minded; for they are compelled to recognise that He never has come, never does come, and never will come just as men have expected Him to. Those who wait must not only wait quietly; they must wait hopefully. Our time is alway ready. He who is coming will come; He does not really tarry.
3. St. James further points out the duty of keeping kindly relations with one another while we wait. Grudge not one against another. Murmur not, brethren, one against another. So easily, in their waiting-times, even Christians can get to wranglings and mutual reproaches. One man has his explanation of the Lords delay. Others are not able to accept his explanation. One man is sure that he can fix the day and the hour of the coming. Others remind him that he has fixed it before, and the time has gone by; and he becomes angry at the reminder. It may be comparatively easy for an individual Christian to wait patiently; it is always very hard for a number of Christians to wait patiently together. A Christian man is seriously strained and tested in the time when he can do nothing. A Christian Church gets into all sorts of contentions, misunderstandings, mutual reproaches, bickerings, and jealousies, when it is doing nothing, when it is waiting for some coming of the Lord. An inactive Church will often have a good deal of pietistic talk; but that may only be an insincere covering over of rankling enmities, mischievous murmurings, and mutual grudgings. It is like the servant that our Lord pictures who, because he did not keep on with his work, began to beat his fellow-servants. That was the mistake that was made by the early Jewish Christian Churches. They had taken up this notion, that Christ was coming at once in some outward way, to redress all their wrongs, overwhelm all their enemies, and enrich them with all benedictions; and in the excitement of this sentiment, they had become restless, they were neglecting their work, and they were quarrelling among themselves. Every doctrine is known by its fruits; and the doctrine of the second coming, as men usually hold it and teach it, is certainly not commended by its fruits. There is a true doctrine of the second coming, but the unduly occupied ear of Christs Church is not now open to receive it. There are waiting-times in all our lives. There have been; there will be. St. Jamess advice may be fitted precisely to our waiting-times. Keep from restlessness. Be patient. Keep from doubting. Stablish your hearts. Keep from envying. Grudge not one against another.

II. What are the helps to the fulfilment of duty, in their waiting-times, which are at the command of Christians?

1. They may keep the inspiration of good examples. For other people have had to wait, and have waited well. Nay, looking around them, Christians may learn from the spheres of business and social life; and turning over the pages of their Scriptures they may find inspiring instances of heroic endurance.
(1) There is the yearly example of the husbandman. He waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receive the early and latter rain. The husbandman worketh. If he does not plough and clean and smooth his soil, and cast in the living seeds in their season, he will have no waiting-work to do, and nothing to wait for. It is not sufficiently impressed upon us in moral and spiritual spheres that only workers can be waiters. If a man has not worked, what has he to wait for, what has he to wait about? In all true waiting there is expectancy; but expectancy must be based upon something. The husbandman bases it upon his work. Waiting that has no work behind it, and no work in it, is dreamy sentiment, and is no good to anybody. The husbandman has to wait, and work while he waits, for the fruitage of his sowing. The fields must be guarded, tended, nourished, while the crops are growing. But the results of his work get beyond him. He finds himself in the midst of forces that he cannot control; and no efforts of his can possibly hurry on the results. During the months of growing, what a life of waiting-faith every farmer has to live! And what a lesson of the patience of faith comes to us as we walk the fields, and see the crops so slowly, but so surely, growing unto harvest! Our Christian work starts influences which get altogether beyond our control. We work for issues; and want them to come immediately, and they will not. We work in the upbuilding of character, but character grows and unfolds very slowly; and we can no more hurry on our results than can the farmer. God takes all good work into His keeping, and makes His rains and His sunshine nourish the growing crops, which will be reaped to the unspeakable joy of the worker some day. The husbandman may have much anxiety, and much trial of faith and patience, while he waits. Everything depended, in those older days, on the early winter rains and the latter spring rains; and sometimes they failed altogether, or they were insufficient, or they were excessive. The cold seasons kept the crops back. Wild storms just before harvest laid the heavy-headed stalks; prevailing damp made the grains sprout; prolonged drought burned up the grass, and dried up the seeds of the root-crops as they lay in the ground. Many and many a morning during the growing months the farmer wakes and listens anxiously for the sound of rain, pulls the blind aside, and nourishes or crushes his hope for the day. It is hard indeed for him to see all the fruitage of his toil being hopelessly ruined, and to know that his harvest can only be a day of grief and desperate sorrow True, the issues are not often as the fears. NatureGod in naturehas a wonderful recovering power. Constantly we find we have to reap the harvest of Gods mercy, instead of the harvest of our fears. Are not Christian waiting-times anxious times? Parents work in their boys for noble manhood; and the day comes when the boy must go out into life, and battle for himself amidst manifold evils; must soul-thrive amid stormy winds and pelting rains of temptation, and it may be amid blazing suns of success. How can we measure the parental anxiety? See how every letter from the boy is scanned! how mother reads what father cannot see! how the tone of the letter is appraised! All those years of unfolding while out of parental control bring their grave anxieties; and, full of fears, those parents often say to one anotherWhat will the harvest be? It is but the type of all the waiting-times of Christian workers. It is part of our discipline that they shall be full of grave anxieties; and if we are full of concern about the issues of our work, we may realise how concerned God is about us, wanting the very anxieties of our waiting-times to be sanctified to us. But the husbandman keeps the cheer of the certain result while he waits. There stands the word; the years have rolled into centuries, and the centuries have heaped up one upon another, but the word has never been beliedWhile the earth remaineth seedtime and harvest shall not fail. Get the barns ready, though the cold chills, the heavy rains, or the untempered sunshine do come upon the growing crops. Get the barns ready; they will be filled, as they always have been. Earth never rolled through one of its years, without its people singing unto God their song of harvest home. Must we wait? Is it hard to wait? Does our Lord seem to delay His coming? We too may keep the cheer in our souls while we wait. He has promised. We grip His word so tight that the surge of lifes storm-tossed sea can never loosen our hold. He has said, If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, ye may be also.

(2) There is the example of the saints of the older days. Take, brethren, for an example of suffering and of patience, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. It is not possible now to do any more than let the great cloud of witnesses pass before us, in a seemingly endless panorama; and then say, after the eloquent writer of the epistle to the Hebrews, when he had set before us the long list of those who had endured, as seeing Him who is invisible: Time would fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah; of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens. They had their anxious waiting-times, but they waited well; and they came through to victory and their Lords well done, good and faithful. And
(3) there is the familiar example of Job. Ye have heard of the patience of Job. He could wait for God, and wait on God. And while he waited, Job sang in his soul, and cheered his soul with the singing, of such things as the psalmist puts into poetic words, Clouds and darkness are round about Him, justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne; I wait for the Lord; my soul doth wait, and in His word do I hope.
2. They may keep the confidence that God has His gracious purpose in every call to endure. The end of the Lordand He always has an endwill be sure to justify the means. We may never think of God as acting on impulse. He has a distinct aim, a purpose of infinite wisdom and goodness, towards which He moves with infinite adaptations of His means. St. James assures us that He is large-hearted, tender-hearted. He can deal graciously with all the weaknesses that we may showall the failures from dutyin our waiting-times. He will not let them hinder the carrying through of His purpose. They shall never spoil His harvest. Wait; wait on; wait worthily. Be patient. Keep confidence. Look up, even if there be clouds in the sky. Hold fast by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, though His way may seem to you to be in the sea, and His path in the great waters. Wait on. Work while you wait. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when He cometh shall find so doing: verily I say unto you, that He shall gird Himself; and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them. And if He shall come in the second watch, and if in the third, and find them so, blessed are those servants. Be ye also ready: for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.

SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES

Jas. 5:7. The Coming of the Lord.Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming [margin, presence] of the Lord. Jas. 5:8 : For the coming of the Lord is at hand. It is perfectly clear that all the early Christian teachers had the distinct expectation of something, which they agreed to call the coming of the Lord. It is also certain that they looked upon this coming as the fulfilment of the Lords own promises, both in the upper room and at His ascension. But it is by no means clear what it was that they expected. It may indeed now be quite impossible to recover their precise thought, because very different thoughts have grown up round the expression the coming of the Lord in the course of the Christian ages. It very materially helps us toward the apprehension of the apostolic idea, if we get an answer to this questionDid Christ come to the early Church, in the manner, and at the time, the apostles expected He would? It is quite clear that they understood their Lord to mean that He would come in some material and visible manifestation, and that He would come before the apostolic age closed. The question requires the answer Yes or No, and it can be satisfied with no other answer; it will have no qualified answer that merely turns it aside or puts it from consideration. The answer may beYes, He did come in the apostolic age, and He did come in a formal and material manner. Then there is nothing in the historic record of those times which can, by any possibility, be identified as our Lords coming, save the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, and final breaking up of the Jewish national and ecclesiastical systems. The answer may beNo, He did not come as apostles expected, and has not so come even yet. Then it is impossible to prevent the reasonable suggestion of devout souls, that the apostles may have misapprehended. His meaning, both as to the manner, and as to the time, of His coming. And it is quite open to devout souls to suggest, that if our Lord had been understood spiritually, it would have been seen that He did fulfil His promise, and does fulfil it; but our mistaken apprehensions have prevented our recognising the fulfilment.

Jas. 5:10. Examples of Christian Endurance.Take, brethren, for an example of suffering and of patience, the prophets who spake in the name of the Lord. It is questioned whether only the ancient prophets are referred to, or whether the term is intended to include the persecuted and martyred teachers of the Christian age. But even if we assume that St. James thought only of the Old Testament prophets, there is no reason why we should hesitate to include all, in prominent and official positions, who present the example of suffering and patience. And our life is encircled with such examples. History is full of them. Imaginative literature is constantly creating fresh types of heroic sufferers. The actual experience of our lives brings us into fellowship with those who are triumphantly bearing the burdens of lifelong pain or loss or disability.

I. Examples of endurance are constantly presented to us.Apart altogether from religious motives and helps, there is a heroic endurance in humanity. A power to bear; and even to bear for others, which ennobles man. There is never any occasion for trying to debase humanity in order to exalt religion. It may be necessary to do that in order to lay suitable foundations for a religious creed; but not to maintain revealed and spiritual religion. We can fully admire the moral greatness of mans endurance and patience, while we recognise his lost standing relations with God.

II. Examples of Christian endurance have a particular influence upon us.Because they indicate the inspiration of the very highest motive upon which men can act. And they convince us that there can be a Divine presence with man, and a Divine power on man, which can raise him altogether beyond anything that of himself he could attain. Suffering patience with the supreme motive of doing and bearing Gods holy will is an attainment which is wholly impossible save with an indwelling inspiration of God.

Jas. 5:11. The End of the Lord reveals Him.It has often been pointed out that the final reward and restoration of Job is given after the poetical justice with which we are familiar in works of imagination. In actual history or biography we do not meet with such exact restorations. In a book which is the illustration of a great principle, by the use of a historical figure, and conversations in dramatic form, such an ending is befitting, and its precision of detail need not be overpressed.

I. The Lord always has an end.It is this conviction which gives a man such satisfaction when he sees that his anxieties have come from God. Troubles that are manifestly of our own making are our supreme anxiety, because we can only think of God as overruling them. They are not His mind; He has to come into them in a gracious kind of interfering way. Jobs troubles were not brought on by his own wrong-doing; they were distinctly disciplinary troubles sent by God. God never afflicts willingly. God never smites in any acts of sovereignty. There is a distinct purpose in every Divine act, in every Divine permission. He has an end towards which He is ever working. If we are in His chastisement, it is for our profit.

II. The Lords end is seldom understood by the Lords way.That need be no surprise to us if we are familiar with the complicated machinery involved in our manufactures. Take the process by which sheeps wool is turned into clothing; or what seems but rubbish becomes white paper. The tearings, and burnings, and boilings, and rollings can neither be understood separately, nor in their connections; and yet we can believe that each strange thing helps to accomplish the end which has been, all along, held in view. Gods ways cannot but seem strange, and we had better not try to imagine the end by the help of the means.

III. The Lords end is always in harmony with Himself.It is a wisely ordered end, for He is infinitely wise. It is an end of infinite blessingadapted to us, satisfying to usfor He is love.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

HOLD YOURSELF IN CHECK

Text 5:79

Jas. 5:7

Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receive the early and latter rain.

8.

Be ye also patient; establish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

9.

Murmur not, brethren, one against another that we be not judged: behold the judge standeth before the doors.

Queries

401.

From your previous studies in this book, see if you can remember the true meaning of patience as it is used in the Scriptures.

402.

To whom is James speaking in Jas. 5:7 ff?

403.

What is a husbandman? (If you are not sure, the context explains it. Note what the husbandman does).

404.

How does the coming of the Lord in this section tie in with the warning to the rich in the previous section?

405.

Note the therefore that introduces the reason for the former debate with the non-present rich unbeliever.

406.

What is the reason given?

407.

With what is Jesus comparing the end of the world in Jas. 5:7?

408.

Note the repetition of the word patient in both the admonition and the illustration.

409.

When the husbandman is patient over the fruit of harvest to come, what does this signify? (Remember the Biblical meaning of patience).

410.

Jas. 5:8 says be ye also patient, why do we need this admonition?

411.

How can we establish our hearts?

412.

How can he say the coming of the Lord is at hand when Mat. 24:29 ff says that certain things will come to pass before the coming of the Lord?

413.

Was the coming of the Lord really at hand when nearly two thousand years have passed since this was written?

414.

Is the coming of the Lord at hand today? What would we do in preparation?

415.

How would the expected coming of the Lord keep the brethren from murmuring?

416.

What might tempt us to murmur against one another?

417.

For what were the Israelites judged in the wilderness? (See Num. 14:29; Deu. 1:27; 1Co. 10:10).

418.

What is the significance of the phrase standeth before the doors?

Paraphrases

A. Jas. 5:7.

Dont be quick-tempered, but hold your mind in check until Christ is present again. See how the farmer does not expect his harvest on the day he plants but he is longsuffering in watching for it, giving it time to mature after the spring and summer rains.

8.

In the same way you should hold yourself in check, also; and strengthen your spirits: for Christ will soon be present with us.

9.

Dont groan in complaints because of your impatience, brethren, or you will risk the condemnation of the Lord when He comes. Consider He is just around the corner and could come at any moment.

B.*Jas. 5:7.

But on the other hand, you, dear brothers, be patient until the Lord returns. Be like a patient farmer who expects to wait until the autumn for his precious harvest to ripen.

8.

Yes, be patient. And take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.

9.

Dont grumble about each other, brothers. Are you yourselves above criticism? For see! the great Judge is coming, He is almost here; (let Him do whatever criticizing must be done).

Summary

And now brethren, speaking to you: be patient and constant with mutual forbearance; in view of the certainty and nearness of Christs coming.

Comment

When James here says, Be patient therefore . . . he uses a different word for patience than the ordinary word used in the Scripture. The ordinary word means to stick like glue, or to hang on like a bulldog. This word, however, leans a bit closer to our modern usage of the word patience. It means to have submission, or be long-tempered. There still is a close relation in the meaning of the two words with more similarity than difference. In the middle of the verse James uses the same word to describe the submission to circumstances of the husbandman.
There certainly is a sense in which the Christian should be meek and submissive; and this is one of them. When the circumstances of our environment become trying for us, we should execute all the more control to be meek and submissive to the will of the Lord. If we are convinced that God cares for us constantly and that all things both in heaven and on earth are under the authority of our Lord Christ Jesus, we should be all the more careful to be willing to submit ourselves to the trying circumstances He sees fit to allow us to bear. The key to contented living on this earth is not avoidances of trials, but rather the submission to the will of Christ that makes us content in whatever state we find ourselves. Impatience makes a person short-tempered; but James says here we should be long-tempered.

The reason for this holding of our mind in check is that the Lord will soon come. It will not be long, so hold out till He comes. Like a mother comforts her sick child, It will be just a few minutes, honey. The doctor just phoned and said he was on his way over. Dont cry, because I think I hear him coming now! So James comforts us in our trials of this life.

Isnt it deceptive? you may ask. James said He was coming soon. Now nearly two thousand years have passed, and He hasnt come yet! True enough. In Mat. 24:15-22 Jesus makes it clear that the imminent destruction of the temple would take place before the end of the world. After that, He could be expected at any moment. His coming would be sudden and would take people by surprise. James was not deceptive, however; for His coming was soon or imminent. And it still is. The admonition was not to watch for He would certainly come within a few days, but rather to watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh. (Mat. 24:42) Jesus could come shortly from the time you read this; or it could be that He shall come before you ever get opportunity to read this. Then again, it may be years away. Our business is to watch and be ready.

The illustration, like all of those Jesus uses, is very vivid and simple. The farmer does not begin to rail nor show impatience with his wife because there are no crops the week after he has planted. He patiently waits for the normal seasons of rain and sun. His patience holds out even through the second rainy season and the second crop.

Palestine, like many areas the world over, has two rainy seasons for crop growth, thus the reference to the early and latter rain. Grain was usually planted in time for the fall rains and matured with the latter rain of Spring. Even as the farmer is patient in waiting for his crops, so must we be patient in waiting for the Lord.
One of the immediate results of lack of patience is groaning in complaint. This murmuring often makes life miserable for those who are closest. In the church it takes the form of groaning against a brother. It is as if he were at fault. He is present and it is the most convenient opportunity for venting the impatience. Likewise; husband or wife may have the same impatient reaction against the one who is most convenient to them. The lack of contentment becomes a miserable tirade against the one they love best. Since such loose usage of the tongue is clearly forbidden in the Scripture, the saints impatience may make him in danger of the judgment. Since the judge can be expected at any moment, why let the impatience lead him to action over which he may be judged?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

CHAPTER X

RESIST FIERCELY, BRETHREN!

Jas. 5:7-12

Introduction

After the very vivid account of the vengeance that belongs to God, and the just judgment that will come to their persecutor, James turns back to the Christian brethren to whom he is writing. Dont let them shake you loose, brethren! You hang on to the very victory that God has promised in the end. This victory is sure to come. God is still our leader and His oversight real. So dont murmur nor complain. The Judge has it all in hand, even as He did with the prophets of old. So let your word be as constant and sure as is His Word. Speak the truth without deception and remain on the victorious side of the Lord.
Not only does the Holy Spirit in this instance champion the justice that is sure to come against the persecutors, but He assures of the reward of grace that is to be received by His own. The noteworthy thing about the Biblical justice is that God is the judge and the avenger. Justice is His business and He assures us He will take care of it. He has not given to man the authority for vengeance. The sword He has put into the hands of governments is not for vengeance, but rather to give His own army a measure of peace and protection in carrying out the spiritual warfare of this life. Though the earthly murderers fear not the wrath of God, being unbelievers in His Word, they yet fear death through capital punishment and so are forced to inhibit, or at least hide, their murderous actions.

Another point of justice that is clear in both the book of James and in the other Scriptures is Gods insistence upon social justice. In the Old Testament, as well as the New, the prophets have preached vigorously against injustices toward the poor. (Isa. 5:8; Amo. 3:10; Amo. 5:11; Amo. 8:4-7; Amos 11:28; etc.). Feeding the hungry and caring for the orphans and widows (but not the indolent lay people) is a common concern of Gods Word, A heart that weeps over the suffering of others is Gods kind of heart. So it is that Jesus wept. So it is that He looked over Jerusalem and considered her destiny, and wept. So it is that the horrible lostness that is in the world today brings grief to Him, and to the saint who has His spirit as well. But His weeping over Lazarus death was a grief for the suffering relatives that were left broken hearted. Jesus wept because they suffered.

How often the church neglects this sympathy that is to be shared with Christ. How often the needy are overlooked, and those who suffer for physical needs and in bodily torments are neglected by the prosperous church. Not only do the saints often neglect the visitation and encouragement to the saints in the old folks homes, but they often send their own members and relatives to be among those numbers who are forgotten and neglected. Countless numbers in the hospitals who could be won to Christ in their great physical distress are often left to suffer alone. The saints will rally in support of a dramatic case of need reported in the newspapers but they as often neglect the unadvertized and numberless needy on their very doorsteps. Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction . . . Jas. 1:27. The gospel is damaging for social justice, and we do not need the Social Gospel to develop this facet of Christianity. The Holy Spirit has already done so in the Word of God. Nor must we use rejection of the Social Gospel as an excuse for neglecting our plainly revealed duties for sympathetic help to the needy and fair treatment of those who are less fortunate and at our mercy.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

FIVE THREE-POINT SERMON STARTERS

WHY BE PATIENT? Jas. 5:7-8

1.

The Lord is coming Jas. 5:7 a

2.

We have the examples

a.

From the Scripture.

b.

From the farmer.

3.

Precious fruit comes later Jas. 5:7 b

THE REWARDS OF IMPATIENCE Jas. 5:7-12

1.

Murmuring against the brethren Jas. 5:9.

2.

Miss the pity and mercy of the Lord Jas. 5:11.

3.

The precious fruit of the merciful is lost Jas. 5:7 b, Jas. 5:12 b.

CHRISTIANS TELL THE TRUTH Jas. 5:12

1.

No need to confirm his speech with oaths.

2.

His reputation is worth more than the oath of the liar.

3.

He is not under the condemnation of the liars.

THE Jdg. 5:7-12

1.

He is the Lord Jesus Christ Jas. 5:7-8.

2.

His judgment will come at any moment.

3.

His judgment is to be feared Jas. 5:12 b.

SWEAR NOT Jas. 5:12; Mat. 5:33-37

1.

Avoid all oaths.

2.

Avoid the appearances of evil in loose talk.

(Cheese, for Jesus; Gosh or Golly for God, etc.)

3.

Avoid the condemnation of God.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(7) Be patient.The third, and last, part of the Letter commences here with these exhortations towards endurance.

Thereforei.e., because of this your deep and abiding misery, be sure Gods help is nigh:

The darkest hour is on the verge of day.

Out of your stony griefs build, like Jacob of old, a house of God (Gen. 28:19), whereunto you may run and find refuge. If there be wrath laid up in store for the oppressor, great is the coming peace of the oppressed.

The husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it . . . Be ye also patient.It becomes you, the just, to bear with the unjust till God work the end of your trial, and prove them at the same time. Again and again, through several verses (Jas. 5:7-11), St. James repeats his advice, emphasising it with various reasons: the nearness of deliverance; the Judge standing at the gate; the example of the prophetspersecuted by men, and therefore blessed of God; the hope of those who endureJob for example: the very faithfulness and tender mercy of the Lord, bringing all things to a perfect end. Few ideas are more startling (is a reflection of Dr. Evans) than those produced by the strange combinations in Scripture. Matters are joined there which we mostly put asunder here, speaking of them, at least, as apart. And thus we read in the Revelation (Jas. 1:9) of the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. But all Christians are citizens of a patient kingdom; the King thereof is more patient, as He hath greater need of patience than His subjects, and He is patient, because He is strong. Impatience is a sign of weakness. God can afford to wait, for His time is eternity. And we can be strong in His strength, and wait also in patience. In so far as St. Jamess hearers were earthly minded, they could not learn this lesson; so often with ourselves we would have our wrong righted instantly, and to the full. Only one view of life can alter this, viz., the lifting of our gaze from earth to heaven, remembering that the time is short (1Co. 7:29).

The early and latter rain.It is, perhaps, just as well to recollect there were only two seasons of rainfall in the Holy Land, and, if long delayed, famine was a certain result. With the change of the Israelites from pastoral life to agricultural, the malignity of these dearths was lessened; but they were and are still severe. The Bible mentions many suche.g., in the days of Abraham (Gen. 12:10), Isaac (Gen. 26:1), Jacob (Gen. 42:2), Ruth (Jas. 1:1), Samuel (2Sa. 21:1), Ahab (1Ki. 18:2). The early rain fell during the autumn sowingin October, November, and December; the latter in March and April. By many versions the word rain is omitted, but, of course, was always intended.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

5. The Christian sufferer under these wrongs pointed to the judgment day, Jas 5:7-11.

7. Brethren Our apostle turns in contrast, from the rich men to the just men; from the persecutors to the persecuted. But what shall we think of commentators who are not quite sure that the rich men and the brethren are not the same!

Be patient To the Church in all ages the judgment seat of Christ, even though long millenniums distant, is, conceptually, near at hand. See supplementary note to Matthew 25, and note on 2Pe 3:8.

Coming The PAROUSIA; the second advent, the day when the human race, in resurrection state, stands in the presence of its final Judge.

Observe, again, that, unlike last days, in Jas 5:3, and day of slaughter, in Jas 5:5, this Parousia has the Greek article. This indicates that the two former were indefinite events, and the last a definite. That is, the latter indicates the one well known and universally expected event, while the former are a special era for these rich men and their contemporaries.

Husbandman As the planter fixes his conceptual eye upon the day of harvest, so do ye fix your mind’s eye upon the final reward.

Long patience An intimation of the unknown length of the period intervening before the judgment day.

Early and latter The word rain, though truly implied, is not, perhaps, a genuine reading. The early “rainy season” in Palestine is autumnal, extending from first of October to last of December, and even, with slight snow, into January. February brings an interval of fine weather. The latter rain is in spring, embracing March and April.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘Be patiently enduring, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receive the early and latter rain.’

The idea behind ‘patience’ here is ‘patient endurance’. It does not speak of a quiet waiting, but of a standing up to the trials that face them without wavering and without retaliation. It includes the idea of ‘longsuffering’, facing up to whatever men throw at them and loving them just the same (compare the longsuffering of God – Rom 2:4; 1Pe 3:20). He makes clear that it will not always be easy. They are thus to praise the Lord through gritted teeth under all circumstances, and are to remember that the Lord is coming. Just as the farmer does year by year when he waits for the early and late rains which will produce his hoped for harvest, sometimes with great apprehension when there appears to be a delay, so are they to wait with patient endurance for what the Lord will do. But one thing they can be sure of. One day the great day of Harvest will come (Mat 13:41-43), and great will be their rejoicing.

In Palestine the early and late rains were usually regular, and they were vital for food production. The early rain in around September/October would soften and refresh the ground ready to receive the seed. The later rain in March/April, coming before the long hot summer, would feed the roots and make the grain flourish. (See Deu 11:14; Jer 5:24; Joe 2:23). But sometimes one or other did not come when expected, and so the farmer had to wait for it with patient endurance. This was therefore a reminder that the Lord’s coming, while certain, could not be tied down to a particular time. It might come on cue, or it might be delayed. But certainly there had to be a period during which the heavenly rain (Isa 44:1-5; Isa 55:10-13 and often) would fall more than once in order to prepare a harvest.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

A Call To Patient Endurance In The Light Of The Lord’s Coming ( Jas 5:7-11 ).

James now turns back to those who are true ‘brothers’ and exhorts them to patient endurance, and to watch their tongues, in the light of the Lord’s imminent coming. This is parallel to Jas 1:2-3; Jas 1:12 where he speaks of patient endurance and of the Crown of Life promised to all who love Him. ‘The Lord’ here clearly means ‘the Lord, Jesus Christ’ (Jas 1:1; Jas 2:1). They are to wait patiently like a farmer waits patiently for his harvest, awaiting the first initial rain which enables sowing, and the later rain which helps to ripen the grain, and are to patiently endure, being careful to watch their tongues. For they must remember that the Lord is full of pity and merciful to those who remain faithful to Him.

Analysis.

a Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord (Jas 5:7 a).

b Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receive the early and latter rain (Jas 5:7 b).

c You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand (Jas 5:8).

d Do not murmur, brothers, one against another, that you be not judged. Behold, the judge stands before the doors (Jas 5:9).

c Take, brothers, for an example of suffering and of patient endurance, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord (Jas 5:10).

b Behold, we call them blessed who endured (Jas 5:11 a).

a You have heard of the patient endurance of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful (Jas 5:11 b).

Note that in ‘a’ we have the call to patience and in the parallel the example of the patience of Job. In ‘b’ we have a ‘Behold’, and the farmer is called on to wait patiently, and in the parallel another ‘Behold’, and a pronouncement of blessing on those who wait patiently and endure. In ‘c’ they are called on to patient endurance because the coming of the Lord is at hand, and in the parallel they are to look for an example of patient endurance to those who spoke in the name of the Lord. Centrally in ‘d’ they are to watch their tongues lest they be judged, because the Judge stands at the doors.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Examples of Patience In Jas 5:7-9 the pastor gives his people the example of the farmer as a man of patience (Jas 5:7). They are to make the same decision as the farmer to patiently wait for their eternal rewards (Jas 5:8) without grumbling and complaining (Jas 5:9).

In Jas 5:10-11 the pastor gives clear examples of patience during wrongdoing by referring to the suffering servants of the Old Testament. God gives us the greatest example from Scriptures of someone who suffered the deepest losses for something that was not their fault. The example of Job tells us how he overcame through patience.

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. The farmer an example Jas 5:7-9

2. Job an example Jas 5:10-11

Jas 5:7  Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

Jas 5:7 “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord” Comments – A Christian must focus his hope (the anchor of his soul) on the longing to see Jesus come and deliver him out of this wicked world.

Illustration – When we work a long, hard day, our hope is to see the end of the workday, especially, payday, when we will receive our reward.

Job 7:2, “As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work:”

Jas 5:7 “Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth” – Comments – The farmer waits while laboring, not with slothfulness, but with hard work. He prepares the ground, he sows, he waters and he sweats to care for plants until harvest. We, too, are God’s husbandmen.

Jas 5:7 “and hath long patience for it” – Comments – Many people start out in the Christian life like they started out following Jesus, in multitudes. Many are called, few are chosen. Many people start out and say I will, but they do not do God’s Word. Note:

Mat 21:28-31, “But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.”

Jas 5:7 “until he receive the early and latter rain” Comments – Within the context of this passage of Scripture, the early and latter rains symbolize the First and Second Coming of Jesus Christ; for it says in this verse “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord,: and in the next verse it says, “Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” (Jas 5:8) Kenneth Hagin and many Pentecostal and Charismatic ministers of the Gospel say that before Jesus returns again, we will wait like farmers do for the latter rain. The first or early rain was the outpouring of the Holy Ghost in the early church. The latter rain means another Holy Ghost out pouring like Acts is coming before Jesus’ return. [120]

[120] Kenneth Hagin, The Triumphant Church (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Faith Library Publications, c1993, 1994), 224-5; Kenneth Hagin, The Coming Restoration (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Faith Library Publications, c1985, 1989), 224-5.

Note references to the early and latter rains in the Old Testament:

Job 29:21-23, “Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them. And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.”

Hos 6:3, “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”

Zec 10:1, “Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.”

Jas 5:7 Comments – We find a similar illustration of the farmer and his harvest in 2Ti 2:6-7. While James places emphasis upon the farmer’s patience, in 2 Timothy Paul places emphasis upon the certainty of the reward of farmer’s labours.

2Ti 2:6-7, “The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.”

Note how Hos 10:12 places an emphasis upon how our sowing determines the type of harvest received.

Hos 10:12, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

Jas 5:8  Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

Jas 5:9  Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

Jas 5:9 Comments – The sins of grumbling and judging one other are what the children of Israel did in the midst of their trials in the wilderness, and God was quick to judge His people in this matter.

1Co 10:10, “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.”

It happens when a person walking in earthly wisdom blames others for his or her circumstances. Note that James has mentioned this sin in an earlier passage:

Jas 4:11, “Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.”

Jas 5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

Jas 5:10 Comments – The epistle of James opens with an emphasis upon trials and patience. In its closing verses James clearly emphasizes the need of patience during times of affliction.

Jas 5:11  Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

Jas 5:11 “Behold, we count them happy which endure” – Comments – This illustration used by James refers back to the opening verse of this epistle, which also tells us the theme of the book of James.

Jas 1:2, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.”

Job is given to us as an example of a man who endured the greatest temptation that any man has had to endure, outside of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It enlarges our understanding of what it means to rejoice and to be happy in the midst of afflictions. It does not mean that we have to laugh and be excited about the situation. Rather, God considers a Christian in the midst of trials to be joyful when they patiently endure the storm, while they allow the peace of God calm their inner souls. The manifestation of an inner peace in the midst of a storm is called “endurance” in this epistle. The theme of the book of James is not that you have to laugh during your trials of affliction, although there may be times to do so. The phrase “counting it all joy” means that we allow the peace of God that passes all understanding to guard our hearts from overwhelming sorrow and despair.

Php 4:7, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

God wants to bring us into a place of resting in Him, where we keep our peace while the storms rage. Thus, James is not referring to the outward joy that the world expresses during afflictions when it says, “Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die!” (Isa 22:13) Instead, is it an inner peace and strength that abides within our hearts that God is leading us into.

Isa 22:13-14, “And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die .”

Take Job as an example. He was not eating and drinking and ignoring his situation by having a party. However, he did have a deep inner peace with his Maker that kept him looking for Him for answers in the midst of his disappointment. In the end, God revealed Himself to Job as the mighty Creator who is able to heal and to deliver. This was the patience and endurance of Job. This is where God wants to bring us according to Jas 1:3-4, into the patience of Job.

Jas 1:3-4, “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

Does not the Holy Scriptures tell us that Job was “perfect” because he had endured.

Job 1:1, “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.”

Jas 5:11 “Ye have heard of” Comments – James could have said, “You have read about the patience of Job,” in Jas 5:11. Keep in mind that James is writing to Jewish converts who were dispersed across the Roman Empire, and still assembling in synagogues; for James uses this word in Jas 2:2, “if there come unto your assembly. ” In this assembly, the chief speaker would read the Scriptures as we see Jesus doing in Luk 4:16. Naturally, the others in the assembly become “hearers.” Thus, we can imagine James describing in Jas 5:11 a speaker reading from the book of Job and those seated are “hearing” the story, followed by comments about the text. This is why James uses the phrase “hearers of the word” in Jas 1:19-25.

Luk 4:16, “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.”

We have testimony from Eusebius (A.D. 260 to 340), the early Church historian, that such public reading of the Scriptures was standard practice in the early Church.

“These things are recorded in regard to James, who is said to be the author of the first of the so-called catholic epistles. But it is to be observed that it is disputed; at least, not many of the ancients have mentioned it, as is the case likewise with the epistle that bears the name of Jude, which is also one of the seven so-called catholic epistles. Nevertheless we know that these also, with the rest, have been read publicly in very many churches .” ( Ecclesiastical History 2.23.25)

Jas 5:11 “the patience of Job” – Comments With the life of Job, James gives us the greatest example in the Scriptures of how a man overcame a trial through patience. No other person endured such hardships in the Old Testament. This is the only reference in the New Testament to the individual named Job. In this reference, the emphasis is made to the good outcome of the Lord, and not to the destruction and sickness caused by Satan.

Jas 5:11 “and have seen the end of the Lord” Comments – The Lord’s mercy and compassion was only revealed at the end of the book of Job, and not at the beginning or in the middle of this lengthy story. Thus, James accurately uses the phrase “the end of the Lord.”

The result of hard times, if one endures them without backing out of faith in God, is to see God’s reward. See Job 42. God restored to Job his riches two-fold and gave him more children.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Final Appeal: Patience, Speech, and Prayer James leads us to the final step of our journey of perseverance by exhorting on patience (Jas 5:7-11), sound speech (Jas 5:12), and prayer (Jas 5:13-18), which virtues support the theme of the perseverance of the saints; for it is only through patience, sound speech, and prayer that we will persevere and overcome the trials of life. Each of these trials listed above must be patiently endured if we are to overcome them. In order to illustrate the two virtues of patience and pray he draws upon two of the greatest examples of patience and prayer from the Old Testament. Job serves as a person who demonstrated the greatest example of patience in the midst of trials, and Elijah’s prayers demonstrates the greatest example of prayer during a three and a half year trial of drought.

It is through patience and prayer that we find the strength to endure trials while counting it all joy. This is the way that a believer is able to endure trials; for without patience or prayer, a person will faint and give up his faith in God in the midst of trials, which was the temptation that Job faced. Thus, we find this same theme of patience (Jas 1:2-4) and prayer (Jas 1:5-8) in the opening verses of this epistle.

Outline – Note the proposed outline:

1. Appeal for patience Jas 5:7-11

2. Appeal for pure speech Jas 5:12

3. Appeal for prayer Jas 5:13-18

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Admonition to patience:

v. 7. Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and latter rain.

v. 8. Be ye also patient, stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

v. 9. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned; behold, the Judge standeth before the door.

v. 10. Take, my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering affliction and of patience.

v. 11. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy.

Probably the thought of the uncomplaining patience of the righteous under the ill treatment of the wealthy caused the apostle to add this paragraph concerning the patience which the believers should show at all times: Be patient, then, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Patient, uncomplaining endurance should characterize the Christians at all times. For it is only for a short while that they are obliged to suffer. One fact always is held before their eyes, namely, that their Lord is coming, that He will surely return in glory. Yet a little while, and He that is coming will come, and will not tarry, Heb 10:37.

The apostle refers to the example of the farmer: See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the land, having patience with regard to it until he receives the early and the late rains. If there is anyone whose labor necessitates a great deal of enduring patience, it is the man that depends upon the soil for a living. He realizes how fully mankind is dependent upon the Lord for food. He puts his seed into the land which he has prepared, patiently biding his time in order that he may receive his reward in the form of a plentiful harvest. In Palestine he knew that his success rested upon the timely falling of the former or autumnal rains, which, after the hot summer months, brought the land into a condition where it could be cultivated, and of the latter or spring rains, in April, which aided the crop in maturing. So all his labor was a matter of patient waiting.

This example the Christians should follow. Have patience also you; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Patient endurance should be the keynote in the lives of the Christians. Times innumerable their hearts are on the verge of growing faint and of giving up the apparently unequal struggle. But with help from above they find themselves able again and again to strengthen and confirm their hearts. For that thought upholds them, that the coming of the Lord to Judgment is near, that His return means everlasting bliss for them. There is only a short time of waiting, and then the harvest will be gathered with joy ineffable.

Meanwhile they should heed what the apostle tells them: Murmur not against one another, brethren, lest you be judged; behold, the Judge stands at the doors. The apparent delay of the Lord in returning according to His promise has caused many people to give way to impatience, to make invidious comparisons between their own lot and that of others, and to begrudge the greater happiness of others. A behavior of this kind, being altogether out of harmony with the Word of the Lord and with the disposition which He expects in them that are His own, will call forth His condemnation upon the guilty ones. For those that by patient continuance in well-doing wait for His coming, salvation is near, but for those that are full of envy toward others and spend their time in nursing their supposed grievances it is the Judge, the righteous Judge, that is coming. He is even now standing at the door, and His entrance to Judgment is only a matter of a short time, controlled largely by the fact of His merciful love for the fallen whom He is striving to gain for eternal salvation.

There are also examples of the saints of old which may well encourage and strengthen the believers: As an example of the suffering of evil and of patience, my brethren, take the prophets that spoke in the name of the Lord. See Heb 11:1-40. Most of the prophets of old, although they were engaged in preaching in the name of the Lord, in bringing to their countrymen the wonderful message of the coming Messiah, yet were subjected to many kinds of persecution; they were obliged to bear evil in many forms. They may, therefore, well serve as examples of patience and endurance which we should always keep before the eyes of our mind. If the Lord gave them strength to endure the manifold afflictions which came upon them to the end, He will be at our side also with His comfort and with His power.

And there is another point that deserves mention: Behold, blessed we consider sufferers that did endure. Of the patience of Job you have heard, and the end of the Lord you know, that very compassionate is the Lord and full of pity. Job was a favorite example of patience among the Jews of all times, as he is today. Christians should remember that we commonly, and rightly, ascribe blessedness, the happiness of salvation, to those that endured to the end. See Mat 5:11. With the story of Job-the readers of this letter were familiar; they knew the end and purpose of the Lord with regard to this patient sufferer. It was just in his history that one point became so emphatically apparent, namely, that the Lord is so very compassionate with regard to them that are His own, that His heart yearns in pity and mercy for His children. Thus there is both comfort and strength in this allusion for the Christians of all times.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Jam 5:7. Brethren, It would have been exceedingly strange if the Christians had condemned and killed any of their own number: what is said, therefore, Jam 5:6 as well as several other things, prove that Jam 5:1-6 is an apostrophe to the unbelieving Jews; who were wicked themselves, and persecuted the Christians, but were to come to a speedy and exemplary destruction. His beginning this exhortation with Brethren, and recommending patience to them, from the consideration of the approaching destruction of their rich and potent adversaries, seems a plain intimation that the apostle is turning his address to the Christians, to whom, in the preceding verses, he had not been speaking directly; for they were in a suffering state, and were not in general the persecutors of others. See ch. Jam 2:6-7.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Jas 5:7 . Exhortation to the brethren to patient waiting, on to Jas 5:11 .

] ; literally, to be long-suffering to those who do an injury; opposed to ; see Meyer on Col 1:11 . On its distinction from , see on 2Ti 3:11 ; here the meaning appears to run into that of ; comp. the following and Jas 5:8 ; but it is here well put, in order to exclude the feeling of disquieting doubt; comp. Heb 6:12 ; Heb 6:15 .

] refers to the preceding sentiment (also to that indicated in ), that the judgment is near (de Wette, Wiesinger [228] ).

] contrast to the .

Patience is to endure . On as a preposition, see Winer, p. 418 [E. T. 590]. As regards the meaning which here has, Schneckenburger correctly observes: non tempus tantum sed rem quoque indicat, qua toleranda tollatur. By , according to constant Christian usage, is to be understood the advent of Christ (Wiesinger, Brckner, Lange, Bouman), not the coming of God (Augusti, Theile, de Wette); although James by chiefly designates God, yet he also uses this name for Christ, chap. Jas 2:1 .

The exhortation is strengthened by the reference to the patient waiting of the husbandman (the same figure in Sir 6:19 ). As he waits ( ) for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with reference to it, until it has received the early and latter rain, so should the Christian patiently wait for the precious fruit of his labour, for which he hopes. The is designated as , because it is its preciousness which occasions the . By , is more definitely stated, since that verb does not necessarily include in itself the idea here intended. On = in reference to the , comp. Luk 18:7 .

is not the subject of (Luther), but (Stier).

The question whether we are here to read with or without (see critical remarks) cannot be answered from the usage of the N. T.; see Mat 10:11 , and, on the other hand, Luk 12:59 . According to Tischendorf, the authorities are decisive for the omission of . See Al. Buttmann, p. 198 f. [E. T. 230 f.]. [229] ( ) ] the autumnal and spring rains; see Deu 11:14 ; Jer 5:26 ; Joe 2:23 ; Zec 10:1 : not “the morning and the evening rain” (Luther); see Winer’s Realwrterb . under “ Witterung. ” [230]

[228] Schneckenburger correctly observes: ad judicii divini propinquitatem respicit; but the remark is erroneous: neque cam infitias, si quis pariter versui 6 hunc jungat, ita ut exemplo ad eandem animi lenitatem usque servandam excitentur.

[229] It is peculiar that in the parallel sentences, Exo 15:16 , Jer 23:20 , at first stands and then .

[230] In a peculiar manner Oecumenius allegorizing says: , , .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

X. FINAL THEME AND CONCLUSION

FURTHER ADDRESS TO THE BRETHREN. FINAL THEME: EXHORTATION TO ENDURANCE IN LONG-SUFFERING PATIENCE UNTO THE COMING OF THE LORD.ENCOURAGEMENT THERETO. CONDITION THEREOF. FINAL PROMISE

Jam 5:7-20

7Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early7 and latter rain. 8Be ye also patient;8 establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 9Grudge not one against another, brethren,9 10lest ye be condemned:10 behold, the11 judge standeth before the door. Take, my12 brethren,13 the prophets, who have spoken in14 the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction,15 and of patience. 11Behold, we count them happy which endure.16 Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen17 the end of the Lord; that the Lord18 is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. 12But above all things,19 my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but 13let20 your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.21 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray, Is any merry? let him sing Psalms 14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:22 15And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall 16be forgiven him. Confess23 your faults24 one to another, and pray25 one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 17Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. 18And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain,26 and the 19earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren,27 if any of you do err from the truth,28 and one convert him; 20Let him know29 that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul30 from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.31

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Analysis:Further address to the brethren. Final theme, viz: exhortation to endurance in long-suffering patience unto the coming of the Lord, Jam 5:7-9. Encouragement thereto: Examples of patient suffering, Jam 5:10-11.Conditions thereof: Shunning of seditious movements. A hallowed disposition. The healing of their sicknesses. Liberation of the conscience by means of confession of sins. Exhortation to intercession. The example of Elias, Jam 5:12-18.Conclusion replete with promise, Jam 5:19-20.

Further address to the brethren. Final theme: viz. exhortation to endurance in long-suffering patience unto the coming of the Lord, Jam 5:7-8.

Jam 5:7. Be patient therefore, brethren. is the turning-point in the Apostles address. He now turns primarily to the Christian section of his readers without excluding however the further design of the address for all Jews capable of conversion in contrast to the aforementioned incorrigible . literally to have great courage, to be magnanimous, branches out into the ideas to be long-suffering or forbearing towards the erring, applicable both to Divine and human long-suffering, and to be patient in the endurance of suffering, but also with the lateral idea of patiently hoping for endurance under apparent danger, here under the experience of worldly and human wrong, Heb 6:12. Hence is distinguished from in Col 1:11. And here also the term is obviously chosen instead of Jam 1:12, because the Apostle desires to lay stress on the endurance of the Jewish-Christian under the wrongs of the old situation of the world, by which the Judaists suffered themselves to be drifted into revolution.

Unto the coming of the Lord.The Lord is Christ, as in ch, Jam 2:1, and the denotes His eschatological advent according to the entire evangelical and apostolical system of doctrine (consequently not the coming of God unto judgment distinct and separate from the advent of Christ, as held by Augusti, Theile, de Wette). But this involves no reason for identifying this with the judgments announced in Jam 5:1. nor must we, on the other hand, limit the coming of Christ to the last and concluding event of His epiphany. The coming of Christ is the epiphany (manifestation) of Christ with all its antecedent interpositions, be they universal or individual, the greatest of which is the destruction of Jerusalem, as the type of all subsequent comings.

Behold the husbandman waiteth.Cf. Jam 3:18; Sir 6:16; 2Ti 2:6.

For the precious fruit of the earth.Which is well worth waiting for. In this the husbandman is a symbol for believers, as also in that he confides the seed to the earth; to invisibleness, to seeming death and the grave. Joh 12:24.

Being patient over it. probably denotes here his persevering hope of the seemingly buried seed. It is the preciousness of the fruit (which, although invisible, he sees in expectation), that gives him long-enduring, faith-like courage. He calculates on it. [ is very graphic; it depicts him, as it were, sitting over it in the confident expectation of its appearing.M.].

Until it shall have received.That is, the fruit in its seed, not the husbandman (Morus).

The early and the latter rain.That is with reference to the climate of Palestine: the autumnal rain before sowing, the spring rain before harvest, Deu 11:14; Deu 11:2; Jer 5:24, etc. See Winer, R. W. B. Article Witterung. [The early rain began to fall about the middle of October, became more continuous in November and December and turned into snow in January and February. The latter rain , fell in March and lasted to about the middle of April. Thunder-gusts were not uncommon from January to March.The singular exposition of the early and the latter rain given by Oecumenius may prove suggestive: , . , M.].

Jam 5:8. Be ye also patient.As is the husbandman. It is assumed that the seed has been sown among them. Their patience, indeed, is sorely tried, hence:

Establish your hearts.1Th 3:13; 1Pe 5:10. It is here understood that this must be done by seeking refuge in prayer to the Lord, who giveth strength, as has been repeatedly pointed out, Jam 1:5-6 etc.

Because the coming of the Lord is nigh.Literally: it has already drawn nigh in its coming nigh. It is not a fixed nearness but a constant drawing nearer and that, not in the sense of a chronological definition, but in the sense of a religious expectation and assurance, which does not calculate the time and the hour, or rather looks at time in the spirit of the Lord before whom a thousand years are as one day (2Pe 3:8). In the Apostles sense of the expression, it could be said and may be said at all times: the coming of the Lord is nigh.

Jam 5:9. Murmur not, brethren, against one another.There is no reason why this should be limited to the mutual forbearance among Christians (Huther). Here again all the dissensions among the Jews must be taken into consideration. As James had already denounced their quarrels, so he now feels anxious to stop the very sources of these quarrels. Huther admits that James refers to a gemitus accusatorius (Estius, Calvin), but denies that it amounts to a provocatio ultionis (Theile and al.). But the second cannot be separated from the first; the legalism of the Old Testament, moreover, as contrasted with the thorough fidelity of the N. T. intercession, exerted as yet a powerful influence over the minds of the Jewish-Christians and might easily bias them in that direction. The believing Jews were peculiarly exposed to that temptation by the oppressive and irritating treatment they received at the hands of the rich. Huther rightly remarks that impatience in affliction has the tendency of making men irritable. [It is of course difficult to determine whether the reference is to Christians only or to those who were open to conviction, or to all whom it might concern. As the exhortation states a general moral duty, it is perhaps best to give it the widest, possible application. In this sense the note of Hornejus (in Huther) will be found useful: Quos ad manifestas it gravissimas improborum injurias fortiter ferendas incitarat, eos nunc hortatur, ut etiam in minoribus illis offensis qu inter pios ipsos spe sub-nascuntur, vel condonandis vel dissimulandis promti sint. Contingit enim ut qui hostium et improborum maximas spe contumelias et injurias quo animo tolerant, fratrum tamen offensas multo leniores non facile ferant.M.].

That ye be not judged.According to Mat 7:1, because murmuring against one another is also judging. [The reference is to final condemnation.M.].

Behold, the Judge standeth before the doors.(Mat 24:33). Before the door. The Judge i.e. Christ. Theile sees here a reference to the disposition of the Judge to punish the oppressors and to avenge the oppressed; Huther, on the other hand, says it is intended to caution the suffering against the suspension of love and to hold out to them the promise of speedy deliverance. But it is pretty certain that the love of justice, purified from every unholy admixture, may also expect the just recompense of evil, and that the two ideas, therefore, go together. Wiesingers remark is excellent: Ye may with perfect calmness leave the judgment to Him and therefore ye ought not to expose yourselves to the danger of the judgment. Cf. Php 4:5. [Seeing Christ will speedily execute judgment, do not murmur against one another; murmuring against one another is a species of judging and condemning, ye are brethren, not accusers and judges of one another; invading the prerogative of the Judge renders you liable to judgment and condemnation. Love, requite evil with good and leave the judgment in the hands of Christ.The reader is referred to the Introduction for the remarkable incident recorded by Hegesippus that the religious sects at Jerusalem were wont to ask St. James which is the Door of Jesus? Wordsworth says: The words of St. James Behold the Judge standeth at the doors perhaps became current among them. Perhaps those words may also have excited the question put in a tone of derision, which is the Door of Jesus? at what Door is He standing? By what Door will He come? Show Him to us and we will go out to meet Him.This supposition is confirmed by the reply of St. James, why do ye ask me concerning the Son of Man? He sitteth in heaven, and will come in the clouds of heaven.For other interpretations of that saying Which is the Door of Jesus? see Bp. Pearson on St. Ignatius, ad Philadelph. 9, , with reference to Joh 10:7-9; Valesius and al. on Euseb. II. 23; Lardner, Hist. of Apostles, James 16; Credner, Einleit. 2, p. 580; Gieseler, Church Hist. 31; and Delitzsch on Ep. to the Hebrews, p. 673.M.].

Encouragement thereto. Examples of patient suffering, Jam 5:10-11.

Jam 5:10. Take, my brethren, as an example., example or pattern=, representation, related to , writing-copy (copy-head) perhaps also attestation, and , the original pattern or beginning of a thing.

Of affliction and patience., . in N. T. although not exactly=to suffer wrong (Hottinger), or=to suffer absolutely, denotes suffering evil or affliction, which easily suggests suffering wrong. [But, as Alford remarks, the word is strictly objective and is found parallel with and the like. Cf. Jam 5:13, Mal 1:12; 2Ma 2:26-27; and Thucyd. 7:77, , , , (spoken by Nicias to the suffering Athenian army in Sicily): so Isocr. p. 127. c. M.].

The prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord.Cf. Mat 5:12. The addition characterizes them as servants of the Lord, who endured wrong for His sake.Who spoke.In a pregnant sense as frequently in the prophets.

In the name of the Lord.(Lange: in virtue of the name of the Lord). Huther makes = , claiming as much for Mat 7:22. But there the sense is modified and here also this peculiar expression has probably to be so explained that the name of the Lord, i.e. the fundamental thought of the revelation of the Old Testament, gave impulse to their speaking. [But this seems a forced construction and since B. and Cod. Sin. actually supply there is really no reason why should not be taken= .M.].

Jam 5:11. Behold, we count happy.(Mat 5:10-11). This saying is not only a subjective judgment of James but a reference to the fixed judgment recognized in the theocratic congregation and more particularly in the Christian Church. On this account also the reading is preferable to . This embraces of course also the prophets just referred to (Grotius etc.), yet not them only but besides them also the most honoured sufferers. Hence we have ye have heard of the patience of Job, Eze 14:14; Eze 14:20; Tob 2:12-14.Although his patience was at first shaken by the great temptation. The Jewish Christians had heard of him not only by means of the lessons which were read in the synagogue, but the name of Job was popularly honoured among them.

The end of the Lord.We have here once more James uniformly significant , the import of which is wholly misunderstood if the passage is made to denote with Huther, Wiesinger and many others: the termination which the Lord gave (of the Lord, Genitive of the causal subject). We therefore return confidently to the exposition of Augustine, Bede, Wetstein and al. the end of the Lord is the completing of Christ. It is objected that the context does not warrant such a construction. But the context speaks in the Plural, not in the Singular of those who did suffer. The final clause of the verse for very compassionate is the Lord and merciful, it is supposed, ought to be restricted to the mercy of God, which gave so happy a termination to the sufferings of Job. But was Jobs restitution, according to the idea of the book, merely an act of mercy? On the other hand the supposition that Christ the Lord, pursuant to His compassion, entered upon His passion and thus showed the endurance of patience, conforms exactly to the biblical idea (1Pe 2:21; 1Pe 4:1; Heb 2:10), and this idea is actually prefigured in the book of Daniel (Dan 3:25). Huther, moreover, thinks it improbable, that James should have connected the example of Christ immediately with that of Job. But he did thus connect the example of Abraham with that of Rahab. There the antithesis was: Abraham, the father of believing Jews, Rahab a degraded Gentile woman; the antithesis here is: the great sufferer of the Old Testament, the Great Sufferer of the New. This abandonment of the ancient interpretation of our passage we cannot regard otherwise than as a consequence of the disparaging views held with respect to this Epistle. Besides James could hardly extol to the Jewish Christians the glorious gain of patience in suffering without adverting also to the example of Christ (cf. 1Pe 2:21 etc.). This might have struck some of his readers as almost amounting to a denial. And why does he employ the term , by which he understands principial completion, and generally that of the New Testament? Why does the verb not suffice him and why does he in contrast with it, use the Imperative look at the completion of the Lord? But the Lord, like Job, went through suffering to glory, and that in the highest sense; and He was moved thereto by His infinite compassion, His love, which is also designed to coperate with the patience of Christians. And this seems to be the culminating point of the Apostles missionary saying addressed to those Jews who were as yet unbelieving: the end of the Lord, look at it; while the common exposition: The end, which the Lord gave, see (i.e. know, learn from it) that the Lord is etc. (Huther), is not only very flat, but also forced.For very pitiful is the Lord. Rendering for, appears to Huther unsubstantiated by what goes before, but nothing can be more simple than the thought: look at the end of the sufferings of Christ, for that He suffered need not excite astonishment, it is a consequence of His pity. occurs here only; it is formed after (Wiesinger), the Lxx. use instead , 6 Paul and Peter (Eph 4:32; 1Pe 3:8).

Conditions of this patience. Shunning of seditious movements. A hallowed disposition. The healing of their sicknesses. Liberation of the conscience by means of confession of sins. Exhortation to intercession. The example of Elias. Jam 5:12-18.

Jam 5:12. But before all things, my brethren, do not swear (conspire).We cannot admit the view of Kern and Wiesinger that the connection of the Epistle breaks off at this point or that the dehortation contained in this verse has no other connection with what goes before than that which arises from the conduct of the readers.32 The fundamental idea which connects this verse with Jam 5:11 and Jam 5:13 etc., is the allaying of the fanatical excitement which was constantly growing among the Jews and was threatening through the influence of the Judaists to deprive the Jewish Christian Churches of their Christian composure. The history of the banding together of more than forty men against the life of St. Paul (Act 23:12-21) proves the bias of judaistic zealots to enter into conspiracies; subsequently towards the outbreak of the Jewish war they were doubtless of more frequent occurrence. We have employed in our translation an ambiguous word [Verschwrung, of which we have no current equivalent in English, i.e. an ambiguous equivalent; the German words denotes 1, to, bind one-self by an oath; 2, to enter into a Conspiracy. Conjuration is the nearest English representative of Verschwrung, but the sense of conspiracy attached to it, although current in the days of Sir Thomas Elyot (+1546), is now obsolete.M], in order to intimate this meaning. To be sure we take it textually in the sense that all swearing accompanied by hypothetical imprecations or the giving of a pledge is conspiracy. See Comm. on St. Mat 5:34 etc. Hence James, like Christ (Mat 5:34), defines this swearing as swearing by heaven, by the earth, or by any other oath () connected with a hypothetical curse. The Greek construction with the Accusative brings out the unseemly character of such swearing by or appeal to a created object as a witness or avenger, with greater distinctness than the Hebrew construction of the same verb with . Oecumenius, de Wette, Neander, and al. understand the prohibition to apply to swearing in general, as in Mat 5:33 with reference to or for the ideal condition of the Church. On the other hand Calvin, Wiesinger and many others refer the prohibition to light and trifling oaths in common life. With this must be connected the remark of Huther that swearing by the name of God is not mentioned; had he intended this swearing, he ought to have mentioned it in express terms because it is not only commanded in the law in contradistinction to other oaths (Deu 6:13; Deu 10:20; Ps. 63:12), but also foretold in the prophets as a token of mens future conversion to God (Isa 65:16; Jer 12:16; Jer 23:7-8). But it follows also from this contradistinction that the oath in virtue of its N. T. completion was designed to be stripped of the formul of cursing and imprecation which always involve the pledging of things over which man has no control. To be sure, the stress lies here not only on this idealizing of the oath but also on the total setting aside of the abuse of oaths in the reality of social life. This attitude of James respecting abitrary oaths and his recommendation of the anointing with oil mentioned in the sequel, show that he was free from all Essene prejudice, for the Essenes were wont to administer to novices the vow of their order with a strong oath, although they rejected all other swearing, and so in like manner the anointing with oil.

But let your yea be yea.[Winer: Grammar, p. 92, the Imperative for (which in the N. T. is also the usual form) 1Co 16:22; Jam 5:12; (Psa 104:31; 1Ma 10:31, cf. Clem. Alex. Strom. 6, 275; Acta Thom. 3, 7), Buttman I. 529; only once in Plato, Rep. 2, 361, d. See Schneidel p. 1. According to Heraclides (in Eustath. p. 1411, 22), the flexion is Doric. The other imper. form occurs in Mat 2:13; Mat 5:25; Mar 5:34; Luk 19:17; 1Ti 4:15 (Buttmann I. 257).M.]. The exhortation corresponding to the prohibition. Here we find two opposing interpretations; 1. Let your yea and nay agree with your consciousness of positive or negative facts, i.e. let it be according to truth (Theophylact, Calvin and al.); 2. Let your yea be a simple yea, your nay a simple nay (Estius, Neander, Huther). We think that the two ought to be connected together from the nature of the case (see Comm. on Mat 5:34 etc.), but that the choice of the expression in Matthew along with actual truthfulness gives prominence to the assurance, while here James rather intones the perfect composure whereby the soul contents itself with the simple declaration.

That ye fall not under judgment.On the reading see Appar. Crit.; on the expression see 2Sa 22:39; Psa 18:39. The context requires a judgment of condemnation and this is to be dreaded not only on account of the formal, wicked carelessness with which such oaths are uttered (which carelessness moreover leads to hypocrisy) but also on account of the mutinous and perilous acts or steps by which they are frequently sealed.

Jam 5:13. Is any among you in affliction?In opposition to the reprehensible sealing of excited frames of mind by such imprecatory swearing, the Apostle exhorts them to calmness of disposition and points out the means of accomplishing it. Its way was under all circumstances by a religious elevation of the mind. In the case of affliction (for the rendering: does any among you suffer? strikes us as too weak) the depression of the mind is to be raised by prayer; in the case of prosperity the mind is to be guarded against wantonness by the sacrifice of prosperity, by thanksgiving, by the singing of psalms or songs of praise ( 1Co 14:15). Cf. Jam 1:9-10. Huther thinks that the connection of this exhortation with the one preceding it cannot be substantiated. The connection is manifestly the Christian regulation of different mental conditions.

Jam 5:14. Is any sick among you?Here is the culminating point of the question whether the language of James is to be uniformly taken in a literal sense, or whether it uniformly bears a figurative character. The literal construction involves these surprising moments: 1. The calling for the presbyters of the congregation in the Plural; 2. the general direction concerning their prayer accompaning unction with oil; 3. and especially the confident promise that the prayer of faith shall restore the sick apart from his restoration being connected with the forgiveness of his sins. Was the Apostle warranted to promise bodily recovery in every case in which a sick individual complied with his directions? This misgiving urges us to adopt the symbolical construction of the passage, which would be as follows: if any man as a Christian has been hurt or become sick in his Christianity, let him seek healing from the presbyters, the kernel of the congregation. Let these pray with and for him and anoint him with the oil of the Spirit; such a course wherever taken, will surely restore him and his transgressions will be forgiven him. This symbol, explained in the Epistles of Ignatius as containing the direction that the bishop, the centre of the congregation should be called in, may be founded on a wide-spread Jewish Christian custom of healing the wounds of the sick by prayer accompanying the application with oil. Most remote from the mind of the Apostle is the Roman Catholic tradition of extreme unction; for the reference here is to the healing of the wounds of the sick conducing to their recovery, but not to a ritual preparation of him for death; not any more here than in Mar 6:13. Cf. Huthers note, p. 196.

Let him call to himself (summon, call for).In the case of bodily sickness it is self-evident that this must be done by others than the sick man. [ does not necessarily mean that the sick man is to call in person on the elders of the Church, it leaves the manner of his appeal undefined, he might call on them in person or summon them to his side by the intervention of others. To summon in the sense of sending for seems to be the most approved meaning. Cf. the Lexica.M.].

The elders of the Church.We must neither reduce the Plural to the Singular in the sense: let him summon one of the presbyters (Estius, Wolf), nor assert confidently that denotes here the particular congregation to which the sick man belongs, although the latter is probable. The main point is that , as a local congregation did represent from the beginning the whole Church and that consequently the presbyters could be sent for primarily from the most specific ecclesiastical district but also from a more distant sphere. [If I understand Langes allusion, I doubt whether his inference is sustained by the facts of the case. Interloping was not sanctioned in the primitive Church. The Apostles uniformly insist upon order and decency in the conduct of Church government. A sick man, connected with a particular ecclesiastical organization would send, of course, for the presbyters connected with it;. where no such organization existed, he would send for those presbyters to whom access might most easily be had.M.].

And let them pray over him; i. e. not only for him, nor only literally as standing over his bed, but with reference to effecting his salvation (Act 19:13). [Bengel: Qui dum orant, non multo minus est quam si tota oraret ecclesia.M.].

Anointing him with oil.Many commentators assume, with reference to the Jewish custom, that the oil was here intended to coperate as a medium of cure, cf. Jeremiah 8, 22; Jer 46:11; Luk 10:34. The disciples also used to connect this medium with their miraculous cures, Mar 6:13. See this Comment, in loco. Now in so far as the reference here implied lies to an apostolical method of effecting cures, we must doubtless think also of the organic connection of intercession with oil, i. e. of the spiritual effect accompanying that produced on the medium of the body. Huther (in opposition to Meyer) dissolves this connection without sufficient reason, by observing that the oil as such was only refreshing to the body. What such a refreshing amounts to, is not very clear; the chief point is that the two were to be united in one act, which was performed in the name of the Lord (Christ). But Huther rightly remarks that James did not prescribe anointing, but assumed the observance of the usage. He prescribes prayer in connection with that usage and the anointing as an anointing in the name of the Lord, which latter particular must not be referred to prayer only (Gebser), nor to both acts (de Wette), but solely to the act of anointing (Huther). In the literal acceptation of the precept, prayer would be the medium of the miraculous cure, which was then to be performed in the name of the Lord (i. e. not pursuant to His command, but in the power and limitation of His name). Schneckenburger adds that the presbyters had the (1Co 12:9). Huther calls this an arbitrary assumption and says that moreover nothing is said here of the . But the has at all times been the conditio sine qua non of ministerial efficiency and in the Apostolical church the office of presbyter did not involve the charisma, but rather those who had the respective charisma were generally ordained as presbyters (see 1Co 12:9; 1Co 12:30). Huther also sets aside without sufficient reason the connection between miraculous gifts and gifts of natural experience to which Pott, after his manner, calls attention: quia uti omnino prudentissimi eligebantur, sic forte etiam artis medic peritissimi erant.

Jam 5:15. And the prayer of faith.Not faith in general, but miraculous faith as a special charisma of the Christian spirit (see 1Co 12:9-10). Prayer characterized by such faith, not in general: the prayer which faith offers. Grotius and al. rightly assume that this faith implies identity of purpose on the part of the presbyters who intercede, and on that of the sick for whom intercession is made, for it is in this faith that the sick summons the presbyters (cf. the Gospels); Wiesinger and Huther arbitrarily limit this prayer to the act of the presbyters only.

Shall help (heal) the sick.Shall savingly restore him to health. Lyra, Schneckenburger and al. understand corporeal and spiritual healing, de Wette, Wiesinger and al. corporeal only, because the forgiveness of sins is separately stated afterwards [AlfordM.]. Nevertheless we feel that we cannot give up the oneness of the two moments, seeing that the sequel doubtless adverts to the possibility of particular sins and that, as already stated, the concrete apostolical spiritual-corporeal cure seems to be here uniformly the symbol of a spiritual-social cure of the wounds and infection of the judaistic confusion.

And the Lord shall raise him up.The Lord i. e. Christ. As is His wont to raise men spiritually-bodily, not only from the bed of sickness but also from the sickness. This however is not only the causality of the preceding , but also holds out the prospect of the positive exaltation of life which has been effected by the as the deliverance from peril of death.

And though he have committed sins.This denotes an enhanced state of distress. Supposing that he even () have committed sins, as , as one who is as yet burdened with the guilt of those sins (Plural). The presumption is not so much that these sins were the cause of the respective sickness (Huther), but they made the sickness a severe one and one difficult to cure; this would again import a spiritual meaning.

It shall be forgiven him; that is, his having committed sins. Even in case that. (Huther.) Forgiven not only in the social sense (i. e. by the presbyters (Hammond), not only in respect of his spiritual life, but the continuation, the curse of his guilt shall also be removed in respect of his life-situation. Huther wants to connect with the preceding clause: The Lord shall raise him up, even if he have committed sins(for) it shall be forgiven him. In point of language is to favour his construction (but see on the other hand 1Jn 2:1); but in point of matter such a construction would greatly weaken the passage. The general and unconditional character of the assurance of renewed health, which is here expressed, has created much surprise. Hottinger expresses it more forcibly than any other commentator: si certus et constans talium precum fuisset eventus, nemo umquam mortuus esset. Grotius supplies the condition: nisi nempe aliter ei suppeditat ad salutem ternam. But Huther maintains against Wiesinger that there is no need of any restrictions and believes that the difficulty is removed by the consideration that James conceived the coming of Christ to be immediately impending; that consequently he did not consider the death of believers to be necessary, but viewed it only in the light of an evil which might be averted by believing intercession. Thus a second gross error would have paralyzed or covered the first. We rather opine that this very difficulty, as well as the whole character of the Epistle constrains us to adopt the symbolical interpretation. James assumes the existence of the custom of anointing the sick accompanied with prayer as a method of cure very generally prevalent in Jewish Christian Churches. This custom, traces of which are also found in ancient Judaism (see Wiesinger, p. 20433), he now turns into a symbol of a spiritual cure, which he recommends to those who were infected with the spirit of Judaism and revolutionary Chiliasm, as a remedy for their spiritual healing. This construction is also favoured by the next verse. [As the reasoning of Lange may not appear conclusive but rather doubtful to many readers of this work, I subjoin an outline of the subject which may prove valuable for reference.The opinion of Polycarp, Bp. of Smyrna, a disciple of John and a martyr, is very valuable and sheds light on the whole question. He says (ad Philipp. c. 5), Let the presbyters be tender-hearted, merciful to all, converting the erring (see Jam 5:19), visiting all who are sick ( ); not neglecting the widow or orphan or needy (see Jam 1:27), and providing always what is good in the sight of God, abstaining from all respect of persons (see Jam 2:1; Jam 2:9), not sharp in judgment, knowing that we are all sinners (see Jam 3:2). The reference to James in brackets warrants the presumption that Polycarp was familiar with our Epistle, and the extract shows that at that early day the duty of visiting the sick had been devolved on the presbyters.The direction that the sick should summon the presbyters (Plural) accords with the practice of our Lord who sent forth His Twelve Apostles and seventy disciples two and two (Mar 6:7; Luk 10:1).The direction would hardly have been given, if it could not be complied with. James, as bishop of Jerusalem, presided over elders there (Act 21:18) and his language warrants the conclusion that presbyters had been ordained in the principal cities.Without discussing the question who these presbyters were, the second order of the ministry or the first, the great fact remains that the visitation of the sick is an important part of ministerial activity, and that it is the duty of the sick (whether in body or in soul) to summon their spiritual advisers to their side. This is an important consideration, for in large parishes and especially in large cities weeks may sometimes elapse before the report of a parishioners sickness reaches their ears; if the sick are not visited under those circumstances, they must not blame their minister for remissness if they have failed to inform him of their sickness and to summon him to their side.

Our passage establishes the fact that anointing the sick with prayer accompanying it was practised in the Apostolic Church. The Apostles in virtue of the extraordinary and miraculous powers delegated to them by Christ, healed many, after having anointed them with oil. Cf. Act 6:13 with Mat 10:1-8 and Luk 9:1-6. The miraculous gift of healing continued for some time in the Church. See 1Co 12:8-9. James refers to this miraculous power of healing, which in its application however was not absolute, but dependent on the will of God; although applied in faith by the anointing presbyter and received in faith by the sick man, anointing did not heal him if he recovered his health, but prayer charged with faith, and this implies that the matter of the sick mans cure was referred to the will of God, who did what was best for the sick, (Wordsworth), whether that was restoration to health or a Christian death.

The practice of anointing with oil with a view to recovery from sickness was continued in the Eastern and Western Churches, even after the Church had lost the miraculous gift of healing. It is continued in the Eastern Church for this purpose to this day, but the Church of England and other Reformed communions have abandoned the practice, because they perceived that the effect mentioned by St. James, viz. his recovery did not ordinarily ensue from the anointing with oil, and that the miraculous gift of healing as well as other miraculous gifts granted to the Apostles, had been removed from the Church.

The Church of Rome however retains the practice of anointing the sick with oil but perverted the design for which it had been instituted (viz: recovery from sickness), into that of a sacrament conveying grace to the soul, the sacrament of extreme unction, which is certainly one of the most audacious perversions of Scripture on record. See Alford and Wordsworth. Wordsworth: The Apostle St. James had enjoined the practice with a view to the recovery of the sick; as Cardinal Cajetanus allows, in his note on the passage, where he says: Hc verba non loquntur de Sacramentali unctione extrem unctionis, but the Church of Rome prescribes, in the Councils of Florence (A.D.1438) and Trent (1551), that the anointing should not take place except where recovery is not to be looked for (Council of Trent, Sess. 14, qui tam periculose decumbunt ut in exitu vit constituti videantur), and therefore she calls this anointing extreme unction, and sacramentum exeuntium, and she regards it as a sacrament conveying grace to the soul. Thus, on the one hand, the Greek Church is a witness by her present practice, that the anointing was designed with a view to bodily recovery; and the Roman Church, on the other hand, is a witness, that the miraculous effects on the body, which were wrought in primitive times through the instrumentality of those who anointed the sick, and which accompanied that unction, have ceased.See this whole subject discussed in my article An account of Extreme Unction, Princeton Review, Vol. XXXVII. No. 2, April, 1865.M.].

Jam 5:16. Confess therefore your sins (transgressions) to one another.This injunction is general: it is the generalization of the preceding sentence. Cajetanus rightly observes: nec hic est sermo de confessione sacramentali; but the clause implies also the fact that James knew nothing of such a confessio, or he would have said: Confess your sins to the presbyters, of whom he had just been speaking. As to the sins here referred to, Huther understands sins in general as violation of the Divine law, in opposition to Wolf, who explains them as offences against one another, Mat 18:15. Bengel: grotus et quisquis offendit, jubetur confiteri; offensus, orare. But the particular sins which are meant here, at least primarily, may be gathered from the whole Epistle; the reference is to the whole Judaistic movement which in so many respects had made them sick and feeble. But the thought has also the more general import that the confession of certain known transgressions is at once an unburdening of the conscience and a furtherance of prayer in the case of those who are thus drawn into the Christian fellow-feeling of guilt and thus also the preliminary condition both of forgiveness and of spiritual (and often even of bodily) healing. How many a germinating madness and suicide, how many a heart-languor and disorder which vexes the members and weighs down the body was to be obviated by this mutual effect of confession and intercession! But James had more particularly in view the hurts which were then troubling Israel. Both the confession and the intercession were to be mutual.

That ye may be healed.This healing is understood spiritually by Grotius and al., spiritually and corporeally by Schneckenburger and al., corporeally only by de Wette, Huther and al. As nothing is said here of the forgiveness of sins, the promise of healing implies evidently also spiritual healing: but the idea that ye may be healed theocratically is probably predominant. It is to be remembered that the prayer of the presbyters does not exclude the common intercession of Christians and that the efficacy attributed to the latter is not less than that attributed to the former. Huther. [This is one of the passages adduced by the Latin Church for the necessity of confessing sins to a priest. Alford cites Corn.-a-Lapides exegesis as a specimen of the way in which the Romish doctrine is deduced. Alterutrum, id est, homo homini, similis simili, frater fratri confitemini, puta sacerdoti, qui licet officio sit superior, natura tamen est par, infirmitate similis, obligatione confitendi qualis.M.].

The prayer. availeth much.A saying of the power of genuine prayer designed to encourage them to adopt the recommendations previously set forth, i.e. both mutual confession of sins and mutual intercession. The great efficacy of such intercession is still further brought about by the position of etc. and by the gnomic and asyndetical structure of the sentence. Of a righteous man, of a in the theocratic sense, i.e. not one in a state of righteousness as Hofmann expresses it, for the state of righteousness denotes an ontological, passive condition, while in the case of the theocratically righteous every thing turns on actuality, on the living faith, on the living God and His word of life. The species of these righteous men is the same in the Old Testament and in the New; they are men of living, energetic faith (Romans 4), although the righteous man of the New Testament has the advantage of an objective as well as of a subjective . Hence Elias may here be held up to the Christians as the pattern of a real man of prayer.

Inwardly effectual (working). causes not little difficulty and has given rise to a great variety of opinions among commentators. A main point to be determined is whether ought to be taken as an epithet to , as the majority of commentators take it, or as a pure participial definition of the verb (so Pott, de Wette, Huther, who are however at variance with respect to the sense). Pott: Prayer is able to work much or prayer is able to work much and worketh much. de Wette: if it becomes energetic. Huther: In its energy or in its working. But all this is rather tautological unless it be made to denote a theurgic operation, which is inadmissible. The adjectival construction may be taken passively or actively, or in the most literal sense as a middle, as a kind of Hithpael. Prayer may be considered passively as conimated by the prayer of him for whom it is offered (Oecumenius), as moved by the Holy Spirit, inspired (Michlis), as penetrated by faith (Carpzov), as animated and attended by impulse to work [Werktrieb, so Calvin and Gebser], Taken actively the idea of coincides more or less with or (see Luk 22:44 ). So Luther: if it is earnest; Vulgate; assidua, and similarly many others. Of the other hand, Huther contends that this construction is contrary to N. T. usage, while Wiesinger maintains that this usage may be substantiated and refers to the proofs supplied by Wahl. We believe that the N. T. middle (Rom 7:5; 2Co 1:6; 2Co 4:12; Gal 5:6; Eph 3:20; Col 1:29; 1Th 2:13; 2Th 2:7) denotes according to the Hebrew and Christian conception a passivo-active working, i.e. a working set in motion by a previously experienced impulse. This in malam partem applies to the lusts in the members (Rom 7:5), to the mystery of iniquity (2Th 2:7), in bonam partem to the subjective (2Co 1:6), to the subjective (Gal 5:6), to the vital energy in believers (Eph 3:20), to the energy of Christ in believers (Col 1:29), to the word of God appropriated by men (1Th 2:13); in both respects, to death and life (2Co 4:12). The Active however is used with reference to God Eph 1:11; Php 2:13; Gal 2:8; 1Co 12:6; of His Spirit 1Co 12:11; also of Satan Eph 2:2. It follows from this clearly marked usage of the word that we must also take with the predication as indicating an efficiency effected or an impulse impelled. The idea doubtless imports the full tension of the praying spirit under its absolute obedience (yielding to) to the Divine impulse. And in this respect there is here an allusion to the idea of the miraculously potent prayer which works the . [The Apostles idea expressed in plain words, seems to be that prayer in order to lead to outward effects, must work inwardly in grateful adoration of and fervent love and humble resignation to God; otherwise prayer is only a hollow, unmeaning and inefficacious uttering of words. Luther in his terse language hits the point, when he says in some place that he who prays must feel that he is a beggar. Absolute submission to the will of God is of course the very soul of prayer, and the true Christian never engages in prayer without the pious sentiment: Not my will, but Thine be done. Wordsworth remarks: The martyrdom of St. James himself affords a beautiful comment on these words, especially where it is related that after he had been cast down by his enemies from the pediment of the Temple and they were stoning him, he fell on his knees and prayed for them, and some, who stood by, said, adopting the very words of this EpistleHold, what do ye? , the Just man is praying for you. See Introduction.M.].

Jam 5:17. Elias was a man of like passions. does not exactly signify that Elias had the capacity of suffering, or his real sufferings (Laurentius, Schneckenburger), but of like condition and nature (Wiesinger and Huther) is hardly adequate in point of sense. In Act 14:15 there is certainly an implied emphasis on the dependence and restraints of human nature as contrasted with the Being of God. Moreover in Wis 7:3 the reference to the earth imports not so much equality of kind as equality of condition. In the case of Elias the term like passions or liability to being affected, points at least to his capacity of suffering and temptability.

And he prayed a prayer [with prayer].Analogous to the Hebrew idiom of producing intensification by placing the Infinitive of the verb in juxtaposition with the Indicative, or by connecting the latter with the noun Gen 2:17 Considering that Huther himself observes that this form serves to bring out the verbal idea, it is difficult to account for his opposition to the exposition of Wiesinger and al., that the prayer of Elias was an earnest prayer. [Huther, I presume, objects to the introduction of a new word. The prayer of Elias was genuine prayer, prayer charged with .M.].

That it might not rain. is impersonal. [The gen. of the intent. See Winer, p. 343.M].

And it did not rain in the land [on the earth].Considering the O. T. colouring of the whole Epistle we may be allowed to translate with Grotius and al. in the land, but Huther retains Luthers rendering on earth, Schneckenburger compares this weighty saying with Gen 1:3 : fiat lux et facta est lux. But there remains the important difference that here the reference is not to an authoritative command (Machtspruch).

[Three years and six months.Wordsworth: equal to 42 months or 1260 days, a chronological period of suffering. See Rev 11:3.M.].

Jam 5:18. And the heaven gave rain.A personifying, vivid mode of expression, reminding us of the prophetic style, Hos 2:21-22.

And the earth brought forth her fruit.This was really the immediate purpose of the prayer. [properly an intransitive verb, but used transitivelyM.], a transitive verb: it let spring up, i.e. it put, brought forth. An application of what is related 1Ki 17:1; 1Ki 18:1; 1Ki 18:42 etc. The positive announcement of the drought may have led James to draw the reasonable inference that Elias had prayed for it, although we have no record to that effect, and tradition had probably anticipated his inference. Such a completion is however very different from a discrepancy (Huther). The second apparent difference is as follows: in 1Ki 18:1, Elijah is said to have foretold and to have been instrumental in bringing about the return of rain in the third year, while our passage affirms that it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Seeing that Luk 4:25 and the tract Jalcut Simeoni give the same duration, it would seem that that space of time was the uniform Jewish tradition. The explanation lies manifestly in the fact that 1 Kings 18 specifies the real famine according to its duration. But it stands to reason that the famine did not begin until one year after the announcement of the drought, viz. after the failure of the early and the latter rain. During the first year the people were still living on the harvest of the preceding year. Jewish tradition consequently added one year to the period of time mentioned in a general way in 1 Kings in order to mark the whole period between the two announcements of Elijah. Bensons solution of the difference is somewhat different but not very clear. He says: accuratior serioris traditionis computatio, ducitur a tempore non pluvi primum cessantis, sed ultimum ante siccitatem eadentis, quam dimidio fere anno distare in promptu est. That is, the first year of the drought is not added to the famine of about two and a half years duration, but the half year from the first failure of rain to the last fall of rain immediately preceding. Wiesinger is satisfied with Bensons calculation, but Huther insists upon the discrepancy, because according to the statement of James, the drought began immediately after Elijahs praying. But the narrative itself contains intimations that the drought did not at once produce famine, 1Ki 17:7; 1Ki 18:5. [Benson observes, however, that the words in the third year of 1Ki 18:1 do not necessarily refer to the duration of the famine, but most naturally date back to the removal of Elijah to Zarephath, 1Ki 17:8 etc; cf. the same many days in 1Ki 17:15, where indeed a variation is for a full year. Alford.M.]. But far more important is the question why James selects just this example of an answer to prayer from the history of Israel. The greatest stress seems to lie on his intercession of pity, which was the more edifying as an example because the readers of the Epistle were wont to consider Elijah as a censurer. A drought had for a long time come also upon the spiritual life of Israel; the readers were therefore encouraged to pray with the faith of an Elijah for a rain of grace to fall on their people. The prophets first prayer is mentioned first, in order to furnish them with a forcible illustration that prayer is heard and answered, and perhaps also to show them how the real men of prayer in Israel were independent of and superior to the evil frame of mind which kept the populace in a ferment. Moreover the general tendency of Elijahs prayers was hostile to the apostasy of Israel, and the zeal of their believing men of prayer was now to be directed against the new apostasy which consisted in an obdurate opposition to the Gospel (see Jam 4:4; Rom 11:1-5).

Conclusion replete with promise. Jam 5:19-20.

Jam 5:19. My brethren, if any among you should have strayed from the truth.This imports not a single practical aberration, but an alienation from the Christian principle of life, an inward apostasy from the , of which the Christian is begotten (Jam 1:18), disclosing itself in a single course of life. Cf. Luk 1:16-17; Luk 5:20. Huther. But the tenor of the whole Epistle constrains us to define this aberration still further as an aberration into Judaistic and chiliastic doings and fanatico-seditious lusts. [ is passive and Alford rightly remarks that there is no reason why the passive signification should not be kept, especially when we remember our Lords warning, M.].

And one should convert him, to the truth, from which he has strayed in peril of apostasy.

Jam 5:20. Let him know [know yeM.]. He that converts is to know the importance of his action and what a blessing rests upon it. The word, as to its form, is a hypothetical announcement or promise to him who is found thus doing, but as to its contents it is a general sentence or a sententious encouragement to all conjoined with the promise of a prize to those who act upon it. On this account is repeated after .

That he who converteth a sinner.The person who has strayed through delusion from the truth, considered from a practical point of view. Let the readers know that all those who have strayed in part or entirely from the truth are sinners according to the emphatic theocratic idea: doomed to the death-ban. This weighty part of the word is weakened by Huthers remark, that the reference is no longer to the person who has gone astray but to the whole genus to which the Christian who has strayed from the truth belongs as species. The two ideas: delusion and dogmatical apostasy and practical ruin must not be separated on the theocratical ground, nor must the former kind be subordinated to the latter as species, although the practical and the theocratic form of ruin may alternately predominate.

Shall save a soul from death.From death, as in Jam 1:15 and throughout the New Testament, from subjective damnation as it is inherent in the personality itself, defined moreover negatively with respect to the subject as the loss of the true life, of the true destination and sphere of life; a moral dissolution of the ontological life eternally self-generating itself, as on the other hand the true life generates life. A soul. The naked, inward existence of the personality itself, man in all his capacity of suffering and salvation and need of help. He shall save the soul. The conversion of the apostate is the conversion of a sinner; this has as its consequence his deliverance from death, because he is in the way of death and is overtaken before he finally falls into the snares of death. We need not stop to show that this presupposes Divine redemption as the salvation to which he is converted and the Divine coperation of the Word and of the Holy Spirit as the means of salvation whereby he is converted. In the battle of faith between the believing readers of the Epistle and their half-believing and unbelieving brethren the point at issue turns therefore not upon dogmatical disputes of the synagogue, but solely and purely on the salvation of poor souls from eternal death, and not only on this but along with the salvation of many individuals, on the removal of a universal curse.

And shall cover a multitude of sins.That is, the averting of a general ruin is brought about by the faithful salvation of many individuals. This covering of sins (cf. 1Pe 4:8; Pro 10:12) contains doubtless reference in an enlarged sense, to the Hebrew , to cover, cover over sins, i.e. to forgive, Psa 32:1 and elsewhere. But considering that such absolute covering of sin is the prerogative of God, it is probably better to think here of instrumental covering which is also used more especially of different means and mediators of atonement; not only of the cover of the ark, of sacrifice, of the high-priest, but also of the very sins to be atoned for (Exo 30:15 : Isa 47:11), and also especially of the person interceding, Exo 32:30. The last passage strikes us as peculiarly important. Moses effected the reconciliation of his people not as a sacrifice, not as high-priest, but by intercession, i.e. by the subjective mediation of the objective atonement. This objective atonement therefore is here assumed, just as the former expression, he shall save, presupposes objective salvation. The believing Jews are to become intercessors for their poor people, become instrumental to, bring about its real atonement. Believers participate in the atoning work of Christ as in His sufferings and intercession not as causa mediatoria but as causa organica. But the commentators are at variance whether the reference here is to the sins of the converters or to those of the converted. Erasmus and al. take it thus: by his good work he shall obtain remission of his sins with God. The Jews held (Joma fol. 87): quicunque multos ad justitiam adducit, per ejus manus non perpetratur peccatum. Augusti: He will obtain forgiveness on the part of men; his own offences will not be remembered. With more reason the majority of commentators refer the words to the sins of the converted. But the reference is not solely to the particular sins of the persons to be converted, and not even to their personal offences. denotes fulness, an entire mass taken as a unit, and the are the offences requiring to be atoned for. The reference is consequently to the total national guilt of Israel. To be sure, it is not referred to with greater distinctness or more clearly defined than by , because James, according to Jam 5:1, could no longer hope for the immediate salvation of all Israel, but foresaw, like Paul, a great judgment on their obduracy. But it was still his duty pitifully to wrestle with the judgment and to save a fulness (multitude) of souls and to atone for their sins. But whereas a common, national guilt is ever growing, and whereas this working of the curse can be broken only by means of the atonement, the observation of Huther is groundless that this does not describe the sins which the would still commit and which are now prevented by means of his conversion (Pott: multa futura impediet), but the whole multitude of sins which he had committed before his conversion. This restriction misapprehends the progressive nature of guilt, not to say anything of the circumstance, that the reference is no longer exclusively to the sins of converted individuals. The conclusion of the Epistle shows in general, as we have seen repeatedly before, that the usual exposition does by no means come up to the lofty stand-point and point of view of James. De Wette takes objection to the strong idea , saying that the reference is only to aberration and not to viciousness of life and seeks to arrange his assertion by inferences; Stolz asserts that the sinners amendment of life has the effect of consigning to oblivion his former transgressions; even Wiesinger and Huther restrict the import of the passage in two ways: the reference is only to the multiform sin of the aforesaid converted individual and only to the circumstance that the converter becomes by his conversion the occasion of God forgiving his sins. But our passage reminds us of the relation of Paul to his people, Rom 9:3; Rom 11:14. And as James, according to Acts, exhibited a peculiar fidelity in working for the salvation of his people, and, according to tradition, interceded for them with God, so at the conclusion of the Epistle he here invites the whole believing part of his people to engage in intercession and in the work of salvation, that many individuals might be saved from death, and a multitude of sins might be atoned for. The whole Epistle shows that he confines himself solely to human saving and atoning as a medium of bringing back the people to the true Redeemer and Reconciler, but he deems it of peculiar importance that the brethren must not fail to do their part in the work. Of course his words, in their sententious form, are also here so construed, that they possess a general and eternally valid apostolical significance; but as it was the duty of the expositor throughout the course of his exposition to give prominence to the noble historical import of this Epistle, which has been only too much missed and neglected, so he does at its conclusion.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. The long-suffering patience required of the followers of Jesus is a duty of so wide a range, that the discharge of it, at least under many circumstances, would be too much for human strength, if the strength of their faith and hope were not animated by the thought of the nearness of the Lords coming. Therefore the words the coming of the Lord is nigh ought to be constantly before our eyes. While the Christians of the Apostolic Age were perhaps too much inclined to consider the coming of Christ to be near at hand in a literal sense, the Christian sense of our own age suffers this great final event to stand too much in the background and substitutes for it in most instances a mere individual hope of salvation immediately after death. The more we learn again that we belong to men also that love His appearing (2Ti 4:8) in the Apostolic acceptation of the term, the easier we shall find the practice of Christian patience and endurance in view of this the only satisfactory final development of the drama of history.

2. James as well as our Lord Himself (Matthew 13 and elsewhere), saw the kingdom of grace reflected and portrayed in the kingdom of nature. The disciple of Jesus may learn much from the diligent and patient waiting of the husbandman.

3. The heroes of faith of the Old Testament are regarded by James also in the light of patterns to the Christian in his course, just as in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 11:12). The rule that the way through suffering leads to glory, is in reality as valid under the Old Testament as under the New. Cf. Luk 24:26; Act 14:22.

4. James begins (Jam 1:12) and ends (Jam 5:11) his Epistle with a beatitude, just as our Lord began (Mat 5:3) and ended (Joh 20:29). His instructions with similar beatitudes. The introduction of the example of Job is the more remarkable because this is the only place in the New Testament where his history is referred to.

5. The dehortation from frivolous swearing is intimately and naturally connected with the notice of endurance and patience, which precedes it. Those who are impatient and discontented will readily curse and swear in their violence, while those who possess their souls in patience will also in this respect guard their mouth and keep their lips. The context shows abundantly that James does not absolutely prohibit all swearing, but only those oaths which men take when they are not as patient as Job (Job 2:10), but as impatient as Job (Jam 3:1), when they curse their day. Like Christ, (Mat 23:16-22) the Apostle condemns light and trifling swearing and specifies several examples thereof. Had he intended to forbid swearing by the name of God, he would doubtless have mentioned this first and most weighty oath before all others. But considering that the law expressly enjoined swearing by the name of the Lord (Num 6:13, b; numbers 10:20) and that the prophets referred to this swearing as the characteristic of the servants of the Lord (Isa 65:16; Jer 12:16; Jer 16:14-15), it is a priori highly improbable that James, who was penetrated through and through by the spirit of the Old Testament, should have intended to forbid also this oath. Swearing by the name of God is not only permitted but often becomes necessary in an imperfect state of society because of the sins of men, although it belongs surely to the ideal of the kingdom of God that no oath will be required in it and that yea and nay are as reliable as an oath. In this respect we may say, that the Christian, if the civil authority requires him to take an oath, is necessitated to do so only in consequence of his sojourn in the midst of this sinful and wicked world. In a certain sense we may say of oaths what Paul said of the law that Gal 3:19. Cf. Lange on Mat 5:33-37, and on the Hebrew formul of oaths in general Retschi in Herzogs R. E. III. p. 713 sqq.

6. Genuine Christian faith is distinguished by becoming equanimity in good and evil days, as prescribed by James (Jam 5:13) and illustrated inter alia by Paul (Php 4:10-20). Without Christ man is very apt to despond under suffering and equally prone to become elated with prosperity. The true Christian will in suffering seek consolation in prayer and so enjoy his prosperity that God is glorified thereby.

7. The visitation and comforting of the sick is one of the most natural and important parts of the cura pastoralis. For special directions consult the works on pastoral and practical theology of Hffell, Harms, Nitzsch, Palmer and al. [Also Burnet, on the Pastoral Care, Wilsons Parochialia, Visitatio Infirmorum and Vinet.M.]. On the true Christian frame of mind on the sickbed compare an essay by N. Beets, translated from the Dutch in the Jahrbuch des rheinisch-west-phlischen Schriftvereins, 1862, p. 1 etc. [Also an excellent work, published anonymously, entitled Sickness, its trials and blessings, New York: 1857.M.].

8. Only by confining oneself to the sound of the words (Jam 5:14-16), it is possible to find here the precepts of extreme unction and auricular confession in the sense of the Roman Catholic Church. See under Exegetical and Critical. James refers plainly to miraculous recovery and to the mutual confession of offences among brethren in the event of one having failed in his duty towards another. On the other hand there exists also an Ultra-Protestantism and Anti-Romanism, which deems the use of both these means of grace altogether superfluous and almost prohibits them, which is likewise without blessing. The decrease of the gift of miracles is surely no proof of the increase of faith, and the entire discontinuance of mutual confession of sins is a sad token of the want of humility and brotherly love. Cf. Herzogs R. E. Article Oelung.

9. It may be very superstitious and uncharitable to assume a direct connection of a certain sin and a certain disease; cf. Joh 9:3. But it is also very superficial to deny all connection between sin and disease. If there were no sins in the world, there would certainly be no plagues. The sick man consequently does well, if he recalls on the sick-bed first of all his own sins and seeks to obtain their forgiveness. Forgiveness of sins and recovery from sickness are in many respects more closely connected than most people think and therefore both are promised to the citizen of the celestial commonwealth, Isa 33:24.

10. The duty of brotherly exhortation addressed to blacksliding brethren (Jam 5:19-20), so warmly recommended by the Apostle, has also been enjoined by our Lord and the Apostles elsewhere (cf. Mat 18:15-18; 1Th 5:14; 2Th 3:13-16; Heb 10:24). The writings of pagan moralists contain also excellent directions concerning the manner how such friendly reproof should be administered. See e.g. Plutarch, de discrim. amici et adulatoris pp. 244276, edit. Reisk.; Cicero, de amicitia cap. 24, 25. A striking proof of the blessing which may attend such a work of love towards the salvation of an almost lost soul, and of the manner how this duty should be discharged, is found in the well-known legend John and the robber-chief, told by Clem. Alex., quis dives salvus, cap. 42. But James shows himself throughout this Epistle as an exemplar of ardent Christian zeal for converting sinners from the error of their way and for saving souls from death. His words open a wide field and a glorious prospect to Christian philanthropy and the specific cure of souls. Hence Zwingli and Herder are not wrong in their criticisms on the conclusion of this Epistle; the former saying: Insigni doctrina veluti colophone epistolam absolvit, and the latter: The conclusion, the strongest assurance, is like a seal affixed to the testament.

[On the connection of Jam 5:12-13 with Jam 5:11. Bp. Sanderson, (Lectures on Oaths, 7:11): Set the examples of ancient prophets and holy men before your eyes. If ye suffer adversity, imitate their patience. If in all things, you cannot attain to that perfection, yet thus far at least, except ye be very negligent, you may go with ease; above all things, take heed lest too impatient of your grief, or too much transported with your joy, ye break forth into rash oaths, to the dishonour of God and shame of Christian conversation. But rather contain yourselves, whether troubled or rejoicing, within the bounds of Modesty; mingle not Heaven and earth, let not all things be filled with your oaths and clamours; if you affirm a thing, let it be with calmness, and a mere affirmation or negation. But if either of these passions be more impetuous, and strive to overflow the narrow channels of your bosoms, it will be your wisdom to let it forth unto the glory of God. Do you demand by what means? I will tell you: Is any among you afflicted? Let not his impatience break forth into Oaths and Blasphemies, the Flood-gates of wrath; but rather let him pray, and humbly implore God that He would vouchsafe him Patience, till His heavy hand be removed. Is any merry? Let him not bellow it forth in Oaths, like a Bacchanalian, but rather sing it in Hymns and Psalms unto the praise of God: Who hath made his cup to overflow, and crowned him with happy days.

Barrow: (Serm. XV. vol. 1. p. 329). In these words St. James doth not mean universally to interdict the use of oaths: for that in some cases is not only lawful, but very expedient, yea needful, and required from us as a duty; but that swearing which our Lord had expressly prohibited to His disciples, and which thence, questionless, the brethren to whom St. James did write, did well understand themselves to forbear, having learnt so in the first Catechisms of Christian institution; that is, needless and heedless swearing in ordinary conversation, a practice then frequent in the world, both among Jews and Gentiles; the invoking of Gods name, appealing to His testimony, and provoking His judgment, upon any slight occasion, in common talk, with vain incogitancy, or profane boldness. From such practice the holy Apostle dehorteth in terms importing his great concernedness, and implying the matter to be of the highest importance: for, Before all things, my brethren, do not swear; as if he did apprehend this sin of all other to be one of the most heinous and pernicious. Could he have said more? would he have said so much, if he had not conceived the matter to be of exceeding weight and consequence?

Jam 5:14. Hooker: Eccl. Polit. 5:25. 3. The authority of the Priests calling is a furtherance, because if God had so far received him into favour as to impose upon him by the hands of man that office of blessing the people in His name, and making intercession to Him in theirs, which office he hath sanctified with His own most gracious promise, and ratified that promise by manifest actual performance thereof, when others before in like place have done the same; is not his very ordination a seal, as it were, to us, that the self-same Divine Love that hath chosen the Instrument to work with, will by that Instrument effect the thing whereto He ordained it, in blessing His people, and accepting the prayers, which His servant offered up unto God for them?

Jam 5:16. Hooker: 5:47. But the greatest thing which made men forward and willing upon their knees to confess whatsoever they had committed against God, and in no wise to be withheld from the same with any fear of disgrace, contempt or obloquy, which might ensue, was their fervent desire to be helped and assisted with the prayers of Gods saints. Wherein as St. James doth exhort unto mutual confession, alleging this only for a reason, that just mens devout prayers are of great avail with God; so it hath been heretofore the use of penitents for that intent to unburthen their minds, even to private persons, and to crave their prayers. He quotes the following beautiful passages from Ambrose de Poenit. II. 10, and Tertullian, de Poenit. c. 10.

Ambrose: Let thy mother the Church weep for thee, let her wash and bathe thy faults with her tears: our Lord doth love that many should become supplicants for one. The reference is to voluntary penitents, who openly repented and confessed.

Tertullian: Some few assembled make a Church, and the Church is as Christ Himself; when thou dost therefore put forth thy hands to the knees of thy brethren, thou touchest Christ, it is Christ unto whom thou art a suppliant; so when they pour out their tears over them, it is even Christ that taketh compassion; Christ which prayeth when they pray: neither can they be easily denied, for which the Son Himself is contented to become the suitor. The reference is still to voluntary penitents.

On private confession, Hooker asserts and afterwards proves his assertion that the practice was unknown in the earliest and purest ages of the Church. I dare boldly affirm, that for many hundred years after Christ the Fathers held no such opinion; they did not gather by our Saviours words any such necessity of seeking the priests absolution from sin, by secret and (as they now term it) sacramental confession: public confession, they thought necessary by way of discipline, not private confession, as in the nature of a sacrament, necessary. Eccl. Pol. IJames Jam 5:4; Jam 5:6.M.].

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Jam 5:7-12. Christian long-suffering immeasurably different from stoical insensibility.The Lords coming a consolation to the godly, a terror to the ungodly.What the Christian, and especially the minister of the Gospel, may learn from the husbandman.Behold, the husbandman etc. an excellent text for missionary discourses; waiting for the Lord should be 1, desired, 2, patient, 3, active, and 4, hopeful.Rainy seasons must precede the day of harvest both in the kingdom of nature and in that of grace.Christians, if opposed, should not groan against one another, but pray so much the more to God the Lord.The witnesses of the truth at once the patterns of its professors.The blessedness of the suffering; 1, the worth it possesses; 2, the price at which it is acquired.The end of Gods ways a blessing to His people.Lawful and unlawful use of oaths.Christian love of the truth in relation to an unholy world.

Starke:A Christian patiently waits for the harvest of the promised riches of eternity, while meanwhile the early rain and the latter rain of the grace of Jesus Christ moistens and refreshes his often weary heart.

Hedinger:Hope sows the seed and calmly sleeps on the pillow of Divine Providence until the time of harvest, i.e. of a gracious answer, Jam 5:7. Psa 28:7.

Quesnel:O sinner, how many iniquities dost thou commit behind the door, in secret. But behold, the Judge standeth at the door, Isa 29:15.

Cramer:We are not better than our fathers (1Ki 19:4); therefore the prophets and patriarchs, Christ and His Apostles teach us not only by words but by their deeds to be patient, Lam 3:26.

Langii op.:Suffering and patience are well conjoined, for the sufferings which we endure for God and for conscience sake, differ most from other sufferings in patience, 1Co 4:12.

Osiander:The virtues of the saints are shown us in Holy Scripture, not that we may only marvel at them, but that we may imitate them, Heb 13:7.God had also besides the Jewish people those who were His, who served Him in spirit and in truth. The Church of God is therefore not tied to a particular people or sect, Job 1:1.God will not remember the sins of believers (Isa 43:25), but always the good which they have done (Mat 25:35).Oaths should not be lightly used nor become habitual to us; yet nothing is less thought of in the world than this most important matter.

Stier:The whole period of the worlds duration with its thousands of years of mankind upon earth is a mighty sowing for the final harvest in which the earth, having received its seed from heaven, is to give its fruit to heaven. At the harvest we shall understand the ways of God. If many things are dark and confused to us now, let us wait only for the time of the ripening! This applies to every individual in respect of this lifes day of grace, it applies in its highest and best sense to the true Christian who really lives for eternity. There passes throughout all Christendom, there lives in the hearts of all saints a constant presentation [i.e. making presentM.] of the end, and this is right; for the coolness with which we now reflect and consider and remove the last day to an indefinite distance, is rather a consequence of lukewarm faith, of love grown cool.

Jam 5:10. We learn from this word, as we do here from James, that Job did really live like Noah, Daniel and all the prophets, and that the history of his sufferings is not a didactic poem, but genuine history. At that time indeed most people had only heard of him, for reading was then the prerogative of the learned, and even these had only in rare instances all the books of Holy Writ. Have we indeed read the book of Job aright? A word, a manthis [German] proverb alas has almost ceased to be true, and keeping ones word has fearfully decreased among men, because lightness has increased. Would that it could be said everywhere at least A Christian, a word [i.e. a Christian, who pledges his word, should attach to it the sanctity of an oath.M.].

Jakobi:Swearing is also still common amongst us and in order to guard against its abuse, Christian authorities have taken the oath under their supervision and, as it were, under their protection. But that oaths are so often required by the authorities, that most people, if required, take them lightly and thoughtlessly, that they are eager to take an oath in order to gain perchance some little advantage, that so many oaths and oathlike phrases are heard in common life, that the simple yea and nay without the confirmation of an oath have in many things and with many men almost lost their power and value, all these are so many sad and suspicious symptoms of wide-spread untruthfulness and unreliability.

Viedebandt:Patience in view of the blessed future in store for them, strengthening the heart against the temptation to impatience and murmuring, and particularly to a vengeful groaning against the oppressor, this is the task of the followers of Christ and of the saints of God whose life bears testimony to God, who never leaves His own, in patience and hope that is not deceived.

Neander:Every word should be to the Christian what an oath is to others; there is no need of oaths, therefore, among true Christians, because each holds his word sacred and all reciprocate among themselves the assurance that the word of each is tantamount to an oath. Thus it ought to be in a truly Christian congregation, wherein all mutually know one another as genuine Christians.

Heubner (on Jam 5:7-8):A passage for the ecclesia pressa, militans.

(Jam 5:10). Examples are peculiarly effective to strengthen us in suffering. They show us 1, the possibility of endurance, of victory by means of the strength of God; 2, the glory, the reward of those who have ended their warfare.

Lisco (on Jam 5:7; Jam 5:11):What exhorts us Christians to be patient in tribulation?

Jam 5:12. Swear not lightly !

Porubszky (on Jam 5:7-9). The coming of the Lord in the light of our time. (on Jam 5:10-11). Our gain from the sufferings of Christ (!!)(on Jam 5:12). Veracity the result of the fear of God.

Jam 5:7-8. Text for the harvest feast [Thanksgiving Day in U. S.M.]. Wolf: Every earthly harvest-feast should renew our sense of the value of the hope of heaven.

(Jam 5:7-11. Epistle for the 24th Sunday after Trinity in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and elsewhere).

Gerok:Three approved domestic remedies in adversity.

Bckel:Encouragement to the dignified endurance of undeserved sufferings.The power of a good example.

(On Jam 5:13-20). Joy and grief must be sanctified by religion.The power of prayer under suffering.Christian rejoicing in God.The Christian on the sick-bed.The sick should send for the presbyter and not always expect him to come uncalled.On the gift of miracles in the primitive Church.The cause of its disappearance.Duty and blessing of mutual confession of sins.The confessio auricularis a caricature of the brotherly confession in the time of James.The forgiveness of sins a chief requisite for the sick.Intercession a duty of Christian love. 1. How much belongs to it. 2. How much is wanting in it!Elias a teacher of prayer. We see in him a righteous man who 1, prays; 2, prays earnestly; 3, whose earnest prayer availeth much.He that is saved himself should seek to gain others also.The true Christian 1, is able; 2, is bound to; 3, and will save souls from death.Saving brotherly love: 1, how much it costs; 2, how richly it recompenses.

Starke: Quesnel: The use of spiritual songs is greater than is thought. Psa 69:31-32.

Cramer:It should be our first business in sickness to turn to God and have prayers offered for us, then send for the physician.

Starke:Maladies are the fruits of sins. Poor man, if thou hast spent the days of thy health in the service of sins, be not surprised if thy Creator takes hold of the rod of sickness in order to lead thee to better thoughts, Lev 26:15 etc.If you have offended or vexed others, be not ashamed to confess it.

Hedinger:The prayer of the righteous availeth much, yet not everything. For God often sees that the granting of our prayers would be contrary to His will, nor salutary to ourselves, and it is often a great blessing, although not generally recognized, that God refuses to grant our requests. 2Co 12:8-9.

Starke:God is so good that He does not always keep His power to Himself, but often equips also His children with it, Php 4:13.

Quesnel:God gives us fruitful seasons and they are kept up by prayer, Act 14:17.

Starke:As the salvation of the soul is infinitely more precious than that of the body, so much the more is God pleased if we do more for our neighbour in the concerns of his soul than in those of his body, Heb 3:13.

Hedinger:Be not more merciful to thy neighbours ox and house than to his precious soul. That thou pullest out of a well, this, if on fire, thou puttest it out, but thou dost not counsel his soul in brotherly reproof though it fall into hell and burn in the most dreadful flames of sin. Those who love God promote also their neighbours salvation and lead the blind on an even path, 1Th 5:14.

Langii op.:Teachers are bound first and mostly to observe that which is the duty of all Christians, to wit, the real instruction of their hearers, 2Ti 2:24.Hearers are greatly honoured if God counts them worthy to become also the spiritual fathers of spiritual children, 1Th 5:11. If a woe is uttered on those who ruin others (Mat 18:7), what will be the reward of grace to those who have been the instruments of God in the conversion of others! Dan 12:3.Blessed is the man who is ready to be admonished and to be speedily turned from his error. He who thinks that in this respect others have no right to speak to him, robs himself of the blessing which he might obtain through others.

Stier:Human song is of itself good and noble. The same God, who gave to the fowls of the air the voice with which they unconsciously praise Him, gave song to man. We remember how e.g. Luther rightly extols the science and gift of song. Who has received it, let him rejoice, who lacks it, let him seek, if possible, to waken it, for it is a good gift of the Creator which generally belongs to human nature.Would that our present presbyteries did consist of men who understood something more than to keep accounts! [Stier is a PresbyterianM. ]Every Christian should be to his brother Christian a priest who receives the confession and dispenses the absolution.(Jam 5:19-20). The greatest want and the greatest work of faith.The Lord alone can help, deliver, and save the souls. But He does it and uses for that purpose instruments of His power, vessels of His grace. Hence the Scripture hesitates not to attribute to us miserable sinners the salvation of our fellow sinners. The Apostle labours to save some among His people, Rom 11:14. To Timothy, the bishop, he promises: In doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. 1Ti 4:16. In like manner he refers to a wife that may save her husband, and to a husband that may save his wife, 1Co 7:16. Yes, brethren, we may save one another, help one another from death to life: this is truly a great, the greatest and most precious promise of the rich grace of God to our poor soul.

Jakobi:Among our Christian brethren of another communion, from whom separated three hundred years ago for libertys and conscience sake, the use of anointing with oil, recommended in our text, has been retained, and a devout sick man among them cannot rest until he has received this extreme unction at the priests hands. Now although we cannot help seeing in this practice a complete misapprehension of these words of Holy Writ and a lamentable superstition, have we not, we ask, gone similarly astray, while there continues among us the sad evil habit of celebrating the Lords Supper in so unconscious a state and of considering the taking of it immediately before death to be necessary, after the Holy Table had often before been unfrequented for years?

Neander:To excite more than one to repentance of a single sin, and thus to pave his way towards obtaining the forgiveness of one sin, is to draw him away from the whole sinful bias of his life and to restore in him the state of a new, Divine life. Thereby many sins, which plunged him into his former course, are covered.

Viedebandt:Pray for one another. Such a precept is not found in the catechism of worldly friendship. Alas, how much ungodly friendship. It is like thorn-hedges which have grown the one into the other, united as it were in order to pierce and to tear. Noxious bind-weed!while the soul is tied, prayer is tied also. Patience in suffering flows from hope for joys.

von Gerlach: (Jam 5:13).Sadness and gladness are alike dangerous to the Christian; the devil takes advantage of every strong emotion to draw him away from God. Prayer and praise act like weapons against him.

Heubner (Jam 5:13):The value of spiritual songs as compared with worldly songs (Jam 5:15). Faith is the soul of prayer: without that it is faint and dead.Prayer is one of the most glorious expression of free-will.We also, like Elias, may pray for temporal things(Jam 5:19-20). The infinite value of a human soul.

Lisco: (Jam 5:13-18).Of the abuse and the right use of the name of God.Several Christian rules of life.Prayer 1, in all the situations of life, 2, especially with the sick, 3, availeth much.(Jam 5:19-20). Loving care for the conversion of sinners.The blessed occupation of saving souls: 1, the motives that should prompt us; 2, the manner how we should set to work; 3, the blessing that attends it.

Porubszky:True cheerfulness.Faith gives health.Of the fruit of prayer.The conversion of sinners the most laudable work of faith.

[Jam 5:10. Jortin:History sacred and secular shows us men naturally as weak as we are, liable to the same temptations of vanity, conceit, pride, sensual affections, fear, wrath, envy and malice, yet conquering these foes to their salvation. They had as quick a sense of pleasure and pain, of love and aversion, of profit and loss, of plenty and poverty, of honour and dishonour, as we; and yet they overcame the world by their faith, and by the influence of true religion upon their minds. They had indeed the Divine assistance to strengthen their infirmity; and so may we, if we seek it as they did.

Jam 5:11. Bp. Sanderson:Job held out in his patience under his great trial unto the last: and God out of pity and in His tender mercy towards him, heaped comforts upon him at the last in great abundance. It would be well worthy of our most serious meditation, to consider both what by Gods grace he did, and how by Gods mercy he sped. His example in the one would be a good pattern to us of patience: and his reward in the other a good encouragement for consolation. This we may rest upon as a most perfect truth, that if we do our part, God will not fail on His.

Jam 5:14. Nedarim p. 40, 1. Rabba, as often as he fell sick, forbade his domestics to mention it for the first day: if he did not then begin to get well, he told his family to go and publish it in the highways, that they who hated him, might rejoice: and they that loved him, might intercede with God for him.

Rabbi Simeon in Sepher Ha Chayim said: What should a man do, who goes to visit the sick? Ans. He who studies to restore the health of the body, should first lay the foundation in the health of the soul. The wise men have said, No healing is equal to that which comes from the word of God and prayer. Rabbi Phineas, the son of Chamma, has said, When sickness or disease enters into a mans family, let him apply to a wise man, who will implore mercy in his behalf.M.].

Footnotes:

[7] Jam 5:7. [1 Rec. A. K. L. al. insert before ; Cod Sin. inserts ( improb.) before .M.]

Lange: Be patient therefore [endure], brethren, having patience with reference to it, till it hath received the early and the latter rain.
[ being patient over (Alford) it, untill it shall have received.M.]

[8] Jam 5:8. [2 Cod. Sin. L. al. insert after .M.]

Lange:. . strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is nigh.
[ stablish , because the coming M.]

[9] Jam 5:9. A. B. Lachm. Tischend. place before . [Cod. Sin. .M.]

[10]A. B. K. L. [Cod. Sin.M]. al. read for .

[11] Rec. omits not (as Huther asserts), but sustained by A. B. K. L. [Cod. Sin.M.] al.

Lange: Groan (sigh) not that ye be not judged before the doors.
[Murmur not, brethren, that ye be not judged. M.]

[12] Jam 5:10. Rec. K. L. al. insert before , omit A. B.Rec. has before but A. B. K. L. al give first.

[13] James 5 :. Rec. K. L. al. insert before , omit A. B.Rec. has before but A. B. K. L. al give first.

[14] found in B [Cod. Sin.M.], adopted by Lachmann, is wanting in A. G. K. al.

[15] [ Cod. Sin. reads for .M.]

Lange: Take, brethren, as an example of suffering evil and of patience the prophets who have spoken in virtue of the name of the Lord.
[Take, my brethren, of affliction and patience. , who spoke in M.]

[16]Jam 5:11. Lachmann for reads A. B. Vulg. al. Cod sin. .

[17] A. B. G. al. Tischend. [Alford], through an exegetical mistake appears to have been changed into Rec. B al. and adopted by Lachmann.

[18] omit G. K. al. Tischendorf; A. B. insert it, but B omits the Article. This was probably omitted, because it was held to be superfluous after the preceding (Hnther).

Lange: Behold, we count happy the sufferers who did endure.Ye have heard of the endurance of Job and look at the end [the consummation] of the Lord. For very compassionate is the Lord and merciful.
[Behold, we count happy them that endure. See also the end of the Lord [of His dealings with him]: because the Lord is very pitiful and merciful.M.]

[19]Jam 5:12. [Cod. sin. has .M.]

[20][Cod. Sin. reads for Rec.M.]

[21] [Luthers rendering into hypocrisy arose from the less authentic reading Rec. G. K. al. But A. B. Vulg. al. fix the reading .

Lange: But above all things, my brethren, swear (conspire) not, neither by the heaven, nor by the earth. But let your (Sinait.: ) yea be a yea, and your nay a nay, that ye fall not under judgment.

[ . that ye fall not under judgment.M.]

Jam 5:13. Lange: Does affliction happen to any among you?, is any cheerful, let him sing praise.

[Is any among you in affliction? Is any cheerful?.M.]

[22] Jam 5:14. [16 Insert before Rec. K. L. omits B, which also omits .M.]

Lange: let him call to himself [let him call for M.]

Jam 5:15. Lange: And the prayer of faith shall help the sick it shall be forgiven him.

save (heal) the sick man; M.]

[23]Jam 5:16. A. B. K. [Cod. Sin.M.] Vulg. al. Lachmann [Alford] insert .[Rec. omits it.M.]

[24] A. B. [Cod. sin.M.] al. Lachmann; G. K. al. Tischendorf [Alford.M.]

[25] A. B. ; [Rec. .M.]

Lange: Confess, therefore, your sins to one another, and pray for one another The prayer of a righteous man, inwardly effectual [efficiency effected] availeth much.
[ . therefore your transgressions one to another The inwardly effectual prayer of a righteous man is very efficacious.M.]

Jam 5:17. Lange: of like passions with us, and he prayed a prayer that it should not rain, and it did not rain in the land for .

[ of like passions with us, and he prayed with prayer that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth for M.]

[26]Jam 5:18. [20 Cod. Sin. A. al.M.]

[27]Jam 5:19. Rec. G. Tischend. omit , A. B. K. [Cod. Sin.M.] insert it; so Lachmann [Alford.M.]

[28] [Cod. Sin. inserts before .M.]

Lange: My brethren, if any among you should have strayed from the truth, [Sinait: from the way of the truth] and one should convert him
[ be led astray from the truth and one turn him back.M.]

[29]Jam 5:20. [22 Rec. A. K. L. Vulg. al; B. Alford.M.]

[30] . A. [Cod. Sin.M.] Vulg. al. Lachmann, [A inserts M.]; Rec. B. G. K. al. read .

Lange: Let him know cover a multitude of sins.
[Know ye, that he who turneth a sinner from the error of his way M.]

[31] The subscriptions: of James, Epistle of James; Epistle of St. James.

[ ; , ; .M.]

[32]On the attempt of Rauch to prove the non-authenticity of the section Jam 5:12-20, see Gebser, p. 395.

[33]Oil in the East, where it is much better than with us, is a common and very useful remedy employed in many diseases by rubbing it into the affected parts and pouring it into wounds for the purpose of mollifying them. Cf. Isa 1:6; Mar 6:13; Luk 10:34; Joseph, de bello jud. 1, 33, 5. The balm of Gilead in particular was highly esteemed as an external application. Jer 8:22; Jer 46:11. Thus the Greek and Roman physicians also recommend poultices made of wine and oil, or vinegar and oil (Galen, de comp. medic. 2; Plin. H. N. 31, 47 etc.). Tertullian ad Scapulam informs us also that Proculus, a Christian, cured the Emperor Severus with oil. Cf. also Sheviith James 8: qui capite dolet, aut quem invasit scabies, unguat se oleo etc. Gebser, p. 403.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 2374
PATIENT PERSEVERANCE URGED

Jam 5:7-8. Be patient, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

CHRISTIANITY, even in the apostolic age, was professed by multitudes who neither understood its doctrines nor obeyed its precepts. The great and fundamental doctrine of justification by faith was denied by some, and abused by others; who took occasion from it to turn the grace of God into licentiousness, and to continue in sin that grace might abound. To this latter class more especially St. James directed his epistle. He did indeed write to the unbelieving Jews also: for his epistle is addressed To the twelve tribes who were scattered abroad: and, as they were in no state to receive such affectionate salutations as are observable in the epistles which were addressed to Christians only, he contented himself with merely sending to them greeting [Note: Jam 1:1.]. There were indeed many truly pious persons who were suffering for the truths sake; and these he sought to comfort and encourage. The foregoing part of this chapter seems addressed to the former; the text and following verses to the latter. We cannot conceive that the oppressive and murderous conduct which he lays to the charge of some, could admit of their being numbered with the Church of God. But their cruelties rendered the path of the true Christians who were among them far more difficult: and therefore, after warning those who were so grossly violating every principle of common morality, he encourages the suffering Christians to persevere in a patient discharge of their duty, and in an assured expectation of recompence at the coming of their Lord.

We shall consider the injunction which he gives them in a two-fold view;

I.

In reference to the terms by which it is expressed

These are strong and energetic. Twice he says, Be patient; that is, bear with all long-suffering the trials that are come upon you: and then he adds, Stablish your hearts; let them be so firmly fixed, that nothing may ever shake them.
Now from these expressions we gain a very considerable insight into Christianity: we see, that,

1.

It exposes us to heavy trials

[No man could profess Christianity at its first establishment, but at the peril of his life: thousands and myriads being called to seal the truth with their blood. If the same persecutions be not experienced at this day, let us not imagine that they have therefore ceased: for it is as true at this day as it was in the apostolic age, that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And every man now, as well as then, must be prepared to lay down his life for Christ, if he will be acknowledged as a disciple indeed. Nor let it be thought that the persecutions of the present day are so very light. It is no easy thing for flesh and blood to withstand the hatred, and contempt, and ridicule to which he will be assuredly exposed, if he set himself in earnest to serve the Lord. The fear of these consequences is abundantly sufficient to deter multitudes from embracing the Gospel, and to turn back multitudes after they have embraced it. True it is, that all are not exposed to these things in an equal degree: but every follower of Christ must have his cross to bear, and be conformed to his Divine Master in sufferings, before he can be made like him in glory [Note: Rom 8:17.].]

2.

It calls for great exertions

[Religion is the same that it ever was, and calls for the same efforts on the part of all who embrace it. A race is not won at this day without exertion; nor does a wrestler overcome a strong antagonist without effort: nor a man engaged in warfare obtain a triumph without labour. Our spiritual enemies are as strong as ever: sin is not subdued and mortified by listless endeavours; nor is Satan defeated without much watchfulness and prayer. The whole man must be engaged. We must summon to the conflict all our faculties and powers; yea, such are the efforts required, that, if we be not strengthened by that same almighty power which raised Jesus Christ from the dead, we can never prevail [Note: Eph 1:19-20.].]

3.

It requires incessant efforts even to the end

[There is to be no period when we are to give way either to impatience or sloth. However long our trials may continue, we are in patience to possess our souls: and however difficult the path of duty may be, we are never to be weary in well-doing. God should be able to say of us, as he does of the Church of Ephesus, Thou hast borne, and hast patience, and for my names sake hast laboured, and not fainted [Note: Rev 2:3.]. This in particular is intimated in our text. It is supposed that the trials are long, and heavy, and calculated to turn us from the faith: and hence it is necessary that we be long-suffering, and that our souls be established with grace. It is in this way only that we can finally prevail: for to those only who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, will eternal life be adjudged [Note: Rom 2:7.].]

To enter fully into the Apostles exhortation, we must consider it,

II.

In reference to the comparison with which it is illustrated

This Apostle seems particularly to affect easy and familiar illustrations. The whole epistle abounds with them. He compares certain hearers of the word to persons beholding themselves in a glass, and then forgetting what manner of persons they were. Those who have a dead and unproductive faith he compares to persons who speak kind words to an indigent brother or sister without relieving their necessities. Those who govern not their tongue he reproves, by contrasting their conduct with horses that obey the bit; with ships that are turned by a helm; with beasts, birds, and even fishes of the sea, all of which have been tamed by men: and by warning them, that as no fountain can send forth sweet water and bitter, and no tree bear both olives and figs, so they can be no true Christians, whilst such unworthy and inconsistent speeches issue from their mouths. Here in our text he brings to our view the husbandman, whose continued labours and patient expectations form a fit model for the Christian. Him we are called to resemble,

1.

In a steady prosecution of the appointed means

[Many are the discouragements which the husbandman meets with in the cultivation of his ground. Sometimes the weather is untoward: sometimes blights, or insects, or mildew, injure his crops: sometimes drought almost destroys all his hopes: but still he goes on from year to year, ploughing his ground, clearing it from weeds, manuring it, casting in his seed, and harrowing it; and this he does, not knowing for certain that a single grain which he casts into the furrows shall rise again. But he expects nothing without the use of means; and therefore he does his part; and that too as regularly and diligently as if every thing depended on himself. He well knows that God alone can give rain, or cause the sun to shine, or give power to the seed which he has sown to spring up: but still he labours, that he may not fail through any neglect of his own.

Now in this he is a pattern for all Christians. They have their work to do. True, they cannot ensure success: but they know that it is in the use, and not in the neglect, of the appointed means, that God will bless them: and therefore they are labouring as assiduously as if every thing depended on themselves. Behold them in secret: they read the Scriptures with diligence: they pray over them with earnestness: they set themselves to mortify their evil propensities, and to fulfil their duties both to God and man. Observe them at all times, and you will see, that they are in earnest for heaven. When you go into the fields, and see the husbandman ploughing, manuring, sowing, harrowing, weeding his ground, you will never hesitate a moment to say, that he has the harvest in view. So, see the Christian from day to day, and you will without fail remark, that he has heaven in view, and that he is preparing for a future harvest.]

2.

In a patient expectation of the desired end

[Many months intervene between the seed-time and the harvest: but the husbandman waits with patience. It is some time before the seed springs up from under the clods: but he waits for it, and for the former rain, which alone can call forth its vegetative powers. Its growth is afterwards impeded by drought: but still he waits for the latter rain, without which the corn can never come to maturity. There may be many alternations of hope and fear: but he commits the matter to the Lord, and waits the destined time, in expectation that God will give him to see, in an abundant increase, the fruit of his labours. So the Christian must wait upon his God: many things he will meet with to try his faith and patience: but he must commit them all to the Lord, not doubting but that God will give him strength according to his day, and cause all events to work together for his good. As the husbandman knows that a few months will bring the appointed harvest; so the Christian knows, that his Lord is quickly coming, and will not tarry beyond the appointed time: and for that time he must wait; fully assured, that the harvest which he shall then reap will amply repay all his cares and all his toil.
This then, Christian, is the pattern you are to follow: you must be steadfast, and immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; and then you are assured, that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.]

Learn then from hence,
1.

How to estimate your true character

[The Apostle addresses those whom he is exhorting by the endearing name of brethren: for they are all children of one common Father, even of God himself. Now, whereinsoever they differ from each other, they all agree in this: the true child of God is engaged in a work, which demands, and in which he puts forth, all his energies. In it he is occupied throughout the year. He consults not the clouds, to know whether he shall plough and sow his ground: he knows that the work must be done, and he engages in it in a humble dependence on his God: and he looks to the future judgment, as the period when all his labours shall be compensated, and his hopes fulfilled. Now, I would ask, would every one that sees you, know you by these marks? The husbandman, without intending to attract notice, discovers to all, his views, his occupations, his desires. Are yours also in like manner apparent to all who behold your life and conversation! Doubtless your daily calls of duty are not so visible to every observer: but upon the whole, the great scope and end of your life is not a whit less visible to all who are round about you. Here then you may easily ascertain your own character. If eternity be not ever in your view; if all you do have not a reference to it; if you be not willing both to do and suffer every thing that may conduce to your future welfare; and if you be not looking for, and hasting unto, the coming of the day of Christ, as to the period for the completion of all your wishes, you do not belong to this holy family: you may call yourselves Christians; but you are not Christians indeed. We read of those who said that they were Jews, and did lie: so you say that you are Christians; but your whole conduct gives the lie to your profession. If you are Christians in deed and in truth, your works of faith, and labours of love, and patience of hope, are known to all; and they vouch for you, that you are the elect, the children of the living God [Note: 1Th 1:3-4.].]

2.

How to anticipate your certain end

[All imagine that they are going to heaven; and will not be persuaded to the contrary. But, if you have ears to hear, and hearts to understand, you shall know this day whether you are going to heaven or to hell. Ask yonder husbandman: Have you been ploughing and sowing your ground this year? No; I have had other things to do.And do you expect a harvest? Yes, I shall have as good a crop as any of my neighbours.But do you think that you shall obtain the end without the means? Tell me not about means and end: others give themselves a great deal of unnecessary trouble: and I shall have as good a crop as my neighbours: nor shall any one persuade me to the contrary.
Now what, suppose you, will be the issue? Will the event accord with this mans expectations? Will he not, when the time of harvest comes, find that his confidence has been delusive; and that his barns are empty, whilst the granaries of others are filled with store? Then I agree that you shall be your own judges. If you can form a doubt about the issue of that mans confidence, especially when it is repeated for many years together, then I will be content that you shall buoy up yourselves with the hopes of heaven, though you never use any means to obtain it. But if you have no doubt about that mans folly, then see in it a just picture of your own.
Behold then, I declare to all of you, that the means must be used in order to the end. You must repent, ploughing up your fallow ground, and sowing in tears of deep contrition. You must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only Saviour of sinners; and must look to him for the former and the latter rain, whereby alone the seed of the word can live and grow in your souls. Lastly, you must make it the one labour of your life to prepare for his second coming, that you may give up your account to him with joy and not with grief. If you thus go on your way weeping, bearing precious seed, you shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing your sheaves with you [Note: Psa 126:5-6.]: but if you act not thus, know that you shall reap according to what you sow. He that soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; whilst he who soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting [Note: Gal 6:7-8.].]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. (8) Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. (9) Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. (10) Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. (11) Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

We have within the compass of these verses, some very precious views, for the child of God, and especially the exercised child of God, to ruminate upon: and, if the Reader will indulge me, and God the Holy Ghost will teach both Writer and Reader, very sure I am, that we shall rise up from the review of them with much spiritual profit.

And, first. By the command to the brethren, who are regenerated in Christ, to be patient unto the coming of the Lord; the child of God is taught to expect exercises. There will be, there must be, many dark and trying seasons. And in those seasons, the best taught children of God will be hard put to it, unless faith is always in lively exercise, to trust God where we cannot trace God. The Holy Ghost therefore begins this sweet portion, after he had told the Church in the verses going before, the sure ruin of the ungodly; that though their patience should be exercised, yet they should rest in this one grand and unalterable conclusion, the Lord is coming. And when he comes, all will be fully and clearly explained. Therefore, saith the Lord, patiently wait this time, and be assured of this one thing, the Lord’s ways, and the Lord’s heart, are towards thee for good in all things. Rom 8:28 .

Secondly. Having gained this great point, and set it down as a truth perfectly clear and impossible to be questioned, that God’s dealings with his redeemed in Christ, are full of love, and conducted with unerring wisdom; we are next taught, that the best way, and the only way, by which we can rightly interpret the Lord’s dealings towards his people, is, to do as the husbandman doth, in waiting for the precious fruit of the earth. What a beautiful and striking similitude the Lord , hath chosen to represent this sure harvest by, of the fruits of his everlasting love? What, to the human eye, apparently more unpromising, or more unlikely to bring forth, than when the seed is not only cast into the earth and buried over, but must absolutely rot and die before there can be any product. See Joh 12:24 . and Commentary. Such then is the harvest of grace. When the Lord hath totally thrown to the ground, and buried over all our designs, and plans, and exertions; yea, even to our prayers, as in the case of Israel, no answers have been given, and matters have appeared darker than before: (see Exo 5 throughout,) then most blessed it is, to behold, of a sudden, light rise out of obscurity, and hope against hope come in to our joy and delight? Reader! say, (if you know the Lord,) hath the Lord at any time, when bereaving you of earthly comforts, when withering your gourds, and breaking your cisterns, when stripping you like the oak of its leaves in the winter; you have stood, as in the midst of the forest, desolated, and forlorn; hath Jesus, during those seasons of nature’s sorrows, refreshed in grace your soul? Hath the Lord given you increasing faith, increasing spiritual strength, hath he blessed you with the more frequent visits of his love, opened to you his covenant, shewn you his secrets, said unto you, Fear not, I am with thee, I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine? Surely, here is the fullest testimony to what the Apostle hath said, and encouragement enough to be always on the watch-tower for such manifestations of his grace, in the expectation of the coming of the Lord drawing nigh.

Once more. The Apostle beautifully sums up the argument, in proposing to the Church the example of the Prophets, and particularly in the instance of Job, by way of shewing the blessedness of suffering afflictions with patience. Behold! (saith he,) we count them happy which endure. Yes! The people of God do count the Lord’s exercised ones under trial, when found faithful, as eminently distinguished with the divine favor. It is indeed a mark of the Lord’s regard for them. They are thereby called to high dignity and honor. Paul told the Church of the Corinthians, that they were babes in Christ, and could not, from their tender age, bear the strong food of the Gospel. Children, truly and savingly regenerated, they were; but yet only children, 1Co 3:1-2 . But, when the Lord calls an old veteran in the holy army to sharp and trying conflicts, and blesseth him with strength in the battle, this is an high honor on the saint! And the Apostle saith, Behold, we count them happy which endure.

But what is the world’s estimate of good? Alas! the very reverse. Ask men of the world, what they conceive; a goodly portion? They will make no hesitation to decide, and decide so positively, as though their maxims were undeniable. We count them happy, they will say, which have all this world’s good; riches, titles, mansions, and a profusion of all creature comforts. But, who shall cast the lot? Who shall determine with whom the advantage is? Reader! it is already determined, and God himself hath decided. It is hardly possible to read the 49th Psalm (Psa 49 ); Job 21:13 . or the 73 rd Psalm (Psa 73 ), where the characters of the prosperous worldling is drawn in his full colors, without trembling. And when from the Word of God, we turn to the contemplation of the world, and behold such awful departures going on, from one generation to another, the child of God cannot but arise up, under all his exercises, how pressing soever to flesh and blood they may be, and say with him of old, Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law, that thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity until the pit be digged for the wicked, Psa 94:12-13 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

Ver. 7. Be patient therefore ] q.d. You poor oppressed ones, hold out faith and patience. You shall shortly have help. As the mother’s breasts ache to be sucklings so doth God’s heart yearn to be helping.

Unto the coming of the Lord ] sc. By particular deliverance; and not only by the general judgment. Let patience have line and rope.

Waiteth for the precious fruit ] Being in novum annum semper dives, as the proverb is ever rich against the next year. Spes alit agricolas, Hope holds up the husbandman’s heart.

And hath long patience ] He looks not to sow and reap in a day, as the Hyperboreans are said to do, that sow shortly after the sunrising with them, and reap before the sun set; because the whole half year is one continual day with them. (Heresbach de re Rustic.)

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

7 11 .] Exhortation to suffering Christians to endure unto the coming of the Lord . On the connexion, see above.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

7 .] Be patient (reff.) therefore (the ( , ‘matters being so’) is a general reference to the prophetic strain of the previous passage: judgment on your oppressors being so near, and your own part, as the Lord’s , being that of unresistingness), brethren (contrast to , last addressed), until ( as a preposition, see Winer, 54. 6. “Non tempus tantum sed rem quoque indicat, qua toleranda tollatur.” Schneckenb.) the coming of the Lord (i. e. here, beyond all reasonable question, of Christ. , it is true, usually in this Epistle is to be taken in the O. T. sense, as denoting the Father: but we have in ch. Jam 1:1 and Jam 2:1 examples of St. James using it of our Saviour, and it is therefore better to keep so well known a phrase to its ordinary meaning, than with Theile and De W. (but only wahrscheinlich ) to understand it, “Dei, qui Messia adventante invisibili modo prsens est”). Encouragement by the example of the husbandman . Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it (with reference to it: quasi sitting over it and watching it: this local superposition is the root of all derived meanings of with a dative), till it (better than “ he ,” as Luth. and E. V.) shall have received the early and latter ( rain ) (see reff., and Winer, Realw. under Witterung . From the latter it appears that the fell in Oct., Nov., and Dec., extending, with occasional snow, into Jan. (see reff. Deut., Jer.): and after fine spring weather in Feb., the in March to the end of April (reff. and Jer 3:3 Heb. and E. V.). c. gives a curious interpretation of the early and latter rain: , , . As to the reading, it is much more probable that has been supplied than that it has been erased):

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Jas 5:7-11 . The section 7 11 is a Christian adaptation of the earlier Jewish conception of the Messianic Era; in place of there is , the one a specifically Jewish, the other a specifically Christian expression; the two expressions, which represent, as it were, the titles of Jewish and Christian Eschatology respectively, are sufficient to show the difference of venue regarding these two sections. It is characteristic of one type of apocalyptic literature that the central figure of the Messiah is not mentioned, while another type lays great emphasis on the Messianic Personality; Jas 5:1-6 represents the former of these; that it contains no trace of Christian interpolation is the more remarkable in that it is utilised by a Jewish-Christian writer and is incorporated in Christian literature. The fact is additional evidence in favour of its being a quotation, one of several which our Epistle contains. It is christianised by the addition to it of Jas 5:7-11 , which, though interspersed with O.T. reminiscences, is specifically Christian. A similar christianising of Jewish material by adding to it is found, though on a much smaller scale, in Rev 22:20 , , which forms a response to the preceding , . Dr. Schiller-Szinessy (in Encycl. Brit. , art. “Midrash”) discovered that the Hebrew equivalent of the words (= ) indicated acrostically a primitive hymn, which still appears in all the Jewish prayer books, and is known from its opening words as En Kelohenu (“There is none like our God”; see Singer’s The Authorised Daily Prayer Book , p. 167). This hymn consists of five verses of four lines each; the first word of each line in the first verse begins with [60] , of the second verse with , of the third with , of the fourth with , and of the fifth with [61] , thus making a four-fold repetition of the formula (= “Amen, Come”). This formula is the short title of the hymn referred to and “is actually written instead of the hymn in the place where it is to be used after the Additional Service for the New Year, and again towards the conclusion of the additional service for the eighth day of Solemn Assembly , at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles” (Taylor, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles , pp. 78 ff., and see Box in Church and Synagogue , iii., pp. 41 ff.). The formula “Amen Bo” belonged to Jewish Eschatology, and possibly took its origin from the phrase (= “The age to come,” a common expression for the Messianic Era); it is christianised by the Jewish-Christian writer in the Apocalypse by the addition of , just as in the passage before us the second, obviously Christian, section Jas 5:7-11 , is added on to the former, quite as obviously Jewish, in order to make the whole Christian.

[60] Codex Sinaiticus (sc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[61] Codex Sinaiticus (sc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Jas 5:7 . : the verb, as well as the adjective, is used both of God and man, e.g. , Rom 2:4 ; 2Co 6:6 ; it expresses the attitude of mind which is content to wait; when used of God it refers to His long-suffering towards men ( e.g. , Sir 18:11 ); it is possible that in the present connection this is also implied in view of Jas 5:9 . Perhaps was added in order to join it on to the preceding section; it is omitted by the OL MS. s . : see above, introductory words to this section. does not occur in the Septuagint, being (with ) specifically Christian; but with , instead of , it occurs in Test. of the Twelve Patriarchs , Jud. xxii. 2, (the words are omitted in the Armenian Version). : Cf. Sir 6:18 ; Test. of the Twelve Patriarchs , Issach. Jas 5:3 ff. : used in the sense of “produce of the soil”. : the context shows that the subject must be “the earth,” not “the fruit,” for the simple reason that the fruit is not in existence when the “former” rains descend; the great importance of the “former” rains (called both and ) was that they moistened the earth (commencing about the month of October) after it had been hardened by the blazing summer sun, and thus enabled it to receive the seed; without the “former” rains to moisten the earth one might as well sow seed on rocks. The subject might possibly be “the husbandman” as he may be said in a certain sense to receive the rain, but the most obvious subject, and that upon which the meaning of the verse most naturally depends, is the earth. : Cf. Deu 11:14 , and often, .

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jas 5:7-11

7Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. 10As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

Jas 5:7 “Therefore” This shows the relationship of this paragraph to the previous one. The emphasis on the Second Coming in Jas 5:1-6 is continued.

“be patient” This is an aorist active imperative. It is the theme and emphasis of this context (cf. Jas 1:4). The word is used four times: Jas 5:7 (twice), 8, and 10. Its basic meaning is “long-suffering.” This term is used of God’s patience with mankind (cf. Rom 2:4; 1Pe 3:20), and is also one of the fruits of the Spirit (cf. Gal 5:22-23).

“brethren” See notes at Jas 1:2; Jas 1:9.

“until the coming of the Lord” This is literally “until the Parousia” which means “presence” and was used of a royal visit. The other NT terms used for the Second Coming are

1. epiphaneia, “face to face appearing”

2. apokalupis, “unveiling”

3. “the Day of the Lord” and the variations of this phrase

The antecedent of “Lord” in this passage is both YHWH, as in Jas 5:10-11, and Jesus in Jas 5:7-8; Jas 5:14. New Testament authors often used this grammatical ambiguity to assert the deity of Jesus.

The NT as a whole is written within the world-view of the OT which asserted

1. a current evil, rebellious age

2. a coming new age of righteousness

3. brought about by the Spirit’s agency through the work of the Messiah (Anointed One).

The theological assumption of progressive revelation is required because the NT authors slightly modify Israel’s expectation. Instead of a military, nationalistic (Israel) coming of the Messiah, there are two comings. The first coming is the incarnation of deity in the conception and birth of Jesus of Nazareth. He came as the non-military, non-judicial “suffering servant” fulfilling Isaiah 53 and as the mild rider on the colt of a donkey (not a war horse or kingly mule), fulfilling Zec 9:9. The first coming inaugurated the New Messianic Age, the Kingdom of God on earth. In one sense the Kingdom is here, but of course, in another it is still far off. This tension between the two comings of the Messiah is the over-lapping of the two Jewish ages that was unseen, or at least unclear, from the OT. This dual coming emphasizes YHWH’s commitment to redeem all humanity (cf. Gen 3:15; Gen 12:3; Exo 19:5 and the preaching of the prophets, especially Isaiah and Jonah).

The church is not waiting for the fulfillment of OT prophecy because most prophecies refer to the first coming (cf. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, p. 166). What believers do anticipate is the glorious coming of the resurrected King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the expected historical fulfillment of the new age of righteousness on earth as it is in heaven (cf. Mat 6:10). The OT presentations were not inaccurate, but incomplete. He will come again just as the prophets predictedin the judicial power and material authority of YHWH.

The Second Coming is not a biblical term, but the concept is the world-view and framework of the entire NT. God will set it all straight. Fellowship between God and mankind made in His image will be restored. Evil will be judged and removed. God’s purposes will not, cannot, fail!

“The farmer” This is the first of three examples of patience: (1) a farmer (Jas 5:7); (2) the OT prophets (Jas 5:10); and (3) Job (Jas 5:11). The farmer is totally dependent on the weather, over which he has no control, but plows and sows in faith and hope.

“the early and late rains” The early rains in Palestine were in October and November and were needed for the seeds to sprout. The late rains came in April and May and were needed for the crops to mature. This may imply that the recipients of James were in or near Palestine or else they knew about its climate.

Some early Greek texts (MSS P74, B) do not have the term “rain,” but it is assumed. It seems that an early scribe added it for clarification (cf. MSS A, K, L, P).

Jas 5:8 “You too be patient” This is an aorist active imperative repeated from Jas 5:7.

“strengthen your hearts” This is another aorist active imperative (cf. 1Th 3:13). Trust and wait on God’s promises. See SPECIAL TOPIC: THE HEART at Jas 1:26.

“for the coming of the Lord is near” This is perfect active indicative which implies He came once, the influence continues, and He will come again (cf. 1Pe 4:7). The NT authors (and possibly Jesus Himself, compare Mat 16:28 with Mat 24:36) expected the consummation of the Second Coming to happen quickly. The imminence of the Second Coming is meant to encourage every generation of believers amidst worldly pressures. The time is uncertain, but the event is sure! Believers live every day in expectation of their Lord’s glorious return. The major NT word to all believers is “be ready and be active.”

Jas 5:9

NASB, TEV”do not complain”

NKJV, NRSV”do not grumble”

NJB”do not make complaints”

This is a present active imperative with a negative particle which usually means to stop an act in process. This could relate to

1. the unequal existential circumstances of some believers suffering and some not

2. the unexpected persecution of faithful believers

3. the jealousy among church leaders (teachers)

“so that you yourselves may not be judged” The following verses are shocking in their warnings (cf. Mat 6:14-15; Mat 7:1-5; Mat 18:35; Luk 6:38; Jas 2:13). Believers are not forgiven by forgiving, but our forgiving does reveal our new heart! Do we want God to treat us as we treat others?

“the Judge is standing right at the door” The emphasis is on the immediacy of the Second Coming and its related judgment (cf. Mat 24:33; Mar 13:29).

Jas 5:10 “the prophets” Their lives were far from easy and safe (cf. Mat 5:10-12, also note Hebrews 11).

Jas 5:11 “who endured” This is a different word from the one used in Jas 5:7-10 although it reflects and continues the same emphasis. This word means “voluntary, steadfast endurance” with an emphasis on “remaining under a load.” Job is known proverbially for his endurance. Believers of the OT and NT have revelation from God. We understand many things about spiritual reality, but there is still much mystery in our individual experiences.

“the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful” These are two rare forms of the Greek terms for “pity” and “mercy.” These same concepts are descriptive titles of God (cf. Exo 34:6; Neh 9:17; Joe 2:13). James may have been directly alluding to Psa 103:8 or Psa 111:4. If God treats us this way, we should treat others the same way (cf. Jas 5:9).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

unto, until Same Greek. word, heos.

coming. Greek. parousia. First occurance: Mat 24:3.

hath long patience = being patient.

early. Greek. proimos. Only here.

latter. Greek. opsimos. Only here. Compare Joe 2:23.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

7-11.] Exhortation to suffering Christians to endure unto the coming of the Lord. On the connexion, see above.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Jam 5:7. , therefore) Whatever the wicked may do in the meantime.-, the coming) Jam 5:8-9; Jam 5:12.- , of the Lord) Jesus Christ.-, waiteth for) obtains by waiting, at the harvest. , shall reap, Septuagint, , Hos 8:7.-, precious) the reward of labour and patience.-, until) To be taken with-and hath long patience. He does not cease before (he receives it).-) See App. Crit.[69]-) he receive, from heaven.-) the early rain, after sowing.-) the latter rain, when harvest is now near.

[69] B supports (judging from the silence of collators). A, Theb. and later Syr omit .-E.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Jas 5:7-9

SECTION 12

Jas 5:7-12

PATIENCE AND THE LORD’S RETURN

Jas 5:7-9

7 Be patient therefore, brethren,—Here, the inspired writer returns to the main stream of thought in the Epistle, and again writes directly to the “brethren,” from whom he had turned aside, beginning at Jas 5:1, to address the unbelieving rich whose oppressive measures and fraudulent practices were so burdensome to the poor disciples. The ultimate retribution and destruction which shall eventually fall upon all of those who thus do has been made crystal clear; they shall receive their just recompense of reward ; those who suffer at their hands and are faithful to the end shall be blessed; therefore, (in view of these facts), “be patient!” These words translate the verb makrotlmmesate, aorist active imperative of nzakrotlmmeo, derived from makros, and thumos, literally, long of temper, that is, one not short of the will to persist; longsuffering. It is as if James had said, “Your trials are now exceedingly great, and the wrongs you are experiencing at the hands of the wicked are especially flagrant; but, this must eventually end; the Lord will see that justice is done to all, provided you follow his example of longsuffering and patience.”

It is noteworthy that the word translated “patient” here (makrothumeo) is not the same as that thus rendered in the first chapter of the Epistle. (Jas 1:3 ff.) There, it is the word hupomone, to bear up under. The first of these words (makrothumeo) is used to denote patience with persons, the second (hupomone) with things. In James 1, the writer bids his readers to endure the trials of life knowing that the exercise of patience produces strength of character. In James 5, the suffering saints are to exhibit longsuffering toward their tormentors, knowing that God will certainly avenge them and see to it that full justice is done. Thus, the meaning is, “With unwavering determination bear up under the burdens which weigh so heavily upon you, knowing that a day of redress is coming.” Implied is the assurance that the triumph of the faithful will be contemporary with the overthrow and destruction of the wicked. In similar vein, Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: “We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, even as it is meet, for that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the love of each one of you all toward one another aboundeth; so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which ye endure; which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God; to the end that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: if so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you, and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day.” (2Th 1:3-10.)

James’ design in emphasizing the eventual retribution to come upon the wicked oppressors of that day was to vindicate their sense of justice, and to remind those to whom he wrote that right would eventually triumph. The will to resist, to endure, to be faithful fades in unbelief; but, those whose faith remains steadfast, know that ultimately those who do wrong will be properly punished, and those who do right will be richly rewarded. Supported by this realization, they suffer uncomplainingly life’s hardships and difficulties.

until the coming of the Lord.—The “Lord” is, of course, Christ; “the coming,” his return on the clouds. (Act 1:11; Heb 9:28.) The reference here is to his second coming at which time the consummation of all things will occur. This “coming” of our Lord is referred to repeatedly in the New Testament, there being more than three hundred references either directly or indirectly to this event. (Cf. Mat 24:3 ; 1Th 2:19; 2Pe 3:4.) Believers throughout the Christian dispensation are taught to “watch” for (live in expectation of) the coming of the Lord, and thus be prepared for that event. (Mar 13:33-37.) It is not correct to say that the apostles believed they would be living when the Lord returned; they knew no more of the time of his return than do we. Because they did not know when he would come, they instructed people to live as if he would come at any moment. This is all that this (and similar statements of Holy Writ) imply; and it is neither right nor necessary to imply that (a) the inspired writers erroneously thought the Lord would come in their day; or (b) that this has reference to the coming of the Lord for the saints at death. On the contrary, Peter in his second Epistle indicates that he would die before the event: “Wherefore I shall be ready always to put you in remembrance of these things though ye know them and are established in the truth which is in you. And I think it right, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance: knowing that the putting off of my tabernacle cometh swiftly, even as our Lord Jes us Christ signified unto me. Yes, I will give diligence that at every time ye may be able after my decease to call these things to remembrance.” (2Pe 1:12-15.)

It should be particularly noted that Peter, in the foregiong statement, penned shortly before his death, desired and expected the brethren to call to remembrance what he had written after his “decease,” thus indicating that they would outlive him, that they would need the instruction he was giving them; and hence time would not terminate with his passing. That the early disciples hoped for the coming of the Lord, prayed for it, and lived daily in expectation of it, we do not doubt (2Pe 3:9 ff) ; such should and must be characteristic of the saints today if we are to please God; but this is far from saying that from any intimation of the Lord or statement of the Holy Spirit a conclusion may be properly drawn that he would come at any specific time. It is for the very reason that we do not know when he is coming that the event is ever nigh and for which we must always be in complete readiness. The allegation that the inspired writers predicted the coming of the Lord in their day, is to convict them of error. That some Bible expositors imply or affirm such indicates what low and unworthy views they entertain of the inspiration and inerrancy of the Scriptures. The fact of the Lord’s return is, to Bible believers, beyond controversy; the time of it is hidden in the inscrutable counsel of the divine will. Of the certainty of it we need entertain no doubt whatsoever; because we do not lmow the time we must live in a state of readiness. The certainty of his coming, and the uncertainty of the time thereof taken together operate to keep our faith, our hope and our patience ever alive and alert. The suffering saints, oppressed by their rich and dishonest employers, were to endure patiently whatever life held for them, assured that the Lord would eventually come, end their oppression, punish their oppressors, and reward them for their faithfulness, longsuffering and fidelity to his cause.

Behold, the husbandman waitetb for the precious fruit of the earth,—“Behold,” idou, See! Look! Take notice of! A device designed to focus attention particularly on the illustration of the “husbandman.” The “husbandman,” (ho georgos, from ge, earth; and ergo, to work; thus, literally, a worker in the earth) is a farmer, a tiller of the soil. With patience (makrothumon, long suffering), he waits (ekdechetai, looks with expectation) for “the precious fruit of the earth,” the harvest of grain. The farmer is well aware of the fact that if he is to receive the earth’s precious fruit, he must exercise patience and wait out the normal season for the fruition and harvest. It was the design of James to show that it is the conviction that future good justifies present effort that makes all trial endurable. The harvest is at the end of the effort; not at its beginning. (Mat 13:39.) One must sow in order to reap.

being patient over it. until it receive the early and latter rain.—All who farm, or are acquainted with the cultivation of the soil, know that there are frequent periods of uncertainty during the growing season; sometimes uncertainty whether there will be any harvest at all. The experienced tiller of the soil is aware of this, and does not lose faith in the natural laws and the promise of God. Having done his part, he trusts to God and to the agencies which God uses to supply “seed to the sower and bread for food” (2Co 9:10); and he knows that “while the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen 8:22). He, therefore, exhibits patience (longsuffering), “until it receive the early and latter rain.” The early and latter rains are often mentioned in the Old Testament. (Deu 11:14; Jer 5:24; Hos 6:3 : Joe 2:23.) The early raiti was that which came about October, soon after or about the time of the fall sowing, and which provided the necessary moisture for the grain to germinate; the latter rain fell about March, and which caused the grain to fill out and ripen. Thus the patient farmer implicitly trusted the Lord to provide him with the moisture to make his grain sprout, the rain to cause his grain to fill out and be bountiful, always confident that God would not fail him. The lesson is, therefore, one of patience; of waiting for the development of that which, like seed-time and harvest, works out for man’s ultimate good.

8 Be ye also pa ti en t ;-The Greek word translated “patient,” is the same as that occurring in verse 7 (makrothmneo), a better rendering of which is “longsuffering.” The burdened disciple, in imitation of the farmer, is to wait patiently for deliverance from his trials, and for the certain triumph of justice in his case. Christians should not fruitlessly fret against life’s difficulties, nor wearily wear their lives away in useless anxiety over the hardships which press them in on every side; they are to realize, as does the farmer, that the law of God is operative for them, and it will accomplish the divine purpose in his own good time. The tiller of the soil is aware that he cannot possibly speed the processes by which the ground brings forth her fruit; but he also knows that under the beneficient influences of sun and shower the earth will give bountifully from her store of good things. In like fashion, though the seed of truth may lie buried for long seasons, the law in the spiritual world is as immutable and sure as that in the natural world, and it will ultimately operate to bless and deliver and save those who conform thereto.

establish your hearts:—“Establish,” (sterixate, to strengthen, to make stable), means to make the purposes of the heart firm and sure and unwavering in the face of the trials then besetting them. The strength by which this was to be accomplished was the assurance that their cause was just, the Lord was coming, and would vindicate them fully, and punish their oppressors. Because it is not easy to live the Christian life, all of us need the admonition given. The verb means literally to prop, brace, from sterix, a support; we are, therefore, to prop up our hearts by faith, and not let them sag into weary moodiness, weakening uncertainty, and eventual unbelief. The admonition to establish (strengthen) our hearts is one often occurring in the sacred writing. See 1Th 3:13, where, however, it is God who is said to establish them for us, which, of course, he does through the assurances he gives in his word. James was later to write: “Behold, we call them blessed that endured.” (Jas 5:11.) Hebrews 11, Inspiration’s Hall of Fame for the gallant heroes of the faith of ages long passed, demonstrates the ultimate triumph of those who, despite great difficulty, trusted God implicitly for the fulfillment of his promises.

for the coming of the Lord is at hand.—The significance of this statement is the same as that in verse 7, where reference is made to “the coming of the Lord.” See the comments there. The word translated “coming,” is, in the Greek, parousia, which means presence. See margin. The return of Christ is so real, so certain, so sure of fulfillment, that he is always regarded as near, at hand. This is as true for us today, as it was of those of the apostolic age, in view of the fact that he may come at any moment. It is, however, quite certain that James did not mean that there was evidence that the Lord would appear in the lifetime of those living, inasmuch as Jesus himself taught that no one knows the time of his return except the Father: “But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only. And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they knew not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man.” (Mat 24:36-39.) It is incorrect to speak of “the delay” of the return of Christ. The word “delay,” means: “to put off to a future time; postpone.” It implies interference of something that causes a detainment or postponement. (See Webster’s New World Dictionary of the English Language.) Thus, to speak of “the delay” of the return of Christ is to imply that the event is off schedule, postponed, not in keeping with the original arrangement. But, inasmuch as we are without any information whatsoever regarding any “original arrangement,” how do we know that the Lord has ddayed his coming? We may be sure that it is on schedule, and in exact harmony with his purpose and plan. We must carefully avoid the disposition characteristic of many today to assign to terms in the Scripture which refer to the acts of deity the limitations which are true of men. It is because of this practice that some are disposed to interpret the clause, “the coming of the Lord is at hand,” to mean that it was then imminent. That such was not its significance, is clear from the fact that nearly two thousand years have elapsed since these words were penned, and the Lord has not yet come. We must not overlook the fact also that with God, who inhabits eternity, matters may be “at hand,” in his view which are greatly distant in our human imperfect concept. (Compare Isa 13:6.) Peter points to some in his day who alleged that, because things continued in regular fashion and without variation from the uniformity which has characterized the world for ages, it was not likely that he would ever come:

“Knowing this first, that in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they wilfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God; by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” (2Pe 3:3-7.) In the light of these most solemn facts, Peter admonished his readers to give diligence to be “found in peace, without spot and blameless in his sight.” (2Pe 3:14.) We may, therefore, be certain that the Lord will come; he will come on schedule, he will come unexpectedly, “as a thief in the night,” at which time the earth, “and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” “Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? But, according to his promise we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (2Pe 3:10-13.)

9 Murmur not, brethren, one against another,—The verb is a present active imperative, with the negative, from stenazo, to groan; thus, literally, “Do not keep on groaning against each other….” The verb denotes fretfulness, impatience with others; the disposition to blame others for one’s distresses. The saints to whom these words were addressed were sorely burdened, their lives were exceedingly hard; and it was, therefore, not always easy for them to bear up under their difficulties with patience and resignation. Often, they were fretful, morose, quarrelsome, disposed to blame their brethren, easy to take offense, and quick to find fault with others, all of which made their own lives miserable, and created serious problems for others. Some, of course, are by nature disposed to be difficult to get along with ; such exhibit a sour and unpleasant temper ; they never seen anything good in others, or anything improper in themselves ; they are envious, jealous, and critical of all others. Their attitude is wholly foreign to the spirit of Christ, and is repeatedly condemned in the Scriptures. (Mat 7:1; Luk 3:14; Php 4:11; Heb 13:5.) Such a disposition of heart and mind the saints were to strive always to avoid. The present imperative indicates that the situation was a continuing one, and therefore ever necessary to watch. This admonition of James we would all do well to consider earnestly. It is easy to become a chronic grumbler. It requires but few brains, and but little intelligence. It is the surest way to lose any friends one may have. Those who practice such are condemned.

that ye be not judged:—To murmur is to pass judgment of an adverse character upon others; and those who thus do shall be judged (condemned) themselves. Those who improperly assume the office of judge will themselves suffer judgment (condemnation.) There is an undoubted allusion to the words of the Lord in the Sermon on the Mount: “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye ? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou sec clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” (Mat 7:1-5.)

behold, the judge standeth before the doors.—Literally, “…is standing before the doors,” (pro ton thuron hesteken, perfect active indicative), and thus ready to execute sentence. The “judge” is Christ; the phrase, “before the door,” indicates his nearness. This statement corroborates our interpretation of the phrase, “the coming of the Lord is at hand,” inasmuch as it indicates that the certainty of the judgment was such that Christ is represented as even then standing outside the door ready to enter and execute judgment. That it was not intended to mean that this would actually occur in that day is evident from the fact that twenty centuries have passed and the judgment is yet future. All that is meant is that the day of retribution for the evil is certain and sure and the one who shall administer punishment should be regarded as at the door, ready to enter at any time. An inspired commentary on this statement, “standeth before the doors,” is to be seen in Rev 3:20, where Christ is represented as standing before the door of the church in Laodicea: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” The figure, “before the door,” represents Christ as (a) near; (b) in position to enter suddenly and unexpectedly ; and (c) ready to accomplish his purpose without delay. It was therefore vitally important that those to whom James wrote should cease their murmuring and complaining lest the Lord should open the door without advance notice and discover that instead of waiting patiently and faithfully for him they were fretful, dissatisfied and morose, and engaged in quarrels among themselves. The author had assured his readers that they would be blessed for their patience and longsuffering; and here he points out that if murmuring and dissatisfaction have been substituted therefore, they must suffer judgment themselves. God will not fail to avenge his faithful; but he will judge them if they fall short of his will. Compare Rom 12:19, with 1Pe 4:19. See, especially, in this connection, the parable of the wicked servant. (Luk 12:45-48.)

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

Be patient: or, Be long patient, or, Suffer with long patience, Luk 8:15, Rom 2:7, Rom 8:24, Rom 8:25, Rom 15:4, 2Co 6:4, 2Co 6:5, Gal 5:5, Gal 6:9, Col 1:11, 1Th 1:3, Heb 6:15, Heb 12:1-3

unto: Jam 5:8, Jam 5:9, Mat 24:27, Mat 24:44, Luk 18:8, Luk 21:27, 1Co 1:7, 1Th 2:19, 1Th 3:13, 2Pe 3:4

until: Deu 11:14, Jer 5:24, Hos 6:3, Joe 2:23, Zec 10:1

Reciprocal: Gen 8:12 – And he Gen 8:22 – seedtime Gen 42:36 – all these things are against me Lev 26:4 – Then I Deu 33:15 – General Jdg 5:28 – Why is Job 14:14 – all the days Psa 37:7 – wait Psa 40:1 – I waited Psa 62:1 – my soul Psa 94:15 – and all Psa 97:11 – sown Isa 26:8 – we Isa 28:16 – he that Isa 35:4 – behold Isa 64:4 – waiteth Lam 3:25 – good Hab 2:3 – wait Zep 3:8 – wait Luk 12:36 – men Luk 21:19 – General Joh 5:3 – waiting Joh 13:7 – What Rom 12:12 – patient 1Co 4:5 – until 2Th 1:4 – your patience Heb 6:7 – the earth Heb 10:36 – ye have Heb 10:37 – General Jam 1:4 – let 2Pe 1:6 – patience Rev 1:9 – in the Rev 2:3 – hast patience Rev 13:10 – Here

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE LESSON OF PATIENCE

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and the latter rain. Be ye also patient.

Jam 5:7-8

The patience of the Christian is inspired by hope. Like his Master, he endures for the joy that is set before him. Like the husbandman, he waits, knowing that the harvest will ripen in its own appointed time. And beyond all other consolations, his patience fastens itself upon the sure word of promise, the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

Be ye also patient.

I. How necessary this admonition is in our self-culture.We are often inclined to lose heart because the work of grace in us proceeds so slowly. We seem to make no progress. Failure follows failure. The old temptations come back to us long after we had thought them put to flight for ever. The old weakness shows itself long after we had fondly fancied it removed. And in a spirit of fretfulness we imagine that all our labour is lost and the harvest-tide of holiness will never come. Has nature no message of comfort for us in such moments of despondency? Do the fruits of the earth ripen instantaneously?

II. No less necessary is this command in our public work for Christ than in our culture of the inner life. A characteristic of our age is its impatient looking for results. It counts heads when the Master only counts hearts. It is feverish in its desire to see something in return for its efforts and expenditure. Christian worker, be on your guard against such a spirit as this. It is the foe to all that is best in religious effort. Results are not ours, but Gods; our part is not to grow weary in well-doing.

III. Yet once more we need to hear this admonition.In the sorrows of life we are apt to grow fretful and repining, and to forget the glorious afterward that is in store for those who are exercised thereby. The storms of winter are as necessary to the harvest as the suns of summer. The ice and the snow, the keen edge of the northern blast, the hard rigour of the frost and the heavy torrents of the leaden clouds all come forth from the treasury of God, and have their beneficent purpose in the economy of nature as truly as the golden sunshine and the vernal air. Nor is it otherwise in the economy of grace.

IV. Be patient, therefore, brethren.Early husbandry teaches us this lesson, but how much more impressively is it taught us when we lift our eyes from earth to heaven. My Father is the Husbandman. How long He has to wait for the harvest sometimes! Not a single season, not a year, but a score of years must often pass before He reaps from our lives their harvest of holy fruit. Long ago the good seed was dropped into the hearts of some of us by the Spirit of God, but He has not reaped His harvest yet. The weeds seem to grow so fast in us and the seed so slowly. The hair perhaps is beginning to be touched with silver, and yet the lessons of childhood have not borne their fruit. The harvest is so slow in coming! Behold, the Husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit, and hath long patience for it. Long patience! Yes, indeed; the patience and long-suffering of our God are marvellous, and some of us have strained them perhaps almost to the breaking-point. Shall we strain them longer yet? Let the infinite, condescending, redeeming love of a patient God begin to find its reward in us to-day. Let the Saviour gather in His sheaves at last. Hold the harvest back from Him no longer, but bid Him come and reap where he has so richly sown.

Rev. G. A. Sowter.

Illustration

Once when the philosopher of Chelsea was conversing with an English Bishop about the slow advance of Christianity, Carlyle asked with sudden vehemence, Bishop, have you a creed? Assuredly, was the Bishops answer, I have a creed which is as firm as the very ground beneath my feet. Then if you have such a creed, replied Carlyle, you can afford to wait. And so can we.

(SECOND OUTLINE)

ARE MISSIONS A FAILURE?

The Christian duty of working for the extension of our Lords kingdom upon the earth by supporting missions to the heathen is a subject which has claims on our attention at all seasons of the year, because every truth of the Christian creed, and every blessing of the Christian life which we successively commemorate, suggests high privileges of our own, and the need of those who who do not share them with us.

Now it is a matter of common remark that Christian missions are often looked upon somewhat coldly even by well-disposed people, much more coldly than ought to be possible for Christians with the love of the Lord Jesus Christ in their hearts.

I. The main reason for this coldness is, at least in very many cases, a mistaken estimate of what missions can be reasonably expected to achieve. People point to the large sums of money that are collected annually in this country and elsewhere, to the list of devoted men who give their lives to the missionary cause, to the sanction of Church authority, to the wide popular sympathies that are equally enlisted in the favour of missions, and then they ask: What does all this come to? What is the measure of achieved success? Where are the numerous converts who might be expected to be forthcoming after all this expenditure of varied effort? Is not the disproportion between what is said and done and the actual result so serious as to warrant the disappointment which is thus expresseda disappointment which is due not merely to a sense of failure, but to an accompanying suspicion of unreality? Yet this only is the natural product of one feature of the temper of our day. The human mind is largely influenced by the outward circumstances of the successive forms of civilisation in which it finds itself. We assume that the rate at which we travel and send messages must necessarily have its counterpart in all meritorious forms of human effort.

II. What is this modern way of looking at missions but an endeavour to apply to the kingdom of Divine grace those rules of investment, and return which are very properly kept in view in a house of commerce? Do you not see that this demand leaves God, the Great Missionary of all, out of the calculation? God has His own times for pouring out His Spirit, His own methods of silent preparation, His own measures of speed and of delay, and He does not take missionaries or the promoters of missionary societies into His confidence. He has a larger outlook than they, and more comprehensive plans, and whether He gives or withholds His gifts, of this we may be sure, in view of the truest and broadest interests of His spiritual kingdom: we appeal to His bounty, but we can but do as He bids us, and abide His time. As the eyes of a servant look unto the eyes of the master, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the eyes of her mistress, even so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, till He have mercy upon us; or, as St. James puts it, like as the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

III. Not that this reverent patience in waiting for Gods blessing is any excuse whatever for relaxing the zealous activity with which missionary efforts should be prosecuted by the Church of God. The husbandman does not the less plough the soil or the less sow the seed because he is uncertain whether his labour will be followed by the early and the latter rain. If he does not plough and sow he knows that the rain will be useless at least to him. It is quite possible for a secret indifference to the interests of Christ and His kingdom to veil itself under the garb of reverence, to refuse to help the work of Christian missions because we do not know how far God will promote a particular mission; but that is only one of the many forms of self-deceit which we Christians too often employ in order to evade Christian duties. Duties are for us, the results with God. We have no doubt, if we are Christians, as to what is our duty in this matter. Before us lies the greater part of the human race sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, with no true knowledge of God, and of the real meaning of life and of that which follows it; and above us there rises the Crossthat Cross to which we are indebted for peace and hope, that Cross on which He hangs Who is the only name given among men whereby men may be saved; and in our ears there sounds the command, uttered eighteen centuries ago, but always binding, always new, Ye shall be witnesses unto Me and unto all the world to preach the gospel to every creature. Our part is clear, even though after a century of labour we should have to say with the prophet: I have laboured in vain.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

Jas 5:7. James now addresses the poor brethren who had been unjustly treated, and on the basis of facts and truths just revealed, exhorts them to be patient unto the coming of the Lord when all wrongs will be adjusted. As an example of patience he refers to the husbandman or farmer as he proceeds in his business. Early and latter rain actually means the fall and spring rains. I shall quote from Smith’s Bible Dictionary as follows: “In the Bible ‘early rain’ signifies the rain of the autumn, and ‘latter rain’ the rain of spring. For six months in the year, from May to October, no rain falls, the whole land becomes dry, parched and brown. The autumnal rains are eagerly looked for, to prepare the earth for the reception of the seed.”

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Jas 5:7. The connection with the preceding paragraph is obvious and direct. St. James, having pronounced the doom of the rich oppressors, now proceeds to comfort the oppressed.

Be patient: literally, Be longsuffering; an exhortation both to forbearance toward their oppressors, and to a trustful waiting on God for deliverance. Their patience must not be short-lived, but enduring.

therefore: an inference from what precedes; seeing that there is a day of vengeance when the unbelieving and ungodly rich will be punished for their injustice, luxury, and oppression, and consequently a day of deliverance to them.

brethren. St. James having, in the spirit of an Old Testament prophet, apostrophized the ungodly rich who were outside the Church, now returns to his readers, the Jewish Christians, his brethren both in the flesh and in the spirit

unto the coming of the Lord: until this period continue to exercise longsuffering. What is wrong will then be redressed; what is evil will then be removed. The night may be dark and lonely; but the longest night comes to a close. By the Lord here is meant Christ, according to the analogy of Scripture, and the general expectation of the coming of Christ by believers (2Th 2:1-2). Though St. James applies the title Lord chiefly to God, yet he had previously applied it to Christ (Jas 2:1). Two different meanings have been attached to the phrase coming of the Lord. Some understand by it the coming of Christ in spirit to destroy Jerusalem, when the Romans were employed as the instruments of His vengeance upon the unbelieving Jews, and to which reference is made in the previous verses. Others, with greater probability, understand by it His coming in person to judge the world, or what is usually termed the second advent. How far the sacred writers distinguished between the destruction of Jerusalem and the future judgmentthe type and the antitypewe have no means of ascertaining. St. James, according to his usual custom, illustrates the necessity of patience by an example taken from natural life, that of the husbandman waiting for the harvest

Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. The early and latter rain are often mentioned in the Old Testament as essential for the production of the harvest: I will give you the rain in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil (Deu 11:14). The early rain was the autumnal showers, which fell from the middle of October to the end of November, and prepared the ground for the seed. The latter rain was the spring showers, which fell in March and April, and were necessary for the ripening of the crops.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Observe here, 1. The duty exhorted to, patience: Be patient, brethren. Patience is a sense of afflictions without murmuring, and of injuries without revenge. It is the duty of Christians to be patient under their sufferings, though they be long and sharp.

Observe, 2. The argument to enforce this duty, The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. This may be understood of Christ’s particular coming to judge his murderers at Jerusalem, which was then at hand, or of his general coming to judge the world at the last day. As if our apostle had said, “Have a little patience, and when your Lord cometh he will put a period to all your afflictions; with desire long for his coming, and yet with patience wait for it.”

Observe, 3. A pattern of patience, propounded in the husbandman, he waiteth, and waiteth long for the time of harvest; and in order thereunto, for the former and latter rain, to prepare the corn for the day of a joyful harvest. Now, in imitation of the husbandman, the patient Christian thus argues with himself: “If the husbandman waits with patience for the coming of the harvest, shall not I wait with perseverance for the coming of my Lord? The approach of harvest is precious to him, and shall not the appearance of Christ be so to me? Shall he endure so much for a little corn, and not I much more for a heavenly kingdom?

Observe, 4. The direction given in order to the obtaining of this patience and long suffering, stablish your hearts; that is, in a firm expectaion of Christ’s coming, believe that he will come certainly, and may come suddenly, and sooner perhaps than you may apprehend.

Learn hence, that it is the duty of Christians, in and under their afflictions, to stablish their hearts in a firm belief of the coming and appearance of Christ, to put a final period to all their sufferings, and to reward their victorious faith and patience: Be ye also patient, stablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Christians Need To Be Patient

James urges the brethren to patiently endure just as the Lord did ( Jas 5:7 ; Mat 5:38-48 ). At the coming of the Lord, James urged his readers to remember, all will be rewarded according to their deeds ( Joh 5:28-29 ). This should cause us to patiently endure what others do to us because the Lord will reward them. Also, it should cause us to patiently remain in service because the Lord will reward us.

The Christian’s patience should be like that of the farmer in Israel who waited for the early rain to help the seed germinate and the latter rain to help it gain fullness before the harvest. Impatience will not speed the harvest, nor the coming of the Lord ( Mar 4:28-29 ). So, James encourages them to stabilize their hearts and firmly set them to await the coming of the Lord. The Christian, knowing Christ’s teachings on his second coming, should always think of the Lord’s return as imminent ( Jas 5:8 ; Mat 24:36-44 ; Mat 25:13 ).

With the great external pressure of persecution, it would have been natural to vent some frustration by grumbling and blaming others for their problems. James warned his Christian readers against such because blaming another would lead to condemnation. Instead, he told them to always be prepared for the judge’s return by picturing Jesus at the door ready to enter. They would not want to be guilty of wrongful, or harsh judgment, knowing the judge was ready to come any time ( Jas 5:9 ).

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

Jas 5:7-9. Be patient therefore, brethren He now addresses the pious, oppressed, and persecuted disciples of Christ: as if he had said, Since the Lord will soon come to punish them, and relieve you, patiently bear the injuries which rich men offer you, and quietly wait till he come. Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit Which will recompense his labour and patience; till he receive the early, or the former rain Immediately after sowing; and the latter Before harvest. In Judea the rains usually come in a regular manner; the early rain about the beginning of November, after the seed is sown, and the latter in the middle or toward the end of April, while the ears are filling. These rains were promised to the Israelites, Deu 11:14, where see the note, and on Hos 6:3. Be ye also patient Like the husbandman; stablish , strengthen, or confirm; your hearts In faith and patience, considering that your sufferings will not be long; the coming of the Lord To destroy your persecutors; draweth nigh And so does his coming to rescue his people from the troubles of this life by death, and to judge the world in righteousness at the last day. Grudge, or, groan, not As signifies; one against another Groaning is caused by oppression; and when it is merely the natural expression of affliction, it is perfectly consistent with genuine piety, and moves God to pity the afflicted person, Jdg 2:18 : but when it is the effect of impatience, or when it implies a desire of revenge, it becomes criminal, and is the kind of groaning which the apostle forbids. Some read the clause, Murmur not one against another: that is, have patience also with each other; lest ye be condemned Lest you all suffer for it, and perish in the common calamity; behold the Judge Christ; standeth before the door Hearing every word, marking every thought, and ready to execute those judgments.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

ARGUMENT 13

THE FORMER AND LATER RAINS

7. The people in the Apostolic age were on the constant outlook for the Lord to return to the earth. If the Apostolic Church had been true to the Pentecostal experience our Lord would have returned in the glory of His kingdom before the expiration of that generation. Mat 16:28. It is certain that the true attitude of saintship is that of constant expectancy of our Lords return to this world. It is the normal inspiration of all saints to be robed and ready every moment to salute our glorious King. Inspired truth is very simple and unique, consisting of the isolated dogma of sin and its remedy. However, the Holy Ghost utilizes infinitesimal imagery, deduced from every ramification of the material world, to elucidate and enforce this grand primary truth. The autumnal rains are indispensable to soften the earth preparatory for the farmers plow and the reception of the seed wheat. Then he is dependent on the spring rains to produce the crop. Here the Holy Spirit uses this familiar agricultural illustration to enforce the great truth in the gracious economy, involving the absolute necessity of the two experiences. Regeneration sows the seed and sanctification produces the crop of holiness for the heavenly garner.

8. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. The Greek parousia, coming, literally means presence, setting forth the fact that our Lord will come to stay and reign upon the earth. Oh, what an inspiration to a soul!

9. The momentary anticipation of our Lords return to the earth should silence all cavil, vilification, strife, controversy and unkind criticism forever.

10. We derive infinite value from the patience and heroism of our noble predecessors in the Lords kingdom, whose testimonies light up all by- gone ages. The mob having assaulted John Wesleys meeting, extinguished the lights, and stampeded the audience in the darkness; seizing the preacher, they dragged him away and beat him till they thought he was dead, then skulked away. While the man of God lays suffering in his blood till day dawned, he composed that beautiful hymn,

Shall Simon bear the cross alone, And all the world go free? No; there is a cross for every one, And theres a cross for me,

thus manifesting the most angelic spirit of the man amid the bloody persecutions.

11. Here James makes pertinent and beautiful allusion to the patient suffering of Job and the end which the Lord brought to the memorable tragedy when those three great anti-holiness preachers, i.e.; Eliphas, Bildad and Zophar, united in a debate with Job against his testimony of Christian perfection. Upon his final appeal from their verdict to God, behold, Jehovah descends in a whirlwind and accepts the situation, turns the debate into a holiness meeting, says to Eliphas, Bildad and Zophar, You have not spoken that which is right concerning me as my servant Job hath; therefore offer a sacrifice of some rams and some bullocks and my servant Job shall pray for you. Four represents humanity, i.e., the world North, East, South and West. Three represents God. Therefore seven throughout the Bible represents our Savior the incarnation of all perfection. Hence we see that God required them to make a perfect consecration. Behold the beautiful scene Eliphas, Bildad and Zophar, all on their knees, seeking sanctification, Job praying for them, God Almighty conducting the service, and Elihu, that young holiness evangelist who had been scared out of his testimony by these big preachers till God came, when he said he would burst if he did not testify, shouting aloud. Job was not a Jew, but an Arab, belonging not to the Mosaic but to the Patriarchal dispensation. History says he was one hundred and forty years old at the time of his afflictions. After his wonderful restoration he lived one hundred and forty years more. Meanwhile his estates were all given back double and the same number of children given back, which added to his former family, who were not destroyed but in heaven, made them also double.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Jas 5:7-11. Patience in Jas 5:7-8; Jas 5:10 is different from endurance in n, Heb 12:1 f.; it is the opposite of short-temperedness or impatience. The farmer does his work and then can only wait for a harvest which he can do nothing to hurry. The Coming of the Lord is a phrase appropriating to Yahwehand in Christian language to Christa term almost technical for royal visits. (With our new knowledge of the profane use of the word, mg. becomes misleading.) The former rain follows the sowing, the latter comes just before the corn ripens. This epistle belongs to the period when all Christians still believed in the imminence of the Advent (contrast 2Pe 3:4, written perhaps two generations later); and even among Jews, as the apocalyptic literature shows, such a belief could readily find acceptance. The Lord is a title which Christian writer and Jewish reader would understand differently. The latter would equally fail to trace the source of Jas 5:9 (Mat 7:1), and the personality of the expected Judge (Mat 25:31 ff.) who is at the door (Mar 13:29). The examples chosen to encourage faithful men are almost enough alone to show that James writes to Jews; the higher example of Heb 12:2 f. is in his heart, but must not yet be set down with the pen. When the Sauls to whom he writes have become Pauls, they will understand.

Jas 5:11 suggests a Beatitude, Blessed are they that have endured to the end, for they shall be saved (Mar 13:13). Jobs endurance lies in the persistence of his trust in God (cf. Job 13:15); for the end, cf. Job 42:12it proved that God worketh all things for good with them that love God (Rom 8:28, cf. mg.).

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 7

Be patient therefore; that is, in enduring the oppression above described.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

Mr. D’s Notes on James

Jam 5:7-12

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

“Be patient” and do it right now! Patient is not in the vocabulary of most people these days. They not only want it ALL they want it ALL RIGHT NOW.

Remember, this is in the context of the rich being terrible to the worker, and James tells them to be patient. Be patient when in trouble and when you are being treated terribly.

Just how patient should we be? Should we stand by when others are being treated miserably? Should we hold our peace when we are facing terrible times?

There are Christians around the world today that are going to court to gain their rights. Not, like us in America over prayer and Bible reading in the schools, but for their lives, for their future and for their right to worship.

1Pe 2:21-23 mentions: “21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed [himself] to him that judgeth righteously:”

He suffered, and He is our example. If we want to answer our questions let us look at how our EXAMPLE for this life suffered.

Mat 27:27-31 “21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed [himself] to him that judgeth righteously:”

Mar 15:19-20 “19 And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing [their] knees worshipped him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.”

Of course there is the reality that He was here to die, and that to fulfill prophecy He was to give Himself up to the cross, but how does this relate to us? How far should we go in our humbleness and patience when trouble comes upon us?

We also have the example of Paul that called upon his Roman citizenship as a means of gaining a hearing, but we also see in him a willingness to give a defense, a witness and leave it to the authorities. Thus we might want to take careful use of our rights and do what we can within the system we live in; however we ought also to attempt to retain the possibility of witnessing through and after our hard times, to those that seek to give us trouble.

The reality of this life is that God will take care of all injustice to His people either now or later. You know that old story from our days as children – “My dad is bigger en yer dad!” Well, I have to tell you, my Father is bigger en all other dads combined, and He is going to care for any wrong that needs caring for when it comes to His son.

“Be patient” has the idea we have of patience, but also has the idea of length of patience. That is why we use the term long suffering. It isn’t just patient today, but also to continue to be patient as long as it takes. In fact the word is translated “hath long patience” later in the verse.

Some might ask, well just how long suffering do we have to be? Well, James says, till the coming of the Lord. That would relate to, be patient until the end if it takes that long. This is the rapture that James is speaking of, that physical appearing of the Lord – that may well be a long time, indeed, it may be all your life and then a bunch of years, we don’t know.

It is of note that the disciples asked the Lord how many times they should forgive someone. His answer was “Until seventy times seven.” Mat 18:22 b. Relate this to the numbers Daniel uses in his prophecy of the end time and you must wonder if we aren’t to forgive till the end as well.

“The coming” is the Greek word “parousia” and relates to the visible return of Christ for His brethren.

The thought is to be patient until the end if need be. Till all is done and God settles all accounts, would work for the text.

Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson

5:7 {2} Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. {3} Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

(2) He applies that to the poor, which he spoke against the rich, warning them to wait for the Lord’s coming patiently, who will avenge the injuries which the rich men do to them.

(3) The taking away of an objection: Although his coming seems to linger, yet at the least we must follow the farmer, we who do patiently wait for the times that are fitting for the fruits of the earth. And again, God will not postpone the least bit of the time that he has appointed.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

B. The Proper Attitude 5:7-12

Essentially the attitude of the rich that James condemned was: Get all you can as fast as you can any way you can. In the following pericope he counseled a different attitude to urge his readers, rich and poor, to practice patience.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

1. The exhortation to be patient 5:7-9

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Because of the dangers James just expounded, believers should adopt a patient attitude. The verb makrothymesate (be patient) describes "self-restraint which does not hastily retaliate a wrong." [Note: J. B. Lightfoot, Saint Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, p. 138.] The Lord’s return is near (cf. Mar 13:32-37; Php 4:5; 1Pe 4:7; 1Jn 2:18).

"The word parousias (’coming’) was a common term used to describe the visit of a king to a city or province of his kingdom and thus depicts Christ as a royal personage." [Note: Burdick, p. 201.]

The early rains came shortly after planting in Palestine in late October and early November. The late rains followed as the crop was maturing in late March and early April. This reference may imply a Palestinian origin for the epistle. James knew agriculture in Palestine. The point of James’ illustration of the farmer seems to be that as Christians we are primarily sowing and cultivating in this life, not mainly reaping rewards.

"The picture is that of the small farmer in Palestine . . . The small farmer plants his carefully saved seed and hopes for a harvest, living on short rations and suffering hunger during the last weeks. The whole livelihood, indeed the life itself, of the family depends on a good harvest: the loss of the farm, semistarvation, or death could result from a bad year. So the farmer waits for an expected future event (ekdechetai); no one but he could know now precious the grain really is . . ." [Note: Davids, The Epistle . . ., p. 183.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 24

PATIENCE IN WAITING-THE ENDURANCE OF JOB-THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MENTION OF JOB BY ST. JAMES.

Jam 5:7-11

“BE patient, therefore, brethren.” The storm of indignation is past, and from this point to the end of the Epistle St. James writes in tones of tenderness and affection. In the paragraph before us he, as it were, rounds off his letter, bringing it back to the point from which he started; so that what follows (Jam 5:12-20) is of the nature of a postscript or appendix. He began his letter with the exhortation, “Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold trials; knowing that the proof of your faith worketh patience. And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing” (Jam 1:2-4). He draws to a close with the charge, “Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.”

The “therefore” shows that this sympathetic exhortation of the brethren is closely connected with the stern denunciation of the rich in the preceding paragraph. The connection is obvious. These brethren are in the main identical with the righteous poor who are so cruelly oppressed by the rich; and St. James offers them consolation mainly on two grounds: First, their sufferings will not last for ever; on the contrary, the end of them is near at hand. Secondly, the end of them will bring not only relief, but reward.

As has been already pointed out, St. James evidently shared the belief, which prevailed in the Apostolic age, that Jesus Christ would very speedily return in glory to punish the wicked and reward the righteous. This belief, as Neander observes, was very natural: “Christ Himself had not chosen to give any information respecting the time of his coming. Nay, He had expressly said that the Father had reserved the decision to Himself; {Mar 13:32} that even the Son could determine nothing respecting it. But still, the longing desire of the Apostolic Church was directed with eager haste to the appearing of the Lord. The whole Christian period seemed only as the transition-point to the eternal, and thus as something that must soon be passed. As the traveler, beholding from afar the object of all his wanderings, overlooks the windings of the intervening way, and believes himself already near his goal, so it seemed to them, as their eye was fixed on that consummation of the whole course of events on earth.”

Thus, by a strange but unperceived incongruity, St. James makes the unconscious impatience of primitive Christianity a basis for his exhortation to conscious patience. Early Christians, in their eagerness for the return of their Lord, impatiently believed that His return was imminent; and St. James uses this belief as an argument for patient waiting and patient endurance. It is only for a short time that they will have to wait and endure, and then the rich reward will be reaped. Ploughing and harrowing are toilsome and painful, but they have to be gone through, and then, after no intolerable waiting, the harvest comes.

Above, when St. James was rebuking his readers for their presumptuous confidence respecting their future plans, he reminded them of the shortness of life. “What is your life? For ye are a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away”. {Jam 4:14} Here the shortness of the interval between the present moment and the end of all things is urged as a reason both for circumspection and for patience. In both cases, with his characteristic fondness for illustrations drawn from nature, he employs physical phenomena to enforce his lesson. In the one case life is a vapor, not substantial at any time, and soon dispersed; in the other case life is the work and the waiting which must precede the harvest.

The key-note of the whole passage is patience, which in one form or another occurs six times in five verses. In the original two different words are used-one ( and ) four times in the first four verses; and the other ( and ) twice in the last verse, where we certainly need “the endurance of Job” rather than “the patience of Job,” in order to preserve the transition from the one word to the other. “Take, brethren, for an example of suffering and of patience () the prophets who spake in the Name of the Lord. Behold, we call them blessed which endured (): ye have heard of the endurance () of Job.” It was perhaps because “the patience of Job” has become a proverbial formula that the Revisers banished “endurance” to the margin, instead of placing it in the text. The two words are not infrequently found together (2Co 6:4-6; Col 1:11; 2Ti 3:10; Clement of Rome, 58; Ignatius, “Ephes.,” 3.). The difference between the two is, on the whole, this, that the first is the longsuffering which does not retaliate upon oppressive persons, the second the endurance which does not succumb under oppressive things. The persecuted prophets exhibited the one; the afflicted Job exhibited the other. The oppressed and poor Christians whom St. James addresses are able to practice both these forms of patience, which Chrysostom extols as the “queen of the virtues.”

There is a remarkable diversity of readings in the illustration about the husbandmans waiting. Some authorities make him wait for the early and latter rain, others for the early and latter fruit. The best witnesses leave the substantive to be understood, and this is doubtless the original reading; it accounts for the other two. Some copyists thought that rain was to be understood, and therefore inserted it; while others for a similar reason inserted fruit. No doubt it is rain that is intended, in accordance with several passages in the Old Testament. {Deu 11:14; Jer 5:24; Joe 2:23; Zec 10:1} The rains of autumn and of spring are meant, not “morning rain and evening rain” as Luther renders it in his version; and no moral or spiritual facts are symbolized by these natural phenomena, such as the penitential tears of youth and of old age, which would not fit the context. The point of the simile lies in the patient waiting, not in that which is waited for.

“Murmur not, brethren, one against another.” The literal meaning of the Greek is “Groan not”; that is, “Grumble not.” Earlier English versions have “Grudge not”; and “grudge” once had the meaning of “murmur,” as in “They will run here and there for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied.” {Psa 59:15} It is altogether a mistake to suppose that “one against another” includes the wealthy oppressors spoken of in the preceding section. It is the common experience of every one that men who are irritated and exasperated by trying persons or circumstances are liable to vent their vexation on those who are in no way responsible for what tries them. St. James is well aware of this danger, and puts his readers on their guard against it. “Be longsuffering,” he says, “and do not retaliate on those who maltreat you; and do not let the smart of your troubles betray you into impatience towards one another. He who is to judge your oppressors will judge you also, and He is close at hand.” We can hardly doubt that Christs saying, “Judge not, that ye be not judged,” {Mat 7:1} is in his mind. The way to lighten ones burden is not to groan over it, still less to murmur against those who are in the same case, but to try to console and help them. “Bear ye one anothers burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” It is a good thing to take as an example of patience the prophets and others among Gods suffering saints; but it is a still better thing to give such an example ourselves.

By the prophets St. James no doubt means the prophets of the Old Testament-Elijah, Jeremiah, and others. It is not likely that he includes any of the persecuted disciples of the New Testament, such as James the son of Zebedee, and Stephen. Here again we seem to have an echo of Christs words: “Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you” (comp. “We call them blessed which endured”): “for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you”. {Mat 5:11-12} It is the ceaseless reproach against the Jews that they boasted that theirs were the prophets, and yet were the persecutors of the prophets. “The children of Israel have slain Thy prophets with the sword,” says Elijah. {1Ki 19:10; 1Ki 19:14} “That I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets,” says God to Elisha. {2Ki 9:7} They “slew Thy prophets which testified against them. to turn them again to Thee,” says Nehemiah, in his prayer. {Neh 9:26} “Your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion,” is the accusation of Jeremiah. {Jer 2:30} “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her!” is the lamentation of Christ. {Mat 23:37} And Stephen, just before he was himself added to the number of the slain, asks, “Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed them which showed before of the coming of the Righteous One”. {Act 7:52} Certainly those who try to do Gods work in the world have no lack of examples of patient suffering for such work. The reasonable question would seem to be, not, “Why should I be made to suffer for endeavoring to do good?” but, “Why should I not be made to suffer? Seeing what others have had to endure, why should I be spared?”

“Ye have heard of the endurance of Job.” It is possible that this refers specially to the reading of the Book of Job in public service; but there is no need to restrict the hearing to such occasions. We need not doubt that the endurance of Job was a familiar topic among the Jews long before this Epistle was written, and independently of the book being read in the synagogues. Yet, in spite of this familiarity, the passage before us is the only reference in the whole of the New Testament to the story of Job, and there is only one quotation from the Book: “He taketh the wise in their own craftiness” {Job 5:13} is quoted by St. Paul. {1Co 3:19} There are several loose quotations from it in the Epistle of Clement of Rome (17, 20, 26, 39, 56); and the remarkable insertion in the Vulgate Version of /RAPC Tob 2:12 is worthy of quotation: “This trial the Lord therefore permitted to happen to him, that an example might be given to posterity of his patience, as also of holy Job. For whereas he had always feared God from his infancy, and kept His commandments, he repined not against God because the evil of blindness had befallen him, but continued immovable in the fear of God, giving thanks to God all the days of his life. For as the kings insulted over holy Job, so his relations and kinsmen mocked at his life, saying, Where is thy hope, for which thou gavest alms, and buriedest the dead? But Tobias rebuked them, saying, Speak not so; for we are the children of saints, and look for that life which God will give to them that never change their faith from Him.”

“Ye have heard of the endurance of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful.” A well-supported, but, on the whole, less probable reading, gives us the imperative, “see the end of the Lord,” instead of the indicative, “ye have seen” (Mere instead of ). If it be correct, it may be taken either with what precedes or with what follows: either, “Ye have heard of the endurance of Job: see also the end of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful”; or, “Ye have heard of the endurance of Job and the end of the Lord; see that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful.”

But a more important question than either the reading or the division of the clauses is the meaning of the expression “the end of the Lord.” Bede follows Augustine in understanding it of the death of Christ, which no doubt many of the readers of the Epistle had witnessed-“Exitum quoque Domini in cruce quem longanimiter suscepit, adstantes ipsi vidistis”; and in this interpretation Bede is followed by Wetstein, Lange, and some other modern writers. It cannot be considered as probable. St. James would hardly couple the endurance of Job with the death of Christ in this abrupt way; and the words which follow-“that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful”-do not fit on to this interpretation. “The end of the Lord” much more probably means the end to which the Lord brought the sufferings of Job. It may have special reference to the concluding portion of the Book of Job, in which Jehovah is represented as bringing the argument to a close: “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” etc., etc. {Job 38:1-41} This appearance of Jehovah to end the trials of Job would then be analogous to the appearance of Christ to end the trials of the persecuted Christians; and it is possible that the combination “ye have heard and have seen” was suggested by the last words of Job: “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes”. {Job 42:5-6}

Stier remarks that the mention of Job in Ezekiel, {Eze 14:14; Eze 14:16; Eze 14:20} and here by St. James, shows us “that the man Job actually lived, like Noah, Daniel, and all the prophets; that the narrative of his life is not a didactic poem, but a real history.” But is that a necessary conclusion? Let us leave on one side the question whether or no there really was such a person as Job, who experienced what is recorded in the book which bears his name, and let us consider whether the mention of him by Ezekiel and by St. James proves that there was such a person. It proves nothing of the sort. It shows no more than this, that the story of Job was well known, and was employed for moral and spiritual instruction. Let us suppose that the Book of Job is a parable, like that of Dives and Lazarus. Would the fact that its contents are not historical prevent Ezekiel or St. James from speaking of Job as a well-known person of exemplary life? There would be nothing unnatural in coupling together Dives, who is probably an imaginary person, and the rich young man, who is certainly a real person, as examples of men to whom great wealth has proved disastrous, nor, again, in speaking of Lazarus and the penitent thief as instances of souls that had passed from great earthly suffering to the rest of Paradise. Such combinations would not commit the writer or speaker who made use of them to the belief that Dives and Lazarus were historical persons. Why, then, should the fact that an inspired writer couples Job with Noah and Daniel commit us to the belief that Job is a real person? He may have been so, just as Lazarus may have been so, but the mention of him by Ezekiel and by St. James does not prove that he was. We know too little about the effects of inspiration to be justified in saying dogmatically that an inspired writer would never speak of an unhistorical person as an example to be imitated. Is the merchant who sold all that he had in order to buy one pearl of great price a historical person? and is he not put before us as an example to be imitated? It is quite possible that the story of Job is in the main a narrative of facts, and not an inspired fiction; but the mention of him by Ezekiel and by St. James is no proof of it. It is neither fair nor prudent to cite either of them as witnesses to the historical character of the Book of Job. It is not fair, because we are ignorant of their opinion on the subject, and are also ignorant as to whether their opinion on the subject would be under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And it is not prudent, because it may be demonstrated hereafter that the story of Job is not historical; and then we shall have pledged the testimony of inspired persons to the truth of a narrative which is, after all, fictitious. If St. Paul may cite Jannes and Jambres as instances of malignant opposition to the truth, without compelling us to believe that those names are historical, St. James may quote Job as an example of patient endurance, without obliging us to believe that Job is a historical personage. In each case the historical character of the illustrations must be decided on other grounds than the fact that they are employed by writers who were inspired. Questions of this kind are among the many spheres in which we need that virtue on which St. James here insists with such simple earnesthess-patience. When certainty has not been attained, and perhaps is not attainable, let us learn to wait patiently in uncertainty. Was there ever such a person as Job? Who wrote the Book of Job? What is its date? Does inspiration produce infallibility? and if so, what are the limits to such infallibility? There are men to whom uncertainty on such questions as these seems intolerable. They cannot “learn to labor and to wait”; they cannot work patiently, and wait patiently, until a complete solution is found. And hence they hurry to a definite conclusion, support it by evidence that is not relevant, and affirm that it is demonstrated by what is perhaps relevant, but is far short of proof. Intellectual probation is part of our moral probation in this life, and it is a discipline much needed in an age of great mental activity. Impatience of the intellect is a common blemish, and it is disastrous both to him who allows himself to be conquered by it and to the cause of truth. He does good service both to himself and to others, who cultivates a dread of jumping to unproved conclusions, and who in speaking and writing watchfully distinguishes what is certain from what is only probable, and what is probable from what is only not known to be untrue. The great example of patience is not given by St. James, although we can read it into his words. In a sense not meant by him there is the Husbandman, who waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, until it receive the early and the latter rain. There is that precious harvest of human souls which must receive and welcome the dew of Gods grace before it is ready for His garner. On some it has never yet fallen; on some it has fallen, but as yet in vain; and meanwhile the Husbandman waiteth, “being patient over it,” until it receive the one thing needful. Through long, long centuries He has been waiting, and He continues so doing. St. Augustine tells us why. God is “patient, because He is eternal” (pattens quiaaeternus). He who is “from everlasting to everlasting” can afford to wait. He waits patiently for us, generation after generation. Can we not wait for Him one hour? Let us patiently abide until “the end of the Lord” comes, the end which He has prepared for us, and towards which all things under His guiding hand are working. When we have seen it we shall once more see “that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful.”

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary