A Living Faith Evidenced in Perseverance through Persecution (James 5:1-6) – Part 1
In James 4:1–12, James began addressing the last example of being a doer of the Word—keeping oneself unspotted from the world. He continues that theme of worldliness since worldliness is living without reference to God. And each of the following subsections can best be understood as living without reference to God.
- Arrogantly living without reference to God leads to presumption (James 4:13–17)
- Arrogantly living without reference to God leads to mistreating others (James 5:1–6)
- In response to such mistreatment, believers must be patient in suffering until the coming of the Lord (James 5:7–11)
- Arrogantly living without reference to God leads to hypocritical dishonesty—as if God won’t call you to account (James 5:12)
In this post we’ll focus on James 5:1–6 and the believer’s response to mistreatment, evidencing a living faith. James addresses a group categorized as the rich—parallel to the prophetic call to listen up in James 4:13. Are these the same group of people addressed in James 4:13–17? Are these believers or unbelievers? Most commentators believe that James addresses unbelievers—a different group of rich people from James 4:13–17. Why?
First, this group of rich people is contrasted with the righteous in James 4:6 (see also James 2:6). Second, believers are counseled in James 4:7–11 on how to respond to their persecutors. Third, the descriptions and rebukes seem to indicate a kind of final judgment and condemnation of those who show little hope of repentance. The expectation is that only Christ’s return in judgment will bring to an end the mistreatment of the righteous at the hands of these rich.
Why address unbelievers directly in a letter written to believers? It is appropriate to communicate prophetic denunciations of the wicked for them to “overhear” and so that believers can be encouraged by God’s assurances on such matters.
James 5:1–3 opens with a warning of coming condemnation and suffering. A divine reversal will take place when the Day of the Lord arrives. (The theme of divine reversal can be seen exemplified throughout Scripture as a major theme: 1 Sam 2:1–10, the first mention of the Anointed One/Messiah; Luke 1:46–52, Mary’s praise of that coming Anointed One; Matt 20:16, a theme in Jesus’ teaching; reflective of many biblical narratives).
Note well that James is not confronting all rich people. He is confronting a particular group of rich people who defraud and mistreat God’s righteous ones, motivated by persecuting the righteous poor. What suffering/loss is predicted for this group of rich people (James 5:1–3)?
First, James predicts that these people will weep and howl as a result of divine judgment (Isa 13:6). Second, James predicts that all the treasures they hoarded up by defrauding the poor will end up being rotted and moth-eaten (see also Matt 6:19–20; Luke 12:15–21). In other words, the treasures they laid up for the last days will be wrath traded in for the temporal things that didn’t last anyways. Not a very good trade off.
In fact, the hoarded, rotted treasures they collected by defrauding the righteous poor will be used as “Exhibit A” in the final judgement. They have only hoarded up the evidence that will be used to condemn them. Hoarding ill -gotten gain deserves judgment and will come back to haunt them. This hoard will be an instrument of affliction—a convicting reminder of why they are suffering the torture of eternal flames of fire. They thought they were storing up treasure, but they were only storing up more wrath.
After detailing the suffering, James indicates the basis of this judgment (James 5:4–6). First, they are guilty of defrauding or cheating workers out of their fair wages due to them. This is especially egregious in a subsistence culture (Lev 19:13; Deut 24:14–15). Second, in the face of those who were suffering, the rich lived in self-indulgence. While others lacked the basic necessities (due to being defrauded), these rich basked in luxurious opulence, hoarding more than they ever could use. The picture is of those who are over-fed and unconcerned. And yet, they are like the fattened cattle being readied for the kill.
As a result, these rich are guilty of what is tantamount to murder. Failing to help the needy who die in a subsistence culture due to your actions of defrauding them and hoarding resources will be judged by God as murder. These rich have not reckoned with the torment they will receive without relief (Luke 16:25).
The righteous may have no means or ability to resist, but the sovereign Lord of hosts hears their cries. The Lord of hosts conjures up the picture of an avenging God gathering his host of armies for the Day of the Lord judgment. A day of slaughter is coming (Rom. 12:19).
In application, we must be careful to clarify that James is not denouncing wealth but the ill-gotten gain of wealth at the expense of others who are defrauded. James is speaking out against the misuse of wealth. James details the actions and attitudes that specifically demonstrate wrongdoing; it is not an attack on the rich or economic systems but on immoral, unethical behavior that brought about the wealth and uncharitableness.1
Kevin Collins has served as a junior high youth leader in Michigan, a missionary in Singapore, a Christian School teacher in Utah, and a Bible writer for the BJU Press. He currently works for American Church Group of South Carolina. He also blogs at his other two sites, Gospel in the Marketplace and The Fire and Hammer.
Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
- For a more detailed critique against the misapplications of this text as used by leftists and liberation theologians, see Moo, James, 210–212 and Hiebert, James, 259. [↩]