James 5 Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged
I can not stress enough how important it is study God’s Word than just surface reading it or merely listening to social media and/or sermons. Too many words in the scriptures have more than one meaning. Also, the meaning of some words are often modified based on the context; for example, rich.
James 5:1 (KJV), “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.”
The original text reads, “come now [you] rich..,”
Strong’s Concordance (4145) – plousios: wealthy.
Now, look at this verse…
Proverbs 10:22 (KJV), “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”
Strong’s Concordance (6238) – ashar: to be or become rich. Brown-Driver-Briggs – thou dost greatly enrich it (the land).
James 5:1 is referring to the rich of the world where Proverbs 10:22 refers to God giving an abundant of blessings.
Proverbs 11:28 (KJV), “He that trusteth in his riches shall fall; but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.”
Worldly riches will ultimately destroy you
James 5:5-6 (KJV), “5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. 6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.”
Do not want for earthly riches, be patient for your riches are in Heaven
James 5:7 (KJV), “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.”
Matthew 6:19-21 (KJV), “19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Hold out and be patient for the Lord is coming
James 5:8 (KJV), “Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon (1448) –2. intransitive, to draw or come near, to approach.
Be careful of how you interpret the word, ‘condemned’
James 5:9 (KJV), “Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.”
Strong’s Concordance (2919) – krinó: to judge, decide.
Note the root word may mean condemn but in this context:
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon – a. to pronounce an opinion concerning right and wrong.
“…the judge standeth before the door.”
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon (2923) – of Christ returning to sit in judgment.
Another word that can be taken different ways, depending on context
James 5:12 (KJV), “But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.”
Matthew 5:34-37 (KJV), “34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”
Strong’s Concordance (3660) – omnuó: to swear, take an oath. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon – in swearing to call a person or thing as witness, to invoke, swear by.
The scriptures does talk about using foul language
Ephesians 4:29 (KJV), “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”
Ephesians 5:4 (KJV), “Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.”
People often criticize others for calling out a sin and say, “judge not lest he be judged”
Matthew 7:1-6 (KJV), “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”
Remember, judging is not the same as chastening. Bring Back the Erring One
James 5:19-20 (KJV), “19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”
Ecclesiastes 7:5 (KJV), “It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.”
Proverbs 9:8 (KJV), “Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.”
Hebrews 2
Without Christ we are doomed
Hebrews 2:2-3 (KJV), “2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; 3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.”
Remember from the previous chapter
Hebrews 1:3-4 (KJV), “3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: 4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”
And then the first verse of this chapter
Hebrews 2:1 (KJV), “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”
Strong’s Concordance (1223) – dia: through, on account of, because of. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon – through, on account of, because of.
[1] “The apostle proceeds in the plain profitable method of doctrine, reason, and use, through this epistle. Here we have the application of the truths before asserted and proved; this is brought in by the illative particle therefore, with which this chapter begins, and which shows its connection with the former, where the apostle having proved Christ to be superior to the angels by whose ministry the law was given, and therefore that the gospel dispensation must be more excellent than the legal, he now comes to apply this doctrine both by way of exhortation and argument.” (Henry)
That God had made him a little lower than the angels, in his being made man, that he might suffer and humble himself to death
Hebrews 2:9 (KJV), “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”
God sent His Son to take on death and become our High Priest
Hebrews 2:14-15 (KJV), “14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
Hebrews 2:17 (KJV), “17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.”
Jeremiah 6 Impending Destruction from the North
A prophecy of the invading of the land of Judah and the besieging of Jerusalem by the Chaldean army
Jeremiah 6:1 (KJV), “O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.”
A place in the tribe of Judah where the Benjamites were to set up a beacon when they heard the trumpet against the invading army of the Babylonians. It is probable that this place is the modern ‘Ain Karim, or “well of the vineyards,” near which there is a ridge on which are cairns which may have served as beacons of old, one of which is 40 feet high and 130 in diameter.
The sacrifices of the wicked are not acceptable to God
Jeremiah 6:20 (KJV), “To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.”
Proverbs 15:8 (KJV), “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.”
Proverbs 25 Daily reading
All of the kings of Judah were required to read and rewrite the scriptures
Proverbs 25:1 (KJV), “These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.”
Ezekiel 5 The Guilt of Jerusalem; The Punishment of Jerusalem (594 B.C.)
Ezekiel 5:5-6 (KJV), 5 Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. 6 And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.”
[1] Matthew Henry
Grow in the Word of the Lord 