7 Be patient, then, my friends, until the Lord comes. See how patient farmers are as they wait for their land to produce precious crops. They wait patiently for the autumn and spring rains.
8 You also must be patient. Keep your hopes high, for the day of the Lord's coming is near.
9 Do not complain against one another, my friends, so that God will not judge you. The Judge is near, ready to appear.
10 My friends, remember the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Take them as examples of patient endurance under suffering.
11 We call them happy because they endured. You have heard of Job's patience, and you know how the Lord provided for him in the end. For the Lord is full of mercy and compassion. (GNB)
Up to this point James has dealt with specific problems the church was having. He closes the letter with several paragraphs in which he discusses some of the same topics that concern us. For example: how long will it take for the Lord to return? We are ready for Him, now!
He counsels patience, it is God’s timing, not ours. Don’t let the frustration of waiting, and waiting, and waiting, cause you to snip at other believers. Keep your life simple, clinging to the Lord. Don’t over-promise. Help each other in their troubles. Pray for each other. Confess your sins to each other. Baring your troubles to each other does not absolve you, or cleanse you, but it does keep you honest and centered on Jesus.
Jesus has promised eternal life with Him. He does not promise an easy life while you live on earth. The early church suffered, a lot! When you experience hardship, what enables you to be patient and wait for God?
***In this section of the letter, one of the most frequently mentioned words is patience. He deals with patience among friends, and how they deal and talk with each other. In some ways, the patience referenced here is more passive than that mentioned in chapter 1. We are waiting for the Lord’s return, which has not been announced, yet. James also notes that the Old Testament prophets are worthy of imitation. Why? Because they knew, or believed the Messiah was coming, maybe even imminent. But they had the same time frame we do - unknown to us, and known only to the Lord.
***Subjects of Patience are brought up in the following verses:
- Waiting for Lord's return. (v. 7)
- Strengthen hearts. (v. 8)
- Fellow believers. (v. 9)
- Prophets. (v. 10)
- Job. (v. 11)
James gives us several examples of patience:
- The Farmer who must wait for God (See 5:7);
- The prophets who showed attitudes of faithfulness and obedience (v. 5:10);
- And Job, who shows us that trials can be used to mature our faith (v. 5:11).
V. 7 - “Be patient, then, my friends, until the Lord comes. See how patient farmers are as they wait for their land to produce precious crops. They wait patiently for the autumn and spring rains.”
“Be patient, then, my friends, until the Lord comes.” - All right, believers, wait patiently because something big is coming - Lord's return!
“See how patient farmers are” - We can learn from farmers. They must be patient, because they can do nothing to hasten or delay the rains, which they need to irrigate the crops. They were dry land farmers - no circle pivot sprinkler system for them! You might carry water in clay jugs to water a garden or some spices. In some ways, this makes me think of the wheat farmers in Central and Eastern Oregon or Washington. You can drive by thousands of acres of wheat farms in that area. There are no sprinkler systems to water those fields, other than the rains. The farmer can do nothing but wait for the land to produce the planted crop. (See Note 1, below)
V. 8 - “Keep your hopes high, for the day of the Lord's coming is near.” -
Christ's return: IMMINENT! That’s how they thought, and it added some urgency to their message and lives. We look back at over 2000 years of waiting and go, “Meh!” We shrug our shoulders. We have lost the urgency; we really don’t think it will happen SOON! That is on us. We tell ourselves that if we knew it was next week, or month, or year, that we would get excited and get moving. But since we don’t really believe it is imminent we are lackadaisical.
James is urging us to stand firm in our faith and hope for Christ’s return. Don’t slip into the world’s way. The longer we wait, the stronger the temptation is to doubt Christ’s return, and in some cases to doubt the efficacy of our faith. We may think why should we “establish our hearts”, be resolute, firm, have courage, strengthen, or stand firm?
We need to stand firm and be resolute because we do not know, and we must be ready for His return. Note the 'tone' shifts from passive to more active endurance...
V. 9 - “Do not complain against one another, my friends, so that God will not judge you. The Judge is near, ready to appear. “
“Do not complain against one another, my friends” - Because we are waiting, and are not sure of the timing, our patience is tested and may grow weak. Then we begin to grumble at each other, losing patience with each other. If you are suffering persecution because of your confession of faith, some groaning may be appropriate (See: Rom 8:23, Mk 7:34) as we long for His return. Grumbling and sniping at each other is not what we should be doing.
V. 10 - “My friends, remember the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Take them as examples of patient endurance under suffering.”
“remember the prophets” - James brings forth the Old Testament prophets as part of this theme of trials and testing. The Jewish culture would know, and think of the names all by themselves. The Gentile Christians may need a refresher course on the prophets to help them see how these people were given a glimpse of the future coming of the Savior and Messiah, but it was not something they saw during their lifetimes. They did not lose heart. They did not doubt the Lord’s promise of a coming savior.
V. 11 - “We call them happy because they endured. You have heard of Job's patience, and you know how the Lord provided for him in the end. For the Lord is full of mercy and compassion.”
“We call them happy because they endured” - There were several hundred years between the prophets visions and the advent of the Lord, that is about 500 year gap between the exiles returning from Babylon and Christ’s birth.
“You have heard of Job's patience” - What were they to learn from Job's example? (He endured and was blessed (he was indwelt by God, the Holy Spirit, and was blessed). By implication, we are to hold on to the promise of Christ’s return for us, and our reward will be great also!
James has completed what he wanted to say about testing, temptation, wisdom and generosity - next two paragraphs are the conclusion...
Note 1: "early and late rains" - most commentators tell us that there are two rainy seasons in Judah/Israel - Fall (the early rain) and Spring (the late rain). Because they did not have irrigation systems or powered farm equipment, they were very dependent on the rains. The early rains moistened the soil so it could be tilled and planted. The late rains provided the needed moisture so the crops would grow ripen and produce. Rain was critical, so the farmers waited, there was little else they could do. Some commentators indicate this is an idiom for first and second coming of the messiah. The Jews waited patiently for the Messiah. Unfortunately, most rejected Him. Which led to salvation for Gentiles as well as Jews - Praise the Lord. Now, we wait patiently (mostly) for the triumphal return of our Lord and Savior.
Note 2: Instead of retaliating or seeking vengeance, what are the poor to do? (hold on, and your reward too, will be great)
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