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Last month, I had my first opportunity to teach a Bible study that was neither topical nor from a passage of my own choosing. James 5:7-12 was the text assigned to me and so with little experience but much anticipation, I set out to answer the question, “How is this passage going to change my life?” That is what it all boils down to. The academic is meaningless if it does not yield application. The demons know the Bible. The saints apply the Bible.
In an attempt to instill my hearers with the full weight of James’ warnings, I summed them up into three provocative yet true statements which become the framework for my lesson. The statements are:
1) If you fail to persevere under trials, you will fail to attain eternal life.
2) If you are a complainer, you will be severely judged.
3) If you swear falsely, you will be condemned.
Here, in essay form, is the rest of my exposition.
v. 7a - BE PATIENT, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.
My first reading of verse seven left me with the wrong assumption that James was encouraging his hearers to demonstrate patience in their longing for Christ’s return. After further consideration, I see that the promise James offers is a far more significant one. These believers were not longing so much for heaven as they were for freedom from their earthly oppressors. James holds before them the promise of Christ’s return because James rightly understands that his hearers may never experience any relief this side of heaven.
The key words are “therefore”, which connects us back to James’ warnings in verses 1-6, and “until” which James uses instead of “for”. It is be patient, “until the coming of the Lord”, not, “for the coming of the Lord”. The comfort James is offering is not a temporal one. It is not “be patient until your oppressors are dealt with,” or, “be patient until your earthly situation improves”. The time frame for relief in verse seven corresponds to the time frame for judgment in verse three. Despite the terrible threats that scripture levels at those who use their riches to oppress, we are surrounded by unjust men of vast fortune whose wealth is not rusting and whose skin is not burning (v. 3). There are examples of riches destroying here on earth, but the real issue is eternity. That is where our reckoning will come.
God is under no obligation to end our tribulation for anything less than Christ’s return. That is significant because it is in perfect harmony with Paul’s conclusion that if there is no resurrection then we are of all men most to be pitied (I Corinthians. 15:19). If the dead are not raised, then Christ is not raised, and if Christ is not raised then He cannot return, and if He does not return, then we have no hope. This should greatly influence the way we deal with trials and the way we present the gospel. Our hope and our longing is to be resurrected.
v. 7b - Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.
The example of patience given to us is the example of a farmer waiting for the rain. He knows it’s coming, but he doesn’t know when. Nothing he does can induce or speed its arrival. It is interesting to note that, though the farmer has no control over the rain, God does attach a condition to its coming. In Deuteronomy 11:13, 14, God promises Israel that if they “faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today – to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul – then I will send rain on your land in its season.” In the same manner, there is a condition attached to Christ’s return. His coming only benefits us if we endure his absence with patient obedience. We must not confuse condition with merit, but what a mistake we would make if we tried to eliminate condition altogether. Our endurance does not earn us eternal glory, but it does validate the saving nature of our faith. I Thessalonians 4:13-18 tells us that if we believe Jesus died and rose again, we will join Him in His return. But how do we know if we truly believe? We patiently endure! The requirement to endure does not turn the gospel into works based salvation. We are saved by faith. The battle to endure is nothing less than the battle of faith. Without faith it is impossible to find more satisfaction in the long-term promises of God than in the short-term promises of the flesh. The man who perseveres will receive the “crown of life” (James 1:12). The man who doesn’t, won’t.
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