Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

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James 5

Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged

James 5:¹ Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!

James 5:² Your riches are corrupted (have rotted), and your garments are moth-eaten.

James 5:³ Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.

• Gold and silver are like the two witnesses during the tribulation. See verse 17.

James 5:⁴ Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth (Lit., in Heb., Hosts).

James 5:⁵ You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury (indulgence); you have fattened (Lit. nourished) your hearts as in a day of slaughter.

James 5:⁶ You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

Be Patient and Persevering

James 5:⁷ Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.

• The second coming of Jesus happens at the end of the seven year tribulation.
• The early and latter rain is the Jewish Messiah, the teacher who comes down to us from heaven.
• See Topic: Verses about the Rain
• See Topic: Jesus as the Rain

James 5:⁸ You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand (has drawn near).

• The day of the Messiah’s visitation (Jesus’ first coming) completed 69 of Daniel’s 70 weeks. Accordingly, the 70th week was on the horizon and at the end they would be seeing Jesus come from heaven with His saints and angels. Not until Jesus appeared to Saul/Paul did they understand that Daniel’s 70th week was delayed while Jesus reached out to the Gentiles to come to Him. So far, man is still waiting. Jesus gave His disciples the time of the end of the ages: when they see the tender leaves on the fig tree. According to the gospel of Peter (not included in scripture) it is written that the fig tree is the whole house of Israel. The tender leaves are the Jews returning to their homeland. To date all the Jews in the world have returned to Israel except those in the U.S. and specifically, the majority in New York. The sick, old, and maimed also were unable to return. Jesus tells his disciples:
  • Matthew 24:33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—(even) at the doors!

James 5:⁹ Do not (Lit. groan) grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be (judged) condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!

James 5:¹⁰ My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.

James 5:¹¹ Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

James 5:¹² But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment (hypocrisy).

Meeting Specific Needs

James 5:¹³ Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.

James 5:¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? 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.

James 5:¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

James 5:¹⁶ (Therefore confess your sins) Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, (supplication) fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

James 5:¹⁷ Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.

• Luke 4:25 But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land;
• Three and a half years is the same time duration as half the seven year tribulation.
• Revelation 11:6 These (the two witnesses) have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy (Three and a half years because they are killed in the middle of the tribulation); and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

James 5:¹⁸ And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

• Isaiah 45:8 “Rain down, you heavens, from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness; Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation (Literally “Yeshua” in Hebrew but “Jesus” in Greek), And let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it.

Bring Back the Erring One

James 5:¹⁹ Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,

James 5:²⁰ let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a (his) soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

• 1 Peter 4:8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”