James Lesson 71
5:6 THE
LAST INDICTMENT
You have condemned and put to death the righteous
man.
-
the righteous man - o` di,kaioj - describes a definite
class of people that the rich saw as a threat to them.
The way that these
unprincipled rich dealt with the poor violates the standards God has established re:
jurisprudence. How to
handle disputes and conflicts.
When God established
He warned the judges not
to be greedy. (Ex
They were not to be
partial to the rich or the poor. (Lev
No judge was to tolerate
perjury. (Dt 19:16-21)
Bribery was condemned by
the Lord. (Isa 33:15; Micah 3:11)
The Prophet Amos
denounced the judges in his day who took bribes and
fixed cases. (Amos 5:12,15)
The courts in James day
were also apparently easy to control if you had enough money.
Speaking of the poor
James says: he does not resist you.
(you being the rich)
5:7-11 Doing
Right when you've been done wrong!
This is exhortation to the
persecuted - afflicted believer
James is using the preceding prophecy where he
denounced the unprincipled rich to encourage not only the believers of his day
but also believers of any generation of the Church age as they orient to the
pressures of the day using the principles of truth here.
5:7 Be
patient, therefore, to be long tempered; describes the attitude of one who can endure delay and bear
suffering and never give in; used
primarily of patience exercised in our dealings with other people.
BUT HOW LONG??
until the coming of the Lord parousia - this was a common term to describe
the visit of a king to a city or province of his kingdom and therefore rightly
depicts Christ as a royalty, as King who returns FOR HIS OWN.
-
This event, the Rapture, should be a great motivator for believers throughout
the Church age. 1 Cor
Next he gives an
illustration of patience
Behold, the farmer waits for
the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it,