James
Lesson 72
Review:
Summary 5:7
1. James exhorts those of us who have
ears to hear to be patient within the niche we live.
2. This exhortation is especially pertinent to those of the last
generation of the Church age who will experience the oppression of the
unprincipled - manipulative rich.
3. Patience encompasses an attitude of self-restraint that enables us to
refrain from retaliation and resistance to the evil around us.
4. The virtue of
patience is to characterize us throughout our lives.
5. The reality of the
coming of the Lord should be our motivation for this patience.
6. This event will end our ph-2 sufferings - provide the vindication of
the Word believed -
eternal rewards (JSC) and signal the wrath to fall on the evil of
this age, the negative and the oppressors.
7. James introduces an illustration here to show the importance of
patience for the believer.
8. The illustration presents God's patience over believers of the C/A
thus showing how important a virtue it is.
9. God the Father is the farmer here - the gewrgo,j - the independent
landowner, as in Jn 15:1.
10. The land He farms
represents the believers of the C/A.
11. The soil represents
volition as in the parable of the seed and the sower. Mk 4; Lk 8; Mt 13
12. The crops harvested are the divine good production in the life of the believer. Eph 2:8-10; James 3:17;
Rom 7:4; Jn 15:1-8
13. Rain or water is a
symbol for the Word - BD. Eph 5:26; 1 Cor 3:6
14. The early rains
represent the apostolic era - the establishment of the church.
15. The latter rains
represent the end of the C/A - the time of the rapture generation.
16. God as the farmer ensures that any one in any generation of the C/A who is positive and
desires to know the Word will get it wherever they are.
17. He is patient toward man giving them the opportunity to believe, (2 Pe 3:9) but also with believers giving them the time to
hear and apply the word in their lives.