James 5:7-12

James 5:7-12

This letter, written during the early intense persecution of the church, primarily by the Jewish authorities, contrasts the ruin of those persecuting the church with the endurance needed by the church. In light of the pronouncement of judgment on the rich, namely the Priestly family and the religious elite, the  believer’s faithful behavior must endure. Ultimately the Jewish persecution would end with the revolt and destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. This event was a type of foreshadowing of the ultimate wrath of God poured out on the world at the end of time. We sometimes struggle with language that appears to indicate that the early Church believed in Jesus’ returning in their day. The timeline is not so important as how we live in the waiting. Endurance in difficulty is pictured as the rain that comes soon after planting and as the crops mature. Both are essential for a good harvest. In some way God will use the hardship to grow in us something wonderful and useful in our faith. There are some spiritual truths that are only learned in patient endurance of extreme difficulty. 

During long times of hardship, there is a tendency for patience to wear thin and for frustration to be taken out on those closest to us. James's warning is that if we become the attacker, we might be in the midst of thay attack when the judge comes.

Job is an interesting example of endurance. His was no easy or quick test. One might say that he was at times impatient. However, he never quit in his pursuit of God. In the stress and the wrangling, he wanted to understand. In certain ways he didn't get the answer he wanted or was after. But at the end he understood God much better and ended up with a better relationship. Never forget that in our struggle the essential character of God is that of loving mercy and compassion. What seems to us as a wandering road is indeed the most direct route to the relationship with God that He desires. The warning about oaths is about our words and actions being self-vindicating. This hardens, rather than softens, our hearts toward God, His will, and the people around us.

“Lord, help me in the struggles to remain faithful to You. AMEN”