James 5:1 – 6
In this epistle of practical Christian living James will now address those who suppress the poor even as they gain by taking advantage of them. He has dealt with the merchants in Chapter 4: 13 – 17 and now concentrates on the truly wealthy of an agrarian society: landowners. Please note that he does not refer to these as “brothers.”
The first thing that James points out is the coming judgment on these who worship their achievements over God. This judgment is based upon their sins which are listed as they abuse the poor. They have hoarded wealth, withheld wages, and “murdered the just” (v. 6). This last phrase may have to do with the withholding of wages to those who had so little that their lives were in jeopardy due to starvation.
This passage is not a diatribe against anyone having possessions as there have been many in Scripture and throughout church history that God has blessed with what we would call “wealth.” Rather, this is about the heart of those who worship wealth rather than God. In fact, much like the rich young ruler that Jesus addressed in the Gospels, these landowners hold their possessions as God. God’s Word warns them that, “you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter” – a dire warning to all who love the things of this world.
This passage ties in with chapter 1:9 – 11 which states, “Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.” Here is the reversal that we find in The Kingdom of God. It is those who are “poor in spirit” (Mt. 5:3) who will be exalted by God rather than those who are successful in the eyes of the world if their hearts are not right before God.
It is so easy for the disciple of Christ to lose sight of what is important. May we be challenged and convicted by the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:33,
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”