Wailing Howling

James 5: 1-6

James is now addressing rich farmers who are most likely not believers. He doesn't tell them to repent and return to the Lord, he just warns them against the coming judgment. 

(1) Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. 

Weeping may or may not be audible, but the wailing howling definitely is very loud. These men are commanded to accept the miseries of judgment that is coming.  

(2) Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. 

In that day, wealth was held in foodstuffs and clothing, and these having been hoarded in storage so long, they have gone to waste.

(3) Your gold and your silver have rusted; 

The Greek word katiotai may refer to rust, tarnish, or corrosion. Since gold and silver do not rust or corrode, he must be referring to tarnished metal, indicating how long the hoarded wealth had lain idle. 

and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. 

They had more wealth than they would ever have been able to spend, yet their workers were deprived of their wages. The idea that the corrosion will eat their flesh like fire is a graphic way of declaring that their greed will result in their own destruction, as if the corrosion that ate their riches will actually eat their very flesh.

It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! 

These rich people have hoarded their treasures in the last days, as emphasizing that it may even be in the last hour before the Lord returns. So they wouldn't have time to spend it anyway. 

(4) Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 

The second crime they are being charged with is that they're not paying their workers what is due them. He says that the money itself is crying out, still in the possession of the dishonest farmer. 

And the workers are complaining, and their complaints are also reaching the ears of the Lord, who commands armies. 

This title, Lord of Sabaoth, is used for the commander of hosts of angels, stars, and Israel's army. So this is our Lord God Almighty. And He is the One who will vindicate the workers. 

(5) You have lived luxuriously on the Earth and led a life if wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 

The luxurious living is a soft, enervating luxury that tends to demoralize. And the wanton pleasure describes extravagant and wasteful self-indulgence. In their self-indulgence, the rich people have given their hearts all the luxury and pleasure they wanted, as in a day of slaughter as a feast, a continual party. Or, as in Jeremiah 12: 3, the day of judgment, that they will be as cattle, completely unaware of impending destruction.

(6) You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.  
 
The fourth and final crime of the wicked rich men was that they had murdered innocent men. Earlier in the second chapter of this letter, the rich are accused of dragging believers into court (2: 6), here they are charged with murder. 

This is not to be taken as figuratively, but literally. Examples of this are Christ, Stephen, James the son of Zebedee, and the author himself. 

The word dikaion, sometimes translated as "innocent men," is given here more correctly as the righteous man. It is that class of people who were known as the righteous that James had in mind. 

More than being innocent, they were believers, and were mostly from the ranks of the poor (see 2: 5-7). The Greek text abruptly declares, ouk amtitassetai hymin ("He does not oppose you"). 

These wicked rich men were guilty of attacking not merely a righteous man but a man who was defenseless or who refused to fight back. 

I see this happening today, when unrighteous people who have been customers of small, independently owned, Christian businesses, receiving their good will for many years, suddenly turn on them and request that they participate in a celebration honoring something that they know God condemns. They will then drag them into court in order to deprive them of their livelihoods, their means of supporting their families, and more. They try to divest them of everything they have in the world to sustain their lives.

This is evil. James is saying that these evil people have nothing to look forward to except fiery judgment, at the coming of the Lord, which may be very soon now. 

But God is not willing for any to perish, even these evil people! If they would turn to the Lord, away from these evil practices and lifestyles, the blood of Jesus would wash even them as white as snow and break their addictions to these evils. 

He would rescue them from the deceptive snares that have trapped them, and set them free. He would put His own Holy Spirit into their spirits, and teach them His ways. Then they would be able to experience the joy of the Lord, and the happiness of knowing how valuable they are, and how much they are loved! 

O my Father, I pray for all Your children, especially those who are being persecuted, slandered, attacked, and despitefully used. I pray that they would know that You are holding them in Your lap, and feel Your strong, gentle arms around them, protecting them. Continue to have their brothers and sisters who can to assist them in their betrayals and tortures and travails.

Father, You love us more than we can ever imagine! You made us all to be Your own children, with worth and value to even put us in positions over Your holy angels. 

Thank you, Father, for all that you have done for us, and for Your greatness and majesty. Thank You for calling us, and saving us, and re-molding us into the very character image of Your dear Son. 

O Father, no one is beyond Your reach. No one has done anything so evil that You cannot forgive. Father, You want us to want to love You back, and You will not violate the free will You gave us. 

Please send out Your children to share with all the world how much You love them, to show them who You are and what You have already done for them in Christ Jesus. Give them all the understanding to make an informed decision whether to turn toward or away from You.

Father, send us especially to all of Your embryonic children, to bring them to the birth into Your family; and grow us all up to maturity into the full stature of the Son of God. 

And no one will have any excuse when they face the coming judgment. 

And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!