James Chapter 5 — Commentary and Notes on Verse 7

    Bepatient,then,brothers,untiltheLord’scoming.Seehowthefarmerwaitsforthelandtoyield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.

    He now turns from the rich oppressors to the poor, faithful brothers who were oppressed; by the word then we see that the previous paragraph was for their sakes. The rich will be punished for their wickedness and oppression, and therefore you must be patient.

    Bepatient,then,brothers. The word patient implies long-suffering, which is a further degree of patience. Patience is a sense of afflictions borne without complaining and of injuries accepted without revenge; long-suffering is patience extended until it finishes its work (as 1:4 puts it).

    It is the duty of God’s children to be patient under their sufferings, even if those trials are long and sharp. It is easier in a calm and sedate condition to talk about patience than to exercise it in time of trial. Philosophers have discussed patience and commended it; but Christians themselves have staggered when they have been exercised with a sharp sense of evil. When God gives his people up to the desires of their enemies, that is sad, and we are apt to complain; and yet the apostle says we should suffer with long patience.

    I shall spare discussing motives and just show you what Christian patience is. It differs from complacency and stoical insensitivity; there can be no patience where there is no sense of evil. Christianity does not abrogate feelings but regulates them. Worldly people put off what they cannot put away and are not patient, but are stupid and careless. There are other remedies in Christianity than quenching our sorrows in the wine of pleasure. Christian patience presupposes a sense of evil and then takes the form of submission of the whole soul to the will of God.

    (1)      Note its nature. This is a submission of the whole soul. “The word of the LORD … is good” (Isaiah 39:8). Even if it is a terrible word to the unbeliever, the submission of a sanctified judgment can call it good. Then the will accepts it: “when … they pay for their sin” (“accept of the punishment,” KJV—that is, take it kindly from God that it is no worse) (Leviticus 26:41). Then the affections are restrained, and anger and sorrow are brought under the commands of the Word. Then the tongue is bridled, lest discontent overflow; Aaron held his peace (Leviticus 10:3).

    (2)      Consider the grounds and proper considerations on which all this is carried on. Usually there is a progression such as this:

    First, the soul sees God in it. “I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this” (Psalm 39:9).

    Second, it sees God acting in sovereignty. “Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’” (Job 9:12). “He answers none of man’s words” (Job 33:13).

    Third, lest this should make the heart storm, it sees sovereignty modified and mitigated in the dispensation of it with several attributes. With justice: in Deuteronomy 27:26, when every curse was pronounced they were to say “Amen”; if it comes about, it will only be just. With mercy: “you have punished us less than our sins have deserved” (Ezra 9:13). They were afflicted when they might have been destroyed; they were in Babylon when they might have been in hell. With faithfulness: they look upon afflictions as appendages of the covenant of grace: “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees” (Psalm 119:71). When they are threshed, it is only so that they may lose their stalk and husk; God’s faithfulness would not let them lack such help. With wisdom: “the LORD is a God of justice” (Isaiah 30:18) in his dispensations. God is too just to do us wrong and too kind and wise to do us harm.

    UntiltheLord’scoming. Here is an argument to enforce the duty; God will come and put your injuries right. But what coming is he speaking about? Every manifestation of God’s grace or judgment is called a coming of the Lord. It is pointless in such a well-known case to pile up passages. More especially his solemn judgments on a church or a people are expressed by that term, as with all the churches in Revelation: “I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (2:5, to Ephesus); “Repent, therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you” (2:16, to Smyrna); “I will come like a thief” (3:3, to Sardis). Any solemn judicial procession of God is expressed by coming; but most of all it is applied to Christ’s glorious appearing in the clouds, called his second coming. But you will reply again, “Which, then, is meant here? Any particular coming of Christ or his second coming for general judgment?” I answer: both may be intended. The early Christians thought both would happen together.

    (1)      It may mean Christ’s particular coming to judge these wicked people. This letter was written about thirty years after Christ’s death, and there was only a little time between that and the fall of Jerusalem, so untiltheLord’scoming could mean until the fall of Jerusalem, which is also expressed elsewhere by “coming” if we may believe Chrysostom and Ecumenius on John 21:22 (“If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”), where they say “return” means coming back for Jerusalem’s destruction. God often comes to his people in this way.

    Christians, to assuage their griefs, should often think about Christ’s coming to their rescue and deliverance. Have a little patience, and when your Master comes he will put an end to your afflictions. Long for the coming of Christ, but wait for it; do not bind the counsels of God. Usually his coming is when he is least looked for (see Luke 18:7-8 and Matthew 25:6-7). Who would expect the bridegroom at midnight? Usually because we are keen to see our hopes fulfilled we give up waiting. Our time is always present, and flesh and blood is soon tired; yet, long though it seems, it is only a short time: “He who is coming will come and will not delay” (Hebrews 10:37).

    (2)      It may mean the general day of judgment, which is the day of vengeance and reward. See both in 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8, “God is just. He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.” We are not to understand this as if they will not be punished nor we rewarded before that day. But then both will be more full and complete: the wicked who are now in chains of darkness waiting for a more terrible day, and glorified souls waiting for a fuller reward, their bodies remaining as yet under the dominion of death.

    A spiritual argument for patience involves thinking of the day of judgment. Here we are beaten by enemies and fellow-servants, but then the Lord will come and all will be well (Matthew 24:51). It will be wonderful when we are hugged in Christ’s arms and he says, “Well done, well suffered, my good and faithful servant!” and puts the crown on our heads with his own hands. So then, love the coming of Christ (2 Timothy 4:8) and hasten it (2 Peter 3:12).

    Seehowthefarmerwaits. Here the apostle anticipates an objection: “Yes, but we are waiting a long time!” So does the farmer, says the apostle, for something that is not nearly as precious as your hopes. Clement’s ApostolicConstitutions says that James and his brother Jude were farmers, and that is why they often used similes from their own calling, having to do with trees, plants, fruits of the earth, and so on.

    Forthelandtoyielditsvaluablecrop. It is valuable because it costs hard labor and because it is a choice blessing of God for sustaining life. This term is used to show that though the fruit is dear to the farmer, just as deliverance is to you, yet he waits for it—and how patient he is.

    Forthefallandspringrains. That is, the early rains, which fall a little before sowing, and the latter rains (KJV), which fall a little before the ripening of the corn. These are phrases often used by the prophets. The meaning is that he waits until, in the ordinary course of providence, the crop ripens.

    Seehowthefarmerwaits. We must look at external objects to see a heavenly purpose and should make use of every ordinary sight. This is what Christ does in his parables; elsewhere he bids us to learn from the lilies, just as James does with the farmer. Similarly, Job tells us to “ask the animals, and they will teach you … or let the fish of the sea inform you” (Job 12:7-8); that is, draw useful inferences from them in meditation. But you will say, “How shall we make use of common objects?” In two ways: by reasoning from them and by viewing the resemblance between them and spiritual matters, as in the present case in James.

    (1)      In meditation, argue like this: if a farmer using ordinary principles of reason can wait for the harvest, shall I not wait for the coming of the Lord, the day of refreshing? The corn is precious to him, and so is the coming of Christ to me; will he be so patient and endure so much for a little corn, and not I for the kingdom of heaven? He is willing to stay until everything has worked out and he has received the early and late rains; and shall I not wait until the divine decrees are carried out?

    (2)      In meditation, note the resemblance and say to yourselves, this is my seed-time, and heaven is the harvest; here I must labor and toil and there rest. I see that the farmer’s life is a great labor; we can obtain nothing excellent without labor and an obstinate patience. I see that the seed must be hidden in the furrows and rot before it can spring up and grow; our hopes are hidden, and light is sown for the righteous (Psalm 92:12). All our comforts are buried under the ground, and after all this there must be a long wait. We cannot sow and reap in a day; effects cannot follow until all necessary causes have first worked out. It is not in the farmer’s power to ripen fruits at will; our times are in the hands of God. Therefore it is good to wait; a long-suffering patience will reap the desired fruits.