James 5:7-20_Patience and perseverance
13/10/24
Scripture
James 5:7-20
Questions
1. Be patient and persevere [vv7-12]
Jesus taught us to pray…
10 May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:10
What does the kingdom look like as it come [James 1:9, 4:6 quoting Proverbs 3:34 etc.]?
How do we need to live as these new type of humans in the kingdom [Deuteronomy 30:6-9]?
7 Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming [παρουσία] of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the soil, being patient concerning it until it receives the early and late rains. 8 You also be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the coming [παρουσία] of the Lord is near.
Was the coming of the Lord really “near”? Paul too holds out the hope of a παρουσία of king Jesus to rule over the nations seemingly in the first century and here we are two thousand years later still waiting!
2 But he answered and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone will be left here on another stone that will not be thrown down!” [v2].
Matthew 24:2
3. What event is Jesus referring to in Matthew 24 [see v2]? Could this have been a “coming of the Lord”?
In Matthew 24 Jesus links the end of the age to Daniel’s prophecies of which the traditional view [Second Temple rabbis and later, Jerome and other Church Fathers] was that Daniel 2 speaks of four empires…
Daniel 7 repeats this with images of four beasts.
What are hybrid creatures in the ANE [including the Hebrew bible]? Who is behind the four kingdoms?
Who destroys the fourth [Roman] kingdom [vv13-14] and establishes a kingdom that will not end?
The timeline looks like hundreds not thousands of years to the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of his kingdom. Daniel lived during the Babylonian captivity so about 600BC. That means that the Jews of Jesus’ day expected the Messiah to literally destroy the Romans and rule the nations from Jerusalem.
In an incredible plot twist what happens in 70AD? Who won the Romans or Jesus? How?
There will be a future final return of Jesus…
28 thus also Christ, having been offered once in order to bear the sins of many, will appear for the second time without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him for salvation.
Hebrews 9:28
…what sort of people must you be in holy behavior and godliness, 12 while waiting for and hastening the coming [παρουσία] of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by being burned up and the celestial bodies will melt as they are consumed by heat! 13 But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness resides.
2 Peter 3:11–13
Why do these verses probably refer to a future “second appearance” [Hebrews 9:28] of Jesus?
What sort of people are we to be as we wait for the coming of Jesus?
Back to James…
9 Brothers, do not complain against one another in order that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge stands before the doors!
Again what sort of people are we to be as we wait for the coming of Jesus?
What does “the judge stands before the doors” mean?
10 Brothers, take as an example of perseverance and endurance the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider blessed those who have endured. You have heard about the patient endurance of Job, and you saw the outcome from the Lord, that the Lord is compassionate and merciful. 12 Now above all, my brothers, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no, no, in order that you may not fall under judgment.
James appeals to the example of the prophets and Job.
Who is he quoting in v12?
2. Faithful prayer [vv13-18]
James has warned us that if we pray out of selfish motives our prayers will not be answered. He lays out some rules to shape our prayers…
[1.]13a Is anyone among you suffering misfortune? He should pray.
[2.]13b Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praise.
[3.]14 Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the elders of the church and they should pray over him, anointing [ἐλαίῳ[1]] him with olive oil in the name of the Lord.
[4.]15 And the prayer of faith [ἡ εὐχὴ τῆς[2] πίστεως[3]] will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins it will be forgiven him.
[5.]16a …confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.
Are there aspects of prayer where we are being negligent?
16b The effective prayer of a righteous person [δίκαιος] accomplishes much.
What does “righteous” [δίκαιος] mean in a biblical context?
17 Elijah was a human being with the same nature as us, and he prayed fervently for it not to rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the earth produced its fruit.
Elijah, even Elijah the archetypal prophet, waited 3½ years for his prayer to be answered! But it was! He persevered.
3. Bring back the erring one [vv19-20]
19 My brothers, if anyone among you should wander away from the truth and someone turns him back, 20 he should know that the one who turns a sinner back from the error of his way will save that person’s soul from death, and will cover over a great number of sins.
James is getting this from Ezekiel…
19 And you, if you do warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness and from his wicked way, on account of his guilt he will die, and you yourself will have saved your life.
Ezekiel 3:19 [see also Isaiah 55:6-7; Jeremiah 3:12-13; Ezekiel 18:21-23, 33:11; Hosea 14:1-2; Micah 7:18-19; Joel 2:12-13]
But Peter says…
8 Above all, keep your love for one another constant, because love covers a large number of sins. 1 Peter 4:8
14. When should we overlook sin? When should we speak up?
More
BibleProject Guides: Book of James
[1] The verb is ἀλείφω NOT χρίω which is what you do to a prophet, priest, king etc., ο Χριστός being the Anointed One.
[2] Εὐχή is a “wish” in modern Greek but in Classical Greek it also means a “vow”. It is are only two other occurrences in the NT [Acts 18:18, 21:23] and both refer to religious vows, e.g. when Paul shaves his head because he has taken a vow [18:18].
[3] Πίστης in the NT is not so much an abstract belief but FAITHFULNESS. Make good on your vows to God. Be faithful in what you have promised.