October - Reading 10

Good afternoon -

Our Scriptures for today are:

John 3:22-36

James 5:1-6

Ecclesiastes 7:15-29

Jeremiah 23-25

May God continue to bless you as you read from His Word.

 

Good evening -

Our reading in Jeremiah tonight contains possibly the strongest Messianic prophecy from this prophet in verses 23:5-6.However, beginning at verse 9 the Lord, speaking through Jeremiah, denounces the false prophets and pronounces His judgement on them. Much attention is paid to this particular subject as this particular passage goes until verse 40. This also not the only place in the Scriptures that we find condemnation of those who speak falsely or ignorantly of God's word. Aside from numerous passages in Jeremiah, we can also reference Isaiah 28:7-13; Ezekiel 13; Micah 3:5-12; and in the New Testament, Matthew 7:15; 24:24; Luke 6:26; 2Peter 2:1; 1John 4:1; Revelations 16:13; and many, many more. This is a subject which God has inspired much writing and is obviously of great concern.

In John today, we see John the Baptist's followers questioning him about those that have left John's ministry to follow Christ. Possibly they had Andrew and John in mind from 1:35-39. John being a truly righteous man was not concerned with his own ego and confirmed to his followerss that Jesus was the one for whom his ministry had been geared. John was hapy to see the fulfillment of his purpose.

James today blasts those who hoard money and wealth and do not use their gains to benefit others. In fact James is specifically addressing those that oppress the poor and these people whom he addresses here are probably not Christian. Again, in a "walk the walk" Book like James, it is fitting that those who are able to give more should be condemned if they haven't.

May God bless you

- Clint

 

Sunday School lecture 8/31/03

James 5

This week’s lesson is divided quite distinctly into 5 units:
 The Condemnation of the Rich (5:1-6)
 The Necessity of Patience (5:7-11)
 Swearing (5:12)
 The Power of Prayer (5:13-18)
 Reclaiming the Wayward (5:19-20)

As is typical of the Epistle of James, these units do not necessarily correspond with each other but are rather, at best, loosely related. Again, this was a common literary style in the first century and emulated the style of some of the Old Testament Writings such as Proverbs or Ecclesiastes. This style, for review, is known as paranetic.

The Condemnation of the Rich

(James 5:1-6) While this Passage may seem related to the final thoughts in chapter 4, which addressed merchants in verse 13, there are a few distinctions that separate it. First of all, just as 4:13 begins with the phrase “Come now” (KJV- “Go to now”) so, too does this Passage. This distinguishes the coming verses as a new thought. Further, while the Letter is written to believers, James never addresses the rich as “brothers” as he does in various other Passages. These “rich” are not called upon to repent or change their ways, but instead are told to “weep and howl”. Again, for an accurate understanding of this Passage, one must recognize the symbolism of “wealth” in these early writings. For examples of this we can turn to Amos 6:1 and Isaiah 32:9-10. We find this device repeated in the Gospels in Passages such as Luke 6:24. Starting with these verses and using a cross-referencing Bible, it is easy to see the parallel and James’ intent: the “rich” are the wicked oppressors; the “poor” are the righteous oppressed.

The crimes of the rich are as follows: hoarding, failure to pay wages; living in luxury (verse 5); and murder. Verse 2 addresses the hoarding. The rich had accumulated so much possession that it had begun to rot. The crime, restated, was uncontrolled greed.

James was certainly well aware in verse 3 that gold and silver do not “rust” (canker). This figurative phrase is more likely to contrast the ultimate worthlessness of wealth with the immeasurable value of obedience to God. That the rust “will evidence (witness) against you” shows the gluttony of the rich and greedy motivation. That the rust will “eat your flesh like fire” shows the self-condemning nature of greed and the imagery of the coming punishment. The future tense of “laid up” (heaped) shows that the “last days” of which James speaks refer to the period just prior to the final judgment, though it should be noted that in Christian writing as a whole, the “last days” usually refer to the period of time between the First and Second Coming. For confirmation of this we can turn to verses such as Hebrews 1:1-2 and 1John 2:18.

Verse 4 takes us to the second crime committed by the rich: failure to pay the workers. We once again see the distinctly Jewish nature of this Letter in that this is first pronounced against the Law in Leviticus 19:13 and is reaffirmed in Matthew 20:8. Just as we talked about in our exploration of 2:8, the Law that brings Freedom, or the summation of the Law, is summed up in two Commandments, the second of which is to love your neighbor. To live in splendor while your worker lacks wages due to him violates this principle.

[ October 04, 2004, 08:32 AM: Message edited by: Clint Kritzer ]

 

Our Scriptures for 10/11 are:

John 4:1-14

James 5:7-12

Ecclesiastes 8

Jeremiah 26-29

 

Our Scriptures for 10/11 are:

John 4:1-14

James 5:7-12

Ecclesiastes 8

Jeremiah 26-29

 

Our Scriptures for 10/11 are:

John 4:1-14

James 5:7-12

Ecclesiastes 8

Jeremiah 26-29

 

Our Scriptures for 10/11 are:

John 4:1-14

James 5:7-12

Ecclesiastes 8

Jeremiah 26-29

 

Our Scriptures for 10/11 are:

John 4:1-14

James 5:7-12

Ecclesiastes 8

Jeremiah 26-29