James 5:1-6

James 5

WARNING TO THE RICH

James 5:1-6

James 5:1  Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. James 5:2  Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. Jas 5:3  Your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgment. James 5:4  For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the LORD of Heaven's Armies. James 5:5  You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.

This makes it sound like we are better of poor than rich. That is not exactly what it is saying. In James time the rich most likely were not saved they were Pharisees, Scribes, or Sadducee s and they were not Christian. Even so if you are hanging onto wealth that is over and above all your needs why wouldn't you share with those that are poor. The bible talks about tithing and that is one way to share but there are many others. Money buys you nothing in Heaven when you die. Gold will be worthless  the streets of heaven will be paved with it. Everything we have is temporal. Help those in need, not to BUY your way into Heaven but to help those in need. 

James 5:6  You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you. 

Life Application New Testament Commentary
"The condemning and killing of good people probably was both active and passive. Inconvenient people may indeed have been murdered; but more likely, the poor people who could not pay their debts were thrown in prison or forced to sell all their possessions. With no means of support and no opportunity even to work off their debts, these poor people and their families often died of starvation. God also considered this murder. Either way, in the unjust system, it was legal. The poor had no power to defend themselves. Their only recourse against the evil rich was to cry out to God.

The conditions that James is describing may seem hopeless. Many of the rich will not repent. Believers can live with hope, however, because Christ is coming back. He will bring judgment and justice. It is to Christ’s return that James now turns".