Patient Endurance in Learning Doctrine; James 5:7-8
This is the conclusion of the epistle: James 5:7-20. There are several important doctrines to cover in this section related to the coming of Christ.
James 5:7 NASB "Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.
a) He is concluding the epistle. We need to remember the format of the epistle. There is a clear structure to James in contrast to what a lot of commentaries suggest. James has a three-point sermon. It starts off with "quick to hear," then "slow to speak" and "slow to anger." That is the main body of this epistle. In the introduction he introduces the theme of endurance and perseverance, the Greek word HUPOMONE [u(pomonh], which means to stay under. It has the idea of hanging in there in the midst of difficult, overwhelming circumstances. The theme of James is really "endurance produces maturity," and it is only in the status of Christian maturity that we share in the joy of Christ.
b) In this last section James has again rebuked his readers for their continuous carnality, specifically in the realm of materialism lust, success lust, money lust, and for their focus on making money and having successful businesses in order to solve their problems. Throughout this he points out that they have been guilty of an entire realm of mental attitude sins.
c) He has warned them in this section of judgment that will come on the spiritual life. This is the thing we have to remind ourselves of: we may be saved but there will be judgment for every believer, and evaluation, not to determine if we go to heaven but a judgment to determine whether we are inheritors of the kingdom. Indwelling the land of Israel in the Old Testament did not necessarily mean the individual had a possession or inheritance in the land. The Levites lived in the land but they did not possess the land; they did not have an inheritance. In the same way there will be believers in the kingdom who are not heirs of the kingdom because they have failed to advance in to spiritual maturity. So there is a warning of judgment and then James is going to pick up this theme of judgment when he comes to verse 7. He will develop that into his conclusion and warn them and us that we have to have a global sort of total perspective on God's plan and purpose for our lives, to keep into focus the fact that it is not just that finite day-to-day temporal existence, thinking about what is going on today, what we have to do tomorrow, and putting blinders on our thinking, but we must open up and realize that there is a plan and that eventually we are going top end up at the judgment seat of Christ. That is our destiny. Our position on the kingdom is determined by what happens at the judgment seat of Christ, and we have to keep that in mind, to let that affect the decisions we make on a day-to-day basis.
"Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord." We look back at the beginning of the epistle, James 1:3, "knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." Some translations have "patience" there. This is a different word here in 5:7. The word that forms the theme of the epistle is HUPOMONE which means to have patience, endurance, fortitude, steadfastness and perseverance. It means to stick with God's plan and procedures no matter how much adversity there might be. This is a little different concept than patience, but they relate to each other and we will see how they do. Patience is the foundation of endurance. They are tied together in other passages. Colossians 1:11 NASB "strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness [u(pomenw] and patience [makroqumia]; joyously [xara]." Cf. James 1:2, 3. The joy comes because you know something. Because there is doctrine in the soul and you know a certain principle (suffering produces endurance) you can have joy. Paul reverses it in his sentence structure and indicates that the goal is patience and longsuffering with joy. So this again indicates that these are concepts that are related to advance in the spiritual life. So we have to ask: What is the key, then, to joy, inner happiness, stability, tranquillity and contentment in life? It is enduring life sticking with the plan and the procedures of God no matter how tiresome it may be at times, no matter how difficult it may be at times, despite whatever external adversities may come. God's plan is to enable us to live under the outside pressure of adversity without converting it to stress in the soul. You will demonstrate in your life that you can have stability, contentment, joy and peace in the midst of the most excruciating hostile, negative circumstances, and that will glorify God.
If we know and understand God's plan we have to realize that God has a blueprint for maturity. There is a definite procedure and this involves phase one at the cross, and then in phase two there is going to be testing. Testing includes adversity which is defined as the outside pressure of negative circumstances. Testing and adversity of you are walking by means of God the Holy Spirit and applying doctrine is going to lead eventually to spiritual maturity and rewards and inheritance at the judgment seat of Christ. If you are negative and you don't apply doctrine then the result is carnality, sin nature control and loss of rewards in phase three at the judgment seat of Christ. That is the background for this passage. James is emphasizing that we are going to be held accountable for what we have done with the doctrine we have been exposed to when we come to the judgment seat of Christ, and not to give up in the midst of hostile, negative, adverse circumstances during life in time on a day-to-day existence. That means that we have to live today in light of eternity, and that is a personal sense of our eternal destiny.
The main command in this verse is to be patient. It comes from the Greek word MAKROTHUMEO [makroqumew]; MAKROTHUMIA [makroqumia] is the noun. "The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil." The Greek word translated "produce" is KARPON [karpon] which means fruit, the same word used in John 15 and Galatians 5. It is talking about valuable fruit here. TIMION [timion] is the word used here and it means valuable: valuable fruit. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is what the analogy illustrates. We are to be patient because the Holy Spirit is producing something in our life. Production is the result of obedience to principles. It takes time and there are certain dynamics that go on before fruit is produced. So because of that time that is involved there has to be an element of patience in the process, and that is what James is talking about here.
In verses 7 & 8 the key is patience. The way we know that is because makroqumew is used three times in two verses. That ought to be a clue right away, even in the English (patience). Patience is related to the farmer waiting for his fruit. Twice patience is related to the coming of the Lord. That means you have to have a total understanding of God's plan in order to be patient. Verses 7 & 8 are very positive; verse 9 is a prohibition: Do not complain. Then in verses 10 & 11 we have Old Testament examples of patience and endurance from the prophets and Job. In vv. 7-9 patience is mentioned four times, and then in vv. 10, 11 endurance is mentioned two times. So what is the theme of vv. 7-12? Patience and endurance. The reason for emphasizing that is because James introduces the theme of patience and endurance back in chapter one. How to attain patience and endurance is developed under the three principles of quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger in the body of the epistle. Then he returns to the theme of patience and endurance in vv. 7-12. Where does sickness enter into this? That is the question we need to ask. To bring sickness, physical illness, (v. 13) into this discussion doesn't fit; it is out of context. That is why we are belabouring the point of setting the context here so that by the time we get down to vv. 13-18 we will understand what James is really talking about there, and it is not going to be physical illness.
The command in verse 7 starts off with the aorist active imperative of MAKROTHUMEO. The aorist imperative, we have seen, emphasizes a priority, in contrast to the present imperative. The present imperative emphasizes something that should be a general principle governing the believer's life, a characteristic or habit pattern that should be there. That does not means that MAKROTHUMEO should not be a characteristic or habit pattern. It is saying that in this particular instance because of the circumstances at hand James wants to call his readers' attention to the fact that they need to be patient. The compound is MAKRO = long or lengthy, and THUMOS = anger, long on wrath. In other words, it means long-tempered and not short-tempered. It means to have patience, to wait for things, to be forbearing. In the Old Testament it is primarily associated with God's longsuffering and patience towards the sinfulness of man. His righteous wrath is withheld because of His longsuffering with the sinfulness of Israel.
Now this works itself out in terms of judgment that is often lurking in the background of this particular word. Luke 18:1 NASB "Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart"—not to give up, not to lose endurance. There we have the emphasis on perseverance in prayer. Then the parable: [2] "saying, 'In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. [3] There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Give me legal protection from my opponent.' [4] For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, 'Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, [5] yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.' [6] And the Lord said, 'Hear what the unrighteous judge said; [7] now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?'" In other words, if this unrighteous judge who doesn't care about anybody will finally give in to the unfortunate cries of this widow, then won't God who loves you with an infinite amount of love also answer your prayers when you continually bring them to Him. The word translated "delay long" is MAKROTHUMEO, and the idea is that God is not going to be longsuffering and wait a lengthy amount of time over that.
But look at the next verse: [8] "I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly." The contrast is between the length of time, the patience that is needed in endurance in prayer, and the fact that once God begins to answer their prayer that justice will be executed quickly. Notice what it is connected to in the next sentence: "However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" So in this passage is a connection between the exercise of the Supreme Court of heaven in justice, God's longsuffering towards man and the whole idea of patience, and the second coming of Christ in judgment.
James 5:7 NASB "…until the coming of the Lord." The word "coming" is the Greek word PAROUSIA [parousia], a general word for coming. Some people want to make this a technical term, but it is not a technical term for either the Rapture or the second coming of Christ. We need to understand something about the second coming of Christ. There are two stages to the second coming of Christ. The church age ends with the Rapture of the church, but Jesus does not come to the earth, He only comes in the clouds. The second coming takes place approximately seven years later when He comes to the earth. But there are some passages, especially in the Old Testament that don't see the distinction. Sometimes the word PAROUSIA is used technically of the Rapture, sometimes it is used to refer to the second coming, but it is wrong to think that it is inherently a technical term for one or the other.
Passages that show that the PAROUSIA is related to the Rapture:
1 Corinthians 15:23 NASB "But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming."
1 Thessalonians 2:19 NASB "For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?"
1 Thessalonians 4:15 NASB "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep."
1 Thessalonians 5:23 NASB "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
2 Thessalonians 2:1 NASB "Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him."
1 John 2:28 NASB "Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming."
There are other passages that indicate that PAROUSIA refers to the second coming:
1 Thessalonians 3:13 NASB "so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints."
2 Thessalonians 2:8 NASB "Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming."
In James 5:7 the reference is obviously to the Rapture. There are judgment issues that follow and that refers to the judgment seat of Christ, it is not talking about the second coming. Then we have an illustration: "The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil." That should be translated, "the virtuous." It is from TIMION [timion] which means "honour" or "virtue," and it can have the meaning of value, in some places it relates to money. "The farmer waits for the valuable production [karpoj = fruit] of the soil"; "being patient about it," and the word "patient" there is MAKROTHUMEO, but it is a present active participle without the article, which means that it is to be taken as a participle of means. The farmer waits by being patient. Waiting is done by being patient, longsuffering. Why is it that he is patient? There is an explanation: "until it gets the early and late rains.
There is something that goes on in this latter phrase that has produced so much confusion in our generation, and that is the total misunderstanding of what is meant by the "former and latter rains" in some passages, mentioned in Joel 2:23; it is just a reference to the meteorology that takes place in Israel. The summer is dry. There is a return to a rainy season on October and November. So the parched ground begins to open up and makes it easy to till, and they plant in October and November. Then there still rain in the winter but it is not very much, and then there is a heavy rainy season in the spring (the latter rain). It simply indicates the blessing of God. In Deuteronomy 11:14 NASB "that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil." This is the promise of God, and the whole imagery is, if you follow the law I'm going to increase the produce, give you economic prosperity and bless the land. So when Joel comes along and uses that phrase it is a reference to the fact that God is blessing them and will bless the nation Israel after the second coming after they are restored to the land.
The charismatics have come along and have taken it as a sign of gifts, that there would be an early manifestation of spiritual gifts at the beginning of the church age, then they would die out, and then there would be the latter rain, a restoration of those sign gifts at the end of the church age before Christ came back and there would be a great end-time revival. That is fundamental to Pentecostal theology.
What is pointed out in verse 7 is that just as the farmer understands the agricultural cycle and knows what the dynamics are that allows him to wait patiently for the production of fruit, so the believer understands God's plan for his life, understands the blueprint, and understands that fruit is ultimately going to be manifest and rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ. And he is able to wait patiently through all the tests and trials of life and walk by means of the Spirit so that it will all be made manifest eventually. That is the thrust if this illustration.
James 5:8 NASB "You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near." The word "near" is EGGIZO [e)ggizw] which means imminent.