James 5:1-6 (NKJV) Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. 4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.
V1 “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!” Chapter 4:13-17 dealt with traveling to conduct business, expecting success, and satisfaction. But we do not know the future. The desire to earn money in business in good, but if it becomes a priority then the problem arises of the consequences of doing so. Compare Matthew 6:24. Being rich is not a sin (Proverbs 10:22). Having it as the priority is evil (Matthew 6:24). Some of the “miseries” are found in Luke 8:14 and 1 Timothy 6:10. The Greek word for “miseries” is (G5004) ταλαιπωρία talaipōria, which means distress (emotional and/or physical). It is an attitude. Compare same word in Romans 3:16 (from Isaiah 59:7).
V2 “Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.” There are people who believe that being rich proves God’s approval and blessings (Luke 18:18-23 and possibly a false application of 1 Chronicles 29:12). Their supposed blessings from financial gain are not blessed by God. It is corrupted and the clothes as rotting. See Revelation 3:17-18. The corruption is defilement from their attitude. To understand “corruption,” we must examine the Jewish teaching defilement (mainly passages in Leviticus 23). The Hebrew word for this defilement is (H2932) טֻמְאָה ṭum’āh, which means a condition that makes something (a person, a garment, etc.) unclean in God’s sight. (TWOT) “The regulations regarding uncleanness set Israel apart from other nations. These were object lessons or adumbrations (Heb 8:5; 10:1) of God’s holiness which could not co-exist with the uncleanness of sin.” The Greek word in our passage is (G4595) σήπω sḗpō, which means to rot, become corrupted. The monetary gain they considered to be a blessing and something to provide them with joy is not blessed by God and has consequences. James next gives an example and reveals God’s decision contrary to that.
V3 “Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.” Again, seeking Mammon has consequences. God sees, God knows, God judges. Warren W. Wiersbe writes:
James did not say it was a sin to be rich. After all, Abraham was a wealthy man, yet he walked with God, and was greatly used of God to bless the whole world. James was concerned about the selfishness of the rich, and advised them to “weep and howl.” He gave three reasons for his exhortation.
“The Bible does not discourage the acquiring of wealth. In the Law of Moses, specific rules are laid down for getting and securing wealth. The Jews in Canaan owned their own property, worked it, and benefited from the produce. In several of His parables, Jesus indicated His respect for personal property and private gain. There is nothing in the Epistles that contradicts the right of private ownership and profit.
“What the Bible does condemn is acquiring wealth by illegal means or for illegal purposes. The Prophet Amos thundered a message of judgment against the wealthy upper crust who robbed the poor and used their stolen wealth for selfish luxuries. Isaiah and Jeremiah also exposed the selfishness of the rich and warned that judgment was coming. It is in this spirit that James wrote. He gave two illustrations of how the rich acquired their wealth.”
V4 “Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.” The desire of these farmers is to squeeze every penny possible even stealing from their own employees. There is need for prayer, “Look at what this farmer is doing O Lord. Help us!” Somewhere, someplace, and sometime God will deal with this evil. Let us remember Matthew 7:12.
V5 “You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.” One would think of this great success, but they forgot God’s standards. We must have God and His ways our greatest love. See Hebrews 13:5, Ecclesiastes 5:10, Micah 3:11. Jesus clarifies the attitudes in Matthew 6:20-21.
V6 “You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.” Their desire grows. Starting with hope for money, then seeking money, then cheating and stealing from people, and finally murder to steal everything. Compare Ahab in 1 Kings 21:7-19.
We learn:
- How to safely regard money
- How to differentiate between a godly and ungodly attitude about money
- How riches can spiritually corrupt us