James 5:1-6: Ye Rich Men
2025-04-12
James 5:1
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. (James 5:1)
We have spent time on the subject of rich men before. While there is a lot of negative material on the rich in this letter, there are rich men that are saved. “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19). We should not think that when we come to this verse, that rich men are always condemned. This is a similar principle to what we saw previously. There, we saw that the more of the will of God we know, the more responsible we are with that we are given. Likewise, the more wealth one has, the more responsibility he has for distributing that wealth.
But here, we see a long diatribe against rich people. These rich people are not those that were good stewards with their wealth, like we saw in the 1 Timothy passage. We have seen in previous passages how rich people were responsible for the persecution of God’s people in James 1:10-11 and James 2:5-7. I believe this passage is directly addressing them. After this rebuke, we see a change of tone: “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord” (James 5:7).
If what I say is true, these people are not the audience of the letter. Why address them? Because this pronouncement against them, when it came to their ears (or does today), would either elicit change in them or warn them. It would also bring comfort to those who had suffered by the hands of the rich.
They are to “weep and howl.” Mourning is appropriate for what is to come. The word “howl,” whether you look for the Greek or English word, only appears here. The word “howl” is plenteous in the Old Testament, mainly in the prophets.
Consider the prophecy against Babylon in Isaiah 13:6-11. The fear and panic that will characterize those days! This is not historical Babylon as much as it is future Babylon as discussed in Revelation 17-18 because of the signs in heavens and the judgment on the world is mentioned. Imagine the unsaved anticipating such utter destruction and pain. They will have no way to stop what is coming. There will be shrieking and screaming of utter horror. This ought to be the howling of the rich man in James 5, because this is the same event coming on them.
James 5:2-3
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. (James 5:2-3)
Anything we have in this life wears down. We have learned this well from the quick, cheap gadgets we buy in our time, but it is true of everything. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matthew 6:19-20). And again, “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth” (Luke 12:33).
This world is most certainly going to be gone one day. Everything that the Lord is working in the world today is to build up a new heaven and a new earth. This is why we are admonished to invest in the kingdom of heaven and not this world. Invest for the eternal, not the temporary. Seek what lasts and does not break, rot, or get stolen.
What does it mean to “witness against”? A witness in a court testifies against someone because of an alleged crime. For example, “Your honor, I did not murder so and so.” But the witness comes along and says he saw him do it, it was caught on a security camera, and the bullet was matched with the defendant’s gun. All those things witness against the murderer.
At the end of the world, the things of this world testify, so to speak, against the rich man who invested all his time in worldly wealth. Piles of ash that were his investments will testify. These “shall eat your flesh as it were fire.” Recall the passage:
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)
The gold, silver, and precious stones of this age are the wood, hay, and stubble of the next. It is pavement in heaven to be tread upon.
What does it mean to heap up treasure in the last days? It is to deny that the time of Jesus’ coming is near. As we saw previously, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” (Luke 21:34).
In a worldly example, if you knew you would die in a week’s time, how would that affect your behavior? You would be sure to have certain affairs in order. Likewise, since we know the time is short, we are ever ready to see Him at His coming and warning others of what is to come. When we do not do that and say, “My lord delayeth his coming” (Matthew 24:48), what faith do we have?
James 5:4
Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. (James 5:4)
This is a familiar teaching in the Scriptures. “Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning” (Leviticus 19:13). And again, “Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee” (Deuteronomy 24:14-15). If the unpaid servant cries to the Lord, the one in debt to him shall be rebuked by the Lord.
Consider Jeremiah 22:11-19. Though Josiah was a righteous king, his sons learned to take advantage of others because of their royal position. Shallum, or Jehoahaz elsewhere, was like this, as was his brother Jehoiakim. One or both kings coerced people to work for free to build royal palaces for them. They had disregard for the impoverished people they forced to work. They did this because they coveted for themselves and fulfilled their lust at the expense of others. One died in Egypt, and the other died like an animal.
Given the context of these rich men in James’ day, their fate would be the same. The LORD of hosts would awaken against them on His Day and His wrath would consume them. The use of the phrase “Lord of sabaoth” suggests this. A discussion of this phrase can be found here.
James 5:5
Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. (James 5:5)
The rich men spoken of here live in pleasure without regard of anybody else. The word for pleasure, when looking at related words, has the sense of living publicly in extravagance and keeping company with the rich and famous. The words “delicately” and “to riot” are the related word in the following verses:
But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings’ courts (Luke 7:25)
And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you (2 Peter 2:13)
The word for “wanton” indicates unrestrained pleasure. The word is translated as “pleasure” elsewhere; “Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth” (1 Timothy 5:5-6). We see that the “widow indeed” here has faith and prays continually all the time. The one who trusts in and prays to the Lord will be restrained; otherwise, one will live to fulfill desire without restraint.
“...ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.” One does not butcher a skinny animal; one fattens it up well before you prepare a meal with it. These wealthy people who have lived at the expense of the poor are racking up sin toward a day of slaughter, which is the Day of the LORD.
And it is a great sin to know the will of the Lord and waste the time between now and His return, spending time like we have all the time in the world.
James 5:6
Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. (James 5:6)
Consider what we have seen previously about the rich as seen in this letter:
But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. (James 1:10-11)
But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? (James 2:6-7)
They cache the goods of this world for themselves, though their goods will perish. We saw this in the previous verses in James 5. This second verse correlates with James 5:6. The rich had a habit of bringing their debtors to the courts. Moreover, it seems the rich have killed the poor to protect their gains.
The righteous does not resist. The Lord spoke of this in Matthew 5:38-42. Whether smitten or sued, the righteous goes along with it. Retaliation is not the way of the Lord. “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:21-23). The Lord did not sin, but when He was treated like a sinner, He did not retaliate.
What does it say of the just? “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15). And again, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19).