In Lesson 3, Part 3, we dealt with the first six verses of James Chapter 5.  These verses deal with the rich and how they had defrauded workers, as well as a warning to the rich about their future.  The bottom line is that the wealthy should not expect their riches to help them when they stand before God.  Depending on temporary things will not take care of us when we have to give an account before God.  You can access that lesson through my YouTube channel or, for a transcript of the lesson, at our church site at westvilleag.org to get all the comments on that part of our lessons about riches and how the rich need to treat others.

We’ll pick up our lessons from James with James 5:7, 8, 10 & 11.  Verse 9 will be our focus for the next lesson.

James 5:7-8,10-11 NLT

[7] Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. [8] You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near. [10] For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. [11] We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.

James begins the last section of his letter to the Jewish believers with a challenge—be patient as you wait for the Lord to return.  Sounds simple, doesn’t it?  But we all know just how challenging that word patience can be.  We all want to be able to be patient, but we just don’t want to have to wait.

To give the readers a sense of “you can do this,” James uses a couple of examples from the world of farming.  Farmers have to wait for the fall and spring rains to come in order to have their crops to live.  Without those rains, the crops die.  But there is nothing a farmer can do to hurry up the rains.  He has to wait for them to come.

And farmers know that the crop can be planted and can grow with the rain, but being able to harvest the crop requires on waiting for the crop to grow, develop fruits and then ripen.  A farmer has to wait on that process to occur in order for the harvest time to arrive.  Farmers patiently look forward to the harvest.

James then encourages the readers with a reminder that the Lord’s return is near.  He’s writing to Jewish believers who were experiencing persecution because of their faith in Jesus.  He wanted them to know that they were not the only ones who suffered because of their faith.  He wanted them to keep looking for Jesus to return, just as the prophets had waited patiently for Messiah to come, in spite of the persecution they experienced.

James also used Job as an example of someone who had patience, in spite of losing all his family and possessions.  And James points out that God was kind to Job in the end.  The readers would be familiar with the end of Job’s story and would know God had blessed Job by giving him double the possessions he had previously lost, and God had replaced his children.

Job is used as an example of someone who suffered patiently and was rewarded in the end.  He is also used as an example of how patience brings honor to a person’s reputation.  The prophets of old were honored, Job was honored, and James is saying the Jewish believers who patiently endure suffering will be given honor, too.

This passage gives some of the rewards for being patient.  Patience brings honor and, as in the case of Job, God’s kindness.  Patience for the farmer brings the harvest.  And patience will also result in believers seeing the Lord’s return.  And that will make the wait worth it.

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