Download discussion questions:  James 4:13-5:6

During last week’s discussion we found so much to explore in just two verses (James 4:11-12) that we didn’t have time to get to the end of the chapter as planned.  As it turns out, that was a good thing, both for our time together last week, and also for the discussion this week.  The two paragraphs in this passage (James 4:13-17 and James 5:1-6) probably are a better combination to study together.

Strong Language

First, our group noted that both these paragraphs begin with the same unusual opening:  “Come now” (Ἄγε νῦν, age nun).  The phrase, used by Greek and Jewish orators, was a call to the audience “to pay particular attention to his next injunctions.”[1]  However, while it may have been common in other settings, the phrase is used only these two times in the entire New Testament.

In a previous study we noted changes in the “tone” or atmosphere of James’ writing.  Where James had been addressing his readers as “brothers” he replaced that endearing term with words like “you adulteresses” (James 4:4).  In this passage he resumes what seems to be that harsh tone (4:13-17; e.g., “you boast in your arrogance” in v. 16).  Then he takes even a harsher tone in the following paragraph (5:1-6, “the miseries that are coming upon you” in v. 1).

Those introductory words and the severe tone of the paragraphs certainly should have made his readers take notice of his intensity for what he was about to write.

The Target Audience

Another question our group asked, “Who is this strong language directed towards?”  Did James have Christians in mind?  Or was he writing to those outside the church?  Or were some within the church not living in ways pleasing to the “one Lawgiver and Judge” (James 4:12) and were not “doers” but only “hearers” (James 1:22)?

We considered the possibility that the two paragraphs might be directed to different groups.  As mentioned above, both paragraphs begin the same way, but immediately take on very different approaches.

Both paragraphs are addressed to those with at least some economic resources.  As we discussed, only some people (then as well as today) could afford to travel and live for an extended period in a different town, conduct business and make a profit (4:13).  The second paragraph is explicitly directed to the “rich” who own property and have laborers and harvesters as employees (5:4).  One writers suggests these are two classes of merchants and landlords.[2]

However, the admonitions James gives are different for the two groups.  He offers instructions about how the “merchants” (and all of us) should change the way we make plans in the context of God’s Providence (4:15), as well as warning them of the subtle nature of what some call “sins of omission” (4:17).  But James offers no such instruction to the “landlords.”  He only adds one picture of condemnation on another – miseries, rot, corrosion, fire (5:1-3).  The aim for the first group is to correct their behavior, but he offers the second group no “redemptive options.”[3]

Then the question arises, “Why would James have so much to say to people who would never read his letter?”  It could be a warning to those in the church who might be tempted to follow the ways of the condemned rich.  Or someone suggested there might be unbelievers in the church who need salvation.  But that paragraph doesn’t even call for repentance.  Since James assumed a “rhetorical” tone with his opening “Come now” words, perhaps he is using another “figure of speech from rhetorical discourse known as ‘apostrophe’ – speaking to people who are not present [the rich] for the benefit of those who are.”[4]

Those in the church who were suffering financial hardship (2:2, 15) and were perhaps victims of the fraud and self-indulgence of the rich (5:4, 5) needed reassurance of God’s justice.  The powerful rebuke James wrote against the rich was intended to remind believers that the present circumstances would not last forever.  James immediately takes up that comforting, intimate tone again in the next verse:  “Be patient, therefore, brothers…” (5:7) – where we will start next week.

The Common Thread

Our group noted another theme shared by both of these “Come now” paragraphs.  Both paragraphs address groups that are characterized by indifference.

• Indifference to God is revealed by the arrogant self-sufficient planning of the first paragraph.
• Indifference to people is revealed by the self-indulgent and fraudulent actions in the second.

One person commented that the two paragraphs reflect indifference to the greatest commandments:

• You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37)
• You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39)

Being Doers

Then we turned to application.  How can we make “If the Lord wills…” more than a shallow cliché?  James does not criticize planning, only arrogant planning that assumes we are in control of our circumstances.  One person in our group suggested that we must be sure we are using godly means as we pursue our plans.  Another thought is, “What if my plans don’t work out?  How will I react?”  If we are truly submissive to God’s will, we can continue looking for His will in our changing circumstances.  If we are obsessively trying to make our plans happen, that may be an indication that we are in the group James was addressing in the first paragraph.  Truly depending on God’s will can be very freeing, liberating us from the weariness of continually trying to manage life and make our plans work out.

Concerning the second paragraph, someone suggested that James was calling his readers to more than avoiding fraudulent business practices.  Loving our neighbor as ourselves means going beyond fairness and practicing generosity.  Self-indulgence can be replaced by self-sacrifice.  The effect of this paragraph on the original readers of this letter can also be an encouragement to us.  In a culture plagued by identity-theft, investment fraud, phishing scams, and an endless list of dishonest dealings, we can be reminded that living according to God’s will does not guarantee protection against such deception.  But we also know that God’s justice is certain, and we are called to “be patient until the coming of the Lord.”

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[1] Craig L. Blomberg, Mariam J. Kamell, James, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan:  Zondervan, 2008), 206.

[2] Peter H. Davids, The Epistle of James, The New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1982), 171.

[3] Craig L. Blomberg, Mariam J. Kamell, James, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan:  Zondervan, 2008), 220.

[4] Craig L. Blomberg, Mariam J. Kamell, James, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan:  Zondervan, 2008), 220.