{"id":9803,"date":"2026-05-21T09:48:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T15:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=9803"},"modified":"2026-05-21T09:48:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T15:48:41","slug":"james-51-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=9803","title":{"rendered":"James 5:1-3"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 <\/span>Come now,\u00a0you\u00a0rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon\u00a0you!<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

2\u00a0<\/sup>Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

3\u00a0<\/sup>Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire.\u00a0You have heaped up treasure in the last days.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

Let us remember that the Epistle was written years before the destruction of Jerusalem. When Jerusalem fell, and even before its fall, many of the rich Jews became paupers; they were ruined, tortured and murdered, as Josephus tells us. The fall of Jerusalem with its awful horrors, in the year 70 A.D., was a judgment of the Lord, but not the day of the Lord and the coming of the Lord. What happened then to the stubborn unbelieving masses will happen again, only on a larger scale during the coming great tribulation and when the Lord returns in power and in great glory. We believe therefore, that this exhortation to the rich has a special bearing for the future, during the very end of the age. \u2014 Gaebelein, page 1135.<\/span><\/h3>\n

corrupted (v.2) = lit. putrefied<\/h3>\n

The general designation “rich men” used here by the apostle indicates that these men were Jewish unbelievers who were well connected in the community. We believe this is substantiated by the fact that the cries of these believers, who were suffering at the hands of the rich, were heard by the Lord of Sabbath (v.4). Furthermore, they were responsible for condemning and killing the just, which is another clear indication that they didn’t know the Lord (v.6). \u2014 Sadler, pages 122-123.<\/span><\/h3>\n

__________<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The apostle wanted the rich to understand the peril they were facing, for soon their laughter<\/em> would turn to mourning<\/em> and the loss<\/em> of their riches into great cries of lamentation<\/em>. Unlike the west where the response to a loss is usually measured, in the east, the reaction is far more dramatic. … Since the Scriptures are written to those of the household of faith, the primary purpose of the apostle’s warning to the rich was for the benefit of his hearers. James didn’t want them to fall into the snare of envying the wealthy because he understood the serious consequences that could have on their spiritual life. \u2014 Sadler, page 123.<\/span><\/h3>\n

__________<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

a witness against you (v.2) \u2014 i.e. that they did not use their riches properly (cf. Luke 16:13; 18:22). \u2014 Grace, page 2201.<\/span><\/h3>\n

__________<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In biblical times [wealth] was measured in food, costly apparel, and precious metals. … The three verbs James chose to use in this context: corrupt<\/em>, motheaten<\/em>, and cankered<\/em> confirm these were the particular riches he had in mind. … Interestingly, all three of these verbs are in the past tense. This, however, does not necessarily mean these miseries had already befallen the rich. The Scriptures often speak of future events as if they have already happened. It seems these were prophetic utterances James speaks of that would befall the rich in the future. Prophesies often have a short-term and long-term aspect to their fulfillment and this may well be the case in regard to these warnings. The siege of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 A.D. would certainly be at least a partial fulfillment of what is recorded here. But it is more probable that James has a far more sweeping fulfillment of these judgments in mind, as indicated by what follows in the text. …<\/span><\/h3>\n

[The Jews] were well aware that the day of calamity was coming from the hand of the Lord, so they sought to store up their treasure to endure the dreadful time of Jacob’s Trouble. What they failed to realize was they will be the subjects of the wrath to come.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The “last days’ James makes reference to here must not be confused with the “last days” spoken of in Paul’s epistles. The events of these two periods called the “last days” are mutually exclusive of one another by the very nature of the programs in which they are revealed. The special revelation committed to Paul addresses the last days of the Church, which is His Body, that will precede the Rapture, which is heavenly<\/em> in nature. James, on the other hand, is speaking about the last days of Israel that precede the Second Coming of Christ, which is earthy<\/em> in nature.<\/span><\/h3>\n

The prophetic last days were predicted by the prophet Joel in the Old Testament, but it was Peter who announced their arrival. In his Pentecostal address to Israel, Peter says: “This is that, which was spoken of by the prophet Joel.” This is what? You see, Peter was speaking under the direction of the Holy Spirit so he knew exactly where he was at in relation to the plans and purposes of God according to prophecy. Those who had gathered at Jerusalem witnessed the beginning of the End Times<\/em> on the day of Pentecost. These days were being fulfilled before their very eyes.<\/span><\/h3>\n

However, by the time James wrote his epistle, Israel was already in the process of being set aside in unbelief by God. Therefore, the last days of prophecy have been temporarily interrupted by the Mystery. With this in mind, the Spirit of God would have us understand that the “last days” spoken of by James are the continuation<\/em> of them in the coming day of the Lord. What God began at Pentecost will resume at the beginning of the Tribulation. It is then the rich will weep and wail with great lamentations when they see their riches go up on smoke. \u2014 Sadler, pages 125-126.<\/span><\/h3>\n

__________<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

There was a unique application for believing Jews after their Messiah came that required them to liquidate their assets (Matthew 6:19-31<\/span><\/a>; Luke 12:33; 14:33). This does not apply to believers in the Dispensation of Grace. The believer today is to sow bountifully of his material goods “as he purposeth in his heart” in order that he may reap bountifully in this service for the Lord (2 Corinthians 9:6-7<\/span><\/a>). \u2014 Grace, page 2201.<\/span><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 Come now,\u00a0you\u00a0rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon\u00a0you! 2\u00a0Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3\u00a0Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-james"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9803"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9804,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9803\/revisions\/9804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}