James here gives a very harsh and disturbing warning to rich people.
James 5:1-6
💡 እንግዲህ እናንተ ሀብታሞች ስሙ፤ ስለሚደርስባችሁ መከራ አልቅሱ፤ ዋይ ዋይም በሉ። ሀብታችሁ ሻግቷል፤ ልብሳችሁንም ብል በልቶታል። ወርቃችሁና ብራችሁ ዝጓል፤ ዝገቱም በእናንተ ላይ ይመሰክራል፤ ሥጋችሁንም እንደ እሳት ይበላዋል፤ ለመጨረሻው ዘመን ሀብትን አከማችታችኋል። ልብ በሉ፤ ዕርሻችሁን ሲያጭዱ ለዋሉ ሠራተኞች ያልከፈላችሁት ደመወዝ በእናንተ ላይ ይጮኻል፤ የዐጫጆቹም ጩኸት ሁሉን ቻይ ወደ ሆነው ጌታ ጆሮ ደርሷል። በምድርም ላይ በምቾትና በመቀማጠል ኖራችኋል፤ ለዕርድ ቀን ልባችሁን አወፍራችኋል። እናንተን ያልተቃወሙትን ንጹሓን ሰዎች ኰንናችኋል፤ ገድላችኋልም።
💡 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.
He echoes Jesus’ teaching about how the rich store up wealth on Earth but the saint store up wealth up in heaven. He repeats the idea that wealth and things on Earth are temporary.
Matthew 6:19-21
💡 “ብል ሊበላው፣ ዝገት ሊያበላሸው፣ ሌባም ቈፍሮ ሊሰርቀው በሚችልበት በዚህ ምድር ላይ ለራሳችሁ ሀብት አታከማቹ። ነገር ግን ብል ሊበላው፣ ዝገት ሊያበላሸው፣ ሌባም ቈፍሮ ሊሰርቀው በማይችልበት በዚያ በሰማይ ለራሳችሁ ሀብት አከማቹ፤ ሀብትህ ባለበት ልብህም በዚያው ይሆናልና።
💡 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
He also addresses a contemporary issue of “Unfair Payment” for the workers. On the world we live in now, it is considered a great business move to pay workers little but make them work more. And clearly God opposes that.
Here’s the idea of the rich people James painted here:
And James said that the very things they stored up rose up against them and burnt them.
So as to say “The very wealth you bought and stored was used as timber in hell to burn you.“
Here the Lord’s coming is seen as the end of suffering and it doesn’t always me the end times. And so James is saying, please be patient until God saves you of your misery.
James 5:7
💡 እንግዲህ ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ ጌታ እስከሚመጣ ድረስ ታገሡ።
💡 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming.
And he continues to say that God is good and he will not fail you and will come to save you.
James 5:11
💡 ጌታ እጅግ ርኅሩኅና መሓሪ ነው።
💡 The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
This verse relates to the following:
Deuteronomy 11:14-15
💡 እህልህን፣ ወይንህንና ዘይትህን እንድትሰበስብ የበልጉንና የክረምቱን ዝናብ በምድርህ ላይ በየወቅቱ አዘንባለሁ። በሜዳ ላይ ለከብቶችህ ሣር እሰጣለሁ፤ አንተም ትበላለህ፤ ትጠግባለህም።
💡 Then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.
Everyone suffers, but to suffer patiently is what distinguishes Christians.
My thought here is that James wants to show us that our words shouldn’t be backed by other words. Let each word mean it’s own meaning. Doing this will force you to base the authenticity of the words by the person uttering them. Which will in turn force the person to change for the better so that because that person is an honest person, his testimonies are too.
James 5:12
💡 ከሁሉም በላይ ወንድሞቼ ሆይ፤ በሰማይ ወይም በምድር ወይም በማናቸውም ነገር ቢሆን አትማሉ፤ “አዎ” ቢሆን አዎ ይሁን፤ “አይደለም” ቢሆን አይደለም ይሁን፤ አለዚያ ይፈረድባችኋል።
💡 Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.
James’ roadmaps:
I’m starting to think that Praise is a form of Prayer.
James 5:13-16
💡 ከእናንተ መካከል በመከራ ውስጥ ያለ አለ? እርሱ ይጸልይ፤ የተደሰተ አለ? የምስጋና መዝሙር ይዘምር። ከእናንተ መካከል የታመመ ሰው አለ? የቤተ ክርስቲያን ሽማግሌዎችን ይጥራ፤ እነርሱም በጌታ ስም ዘይት ቀብተው ይጸልዩለት። በእምነት የቀረበ ጸሎት የታመመውን ሰው ይፈውሰዋል፤ ጌታም ያስነሣዋል፤ ኀጢአትም ሠርቶ ከሆነ፣ ይቅር ይባላል። ስለዚህ ኀጢአታችሁን እርስ በርሳችሁ ተናዘዙ፤ ትፈወሱም ዘንድ አንዱ ለሌላው ይጸልይ። የጻድቅ ሰው ጸሎት ኀይል አለው፤ ታላቅ ነገርም ያደርጋል።
💡 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
And I think confessing our sins to one another helps bring the heart of the others into harmony with ours. So they can carry the burden with us and so their prayers are heartfelt and moved deeply.
IT IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT THAT CHRISTIANS SHOULD SUPPORT EACH OTHER AND HELP EACH OTHER STAY IN THE PATH OF FAITH.
James 5:19-20
💡 ወንድሞቼ ሆይ፤ ከእናንተ አንዱ ከእውነት ቢስትና ሌላው ቢመልሰው፣ ይህን አስተውሉ፤ ኀጢአተኛን ከተሳሳተበት መንገድ የሚመልስ ሰው ነፍሱን ከሞት ያድነዋል፤ ብዙ ኀጢአትንም ይሸፍናል።
💡 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
This is also echoed in the following:
Galatians 6:1-2
💡 ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ አንድ ሰው በኀጢአት ውስጥ ገብቶ ቢገኝ፣ መንፈሳውያን የሆናችሁ እናንተ በገርነት ልትመልሱት ይገባል። ነገር ግን አንተም እንዳትፈተን ራስህን ጠብቅ። አንዱ የሌላውን ከባድ ሸክም ይሸከም፤ በዚህም ሁኔታ የክርስቶስን ሕግ ትፈጽማላችሁ።
💡 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.