After sharing with the “rich
men” who were among the “twelve tribes scattered abroad”,
James turned his attention to “the coming of the Lord” and
his readers were to exercise “patience” for it where we
read:
Be patient therefore,
brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits
for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it,
until he receive the early and latter rain.
The
verse begins, “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the
coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious
fruit of the earth,...” James
began with the words, “Be patient”
which means “of a long spirit, not to lose heart, persevere bravely
in enduring misfortunes and troubles” “therefore”
which is a conclusion word that
means “then, accordingly, consequently and these things being so”,
“brethren” which refers to
the “the fellow believers who are united to another by the bond of
affection in Christ”, “unto the coming”
or “till, to and toward the arrival, advent and future visible
return from heaven of Jesus, to raise the dead, hold the last
judgment and set up formally and gloriously the kingdom of God” “of
the Lord” which refers to “he
to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of
deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah”.
“Behold” or “see
or lo”, “the husbandman”
which means “the tiller of the soil and vine dresser” “waits
” or “tarries, receives,
expects, awaits and looks” “for the precious”
which means “that of great price, held in honor, esteemed and
especially dear” “fruit”
or “the result and harvest of the trees, vines and fields” “of
the earth” which means “the
arable land, ground, country, land enclosed within fixed boundaries,
a tract of land, territory and region”. James encourage his readers
to “be long-suffering” and “not to lose heart” till the
Lord's coming, and he likened the waiting to the farmer who waits for
the “harvest” in his fields.
The
verse goes on to say, “...and
has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter
rain.” James continued, “and
has long patience” which means
“bears and suffers long and patiently endures” “for
it” which refers to “the
coming of the Lord”, “until”
or “with an preterite indicative, where something is spoken
of which continued up to a certain time”
“he receive” which
means “takes in hand, lays hold of, takes up and upon one's self to
be carried” “the early” or
“the autumnal showering and first of the rainy season” “and
latter” which means “the
vernal rain which falls chiefly in the months of March and April just
before the harvest” “rain”
or “a shower like rain”. James went on to declare the Lord's
great “suffering and enduring” for the “harvest” through both
the spring and autumn “rainfalls”.
When
we meditate upon these words of James, we understand James'
exhortation to us to be “patient”
for the Lord's return. Those who are aware of the scriptures know the
angels who appeared after Jesus went up into the clouds said, “Which
also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so
come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts
1:11) We wait for his “coming”, and those who have
accepted Jesus Christ as “Messiah, Lord and Savior” must be
“patient” for His return. When His field is fully ripe, He
shall return and no one shall be able to impede Him.
Next
time James tells his readers to “Be
patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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