Your Cankered and Rusted Gold and Silver James 5:3

James directed his attention toward the “rich men” who where among the “twelve tribes scattered abroad” as he told them their “riches are corrupted, and” their “garments are moth-eaten”. In chapter five and verse three of his letter, James continued to share with the “rich men” as he declared their “gold and silver is cankered” and addressed their activities “for the last days” where we read:

Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. You have heaped treasure together for the last days.

The verse begins, “Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.” James began with the words, “Your gold” or “the rich men's ornaments, images and precious things made of gold” “and silver” which is “the vessels, images and things made of silver” “is cankered” which means “rusted over or covered with rust”; “and the rust” which refers to “poison or venom” “of them” which refers to “the gold and silver” “shall be a witness” or “will be, come to pass and follow as a testimony” “against you” which means “unto, towards and among the rich men”, “and shall eat” or “consume and devour” “your flesh” which refers to “the mere human nature and earthly nature of man apart from divine influence, and therefore prone to sin and opposed to God” “as it were fire” or “like, even as lightning and fiery fire”. The “gold and silver” accumulated by the “rich men” was destined to be “corrupt, poisonous and rusted”.

The verse continues, “You have heaped treasure together for the last days.” James added, “you have heaped treasure together” which means “laid up, kept in store and accumulated riches” “for the last days” which refers to “the extreme and uttermost days of this present age and the day Christ will return from heaven, raise the dead, hold the final judgment, and perfect his kingdom”. As though they could endure forever, the “rich men” gathered and stored their “riches” for the “end of the age”.

When we meditate upon these words of James, we see the result of “heaping together riches” on earth. At best they are temporary, tarnish and will melt away. They may have value here, but they have no eternal value whatsoever. The problem with the “rich men” to whom James spoke was they gathered and stored up their riches as though they would never end. These riches not only rot away, but also destroy the people who trust in them. Jesus desires for everyone to have a relationship with Him, and that is an eternal “treasure” which shall never vanish away and will certainly carry us to and throughout “the last days”. May the Lord help us to understand where true value is to be placed, and never be deceived by fool's “gold and silver”.

Next time James shares about “the hire of the laborers” which have been “kept back by fraud”, 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.