James continued
to exhort his readers from the “twelve tribes scattered abroad”
concerning “suffering affliction” and “patience”.
In chapter five and verse eleven of his letter, James shared about
being “happy” for those who have“patience” and
“endure” tribulations where we read:
Behold, we
count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job,
and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and
of tender mercy.
The
verse begins, “Behold, we count them happy which
endure.You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end
of the Lord;” James began with
the word, “Behold”
or “see and lo”, “we count them happy”
or “blessed, beatified and fortunate” “which endure”
which means “remain, tarry behind, not receding or fleeing”. “You
have heard” or “James'
readers were endowed with the faculty of hearing and not deaf or
unable to attend to and consider what is or has been said” “of
the patience” which means
“patient continuance, waiting, steadfastness, constancy and
endurance” “of Job” which
refers to “the man in the Old Testament who was known for
his piety, consistency and fortitude in the endurance of trials”
whose name means “the cry of woe” or “I will exclaim” “and
have seen” or “perceiving,
noticing, discerning and discovering” “the end”
which refers to “the uttermost, finally, ” “of the
Lord” or “he to whom a
person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master
and the title given to God the Messiah”. As he employed the example
of “Job”, James
knew those who would “endure”
trials and temptations would be “blessed and fortunate” by the
Lord who had their “final end”
in mind.
The
verse goes on to say, “that the Lord is very pitiful, and of
tender mercy.” James continued, “that 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” “is very pitiful” or “very kind and extremely
compassionate”, “and of tender mercy” or “full of
compassion and merciful”. James knew those who “endured trials”
on earth would enjoy the benefit of knowing the “Lord” is
filled with “compassion and mercy” for those who go through them.
When
we meditate upon these words of James, we do not see exemptions from
“trials or tribulations” in this life. We are given the promise
of being “blessed” as we “endure” them, but
nonetheless, we must go through them. This world is not our home, and
as we go through tough times, we must keep in mind the “compassion”
and “mercy” of the Lord Jesus Christ who also suffered
while on earth. May we be “blessed” in our trials, and may
the Lord Jesus Christ rule and reign in our lives as we find the
“patience of Job” to “endure”.
Next
time James tells his readers to “swear
not”,
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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