Tuesday, January 15, 2013

James 5:1-6

The leaders this week are Tyler, Bryson,and T.J.

Warning to the RichCome now, you rich people! Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you. Your wealth is ruined and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your silver and gold are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You stored up treasure in the last days!Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who reaped your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.[a] You have lived luxuriously on the land and have indulged yourselves. You have fattened your hearts for[b] the day of slaughter. You have condemned—you have murdered—the righteous man; he does not resist you.

We also found some helpful notes on Soniclight.com

Gold and silver do not literally rust. They corrode and tarnish. Nevertheless corrosion does the same thing as rust. It destroys the value of the metal. Christians should use  money, not hoard it. Therefore the presence of rust or corroded gold in the rich man's treasury will bear witness to his unfaithful stewardship of his wealth. James warned that the process that destroys gold and silver is the same process that destroys the people who collect these precious metals. Hoarding wealth is a particularly serious sin for Christians since we are living in the last days, the days immediately preceding the Lord's return. We should be using our money to get the Lord's work done, not to enable us to live lives of luxury and laziness (cf. Matt. 6:19-24).

Again James confronted his readers as a prophet (cf. 4:13). Rich people are usually happy that they have wealth. However, James challenged his rich readers to weep and howl in anguish, not repentance. The Bible nowhere condemns the rich for being rich. Money is not evil (cf. 1 Tim. 6:10). Nevertheless God's Word consistently warns the rich of the temptations that financial abundance brings  with it. These temptations include a false sense of security, a desire to control others, and personal pride. The rich should not rejoice too much. Material misery may be just around the corner

Here are their questions

1. What is James warning the rich for?
2. What does verse 3 mean?
3. If it is wrong to withhold wages then why did the rich do it?