What Is The Meaning: To Be Rich?

Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl

for your miseries that shall come upon 

you. Your riches are corrupted, and your

garments are motheaten. Your gold and

silver is candered; and the rust of them

shall be a witness against you, ans shall

eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have 

heaped treasure together for the last

days. Behold, the hire of the laborers

who have reaped down your fields, which

 is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and 

the cries of them which have reaped are 

entered into the ears of the Lord of

Sabbaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure

on the earth, and been wanton; ye have

nourished your hearts, as in a day of

slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed 

the just; and he doth not resist you.

James 5:1-6

      If there is a hard to understand passage in Scripture I believe this is at the top. What is James telling us and those early Christians? Are we to condemn the rich, to being rich? Or, is there something we must take time to understand so that we do not misunderstand and misuse these verses? Remember that James is an instructive book and that he is addressing the errors that are being inflicted upon these early Christians by the Jews who defied them because they believed upon the One the killed and hated: Jesus Christ. Today in one way or the other there are those who are rich and powerful who have enslaved people so that they must work harder and longer just to have a simple life. The rich seem not to care so long as they receive a fortune. It is not being rich that is at question for there is no sin to be rich, it is to those who misuse their influence and money against others. 

     In Proverbs we can read this to give us what God thinks about those who misuse their riches: "He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch" (Proverbs 11:28). Some confusion may come by the words: "Go to now" as we do not use that idiom in our English, the Greek word "αγε" means to lead or to come on, or go to so a better rendering would be: "come on."Come on now" you rich men..... and then James tells them what would happen to them for their misusing of their riches..."weep, howl," why? Do their attitudes, their causing some harm to others who are not rich as they will cause them to have misery. Why? Their riches are corrupted, even their clothing is to be as though they are motheaten. Gold, silver, would become rusted, how can this be? Well in those days from the classical writers it appears that gold and silver coins had more alloy than those of ours today and would be subject to rusting, to be of no use, cankerous. This crying, and the loss of good garments, and the making of their riches as no good would bring upon them public shame in the least. It would be those who condemned the Just One, Jesus Christ, and now were condemning the ones following Him who would on the last days heaped upon them by the Lord of the Sabaoth. Notice the word: Sabaoth as this is not the Sabbath, it is more, it is a military term which denotes armies or hosts as in hosts of armies, and carries the meaning that the One who is the Lord of sabaoth is supreme, the One who is all sovereign. 

     These men who ruled over the poor had lived in worldly pleasure, those who filled their hearts desire with worldly things are being laid up to be slaughtered for they have killed the just, and they have not resisted them, but the day is coming when this will all be settled and not to their liking. The just may be killed, may have to suffer under these men but God has not turned aside but remembers this and will bring upon those who are doing this to have full justice applied to them for their sinfulness. 

     Let us apply this to us. We are to be careful what we say or do as was learned in earlier passages. We are to allow faith to lead us to godly works by God and not from our own desires. We are to be kind and loving to others especially those who are are brothers and sisters. To be rich is not necessarily wrong or sin. One can attempt to rule over others as though they were more righteous, more godly, more powerful, etc., and by this misuse people. The rich will be slaughtered and be condemned, now and in the last days. 

     Let us nourish our hearts, not with worldly ideas and things, no, rather with the word of God. We then find that this pleases God and we become useful to God to accomplish the purpose for why we exist now and wait to go to heaven in the future. We have the responsibility to disciple people, to bring to the world the Gospel. If we are busy with this we will not need to feeling or desire to be rich. We may be poor in the sight of the world and others, but we will be rich in the eyes of God. 

The mouth of the righteous

     speaketh wisdom, and his

tongue talketh of judgment. 

     The law of his God is in his

heart; none of his steps shall slide.

                   Proverbs 11:30-31

Living faith leads to righteousness

Richard L. Crumb