Fattened Hearts in the Day of Slaughter – James 5:1-12

Are you willing to compromise morally to get more wealth?  James wants to assure you that God will exact justice toward you.  You won’t get away with it.

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. (James 5:1-12, ESV)

There are rich people who do not become rich on the backs of the poor, but here James warns those who are rich and deserve judgment that they need to weep and howl for the miseries coming upon them. Cheating their workers out of their wages is bringing a cry for justice, and the evidence against them is their rich garments, gold and silver. By amassing dishonest gain they are only making themselves a more delectably fattened cow for slaughter. Murder has not been beyond them and yet the witness of the righteous person is their non-resistance, another affirmation of the need for judgment by God of these rich people.

Because this judgment is certain, the poor among the believers may be patient like the farmer who waits for the rains to water the crops. At His coming the Lord will make all things right. And He is ready to come at any time, so our hearts need to be established in righteousness, especially in regard to relationships with our fellow believers, whom we are responsible to love. If we need an example of this, we can remember the prophets who suffered for righteousness and were persecuted but remained steadfast, and we can look to Job who maintained his faith in God despite cruel suffering. We know that our compassionate and merciful God will accomplish His purpose of avenging His people.

So there is no need to make oaths. As Jesus taught us, let our yes be yes and our no be no. Our character is to be our testimony to our trustworthiness, not how dreadful we make our oath (“May the Lord do such and such to me if I don’t…). We are not in control of our lives and cannot manipulate God or anyone else with such oaths. Our trust is in the compassionate and merciful Savior who taught us what it means to walk in holiness.