1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 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. 4 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. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

7 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. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 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. 12 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
https://my.bible.com/bible/59/JAS.5.1-12

What do you like about this passage?

God has our back! Verses 1-6 talk about the person (rich) who has done us wrong and has gained from our loss. That God sees the things in our lives that earthly people might not see, those hurts and even the hidden ones, including the ones in our hearts.

Throughout my life as a Believer in Jesus, I have had many wounds perpetrated on my life and family. That even the closest friends never saw, but God was there. There was a time that a leader within the church caused a wounded (sinned against) me and my family. I walked through forgiveness with them and served with them. There came a day that this leader and family were called to another ministry and left. In the midst of all this, my wife and I had some lifelong friends, a married couple, in the church that were very close to the leader’s family. So when the leader left this couple was hurt and did not understand why we were not also as sad as them. We never told them about the sin of the leaders, the bible says the “love covers a multitude of sins”. This caused our relationship to be strained and was never the same again. Years later our pastor was recounting the history of the church and all that was endured. These leaders were talked about and their sins told to everyone, not by our request. This couple realized why we did not miss them as they did. They came to us right after the service and repented and we wept together.

God had our backs and was with us in all of this. The leaders who tried to gather all these things for themselves were destroyed, their marriage and family.

What is difficult about this passage?

The first part of verse 7, “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.” I know that this coming is referring to His second physical coming, but God will show up for us, in many ways. I endured years of a strained relationship with my friend from above until God reviled the truth and brought healing.

What does this passage tell me about God?

Whatever we have to go through by the hand of another God is with us. God is not causing it, because people have a choice, but God will not leave us or forsake us.

What does the passage tell us about People?

People have a tendency to focus on their own increase at the expense of others. But as believers in Jesus, we should love our neighbor as ourselves.

What are you going to do with this passage / your personal revelation?

Continue to have unconditional love for others as God has asked us to.

Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31

Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy 6:4-6 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.”

I don’t see in the old testament passage where it says to love your neighbor? the phrase “These words” were what we call the Law of Moses, it was a list of guidelines that were given by God to Moses instructing us how to live in community and how to treat one another.