- And let the brother who is low rejoice in his exaltation, and the rich in his becoming low, because as a flower of grass he shall pass away; for the sun did rise with the burning heat, and did wither the grass, and the flower of it fell, and the grace of its appearance did perish, so also the rich in his way shall fade away!
Barnabas-Acts 4:36-37
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus [who came to Jesus by night asking how to be born again] [they took Jesus body after the crucifixion & wrapped it in linen & anointed it]were rich men. Nicodemus did indeed become a Christian [John 19:38-42]. Church history tells us that he was a very wealthy man but because of his faith in Jesus Christ he became so poor, he was so persecuted that his daughter was found collecting barley corn from horses feet in order to feed the family. So here is a man that was rich but became poor because of his faith in Jesus Christ.
There is another account of a rich man [Mark 10:17-22, Luke 18-18-23]. Remember the rich young ruler that comes to Jesus and he wants to know how to enter the kingdom and Jesus says to go and sell all that you have. What happened? The rich young ruler went away very sorrowful because he had a lot of possessions he didn't want to get rid of. Jesus said how hard it is for those who are rich to enter the kingdom of God? There weren't that many rich men as poor men in NT times but we know there were rich people as well as there are rich people in our day. So now James has a word for these rich people. They were to rejoice in that they were made low. They were to rejoice in their humility, meaning they were to cultivate a spirit of poverty even though they had money. In Matthew 5:3 Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Even though you might have a lot of money, you are to be humble in spirit. The rich man/woman has to work at this; they have to work on being lowly and they make that their boast not their riches. Faith in Christ produces true humility in those who are rich. Why? Because they realize they are here today & gone tomorrow and they cannot trust in their riches. The rich man, the poor man are both totally depraved. Just like the poor man, the rich man is destined for hell without Christ.
***Trials make ALL believers equally dependent upon God & bring them to the same level with one another by keeping them preoccupied with earth things. Both the poor & the rich Christian can rejoice that God is no respecter of persons and that they both have the privilege of being identified with Christ.***
Proverbs 22:2 says:
The
rich and the poor have this in common, The Lord is the
maker of them all.
In God's eyes it doesn't matter, He made you whether you are rich or whether you are poor.
Jeremiah 9:23 says:
Thus
says the Lord:
“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not
the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man
glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he
understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising
lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in
these I delight,” says the Lord.
The Lord does not delight in how smart we are or how well we speak. He doesn't rejoice in that, nor does He rejoice if we have money invested. What he does rejoice in is that we know Him and understand Him and we exercise lovingkindness. That is what pleases Him.
James uses the graphic picture of the field to encourage the rich brother to look beyond the temporal to the spiritual. Notice what he says: In verse 10b:
because
as a flower of the field he will pass away.
He draws his reader's attention to the almost instantaneous wilting of the grass in the field when the sun rises with a burning heat.
Burning heat in the Greek is translated: burning heat but also south east wind
2742.
καύσων
kausōn,
kŏw´-sone;
from 2741;
a glare:—(burning)
heat.
2741.
καυσόω
kausŏō,
kŏw-sŏ´-o;
from 2740;
to set on fire:—with
fervent heat.
2740.
καῦσις
kausis,
kŏw´-sis;
from 2545; burning
(the act):—be burned.
2545.
καίω
kaiō,
kah´-yo;
appar.
a prim.
verb; to set on fire,
i.e. kindle
or (by impl.)
consume:—burn,
light.
In Luke 12:55 Jesus says -
And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens.
In Biblical times, the south east wind brought such heat [like opening your oven door & being blasted with heat; sort of like our weather now with the heat index being so high] that it is said that it could wipe out vegetation in one hour...it would be completely gone. That is the Greek word that James uses here. So in James' day, this is a weather pattern that is very familiar to them; it would not have been a new concept. They understood exactly what James is saying. You are like the flower of the grass that is here today & then you open that oven door and you are gone! James is not the only one that talks about the gravity of life. Our lives are short and there are certain things that we should be investing in. Take notice of these verses & then stop & think for a minute -
**As
for man, his days are like grass; As
a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For
the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And
its place remembers it no more. Psalm 103:15
**The
voice said, “Cry out!" And
he said, “What shall I cry?”“All
flesh is grass, And
all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The
grass withers, the flower fades, Because
the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely
the people are grass.
The
grass withers, the flower fades, But
the word of our God stands forever.” having
been born again, not of corruptible
seed but incorruptible, through
the word of God which lives and abides forever, because All
flesh is as grass, And
all the
glory of man as the flower of the grass. The
grass withers, And
its flower falls away, But
the word of the Lord endures
forever.” Isaiah 40:6-8
**having
been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through
the word of God which lives and abides
forever, because All
flesh is as grass, And
all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The
grass withers, And
its flower
falls away, But
the word of the Lord endures forever.” I Peter 1:23,24
What are we anyway? Whether we are rich or poor, We are dust, wild grass & flowers...that come up in the springtime [it's summer now & some of those spring flowers are gone like my crab apple tree blossoms...they're gone & there are only green leaves] & fade away. People come and go but what stands forever? The Word of the Lord stands forever. Later on James will write, "what is your life anyway? It's like a vapor that is here today and gone tomorrow." That's why he says we shouldn't say Tomorrow I am going to go here and there and do thus and so...have lunch with so and so and James says what are you talking about? You don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. What you ought to say is, if the Lord wills, I will do thus and so and go here or there. He says that all such rejoicing is evil. So what is our life? It is here today and gone tomorrow. James wants both the rich and the poor readers [mainly the rich because that's who he is exhorting] to think about that!
Grass = a feeding place or a farmyard which was primarily used for the feeding of cattle. This would be a huge pasture land and only the rich would be able to afford such a pasture. So when James says that blast of south wind comes on that pasture....it is gone!
5528.
χόρτος
chŏrtŏs,
khor´-tos;
appar. a prim. word; a “court”
or “garden”,
i.e. (by impl. of pasture)
herbage or
vegetation:—blade,
grass, hay.
The word flower here is not talking about a literal flower but the grass that has been allowed to reach its full maturity. It is at its height, its brilliancy just like the rich. The brilliance of the rich man's wealth degenerates and that is no longer humility but humiliation. James says its beautiful appearance perishes; its beauty disappears. It will fade away. The rich man - all his splendor, all the things he prides himself in will vanish. The rich man seen here is feverishly traveling, there is no time for God, there is no time to be in His Word, there is no time to be in His house....what will happen to such a man? James says he will fade away. Jesus said, what will profit a man to gain the whole world but loses his soul? Eternity is forever, this world is temporary & it passes by quicker & quicker. King Solomon called the love of money futile, meaningless & said in Eccl. 5:10 "He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity." He also says in verses 11-14 that wealth brings about grievous evil, disaster, misfortune and then you have nothing to leave your son. In verse 15, he closes his thoughts by saying, "even if wealth were not lost, but kept throughout his life, you still can't take it with you in eternity." At a funeral, have you ever seen a U-Haul™ behind a hearse? That's kind of funny but it shows you how whatever we have accumulated here will not go with us into eternity, be it heaven or hell. Jesus said, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth & rust doth steal & corrupt...but lay up what? Treasure in heaven ... for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The Lord warns the Israelites of this very same danger of loving money & denying the Lord after their deliverance from Egypt. Read Deuteronomy 8:17.
In our culture, especially as a Christian in America, there is a danger of being very materialistic & if we don't have a godly perspective regarding wealth, there is danger of temptation, snares, lust, destruction & perdition. Timothy says you can even go apostate. Money cannot buy you happiness & it will never buy you out of a trial.
Verse 11 - James describes the fate of the rich which isn't a very pretty picture.
James uses 4 verbs to describe what happens: They rise, they wither, they fall, they perish which suggests a very rapid succession of events. At first, the rich are beautiful. Then they lose their beauty, they drop their petals, they fade away. This is a picture of what a life dependent on riches can be. Life is uncertain, are you trusting in riches and things which the circumstances of life can take at any moment?
David says in Psalm 62:10 & 11
Do
not trust in oppression, Nor vainly hope in robbery; If
riches increase, Do not set your heart on them. God
has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs
to God.
What is the Psalmist saying here? It doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, what matters is power belongs to the Lord.
Jesus reminds us about the dangers of the love of money in Luke 12:15
And
He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s
life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Our lives do not consist in the abundance of the things we possess. I am sure we all know miserable rich people who do not possess inner peace, joy or happiness...but we also know poor people who possess the peace of God that passes all understanding. I heard a woman say that when she went to Honduras she was amazed at the happiness of the women there who had nothing and they would ride for 10 hours in the back of a pickup in the rain to hear the Word of God. We would never want to do that...we wouldn't want to mess up our hair! What did they have that we don't have? They had a hunger for God, peace, joy. A lot of our culture today is that our contentment in life depends upon material possessions. "If only I had__________, I would be happy or content". One of the most important lessons that we can learn early in life and pass onto our children is this: If I am not satisfied with what I have, I will NEVER be satisfied with what I want...because the more you get, the more you want!
Contentment is an attitude that must be developed.
What did Paul say in Phil. 4:11-13? [when he was in prison waiting for Nero to summon him to have his head cut off]
Not
that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state
I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to
abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full
and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all
things through
Christ who strengthens me.
His contentment was because of his personal relationship with God not with material possessions and not even the normal comforts of life.
We have been blessed! Money has bought us a lot of wonderful things but it will never buy you peace with God, never buy you out of of a trial, and it will never buy your salvation.
Are you wealthy? If so, does money occupy your thoughts? Do you "shop til you drop"?
Are you poor? Are you uncertain how you are going to pay the rent, buy your groceries or obtain medical insurance?
Or, do you have just the right amount of money? "I don't have a lot of money but I am not poor either. Proverbs 30:8-9
Remove
far from me vanity and lies: Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed
me with food \convenient
for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee,
And say, Who is
the Lord? Or lest
I be poor, and steal, And take the name of my God in
vain.
Agar, who wrote this, says I don't want to be rich and I don't want to be poor I want just enough. It doesn't really matter what our financial state is, it doesn't matter in the long run. What does matter is, is how you are responding to whatever level of wealth God has ordained for you in a way that honors him. Whatever our financial circumstances they should not distract us from seeking God and developing an intimacy and relationship with Him. Only an intimate daily relationship with our Creator can truly satisfy our human hearts.
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