James 4:1-12, Part 1

[Hidden In Him]

Calling An Adulterous Leadership To Repentance, Part 1

     Beginning with Chapter 3, James has been addressing primarily the leadership of the early Jewish church, as was evident in his telling them, "My brothers, let there not be many teachers, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation." (James 3:1). What exactly was wrong with having a multitude of teachers in the church? The real problem was that the "wisdom" the vast majority of them were speaking was not "from above" but rather "earthly, soulish, and demonic" (James 3:14-15). Thus, they were not qualified, either theologically or temperamentally, as they were easily lending themselves to warring and fighting rather than "sowing the word of truth in peace" (James 3:18). 
     James will now explain to them that their intentions behind why they wanted wisdom from God were the problem:

     From where do wars and fights arise among you? Do they not arise from here, from your pleasures warring amongst your membership? You desire yet do not have, [so] you kill and covet. And you are zealous yet not able to obtain, [so] you fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask, yet do not receive, because you ask with bad intentions, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulteresses, do you not know that love for the world is enmity towards God? Therefore, whosoever decides to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:1-4)

     By "You desire yet do not have, so you kill and covet," James was referring back to things he has already said: Many desired the wisdom to become teachers (James 3:1), but because they didn't have it they were "killing and coveting," or in other words pronouncing curses upon those their competitors and coveting their positions of influence over others (James 3:10, 13-14). By "and you are zealous yet not able to attain, so you fight and war," then becomes largely the same point: They were zealous for teaching positions, yet because their "wisdom" wasn't impressing anyone, they were fighting and warring with one another sin an attempt to lift themselves up by tearing everyone else down.
     But as a result, they were not receiving wisdom from God. Why? Because they either A. Were not even asking Him for it, being arrogantly self-confident they could figure everything out themselves, or B. Because in asking they were asking with bad intentions, that they might use the wisdom He gave them only to shame others they held resentments towards. This made their motives impure. They only wanted to receive wisdom from the Lord so they could "spend it on her pleasures," or in other words, by demeaning and humiliating others in public. And there was no way God could honor motivations like these. By doing so, He would only have been empowering them to sin against each other even more.
     As for their being "lovers of the world," the desire simply to glory oneself in the eyes of men was another motive God could never honor. Jesus accused the scribes and Pharisees of having similar motivations. Their secret desire was to be seen as great religious leaders, which is why they did things like make it very noticeable to others whenever they were fasting or giving alms (Matthew 6:1-2, 5, 16):

     Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat… all their works they do to be seen by men, for they widen their phylacteries and enlarge their borders. They love the place of honor at the banquets, and the most important seats in the synagogues. They love the greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by men." (Matthew 23:1-3, 5-7)
 
     The word "Rabbi" in Hebrew meant simply "a great one," i.e. one who had received great wisdom from God, and thus was to be regarded as someone of great spiritual stature in the Jewish community. How did one attain such a title? By demonstrating superior wisdom in religious debates and discussions, such as regularly took place on the Sabbaths.
     But among those vying for leadership among the Jews, these debates often turned bitterly contentious, and now they were overcoming the early church as well. As a result, James now began imploring these early Jewish believers to repent. They were committing a type of spiritual adultery by becoming lovers of the world, in that this was the way Gentile philosophers rose to great fame - by exhibiting their mental superiority over others during debate - but this was not the way God commanded His people to treat one another. Yes, they were to be "a light to those in darkness, and instructors to the foolish" (Romans 2:19-20), but not by mentally humiliating and demeaning anyone else. Such prideful conduct incited the Lord to anger, for which James now warned them to humble themselves, lest they make God their enemy and incur His wrath:

     Adulteresses... whoever decides to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the scripture says in vain, "The Spirit that dwells within us yearns with envy." But He gives greater grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you whose affections are divided. Be miserable, and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy into heaviness. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 4:4-10) 

    The expression "lifted up" here referred to being granted wisdom by God such that others would take notice and honor you for it. It was used by both the apostles Peter and Paul in this same sense. In Peter's case, he used the expression to encourage younger brothers who were desiring leadership positions in the church to be patient and bide their time. In due time, as they became older and the current leaders stepped aside, God would lift them up to places of leadership within the growing Christian community:

     Elders among you I therefore exhort… be shepherds of the flock of God which is among you, exercising oversight not by constraint but willingly… Likewise, younger [brothers], be subject unto the elders... God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Be humbled, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may lift you up in due time. (1 Peter 5:1a, 2a, 5-6).

     But those seeking to be lifted up by engaging in strife and debate were ultimately defeating their own purposes. By NOT resisting the Devil but instead allowing themselves to be used by him, they were quenching the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the situation had already become so serious that James was now calling them to repent to such an extent as to "be miserable, mourn and weep. They needed to turn their "laughter into mourning" and their "joy into heaviness," because in their current state of pride and spiritual adultery, they could expect to receive nothing from God but judgment unless they repented.
     As we shall see in this study, the early Jewish church unfortunately failed to repent, which is part of what led to the Lord eventually turning to the Gentiles instead. Once this happened, judgment had been determined against the Jews. Their nation would be attacked and destroyed by the Romans, and they would be scattered to the four corners of the earth.
     As shall be discussed in Part 2, many in the modern church are likewise at a similar crossroads. As has already been pointed out in the previous studies and will be again in the next, the Spirit of God is prophesying that leaders in the modern church who obstinately refuse to hear Him have reason to fear. A time is coming when He will again turn to others instead, and remove those from positions of leadership who sought to bring only glory and riches to themselves. For turning a deaf ear to Him, they too are prophesied to incur the judgment from God in consequence.


Bad Intentions: Why God Withholds Wisdom

     As James stated in Chapter 1, God never withholds wisdom from believers because of common sins. Rather, He is quick to overlook such things because He knows that wisdom and revelation will draw us closer to Him, and ultimately help deliver us from sin.

     If any of you falls short in wisdom, let him request it from God, who gives it with simplicity to all men and does not bring reproach, and it shall be given unto him. (James 1:5)

     However, if one's intentions are evil in attaining wisdom, that's a different story. As early as the time of Isaiah, the primary intention many religious leaders in Israel had in attaining wisdom was only to use it as a weapon against their rivals in religious debates. Israel's religious leaders were even fasting to the Lord so as to obtain wisdom Him, but only so they could take pleasure in besting and shaming one another in religious arguments, as the following text in Isaiah states:

     If you fast for quarreling and strife, and smite the lowly with your fists, why do you fast to Me as you do this day, so that your voice may be heard in crying? If you turn your foot away because of the Sabbath, so as not to do your pleasure on the holy days, and shall call the sabbaths delightful, holy unto God, if you shall not lift up your foot to do work, nor speak a word in anger out of your mouth, then shall you trust upon the Lord. (Isaiah 58:2-4, 13 LXX)

     Little had changed by New Testament times. As is clear from Jesus' own life, the Jews were still regularly gathering on the Sabbath to read from the Torah and discuss the word of God (Luke 4:16, 30-32). But Paul's statements in Romans suggest they were again engaging in divisive debates with one another, leading Paul to go so far as to even declare:

     Their throat is a grave that has been opened. With their tongues they practiced deceit. The poison of snakes is under their lips, from whom their mouth is full of bitterness and cursing… The way of peace they knew not. There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:13-14, 17-18)

     Among such men, religious discussions often devolved into fighting matches, and mental competitions to see who was "greatest" among them. This is why Jesus specifically advised the disciples not to pursue being calling "Master" or "Rabbi" or "Father" among the Jews. To do so was merely to seek glorification among men:

     Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees... love the greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by men. But do not be called 'Rabbi,' for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brothers. And call no one 'Father' on the earth, for One is your Father in Heaven. Neither be called 'Master,' for One is your Master, the Christ. But he who is greater among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, but whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted." (Matthew 23:1, 7-12)

     Now, some twelve years later, the early Jewish church was falling back into these same old sinful patterns. They were again giving themselves over to factiousness rather than the Holy Spirit. They were again speaking evil against one another, which led James to yet again command them in verses 11 and 12:

     Brothers, do not speak evil against one another. The one who speaks evil against his brother speaks evil against the law, and judges the law. But if your judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law but a judge. There is [only] one Lawgiver who is able to save and destroy. Who are you who judges your neighbor? (James 4:11-12)

     In other words, by speaking evil against one another, they were for all intents and purposes rejecting the second greatest commandment in all of scripture, to love one's neighbor as himself. And by willfully rejecting it in favor of engaging in their pleasures, they were arrogantly judging and rejecting the Lawgiver Himself. Therefore, just as Jesus told His disciples "Do not be called 'Rabbi'... neither be called 'Master'... for whosoever will exalt himself shall be humbled, and whosoever will humble himself shall be exalted," so too was James now telling those vying for positions of leadership in the early Jewish church to humble themselves, for pride would be their downfall:

     God opposes the proud, and gives grace to the humble... [So] humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 4:6, 10)


The Greatest Commandment Of Both The Old And New Testaments

     Their spiritual adultery of seeking to glorify themselves constituted breaking not just the second commandment of God but the first as well. By either not asking God for wisdom (i.e. in relying upon their own intellects to figure everything out instead), or by asking with evil intentions God could never honor, these men were undermining their own ability to keep the first and greatest commandment in all of scripture: To love the Lord their God with their whole heart, whole mind, whole soul and whole strength. Within ancient Judaism, this was done by meditating upon the scriptures, and seeking God for wisdom and insight concerning them day and night.
 
     "One thing that Israelites in ancient times commonly meditated on was God’s teaching and His commandments. They would read a passage from Torah to themselves, and then think about its meaning. Unfortunately, in modern Orthodox Judaism, true meditation has been replaced by incantation – the saying of words without giving any thought to their meaning. Many Orthodox Jews simply read aloud rhythmically to themselves without stopping to give themselves time to think properly about what they are reading.
     In the Book of Joshua, chapter 1 verse 8, God says to Joshua son of Nun, 'Do not let this Book of Teaching depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you will be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.'  The ancients believed that meditation brought understanding, wisdom and insight, leading to right action…" (The Ancient And Oft-Forgotten Israelite Way of Meditation, Talmidi.co.il)
 
     Numerous additional passages from the Old Testament bear this out. Along with prayer, God's word confirms that this was the primary way ancient Jewish believers kept what Jesus Himself confirmed to be the greatest commandment of both the Old and New Testaments (see Matthew 22:35-38):
 
     Let not this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you will be careful to do all that is written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Joshua 1:8 )
 
     Oh how I love Your law, Oh Lord! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on Your statues. (Psalm 119:97-99)
 
     Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way with sinners, nor sat in the seat of corrupting men. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be as a tree planted by the rivers of water, which shall yield its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not fall off. And whatsoever he shall do shall be prospered. (Psalm 1:1-3)
 
     This last passage had to do with surrounding oneself, not with wicked men whose advice and instruction would only corrupt you morally and spiritually, but with wise men whose words would enable you grow in wisdom and revelation from God. This was therefore yet another way of keeping the greatest commandment: Gathering together corporately to discuss the word of God with other wise believers, with each sharing the wisdom God had given him.   


The Focus Of Christ's Teaching: Keeping The Greatest Commandment

     In His teachings, Jesus stressed this commandment above all others as well. In fact, He taught on it more than anything else. As covered in Study #6, the Parable of the Sower taught the importance of believers letting the Word of God grow within them until it brought forth fruit. The "anxieties of this age, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things" had the potential to "choke out the word" and make it unfruitful because such things would so crowd out the mind of the believer so that he no longer had time to focus upon hearing from God.
     Jesus used the analogy of God and Mammon to teach the exact same principle: If the believer tried to serve both, it would eventually close off his spiritual "eyesight" by separating Him from continual mental devotion to God. For this reason, not only should believers shun seeking after earthly treasures, but they shouldn't even worry about daily necessities. They should incessantly be seeking to store up the spiritual treasures of wisdom and revelation from God by continuing to make hearing from God the primary focus of their lives, trusting God to take care of the rest:

     Store not up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust consume [them], and where thieves break through and steal [them]. But store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If therefore your eye is unobstructed, your whole body shall be filled with light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body shall be filled with darkness. If therefore the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
     No one is able to serve two lords, for either he will hate one and love the other, or cleave to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Because of this, I say to you, Do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor for your body, what you shall put on… for your heavenly Father knows you have need of all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow shall have its own anxieties. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. (Matthew 6:19-25a, 32b-34)

     For starters, the expression "treasures in Heaven" was a reference to wisdom, as was consistently the case in Christ's teachings:

     And then [Jesus] said to them, "Because of this, every scribe who has been discipled in the kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is the master of a house, who sets forth out of his treasure [both] new and old." (Matthew 13:52)

     He who is faithful in the least is faithful also in much, and he who is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If, therefore, you have not been faithful with the unjust mammon, who will entrust to you the true riches? (Luke 16:10-11)
 
    Our Lord's analogy about "serving mammon" leading to obstructed spiritual eyesight was made in reference to cataracts and glaucoma, which increasingly complicated vision until the afflicted person's eyesight was eventually crowded out altogether, and he went blind entirely.


Christ's Bride Was Becoming An Adulteress, And His Enemy

     To grant wisdom and revelation from God, what Jesus referred to as the "treasures" of Heaven, is what the Spirit of God was sent for. According to Christ Jesus Himself, this was the primary purpose the Holy Spirit was to serve in the believer's life:

     I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth... (John 16:12-13a)

     As for you, the Anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His Anointing teaches you about all things, and as that Anointing is real, not counterfeit — just as He has taught you, remain in Him. (1 John 2:26-27. See also Romans 8:38-39)

     The bride of Christ was to continue walking in spiritual intimacy with Her Lord. So long as she did, Christ would continue to honor her by adorning her with the spiritual riches of wisdom and revelation, as if adorning a wife with beautiful and expensive jewelry. But James was now warning his readers that the Lord knew what His adulteress bride wanted these adornments for: Not to beautify herself for her Lord, but to spend them on her pleasures of pursuing her adulterous love affair with the world. Many of the church's early Jewish leaders apparently wanted the glory of being considered a "Rabbi" or "Master," similar honors such as worldly philosophers received.
     But like an adulterous wife now caught in her adultery and as a result shamed before her husband, they now needed to their laughter and pride into mourning and weeping over the sins they had committed, and truly repent before their Lord:

     Resist the Devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you whose affections are divided. Be miserable, and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy into heaviness. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 4:7-10) 

     As the text reads, they needed to "cleanse their hands," as if having come into intimate contact with something "unclean," i.e. unclean spirits. They needed to now "resist the Devil," and all demonically-inspired temptations to continue engaging in strife and heated debate. They needed to "purify their hearts" so that their affections were no longer divided between God and the world. And most of all they needed to humble themselves. Instead of laughter, pride and arrogance, they needed to be ashamed of their sins. Every day they acted as if they were doing nothing wrong they were risking judgment from God, for God would no longer tolerate their unfaithfulness. They would either humble themselves or they would be humbled.
     The implication in this passage, then, is that the early Jewish church was in danger of being rejected by God as an adulteress to Christ. Because many preferred the love of the world, the leadership of the early Jewish church was risking spiritual divorce, and indeed, history bears out that the Lord would soon turn to the Gentiles instead, leaving Israel to her fate.


"But Wrath Came Upon Them To The Uttermost"

     James was the earliest epistle of the New Testament, written roughly between 46-48 A.D. The next earliest epistle to be written would be First Thessalonians, written some seven years later. In it, the apostle Paul made the following statements to his Gentile readers regarding the Jews:

     You, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus, in that you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and drove us out, and are not acceptable to God, and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles so that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always. But wrath came upon them to the uttermost. (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16)

     This last verse was written as a past tense prophecy (as if it had already occurred), and the essential meaning was this: The Lord had now rejected Isreal and turned to the Gentiles instead. Evidence of this can be seen in three things: God had now turned to pouring out the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles instead, He had now stopped speaking to the Jews, and judgment had now been appointed against them.
     Firstly, regarding the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, it is interesting to note that very little mention of the spiritual gifts is made in the Book of James, the same spiritual gifts that are mentioned as repeatedly in operation amongst the Gentiles in Paul's epistles:

      What is it, then, brothers? Whenever you may come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. If anyone with a tongue speaks, [let it be] by two or the most three, and in succession, and let one interpret. And if there is no interpreter, let him be silent in the church, but let him speak to himself and God. And let prophets speak two or three, and let the others discern. And if anything should be revealed to another sitting by, let the first one be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and be exhorted. (1 Corinthians 14:26-31)

     What is mentioned a lot are activities that New Testament writers stated generally led to the quenching of the Holy Spirit among believers: Contentiousness, bitterness, jealousy, pride, cursing, strife and debate. It is as if the Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts were already becoming extinguished:

     If you have bitter jealousy and contentiousness in your heart, do not boast and lie against the truth. This is not the wisdom coming down from above, but is earthly, soulish, [and] demonic... Do you think that the scripture says in vain, "The Spirit that dwells within us yearns with envy." But He gives greater grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. (James 3:15-16, 4:5-8a)

     The command here to "draw near to God, and He will draw near to you" suggests that the church had already grown distant from God.
     Secondly, just as the Spirit was not being poured out upon them as He once was, so too was the Lord no longer speaking to the Jews as He once had. The reason? They had closed their ears to Him and were no longer listening to what He had to say.
     As is recorded in Acts, the apostle Paul warned the Jewish leadership about this very thing: 
 
     And it came to pass that after three days, Paul called the chief elders of the Jews together… and when they him appointed him a day, there came many to him unto his lodging, to whom he expounded and testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law and out of Moses. And some believed the things which were spoken yet some believed not. And when they did not agree amongst themselves, they departed after Paul had spoken one word [in particular]: "Well did the Holy Spirit speak by Isaiah the prophet unto our fathers, saying, 'Go to this people and say, "In hearing you shall hear and not understand, and in seeing you shall see and not perceive. For the heart of this people has grown fat, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and should be converted, and I should heal them."' Be it known unto you, therefore, that the salvation of God is [now] sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it." (Acts 28:17, 23-29)

     And it was because the Gentiles WERE now listening to what God had to say that the Holy Spirit was being poured out upon them instead, and they were being "grafted" into the body of Christ and the true household of God in place of the Jews (See Ephesians 2:11-22).
     Lastly, as Jesus Himself prophesied to the Jewish leadership before they would eventually crucify Him, the price for closing their ears to those whom He would send would ultimately be judgment from God. Their nation would be entirely overthrown, and their temple would eventually be left in ruins:

     Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the graves of the righteous, and say, " If we were alive in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in [shedding] the blood of the prophets." So then you bear witness to yourselves that you are sons of those who have murdered the prophets. Fill up then the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how shall you escape from the judgment of Gehenna?
     Because of this, behold, I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them you shall kill and crucify, and some of them you shall scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you should come all the righteous blood that has been poured out upon the earth…
     Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those that are sent to you, how often I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not! Behold, your house is being left unto you desolate, for I say unto you, You shall not see Me henceforth again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
     And having gone forth, Jesus went from the temple, and His disciples came to point out to Him the buildings of the temple. But having answered, Jesus said unto them, "Do you see all these things? Truly I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another which shall not be thrown down." (Matthew 23:29-24:2)


     Jesus ended this teaching by prophesying that judgment was coming. And indeed, within another 40 years Rome would completely conquer Judea, destroy the temple and leave not one stone upon another.
     This is precisely what James was likewise warning would come if the proud and arrogant among them did not humble themselves, and repent of their spiritual adultery. They, as those among the Jews who believed in Christ as the Messiah, were the last hope for the Jewish nation to turn back to God. But by making themselves ENEMIES of the Lord Jesus Christ in seeking merely to use Him to glorify themselves, He would eventually prove Himself a jealous God who would settle for nothing less than their whole heart, soul, mind and strength. Unless they repented, they would be judged.
     Of course, history records that the Jews as a nation ultimately refused to do so, and incurred the wrath of God as a result.
     As we shall see in Part 2, the modern church is now making many of these same mistakes. As a result of giving themselves over to strife in their love for the world, they too rarely if ever experience visitations of the Holy Spirit anymore, and no longer have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. As a result, the Spirit is prophesying that a day is coming when He will eventually stop speaking to them altogether, and leave them to their fate: Destruction at the hands of the world, whom they likewise loved far more than the Bridegroom.