Smoodock's Blog

In James 4:7-10 the author of this epistle delivers ten imperative statements to his readers. He begins with “Submit yourselves to God,” then “resist the slanderer” (James 4:7) followed by “draw near to God,” “cleanse your hands,” and “purify your hearts” (James 4:8), “be afflicted,” “mourn,” “weep,” and “let your laughter be turned to mourning” (James 4:9), and, finally, “humble yourselves in the sight of Lord” (James 4:10). All ten statements are commands or directives that anyone who wishes to be in a relationship with the Lord must obey and do them. Many of James’ readers were not obeying these instructions and were placing themselves squarely under the same judgment, which would fall on all the unbelieving Jews at the end of the then current age—the Old Covenant Age, which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in 70 AD.

James’ first statement, “Submit yourselves to God” (James 4:7) is like the “fear of the Lord” being the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7; cp. 9:10; Psalm 111:10). Submission to God is the seed that produces obedience to all the other commands listed. If one is not submissive to the Lord, one couldn’t be found resisting the slanderer, or drawing near to God etc. Submission is the parent of the others and marks the very beginning of the sinner’s return to God.

Next, the text says to resist the devil. However, we need to refrain from using the “devil” (believed to be an evil spirit) as a means to escape our responsibility to the truth. The fact is, the legitimate leaders of the church were being slandered (cp. James 4:11), so the command is to resist the slanderer, i.e. the man or woman who was slandering the Lord’s anointed or legitimate leaders of his church. That was what was going on, and that is what James listed as his second command. If the believer was going to submit to the Lord, he needed to stop listening to the slanderous remarks of the false teachers or the wannabe leaders who stood in rebellion to the Lord. One simply cannot submit to the Lord, and at the same time submit to the call of the slanderous teacher.

In James 4:8 the believers were told to “draw near to God” and he would draw near to them, but how could one draw near to God, whom they couldn’t see? The Old Covenant text says that the priests needed to sanctify themselves before drawing near to him in his Tabernacle (Exodus 19:22), which meant they needed to purify themselves and set themselves apart from what was common. How was this done?

Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully (Psalms 24:3-4).

This is the text that James had in mind when he added the next two commands “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. In other words stop doing the evil you do (Isaiah 1:16) and don’t allow wicked thoughts to rise up in your hearts (Jeremiah 4:14). A believer who harbored wicked thoughts in his heart was a double-minded person (cp. James 1:8). The double-minded believer doubts the integrity of the Lord, and so believes the Lord needs ‘help’ to get what he wants done (cp. Luke 19:21). He doubts the goodness of the Lord, or his readiness to aid them in a time of distress (Mark 4:38; cp. Luke 8:24). In other words, to purify one’s heart is to completely submit one’s way to the goodness of the Lord, believing his word is true.

Next James tells his readers to “be afflicted” (James 4:9), but what does he mean? The Greek word (G5003) is used only here in the New Covenant text. In the Septuagint it refers to the ungodly who afflict (G5003) the innocent (Psalm 17:9) and grief one feels when repentant (Psalm 38:6). So, James was telling his readers to repent, even if it meant that one would be a target for the false teacher. James went on to tell his readers to “mourn” (cp. Matthew 5:4) and “weep” (Luke 6:21) and “let your laughter (joy) be turned to mourning (heaviness; i.e. gloom or shame). In other words be sensitive to the work of the Spirit of God working in you to work repentance. Let the Spirit turn you from your rebellious ways of seeking to work out the will of God through your fleshy ways.

Finally, James reminds his readers, “humble yourselves in the sight of Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:10; cp. Matthew 23:12). What I believe James has in mind at this point is Jesus’ parable: The Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:9-14). There the one man exalted himself, telling the Lord all he had done and how he compared with the sinner, the tax collector who was also present there. On the other hand the publican didn’t even raise his eyes to heaven, but merely asked for mercy on his sinful life. In his humility, the publican admitted being a sinner and was justified before God. His behavior, in essence, is what James told his readers to imitate.