there ie One who haR ears to ear, and a heart to resent, the injustice. "The Lord of hosts" will avenge tho poor of the people who trust in him. 2. Lavish l-u~. uriou.,- ness, (Ver. 6.) The wealthy, wicked Jews sinned, not only against rightconsnese, but ngainst temperance, '!'hey were luxurious in their living, and pro,Jigal in their expenditure. And this wastefnl life of theirs was largely maintained at the expense of tho poor whom they defrauded. It was "the hire of the labourers" that had lrniit their magnificent palaces, and bought the beds of ivory upon which they lay. 'l'Lcy did all this" on the earth," and as if they" should still live for ever" (P~. xlix. 9) here. They forgot that in their godless Pelf-indulgence they were acting like" mere animals., born to be taken and destroyed" (2 Pet. ii. 12). Unconscious of impenrling niin, they were still living voluptuously; like the fat ox, which continues to revel among the rich pastures on the very morning of the "day of slan~hter.'' 3. Jlfurderous cruelty. (Ver. 6.) By "the righteous," or "just," many understand the Lord Jesus Christ; this statement being a historic allusion to the scenes of Gabbatba and Cal vary. Anrl it is very probable that the murder of our Lord was in the apostle's mind. But we judge that the words aro rather to be regarded as describing a prevalent practice of the wickc,I rich in every age. They apply to the death of Jesus Christ, but also to that of Stephen, and to that of James the brother of John; and they were soon to be illustrated again in the martyrdom of the writer himself. For our apostle, by reason of his integrity and purity, was surnamed" the Righteous;" and he was by-and-by condemned and killed by the scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem. But why all this oppression of "the righteous"? It is inflicted simply because they are righteous. Every holy life is an offence to evil men. Because Christ was holy, he was crucified. Because Stephen was "full of faith and of the Holy Spirit," he was stoned. Because James was truly righteous, he was thrown from the battlements of the temple, and killed with a fuller's club. Finally, the apostle adds, "He doth not resist you." The righteous man submits patiently to your persecuting violence. He endures your murderous cruelty with holy meekness. Jesus did so (Isa. !iii. 7). Stephen did so (Acts vii. 60). Ja.mes presently would do so: he is said to have offered the very prayer for his murderers which his crucified Master had done. Such pa.tifmt endurance, hO\~- ever, only increases the guilt of the persecutors, and shall make their doom more awful. II. 'l'HE FmST DROPPINGS OF JUDGMENT IN THE PRESENT. (Vers. 2, 3.) The material for their punishment was being prepared, in accordance with the law of retribution, out of the very wealth on which they doated. "Of our pleas:tnt vices" Divine Providence makes "instruments to plague us." "Your riches are corrupted;" that is, their treasures of grain and fruits were already rotting in the storehouses. Since these were not being used to feed the hungry, God's curse was upon them all. " Your garments are moth-eaten;" because these rich men did not clothe the naked out of their costly wardrobes, the moth was cutting up these with his remorseless little tooth. "Your gold and your silver are rusted;" that is, their money, not being used for dL,ing good, lay in their treasure-chests morally cankered by the base avarice which kept i.: there. And that rust shall not only eat np the wealth itself; it shall also gnaw the conscience of its faithless possessor. It shall be a witness-bearer to his sin, and an executioner of Lis punishment. By-and-by, the remorseful thought of his unused riches shall torture his soul as with the touch of burning fire. (Vide T. Binney on • Money,' p. 126.) These men had "laid up their treasure in the last clays;" that is, immediately before the coming of the Lord in judgment to make an end of the entire Hebrew polity. And their wealth would avail them nothing in the presence of that great catastrophe. These corrupting treasures of theirs would corrupt still further into treasures of wrath. After the first droppings would come the deluge. JU. THE FULL FLOOD OF JUDGMENT IN THE FUTURE. (Ver. 1.) The "miseries" spoken of refer primarily to the sorrows connected with the impending siege and ruin of Jerusalem. These were to fall with especial severity upon the influential classes; 11nd the Hebrews of the Dispersion, in wbatso~ver land they might be, were to share them. The wealthy men among the unbelieving Jews had sir,ned most; so they were to suffer most. Well, therefore, might they" weep" at the prospect, as only Orientals can weep; and" howl" as only brute beasts can do. But these words point onward further in history than to the destrnction of Jerus,1lem. The full tloocl of" miseries" which provirlenr.e is preparing shall overtake the ungodly rich ouly at tht> Lonl's seconu 76 THE GENER.AL EPISTLE OF JAMES. [oa. v. 1-20-
coming, when he shall appear to judge the whole world, The ruin or Jerusalem was hut e. faint foreshadowing of the" eternal destruction" of the wicked which shall beain at th~t day (Matt. xxiv.). These "miseries" suggest solemn thoughts of the doon{' of etermty. LE~S?NB.. 1. T~ remember the moral government of God, and to make ready to m<'et him m the Judgment (vers. 1-6). 2. The sin of the wicked prepares its own pumshment (vers. 2, 3). 3. One of the greatest social wants of our time is that of mutual sy?1pathy between the capitalist and the labourer ~vcr. 4). 4. A Christian should avoid debt as he would avoid the devil (ver. 4). 6. 'lhe rio-ht use of wealth is not to spend it upon self-indulgence, but to do good with it (;er. 6). 6. A man ha~ reason to suspect the purity of his own character, if no one ever persecutes him (ver. 6).-C. J.