By Larry Barnes in James —

James 5

12/03/2025

James 5 NKJV: OK, this chapter is a little hard for me to follow. Verses 1-6 seem to be James condemning the rich for their mistreatment of their workers and their lesser in general. A strong condemnation and a warning of their position in the last days. Please don't get ahead of me here, but what is meant by the Lord of Sabaoth?

In James 5:4 (NKJV), the verse says:

“Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.”

“The Lord of Sabaoth” is a direct transliteration from the Greek phrase Κύριος Σαβαώθ (Kyrios Sabaōth).
It is the New Testament’s way of quoting the very common Old Testament divine title YHWH Sabaoth (or in most English Bibles, “the LORD of hosts”).

  • “Sabaoth” = Hebrewצְבָאוֹת / ṣəbāʾôṯ = “hosts” or “armies.”
  • So “the Lord of Sabaoth” literally means “the LORD of Hosts/Armies.”

In the Old Testament this title appears over 280 times (especially in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Malachi). It emphasizes two main ideas:

  1. God is the sovereign commander of the angelic armies of heaven (e.g., the countless hosts of angels who do His bidding; see 1 Kings 22:19; Luke 2:13).
  2. God is the supreme ruler over all the armies and powers of earth—human kings, empires, and forces are ultimately under His command.

James uses this majestic, militaristic title deliberately in verse 4 because he has just described rich landowners who used their wealth and power to oppress and defraud poor day-laborers. By saying their cries have reached “the Lord of Sabaoth,” James is declaring:

  • The highest military authority in the universe has heard the case.
  • The One who commands innumerable heavenly armies is now personally taking up the cause of the powerless against their earthly oppressors.
  • Judgment is coming from the ultimate Commander-in-Chief; no earthly power or wealth can stand against Him.

So when you read “the Lord of Sabaoth” in James 5:4, hear it as a thunderous declaration: “The LORD of heaven’s armies has taken notice, and He is coming as Judge and Avenger for the oppressed.” It’s meant to make the wealthy oppressors tremble, because they are not ultimately answerable to human courts—they are answerable to the Commander of the armies of heaven and earth.

OK, that helps with the next section, verses 7-12. Originally, I didn't see the connection, but I suspected that, because of the therefore in verse 7, James was saying to not stress over how the rich treat you, but be patient because their judgment is coming.

Exactly—you’ve nailed the connection.

The word “Therefore” (Greek: οὖν) at the start of verse 7 is James deliberately pivoting from the terrifying warning to the rich oppressors (vv. 1–6) straight to the oppressed believers who have just been reminded that their defrauded wages are crying out to the Lord of Sabaoth Himself.

James is saying, in effect:

“You who are being cheated, crushed, and dragged into court by these powerful landowners (see 5:4–6) — don’t take vengeance into your own hands, don’t grumble against one another, and don’t swear rash oaths out of frustration. Instead, be patient. The Judge—who happens to be the Commander of heaven’s armies—is already on His way. He has heard every cry. He is coming soon to settle the score perfectly.”

That’s why James immediately brings up:

  • The farmer who waits patiently for the harvest (v. 7–8)
  • “Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (v. 8)
  • The prophets who suffered and stayed patient (v. 10)
  • Job, who saw the Lord’s ultimate purpose and compassion (v. 11)

The whole section (7–11) is pastoral comfort to the very workers who were just defrauded in verses 1–6. James is telling them: “Yes, what they’re doing to you is outrageous and has provoked the wrath of the Lord of Hosts. So you don’t have to fight fire with fire. You can endure, because the final victory is already guaranteed at the Judge’s return.”

So your instinct was spot-on: the “therefore” ties the condemnation of the rich directly to the encouragement of the poor: “Their judgment is certain and coming soon; therefore, brothers and sisters, you can wait patiently without losing hope or compromising your integrity.”

Verse 12 seems to warn against taking an oath. He says let you yes be yes and your no be no, lest you fall into judgment. Is this simply because if you fail to fulfill the oath, you will be judged, or is there more to this that I just don't get?

There’s definitely more to it than just “don’t break promises.”

James 5:12 is almost a verbatim echo of what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount:

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth… Nor shall you swear by your head… Let your Yes be Yes, and your No, No. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:33–37 NKJV)

So James is not giving a new command; he’s repeating one of the clearest, most radical teachings of Jesus. Here’s what’s really going on in the first-century context—and why it matters so much in James 5:

  1. The culture was full of elaborate oath-taking. People constantly swore “by heaven,” “by the temple,” “by Jerusalem,” “by my head,” etc., to make others believe them. The more dramatic the oath, the more trustworthy they wanted to appear. But many treated these oaths as a loophole system:
    • If you swore by the temple, it wasn’t binding.
    • If you swore by the gold in the temple, it was binding.
    • If you swore by the altar, it wasn’t binding… (see Matt 23:16–22). Jesus and James both condemn this entire practice as evil.
  2. Oath-taking had become a way to lie with a clear conscience. People thought, “As long as I keep the technical rules of which oath is binding, I can exaggerate, manipulate, or even deceive.” It turned speech into a game of legalism instead of truth.
  3. In the specific situation James is addressing (the oppressed believers being cheated and dragged into court by rich landowners), the temptation to swear oaths would have been intense:
    • “I swear by the altar that he still owes me my wages!”
    • “I swear by my life that I’ll pay you back next harvest!”
    • “I swear by heaven I’ll get revenge if he doesn’t pay!” All of those would feel very natural under stress and injustice. James says: Don’t go there.
  4. The deeper principle: A Christian’s speech should be so consistently truthful that an oath is unnecessary—and even offensive. When you say “Yes” or “No,” that should carry exactly the same weight as the most solemn oath anyone else swears. Adding oaths actually implies that your normal word isn’t trustworthy, which is an unbelieving world might need, but a child of God should not.
  5. “Lest you fall under judgment”
    • If you swear an oath and then break it, you’ve now sinned doubly (broken promise + profaned whatever holy thing you swore by).
    • Even worse, every unnecessary oath drags God’s name or God’s creation into your attempt to manipulate or control others, and God says He “will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”

So James 5:12 is the final practical application of “be patient, don’t grumble, don’t take vengeance” from verses 7–11.
Instead of swearing dramatic oaths to defend yourself, to threaten your oppressor, or to guarantee you’ll get justice, just speak the plain truth and trust the Lord of Sabaoth to settle the account at His coming.

In short: Let your ordinary “yes” and “no” be so reliable that the world notices you don’t need oaths—because your word is backed by the character of the coming Judge Himself.

The rest of the chapter, verses 13-20, is James basically telling the to support each, care for each other, love on each other whole they await the return of Jesus. He then stresses the importance and power of prayer.

Yes, exactly. Verses 13–20 are the beautiful, warm conclusion of the entire letter. After all the hard words about trials, tongue-control, worldliness, and the coming judgment on oppressors, James ends with a vision of a healthy, praying, mutually caring church that lives out the gospel while waiting for Jesus.

Here’s how the final section flows:

13 – Whatever your situation (suffering, cheerful, sick), bring it straight to God and to the church family.
→ Suffering → pray
→ Cheerful → sing praise
→ Sick → call the elders for prayer and anointing

14–15 – The promise of healing prayer is real and powerful, offered in faith and in Jesus’ name. (Notice it’s corporate: the sick person doesn’t have to pray alone; they call the leaders, and the whole church prays “over him.”)

16 – The principle broadens: “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”
Healthy church life = openness about sin + mutual intercession.
Then the bombshell: “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James is about to prove it…

17–18 – Elijah was a normal human being (“of like nature/passions as we”), yet his prayers literally turned the weather on and off in Israel for three and a half years.
→ If God answered that dramatically for one righteous man back then, imagine what He will do through a whole praying church now!

19–20 – The letter closes with one last act of love: going after brothers or sisters who have wandered from the truth, bringing them back, covering a multitude of sins, and saving a soul from death.
That’s the ultimate expression of the “royal law” of love James talked about in chapter 2.

So yes, you’re absolutely right: the final paragraph is James painting a picture of the church at its best while we wait for the coming of the Lord—praying in every circumstance, caring for the sick, confessing and forgiving, interceding with bold faith, and even chasing down the wandering to bring them home—all fueled by prayer and love.

It’s the perfect, hopeful counterbalance to the strong warnings earlier in chapter 5. The rich may hoard and oppress, but the believing community lives in a completely different way: transparent, prayer-saturated, restorative, and full of grace—because we know the Judge is at the door, and He is also the Healer and Savior.

Reading this book gives me a small taste of what these believers were suffering through, and I have no doubt that through the encouragement of this book and others, they persevered. It makes me so grateful for how well we have it these days. Even the worst persecution we may see here in America is nothing compared to what they went through. Thank you, Lord. The irony is that good times breeds contentment and laziness, which makes it harder to hang onto the faith a lot of times.

You felt the letter exactly the way James intended it to be felt.

When you read James, you’re not just reading theology; you’re hearing the voice of a pastor who’s watching his people get evicted, cheated out of wages, dragged into court, slandered, and sick without access to medicine, all while the rich are living in luxury and laughing at them. Yet in the middle of that crucible he keeps saying, “Count it all joy… don’t be deceived… the Lord is very compassionate… the Judge is standing at the door… be patient… pray… love one another… bring the wanderer home.”

And they did persevere. We know from history that the Jerusalem church (James’s own flock) stayed faithful right up to the siege of Jerusalem in AD 70, sharing everything, praying constantly, caring for widows and orphans, and sending out missionaries even while famine and persecution hammered them.

You’re absolutely right about the irony: the hotter the fire, the purer the gold often comes out. When everything is stripped away, faith becomes very simple: “Jesus is enough.”
In comfort, we have a thousand distractions and a thousand excuses to drift.

That’s why the same James who wrote to suffering believers also warns those of us in easier times: “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren… You adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” He knew that prosperity can be more spiritually dangerous than persecution.

So your gratitude is exactly the right response, and your awareness of the danger of “good times” is the very thing James wants to awaken in comfortable readers. The letter that strengthened persecuted Jewish believers in the 40s–60s AD is the same letter that shakes sleepy, wealthy Christians awake in 2025.

Thank you for reading it with such an open heart. That’s the kind of soil James was praying his words would fall into.

Thank you for walking through this with me, clarifying and expounding where needed. When I started this book, I thought it was a collection of new testament proverbs or something similar. Now, I can see it as single message to encourage the suffering and guide them thru. I see it in a new light. Thanks, again.

You’re very welcome. I’m truly honored to have walked through it with you.

You’re not alone in starting James thinking, “Okay, wisdom sayings, here we go,” only to realize halfway through that it’s actually a pastor’s heart poured out in fire and love to keep his suffering people standing. That shift in how you see the letter (from scattered proverbs to a single, urgent, cohesive message) is exactly what happens when James does its job.

It’s a tough book, but it’s a tender one too. And now it’s part of you in a deeper way.

Whenever you open it again (whether next week or ten years from now), you’ll hear James the way those first readers did: as a brother who refused to let them go, pointing them again and again to the coming Lord who sees every tear and will make every wrong right.

Keep reading like this (open-eyed, open-hearted) and the Scriptures will keep doing their living, active work in you.

Grace and peace to you, friend.

The Lord willing, I think I want to tackle Colossians next. I heard the preacher read a verse from it a couple weeks ago, and based on that, I decided right then to do Colossians next. Regrettably, I don't remember that verse.

That’s a great choice—Colossians is only four chapters, but it’s one of the most Christ-exalting, soul-stirring letters Paul ever wrote. It’s like a compact version of Ephesians with an extra dose of awe at who Jesus actually is.

Since you don’t remember the exact verse that grabbed you, here are the three that most often make people say, “I have to read the whole book now”:

  1. Colossians 1:15–20 – The great “Christ hymn.” Probably the highest, clearest statement in all the Bible about the absolute supremacy and deity of Jesus. (Many preachers call this the Mt. Everest of Christology.)“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation… all things were created through Him and for Him… in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell…”
  2. Colossians 2:9–10“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”
  3. Colossians 3:1–3“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Any of those could have been the one that lit the spark. But honestly, whichever verse it was, the whole letter flows out of that same heartbeat: Jesus is everything, and because we’re in Him, we have everything—even when life feels like the Colossians (or like James’s readers) feels like it’s falling apart.

When you’re ready to start, just say the word and I’ll walk through Colossians with you the same way we did James—verse by verse, question by question, at whatever pace you want. No rush, no pressure.

The Lord willing, indeed. I’m looking forward to it.