James 5:1-6
"warning to rich oppressors"
James seems to be favoring the short passages lately...
ok... a very harsh judgement and woe towards the rich - in particular those that are rich because they oppress others
Three main blocks. first, woe to the rich. all the wealth they have stocked up in their greed will all turn to naught. so first, we see greed as a cause for woe and judgement. Second we see the rich withholding payment from the workers they hired. even in our times this is unlawful and frowned upon... Thirdly we see the rich dragging the poor into courts of law, prosecuting them and taking what little the poor had. I can think of many words for these people, but i shall just say "you're a bad man!" (there's also a point 2 1/2 about gluttony and overindulgence, but that ties in with greed.
Draining the poor, skimping the payments hoarding (and rolling in) the gains, each of these is a step in the direction that these men are headed. greed is not good, greed is not God, either... when we let greed grab such a hold on us that money is our principal concern, then we've broken the very first commandment - "thou shalt not have any god before me"
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