James 5:10
Patient
like a Prophet

We find this verse in the book of James, in a section that tells believers to be patient, until the coming of the Lord. James gives two examples of people that demonstrate patience. The first group is farmers (verse 7) and the second group (our verse) is prophets. Farmers have to wait for their crops to yield fruit and there is not much they can do to accelerate the process. But when the harvest comes, they receive their reward and rejoice. But what is so special about prophets?

The prophets lived in the Old Testament days, between Moses and Jesus. As such, they were all part of God’s people and they lived under the law. God made it very clear that His people would be blessed with all kinds of blessings (riches, health, victory, honor) if they obeyed Him, and that they would be cursed if they disobeyed. Deuteronomy 28 shows this crystal clear, and there are many other places where makes these promises.

But what about the prophets? They obeyed God; they gave His messages in times when people often did not want to hear them. Instead of golden rings and scarlet robes, they wore sheepskins and goatskins. Instead of living in palaces and mansions, they wandered around in deserts and caves of the earth. Instead of being healthy, wealthy, and honored, they were destitute, afflicted, tormented.

But they endured patiently until the coming of the Lord, and are thus an example for us. Hebrews 11 says that they indeed did not receive God’s promise, but that God has something better in store, that their perfection will come together with ours.

This is why the prophets were able to endure. They knew that God would keep His promises, even though their situations did not seem like it. They knew that some of Gods most important promises will be fulfilled in the next life. They knew what their colleague Daniel also had written:

Daniel 12: 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3 Those who are wise shall shine
Like the brightness of the firmament,
And those who turn many to righteousness
Like the stars forever and ever.

The prophets spoke in the name of the Lord, trying to convince an unwilling and stubborn audience that they should turn back to God. The prophets reasoned that it was better to suffer for God in this life, by trying to turn people to righteousness, than to suffer in the next life. They were longing to shine like the brightness of the firmament; they desired everlasting honor and glory as a reward for their obedience. They believed that God rewards those who dilligently seek Him. And they were willing to suffer for it.

The command that James gives us here is that we should take them as an example. Do you plan to obey this command? Do you plan to speak to people in the name of the Lord, trying to turn them back to Him? Are you willing to patiently suffer for it? But I guess the real question is, do you want eternal glory, or shame and everlasting contempt? 

Godspeed!