Be patient. — The third, and last, part of the Letter commences here with these exhortations towards endurance.
Therefore — i.e., because of this your deep and abiding misery, be sure God’s help is nigh: —
“The darkest hour is on the verge of day.”
“Out of your stony griefs” build, like Jacob of old, a house of God (Genesis 28:19), whereunto you may run and find refuge. If there be wrath laid up in store for the oppressor, great is the coming peace of the oppressed.
The husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it... Be ye also patient. — It becomes you, the just, to bear with the unjust till God work the end of your trial, and prove them at the same time. Again and again, through several verses (James 5:7-11), St. James repeats his advice, emphasising it with various reasons: the nearness of deliverance; the Judge standing at the gate; the example of the prophets — persecuted by men, and therefore blessed of God; the hope of those who endure — Job for example: the very faithfulness and tender mercy of the Lord, bringing all things to a perfect end. Few ideas are more startling (is a reflection of Dr. Evans) than those produced by the strange combinations in Scripture. Matters are joined there which we mostly put asunder here, speaking of them, at least, as apart. And thus we read in the Revelation (James 1:9) of the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. But all Christians are citizens of a patient kingdom; the King thereof is more patient, as He hath greater need of patience than His subjects, and He is patient, because He is strong. Impatience is a sign of weakness. God can afford to wait, for His time is eternity. And we can be strong in His strength, and wait also in patience. In so far as St. James’s hearers were earthly minded, they could not learn this lesson; so often with ourselves we would have our wrong righted instantly, and to the full. Only one view of life can alter this, viz., the lifting of our gaze from earth to heaven, remembering that “the time is short” (1 Corinthians 7:29).
The early and latter rain. — It is, perhaps, just as well to recollect there were only two seasons of rainfall in the Holy Land, and, if long delayed, famine was a certain result. With the change of the Israelites from pastoral life to agricultural, the malignity of these dearths was lessened; but they were and are still severe. The Bible mentions many such — e.g., in the days of Abraham (Genesis 12:10), Isaac (Genesis 26:1), Jacob (Genesis 42:2), Ruth (James 1:1), Samuel (2 Samuel 21:1), Ahab (1 Kings 18:2). The “early rain” fell during the autumn sowing — in October, November, and December; “the latter” in March and April. By many versions the word “rain” is omitted, but, of course, was always intended.