‘Be patiently enduring, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receive the early and latter rain.'
The idea behind ‘patience' here is ‘patient endurance'. It does not speak of a quiet waiting, but of a standing up to the trials that face them without wavering and without retaliation. It includes the idea of ‘longsuffering', facing up to whatever men throw at them and loving them just the same (compare the longsuffering of God - Romans 2:4; 1 Peter 3:20). He makes clear that it will not always be easy. They are thus to praise the Lord through gritted teeth under all circumstances, and are to remember that the Lord is coming. Just as the farmer does year by year when he waits for the early and late rains which will produce his hoped for harvest, sometimes with great apprehension when there appears to be a delay, so are they to wait with patient endurance for what the Lord will do. But one thing they can be sure of. One day the great day of Harvest will come (Matthew 13:41-43), and great will be their rejoicing.
In Palestine the early and late rains were usually regular, and they were vital for food production. The early rain in around September/October would soften and refresh the ground ready to receive the seed. The later rain in March/April, coming before the long hot summer, would feed the roots and make the grain flourish. (See Deuteronomy 11:14; Jeremiah 5:24; Joel 2:23). But sometimes one or other did not come when expected, and so the farmer had to wait for it with patient endurance. This was therefore a reminder that the Lord's coming, while certain, could not be tied down to a particular time. It might come on cue, or it might be delayed. But certainly there had to be a period during which the heavenly rain (Isaiah 44:1-5; Isaiah 55:10-13 and often) would fall more than once in order to prepare a harvest.