Ministry of Grace Church

Look, the wages of the laborers who harvested your fields cry out, having been kept back by fraud; and the cries of the harvesters have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

Truth to Learn

Fairness and honesty in business is far more important than wealth. We cannot serve both God and money.

Behind the Words

The Greek word translated “wages” is misthos, which refers to money paid (or promised) to someone for doing an agreed upon task.

Ergatēs is the Greek word translated “laborers.” It refers to anyone who does hard work or labor.

“Harvested” is from amaō, meaning “to collect, gather, reap, cut down, or harvest.” It is expressed as an aorist participle, indicating action that was previously done. It could be translated here as “having already harvested.”

The phrase translated “having been kept back by fraud” is translated from apostereō. This is made up or apo, meaning “from” or “away from” and stereō, meaning “to deprive” or “to withhold.” This word, therefore, refers to the intentional depriving someone of something that rightfully belongs to them.

The word “Sabaoth” is of Hebrew origin. It is tsebaoth, which means “armies.” Hence, we see that James is talking about the “Lord of Armies” or “Lord of Hosts” as God is sometimes called, since He commands the armies (or hosts) of heaven.

Meaning Explained

As we continue with James’ comments to the rich men who have been hoarding their wealth for prideful reasons, we see that they have been so obsessed with gaining wealth that they have obtained at least some of it by fraud. Apparently they had agreed with the laborers about a certain wage for their labor and then after the crop had been harvested, had withheld part or all of it. Even though the rich had more than enough, they were stealing from the poor who worked hard to earn what was promised to them and then kept back from them.

Another interpretation of this is that James is referring to slavery, a condition where the slave is to do the work which the master would otherwise be obliged to do so that the master is not under a necessity of laboring at all. The amount of pay which the slave receives is not even close to a fair wage for what he does, or what a freeman could be hired for. In fact, the slave’s pay is so much less than his labor is worth, that the master becomes richer while the slave becomes poorer.

In either case, James is saying that the rich man, who has far more than he needs, is getting richer at the expense of those who have less than they deserve. And, he says not only the laborers but the unfair wages themselves are crying out to God who here is called the Lord of Sabaoth. The implication is that the case has not merely been set before the Judge of the world, but the Master (Lord) of the conquering armies. Whereas a judge is more concerned about justice, the leader of a conquering army has no intent to be just. His objective is simply to conquer and destroy. This brings to mind what James told us previously:

For he shall have judgment without mercy, who has shown no mercy (James 2:13)

Finally, James is putting a big exclamation mark on the last verse of the previous chapter where he said:

Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4:17)

Application

Our God provides each of us with possessions and abilities and, like the master in Matthew 25:14-30, expects us to use them for His glory, not for our own selfish and prideful gain. Only by using what God has given us for Him, in His way, will we receive praise from God.

Are you after money, or the approval of God? Do you want to hear “Ka-ching!” or “Well done, good and faithful servant!”? Now, that’s something to think about.