59 James-01 Yada Yada

#TheScrolls #GospelsApostles #YadaYadaPauses

For ease of reading James-01

James 1

James | James 02 →

Setting

Who:

Author: James (a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ)
Audience: the twelve tribes scattered among the nations (House of Jacob, House of Judah, House of Israel)
Characters and People Groups:
- James
- God
- the Lord Jesus Christ
- twelve tribes
- brothers
- the poor
- the rich
Symbolic Roles:
- Deceiver: the adversary
- Deceived: every person (when lured and enticed by his own desire)
- Savior: YHWH, God (who gives generously; who brings us forth by the word of truth)

What:

Main Storyline: - Greeting to the dispersed; count trials as joy for producing steadfastness; ask God for wisdom in faith; the poor are exalted and the rich humbled; blessed is the one who endures temptation; God tempts no one but desire leads to sin and death; every good gift is from the unchanging Father; be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; put away filthiness and receive the implanted word that saves; be doers of the word, not hearers only; pure religion is to visit orphans and widows and remain unstained.

When:

Date Authored: ~AD 45–50
Date takes place: ~AD 45–50

Where:

Jerusalem (biblical: Yerushalayim; modern: Jerusalem, Israel)
James,
- a servant of
  - God
  - and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
to the
- twelve tribes
  - which are in the Dispersion: Deut-32#v26
Greetings.
Count it all joy,
- my brothers,
- when you fall into various temptations, Job-05#v17
  - knowing that
    - the testing
      - of your faith
      - produces endurance^[1]. //Patience// Job-23#v10
        
        Let endurance have its Perfect work,
        
        that you may be
        
        perfect
        
        and complete,
        
        lacking in nothing. Deut-08#v2
But if any of you lacks Wisdom, 1 Kings-03#v9 //Wisdom about what is good and bad//
- let him ask of God,
  - who gives to all
    - liberally
    - and without reproach,
  - and it will be given to him.
- But let him ask in Faith,
  - without any doubting,
    - for he who doubts Ps-78#v22
      - is like a wave of the sea,
      - driven by the wind and tossed^[2].
      - For that man shouldn't think
        
        that he will receive anything from the Lord. Ps-66#v18
        
        He is a
        
        double-minded man,
        
        unstable in all his ways. 1 Kings-18#v21
But let the brother
- in humble circumstances
  - glory in his high position; Ps-138#v6
and the rich, //not the brother who is humble//
- in that he is made humble,
- because like the flower in the grass,
  - he will pass away.
  - For the sun arises
    - with the scorching wind
    - and withers the grass,
    - and the flower in it falls, Isa-40#v6
    - and the beauty of its appearance perishes^[3].
- So the rich man
  - will also fade away Ps-103#v15
    - in his pursuits.
Blessed //ashrê, makarios// is a person
- who endures temptation //peirasmos// ^[4],
  - for when he has been approved,
    - he will receive the crown of life^[5],
      - which the Lord promised
        
        to those who love him. Job-05#v17

Matthew 6:13 lead us not into peirasmos

Let no man say when he is tempted,
- "I am tempted by God,"
  - for God can't be tempted by evil, Gen-22#v1
  - and he himself tempts no one. Gen-03#v6
- But each one is tempted //peirazō//
  - when he is drawn away
    - by his own lust and enticed.
      - Then the Lust //epithymia//,
        
        when it has conceived,
        
        bears sin. Ps-07#v14
        
        The sin,
        
        when it is full grown,
        
        produces death^[6].
- Don't be deceived, //planasthe// Deut-32#v4
  - my beloved brothers.

The deception, lust, enticement comes from within.

Planasthe = to wander, stray, go astray; to lead astray, deceive

Every
- good gift
- and every perfect gift Num-23#v19
  - is from above,
  - coming down from the Father of lights^[7],
    - with whom can be
      - no variation,
      - nor turning shadow.
    - Of his own will
      - he gave birth to us
        
        by the word of truth,
        
        that we should be a kind of first fruits Jer-02#v3
        
        of his creatures.

Ps-119#v160 The sum of thy word is truth (’ĕmet)”) ; John-17#v17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” ; Ephes-01#v13 “…the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation”; 1 Pet-01#v23 “…born again… by the word of God”

So, then //because God has given us every perfect gift, brought us new life, and we are a kind of first fruits//,
- my beloved brothers,
- let every man be
  - swift to hear,
  - slow to speak, Prov-10#v19
  - and slow to anger;
    - for the anger of man Prov-14#v29
      - doesn't produce the Righteousness of God^[8].
    - Therefore //because anger fails to produce righteousness//,
      - putting away
        
        all filthiness
        
        and overflowing of wickedness,
      - receive with humility
        
        the implanted word, Deut-30#v14
        
        which is able to Save your souls.
        
        But be doers of the word,
        
        and not only hearers,
        
        deluding your own selves.
        
        For if anyone is a hearer of the word
        
        and not a doer, Ezek-33#v32
        
        he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror; Prov-27#v19
        
        for he sees himself,
        
        and goes away,
        
        and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
        
        But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom
        
        and continues,
        
        not being a hearer who forgets,
        
        but a doer of the work,
        
        this man will be blessed in what he does. Ps-19#v7

Filthiness = moral defilement; the outward overflow of inner sin (anger, malice, etc., from vv. 19–20) that must be stripped off like dirty clothes before the word can be humbly received. Used only here in the entire New Testament. Zech. 3:3–4: Joshua the high priest stands in "filthy garments" (rhypara) symbolizing sin/iniquity.

If anyone among you thinks
- himself to be religious
  - while he doesn't bridle his tongue, Ps-34#v13
    - but deceives his heart,
- this man's religion is worthless.
- Pure religion and undefiled
  - before our God and Father is this:
    - to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction,
    - and to keep oneself unstained by the world. Deut-14#v29

Makes me think of Isa-58

James | James 02 →

Connections

Repeated Words:
- word (5)
Scriptures:
- Proverbs 3:34 (quoted in 1:10-11 context of rich fading like flower)
- Genesis 22:1-18 (1:12 endurance under trial; crown of life)
- Deuteronomy 8:2-3 (1:13-14 God tests but does not tempt)

Patience Fruit of Spirit ↩︎
Idiom But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind (meaning: unstable, double-minded person) ↩︎
Symbolic Death and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away ↩︎
Blessing Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial ↩︎
Life for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life ↩︎
Spiritual Death Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death ↩︎
Idiom Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (meaning: God as source of all good, unchanging) ↩︎
Unrighteous for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God ↩︎