The Prophetic Significance of James 5:1-8

A few years ago, a viewer wrote to me and asked if James 5:1-8 had any prophetic significance. To be candid, I had never carefully studied the passage in that light before. I was surprised to discover that its message really does apply to these times.

To give you just a glimpse of what the Apostle James had to say, he begins, “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted…. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you…. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed, the wages of the laborers who have mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of [Hosts].”

And James says even more, much of it condemning of a certain kind of “rich person” or system, the kind who come from a long line of those who became wealthy by defrauding the laborers of their wages.

Now, it’s important to make a distinction. The Bible does not condemn everyone who is rich. It’s not a sin to have money. It’s a sin for money to have you. The Bible teaches, “For the LOVE of money is the root of all kinds of evil….”

But it appears that the Apostle James predicts that in the last days there will be some extremely rich people who gained their wealth by defrauding the vast majority of those who do the labor for the economy. Yet the Lord will cause their wealth to become a snare to them, because the world’s economy will collapse around everyone, both the rich and the poor. And, apparently, the greed of the rich will cause them to steal so much that the entire world economy will collapse.

No, I’ve not joined the “Occupy Wall Street” or Antifa movements. I believe those kids, or rather the labor unions and “community organizers” who are running the show, are targeting the wrong people. I’m closer to the Tea Party because I think those people got it right. It’s not Big Business doing the damage, it’s Big Government. But not just the politicians. You see, in the past, the politicians did the heavy lifting for the ones that Abraham Lincoln called the “money power.”

Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Andrew Jackson, and Abraham Lincoln specifically warned against letting the “money power” get its way. But Woodrow Wilson ignored those warnings and crawled into bed with these guys.

As a result, the world’s economies are teetering on the verge of collapse. We are literally standing on the precipice of global economic chaos. And all because a little over one hundred years ago we let a few shadowy — mostly non-American — wealthy families take control of our nation’s money supply, then treasury. Since then, they have plundered America’s wealth, literally stolen from its citizens, and driven us into economic bondage — from which we cannot and will not ever emerge.

Indeed, as James says, “You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.”

But, remember, James also warned, “Your gold and silver will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire.”

If you have watched this program very long, you know that I have a huge distrust of and disdain for the Federal Reserve System. As Representative Louis T. McFadden of Pennsylvania said on the floor of Congress in June, 1934, “…the truth is, the Federal Reserve Board has usurped the government of the United States…. It controls everything here…. No man, and no body of men is more entrenched in power than the arrogant credit monopoly which operates the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Banks. These evildoers have robbed the country of more than enough money to pay the national debt.”

I don’t believe the Apostle James was referring specifically to the Federal Reserve, or even the world’s central banks, in 5:1-8, but I do believe he foresaw that in the last days a small group of ruthless, heartless, greedy, and, yes, evil people would control the economy of the world. Some have begun calling them “globalists.” And the only thing that can result from the work of ruthless, heartless, greedy, and evil people is heartache, despair, destruction, and chaos. Exactly the setting needed to encourage the people of the world to turn to someone who has an answer and can save them from disaster. And we know who that “someone” will be: the Antichrist.

Also on this week’s program: As we celebrate this Thanksgiving season, I want to share with you why I think it’s more important than ever to understand the power of praise in thanksgiving to God. As I said last week, our nation faces real and present dangers. Our citizenry faces challenges we’ve not faced in decades, if ever. As I report weekly on “The Hal Lindsey Report,” the threats are mounting and the odds appear to be impossible. But it’s precisely at those moments that the power of praise and gratitude to God can be our pathway to victory.

I pray that you had a happy Thanksgiving Day. As we continue to celebrate the season through the weekend, remember to take time to reflect on God’s goodness to you, your family and friends, and our beloved nation.

In everything give thanks! (I Thessalonians 5:18)