James 5:11

‘Behold, we call them blessed who endured.'

See Daniel 12:12. Indeed those who suffered like this in the past and patiently endured were not to be commiserated with, they were to be called blessed, for great would be their reward. Godly men did not look back and say, ‘How sad'. Rather they rejoiced and hoped that they would receive the same blessing as the prophets and the righteous. Jesus Himself enjoined rejoicing in the face of persecution and tribulation. (Matthew 5:10; Luke 6:22; John 16:20). And the writer to the Hebrews tells us of the long line of those who so suffered and triumphed, advising us that we must expect the same and must thus look off to Jesus, the One Who also suffered in order to triumph (see Hebrews 11:1 to Hebrews 12:2).

‘You have heard of the patient endurance of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful.'

James then calls on the one who was to the Jews the supreme example of patient endurance. ‘You have heard of the patient endurance of Job.' Not even his greatest friend could have called Job ‘patient'. He endured with gritted teeth and loud protests (see the Book of Job). But the end was that the Lord was full of pity towards him, and was merciful, because he bore all that came on him and retained his full confidence in God. He had the kind of spirit which faced up to doubt, sorrow and disaster and emerged with a faith stronger than it was before, and in the midst of his trials cried out, ‘Though He may slay me, yet will I trust Him (Job 13:15).'. And the Lord understood and had compassion on him, just as He will have compassion on all His people who endure, even though they may in their weakness occasionally despair. We should note that the Jews traditionally saw Job as a prophet (see Ezekiel 14:14; Ezekiel 14:20).