James 5:11

Verse 11 Behold, we count them happy which endure."We"; that includes both the writer and the persons addressed. Count them blessed, or happy, that endure. This is said of the prophets who suffered and endured unto the end. We agree that, although they are now numbered with the dead, they having endured unto the end, received the final reward for their faith and patience.

Ye have heard of the patience of Job.

As we agreed that the prophets who endured patiently to the end under suffering were rewarded, let us all go one step further. You know these prophets were all Jews. Now let me give you an example of patience in a Gentile. Your special attention is now attracted to the history of Job. Bitter was his affliction. Heavy beyond conception was the burden of suffering which he was called upon to bear. Behold the end, the happy end, the Lord put to all of Job's woes. This history exhibits the Lord's compassion and tender mercy to his children, even when he afflicts them. This is another example showing that patient endurance of affliction will be highly rewarded. I can not leave this verse without noticing the claim, by some asserted, that the character of Job is mythical. I believe Job existed on the earth as a man, and that he suffered, as set forth in the Book of Job. Ezekiel (xiv. 14) mentions Job in connection with Noah and Daniel. Now, having no doubt that Noah and Daniel lived on the earth as real persons, and performed the parts accredited to them, I can discover no just reason to question the real existence of Job. One is just as credible as the other. For belief in either case we are dependent upon history. But the history upon which in this case our faith is based is authentic because it is God-given.