7. The conflict between Capital and Labor.
"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for
your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your
garments are moth eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of
them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.
Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of
the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by
fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the
ears of the Lord of sabbath. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth and
been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye
have condemned and killed the just; and He doth not resist you. Be patient
therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman
waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it,
until he receive the early and the latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish
your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against
another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the Judge standeth before the
door" (James 5:1-9).
Observe that the above passage makes express
reference to "the last days" (vs. 3). It tells us that in these "last days"
there shall be a class of "rich men" (vs.1). It speaks of them having
"heaped treasure together" (vs.3). It declares that their riches have
been acquired by "fraud" (vs.4). It makes mention of them having "condemned
and killed the just" (vs.6). It intimates that their rapacity and dishonesty
will evoke and provoke a loud "cry" (vs.4) from their victims. It denounces
them for having "lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton" (vs.5). It
pictures the sorrows and anguish brought upon the laboring classes whose cries
have entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts (vs.4). It announces the
terrible judgments of heaven which shall yet descend upon them for their
crimes, and predicts that they shall "weep and howl for the miseries that shall
come upon them" (vs.1).
What human wisdom could have delineated so
faithfully the present conflict between capital and labor! What mortal mind
could have foretold, almost two thousand years beforehand, the amazing and
heart-rending situation that is now before our eyes. Who but men "moved by the
Holy Spirit" could have foreseen the recent rise of multi-millionaires, the
accumulation and concentration of three fourths of the wealth of the world in
the hands of scarcely one hundred men, the hoarded riches of the capitalist and
monopolist, the extravagant and voluptuous living of the wealthy, the suffering
which should be brought upon the laborer by the rapacity of his merciless
employer! How remarkable is this prophecy in view of our twentieth century
trusts and syndicates which corner the markets, hoard up raw materials, and rob
the masses by fixing extortionate prices! And what is the significance of
these things? They are another proof that the end of the age is reached. They
are further intimation that the "last days" are upon us. The cries of the
distressed poor have reached heaven, and the Divine Judge is just about to come
to the deliverance of His people and deal in vengeance with those who have
robbed them. The Lord's people are not to resist and fight: the command is
"Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned." Believers
are here urged to stablish their hearts and be patient, for the coming of
the Lord draweth nigh." We turn now to consider.