James 3:7-12

[Hidden In Him]

Keeping The Venom Of Bitterness From Spreading Through The Body

The need to control the tongue is self-evident, for if a man lashes out against his brother in resentment it will only fan the flames of strife. A little kindling can end up not only destroying friendships and marriages but as James was teaching in our previous study, it can even set entire congregations on fire as well if allowed to. But was simply keeping oneself from acting on resentments the whole answer? No. The bitterness the enemy can inject into our hearts must be eliminated as well, or the possibility still exists for believers to act on the fears and resentments the enemy has placed within us.

Insulting terms were being used by the Jews, often during doctrinal debates, and because of the terrible effects it could have, Jesus condemned this practice very strongly. At one point He warned the Pharisees that it wasn't just murder they would have to stand judgment for, but God Himself would hold them accountable for insulting words they spoke in hate and disdain for others, for it might be indicative of harboring evil and unclean spirits, and speaking "the poison of snakes" into them, as the apostle Paul would later describe. Jesus gave an example during the Sermon on the Mount, when He addressed a custom the Jews had of calling one another fools and idiots:

You have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment." But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, "Raca!" shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says "You fool" shall be in danger of a blazing Gehenna. (Matthew 5:21-23)

The words used here were personal insults, only one was considered socially acceptable while the other wasn't. The Greek word ῥακά (pronounced Ra-Kah!) was originally an Aramaic term of extreme contempt, and came off very abusively, something like "You worthless idiot!" would today. The word μωρός, however, was milder. It's what our English words "moron" and "moronic" come from, only originally μωρός came off more like simply "You fool!" But while there was a law against using the term Raca, the Jews had no problems using the latter, and Jesus warned them that they would not be exempt before God for using such terms of contempt, even the lesser one they thought was permissible. They might not answer to the Sanhedrin over it, but they would answer to God for using terms that would cause great bitterness and resentment to build up.

The apostle Paul would liken these words that were coming from their mouths to the poison of snakes. In speaking of the Jews in general, he wrote to the Christians in Rome telling them:

As it has been written, there is no one who is righteous, not even one... there is no one practicing kindness. Their throat is an opened grave, and with their tongues they practice deceit. The poison of snakes is under their lips, by which their mouth is filled of bitterness and cursing. Their feet are swift to shed blood, ruin and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they did not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:10-18)

This was not the spiritually "pure and undefiled religion" James was speaking of in Chapter 1. Judaism as a whole was no longer such a religion. In giving themselves over to bitterness and cursing, the enemy had now permeated throughout Jewish society, and no one was being spared. Centuries earlier, the prophet Isaiah warned this was coming, stating that the subversion of the Jewish legal system would turn sweetness of heart into bitterness of soul for many. And his words included a warning that many would be descending into Hell after death because of it:

Hell has enlarged itself and opened its mouth incessantly, and [Judea's] glorious and great men, her rich and pestilent men go down into it... Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, and make bitter sweet and sweet bitter!... as stubble shall be burnt by a coal of fire and consumed by a violent flame, so shall their root be as chaff and their flower shall go up like dust, for they rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and insulted the word of the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 5:14, 20, 23-24)

By James' time, Satan was making inroads into causing the same spiritual conditions to now exist within the churches, for both sweet and bitter water were now coming from the mouths of believers in Christ as well, and by his own confession there was little James or other leaders in the early church could do to stop it:

Every species of beasts, both of birds and of reptiles and of creatures of the sea, is being subdued and has been subdued by the human species. But no one among men is able to subdue the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of death-dealing poison. By this we bless our Lord and Father, and by this we curse men who have been made after the likeness of God. Out of the same mouth goes forth blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be. Does a fountain pour forth sweet and bitter water from the same opening? My brothers, is a fig tree able to produce olives, or a vine figs? Nor is a fountain able to produce salty and sweet water. (James 3:7-12)


Poison Spreads Unless It Is Removed

When bitten by a poisonous snake, the venom needed to be sucked out or it could lead to death. On the spiritual level, the poison of bitterness and resentment needs to be removed from the hearts of believers or it can spread. This was the illustration James would now employ, and how the tongue can become a deadly weapon in the hands of the enemy. When he said "all beasts have been tamed, yet no man can tame the tongue," he didn't mean that no man could tame their own tongue. If he meant that then his exhortations to be slow to speak and slow to wrath would have made no sense (James 1:19-20). Rather, he was talking about how it was almost impossible for leaders to keep congregations from speaking evil against one another if they were given over to it. The tongue was a beast they could do very little about once evil spirits had injecting bitterness into their hearts.

This is why getting resentment out of the heart was essential to the spiritual survival of the early church. The Serpent of old was still in the business of bringing about death whenever possible, and unfortunately many in the church were now succumbing to same strategies he was employing against Judaism as a whole.

Should we be prepared for such tests today? Wherever the word of God is discussed and debated, the answer is Yes. He seeks to silence the word to keep it from being received, so he works to instill resentments in people until they become so hard-hearted that the word can no longer penetrate their hearts. I recall recently visiting a Christian forum I hadn't been to in a few years, and the effects of not removing bitterness from a community were obvious from the start. Many of the same faces were there, including those who were bitter and poisonous in their responses. But the real shock was that some of the members who I remembered to have been quite cordial, polite and theologically sound had now changed, and they were just as nasty as the bitter ones. It was clear that the poison of bitterness had now spread throughout that entire body of believers. It brought to mind something stated in Hebrews, where it talked about making sure to walk in peace with the brethren, lest a spirit of bitterness overcome a congregation and "many be spiritually defiled."

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: watching carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any immoral or godless person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. (Hebrews 12:14-16)

Though some don't realize it, this is why passages like Ephesians 4:26-32 were written. Allowing anger and resentment to take up permanent residence is basically giving place to the Devil, and it can eventually extinguish the Spirit of God amongst a group of believers. Granted, it is unreasonable to expect Christians to never get angry with one another, but the Biblical commandment was to make sure a spirit of bitterness did not get established permanently within their hearts. If it did, it would at the very least grieve the Holy Spirit, for His presence was being usurped by evil spirits instead. This is why the commandment was not to let the sun go down on their anger but get resentments out of their hearts before it did, lest the serpent gain the upper hand.

 

[Hidden In Him]

“Be angry yet sin not.” Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the Devil... Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but only what is good for edification, that it may impart grace unto the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:26-32)


Keeping Bitterness Out Of Leadership

But while the New Testament writers acknowledged that anger could not be eliminated altogether from congregations, at all costs they needed to keep the venom of bitterness out of leadership. If it were allowed into leadership, the only hope of removing it might be by the judgment of God. So James now began giving readers indications of who they should be looking for as the true leaders among them. It would be those who weren't giving in to becoming ugly and contentious and insisting on having themselves heard. Rather, it would be those whose leadership was reflected by the example that they set, in keeping strife and resentment out of their own hearts while teaching the word, and demonstrating what he called "the meekness of wisdom."

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him demonstrate from good behavior his works through meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and contentiousness in your heart, do not boast and lie against the truth. This is not the wisdom coming down from above, but is earthly, soulish, and demonic. For where jealousy and contentiousness are there is social unrest, and every evil state of affairs. (James 3:13-16)

The word "bitter" appears here in the text yet again, and as James will go on to teach in Chapter 4, some of this bitterness and resentment being generated had to do with early Jewish Christians cheating one another financially. Those purporting themselves to be "leaders" who were crooks and cheats were raising people's ire. So there were numerous reasons why a man who incited resentments and held resentments himself should not be in leadership.

As a result, it appears this was a strategy Satan was trying to use to undermine the early church, and not just the Jewish church but soon the Gentile church as well. When the gospel was preached in Samaria, Simon the Magician pretended to become a believer, and it wasn't long before he attempted to buy the power to lay hands on others to grant the Holy Spirit, something no true believer would do. He was rejected, however, and one of the reasons was the same as with many of the early Jewish Christians; bitterness of soul was disqualifying him from leadership. The man harbored resentments, and not just against others but possibly even God Himself, and as such he was by no means fit for Christian leadership.

Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized... But Simon, having seen that the Holy Spirit was given by the laying on of the apostles’ hands, offered them riches, saying, “Give me this authority as well, so that on whomsoever I may lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your riches come to ruin with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be obtained by riches. There is no part nor share for you in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this your wickedness, and ask the Lord God if this thought of your heart may truly be forgiven you. For I perceive that you are subject to the poison of bitterness and the bond of iniquity." And having answered, Simon said, “Pray to the Lord on my behalf, so that nothing which you have spoken may come upon me.” (Acts 8:9–24)

Being "subject to the venom of bitterness and the bondage of iniquity" painted a word picture of being entwined by serpents, with the snakes biting into his flesh and filling their victim with poison. The fact that Peter said he "perceived" these things suggests the Spirit of God may have given him a vision to reveal Simon's true spiritual condition, i.e. that he was still bound by demonic spirits. One of the Greek words used here was translated into Hebrew as the "poison" of snakes, and if still bound by the spirits that led him into sorcery, the words "subject to the bondage of iniquity" would refer to him still being bound and enslaved by the spirits of witchcraft and sexual immorality. This is not coincidently also the way the early church depicted the man, as a sinner entwined and bound by demons.

Whatever the case was with Simon, those who are overcome by bitter jealousies and resentments were not fit for leadership in New Testament times, and neither are such people today. Leaders need to remove bitterness and resentments from their hearts before assuming any leadership position, for it must be about ministering to others who are still struggling, and delivering them from bitterness and iniquity themselves, not becoming further bound by it.


Questions And Applications

1. Have you ever met a Christian or leader who harbored resentments towards others, and it effected their ability to properly lead?

2. Have resentments with others ever effected your own faith in some way? If so, what offenses can get to you the most? Insults to your intelligence, your appearance, your character (i.e. being cowardly or dishonest), your faithfulness to God, or possibly something else? Or is it actions being taken against you rather than words that offend you the most?

3. There are many whose resentments over how Christians or churches treated them have caused them to reject the faith altogether. What would you say to such people?