Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

prophet (1 Ki. 11:40). Just as wisdom and knowledge go together (the fear of
God is the source of both of them, according to Prov. 1:7; Ps. 111:10; Job
28:28), so do wisdom and meekness, the ever present willingness to be
“tamed” by God’s providences (trials) and Word (law), to be “self-subdued”
(Motyer, 131) as a result, and to put both on display in one’s relationship to,
and one’s conduct before, God and man.
Meekness is characteristic of Christ (Mt. 11:29; 21:5; 2 Cor. 10:1). It is a
fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23). The “meekness of wisdom” does not thrive in a
climate of ill-tempered attitude, rude backtalk, and foolish anger (Prov.
19:11; Jam. 1:19-21!) (See also Cheung, 159), but goes hand in hand with
humility (Prov. 11:2; 1 Pet. 3:4) and the fear of God (Cheung, 160, with reference
to Prov. 15:33). It is an inner characteristic, God-given rather than
man-made, that does not dispute or resist the words or actions of God, and
gives soft responses to belligerent words or actions of man. It is rooted in a
deliberate, thankful, acceptance of wisdom’s dealings (Remember Jam. 1:17),
even when buffeted or mistreated (Zodhiates, II, 143-144, with reference to 2
Sam. 16:11; Burdick, 190). As such it is antithetical to the bitter envying and
the battle-prone self-seeking that James talks about next (Jam. 3:14).
Apparently Hellenistic writers saw meekness (as well as humility) as a
vice (Laws, 160; PDavids, 96). But not Scripture! In it meekness is lauded
throughout (Cheung, 159, with reference to Num. 12:3; Gal. 6:1; Eph. 4:2; 2
Tim. 2:25; Tit. 3:2; 1 Pet. 3:15). In Greek culture it may have been regarded
as a wimpish characteristic. But in Scripture meekness is not weakness. Nor
is it timidity. Moses was the meekest man on earth (Num. 12:3). Nevertheless,
he was a man of “heroic courage and indomitable purpose” (Mitton, 65;
clearly another example of complementary truth). Because he had nothing to
gain or lose, he was not interested in the self-display, the showmanship, the
self-defense, the self-assertiveness and the self-promotion (Mitton, 65; PDavids,
96; Laws, 160-161) that was so typical of Greek leadership. Moses was
a man of self-denial in love and holiness in the “one-and-many sphere,” in
which God at first sent him. He started out as an Israelite among Israelites. He
was equally a man of self-sacrifice in love and holiness in the “authority
structure,” in which God eventually positioned him. When he calls himself
the “meekest man on earth,” he thereby indicated that as far as he was concerned
he was more than happy to step down from his lofty position, or step
aside altogether for that matter, to make room for others to take his place. In
fact, we get the impression that he would have been glad to shed the burden
of leadership that was placed upon his shoulders. Even cursory reading of the
history of Israel at this point should convince everyone that this burden was
virtually intolerable. Again and again he was confronted by Israel’s murmuring
and murderous rebellion, and by God’s threat to annihilate these rebels.
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