They take full advantage of the poor who do not have the means to resist. But Scripture resists them and God will ultimately deal with them:

	What they do is a reproach against God: Proverbs 14:31 "He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: ..."
	What they do in refusing to hear the distressed will happen to them: Proverbs 21:13 "Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard."
	What they do in oppressing the poor will turn to their poverty: Proverbs 22:16 "He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want."
	What they do is observed and will be exposed: Ecclesiastes 5:8 "If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter; for high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them."
	What they do will cause the Lord to contend for His people: Isaiah 3:11,13,15 "Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. 13 The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people. 15 What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts."

James 5:6 "... have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you."

Here, the charge is literal murder - probably bearing false testimony against the innocent and demanding the death penalty - to take what they lusted for themselves. They follow the evil example of Ahab.

	Ahab coveted Naboth's inheritance (1 Kings 21:1-3 )
	Ahab threw a sulky fit over Naboth's refusal (1 Kings 21:4 )
	Ahab tells his wicked wife Jezebel (1 Kings 21:5-6 )
	Ahab lets Jezebel act treacherously for him (1 Kings 21:7-8 )
	Ahab's wife plots a wicked scheme (1 Kings 21:8-10 )
	Ahab allowed the elders and nobles to carry out the evil (1 Kings 21:11-14 )
	Ahab, told of Naboth's murder, took possession of Naboth's inheritance (1 Kings 21:15-16 )
	Ahab was condemned by the Lord through Elijah (1 Kings 21:17-22; 1 Kings 21:19 )
	Ahab's evil Jezebel was condemned and her end proclaimed (1 Kings 21:23-25 )

James, exposing the rich, murdering Ahab's of his day, shows that they not only treacherously attack the righteous person, they murder the defenceless, and even those who refuse to fight back.

James 5:3 "... have heaped treasure together for the last days."

The term "last days" can be understood to mean the whole period between Christ's first and second coming (Hebrews 1:1-2; 1 John 2:18 ). "Last days" also can refer to the tribulation period (Acts 2:16-21 ). In the case of the evil rich James was addressing in his day and those that come after, they will in common, experience the specified misery and judgment that will be the consequence of their evilly gained and hoarded wealth. It should not take us by surprise that in the last hour of the prophetic clock, it will be marked by this hiding away wealth, amassed evilly, in the vain attempt to protect themselves from the fearful judgment coming on the world. The unmistakable warning is that there will be the reaping of overwhelming and terrifying consequences for the unrepentant wicked - whose god of wealth will not be able to protect them.

James 5:1 "... rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. "

These are miseries that God will send upon them. Their treatment of the innocent in condemning and murdering them sets these rich apart as a class of men who should specially dread the wrath of God because miseries will overwhelm them. The fact that they had "heaped treasures together for the last days" (James 5:3 ) points to foreboding that devastating times were to precede the coming "day of the Lord." The prophet Amos, having described the terrible wailing of the unrepentant visited by the Lord in wrath (Amos 5:16-17 ), then goes on to declare the awful surprise coming to the wicked, so contrary to their understanding, and their preparations by hoarding treasure.

Amos 5:18-20 "Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. ¹⁹ As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. ²⁰ Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?"

James would have them wail and howl now because of the 'talaiporia' "miseries," wretchedness, calamity, bodily hardships, terror, seen coming to them because,

Romans 3:15,16 "Their feet are swift to shed blood: ¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their ways:"

Though they may be religious or have a form of godliness, their relationship is with their treasure, not God.

Revelation 3:17 "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'; and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked;"

There is hope only in seeing one's true condition now, and repenting. It is too late when the predicted miseries arrive.