Their evil deeds have no limit ..

The last blog began a series based on words from the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah which are compellingly relevant to our times.  The first text was, “Do not call conspiracy everything they call conspiracy …” (Isa 8:12). We ended with the command not to fear what the conspiracists wants us to fear, in our case, the evils of the liberal left, or conversely, the vengeance of President Trump.  Rather, the one we are to fear and dread is God himself.  Our text today tells us why.

Jeremiah 5:28-29 says, “[They] have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not seek justice.” Jeremiah said concerning the Israelite leaders and people of his time: “their evil deeds have no limit.” That is how I feel about our present administration each day when I read the news.  Is there no end to falsehoods, bullying, and disregard for justice and the rule of law?  Each day the transgressions seem to be more blatant and bolder: pardoning criminals right and left, including the former president of Honduras, who was rightly convicted of drug crimes and the Chinese billionaire in the crypto-currency business who is an ally of President Trump; openly pursuing vindication against his political enemies, like James Comey and Leticia James, for charges that respectable prosecutors have deemed inadequate; clearly having something to hide with the Epstein files, first refusing to turn them over only to reverse course and say that he would while still refusing to fully release them; rounding up immigrants without due process and treating them harshly as criminals, the vast majority of whom have no criminal record and many of whom have demonstrated decades worth of value-add in our communities; blatantly enriching himself through business ventures while president without any regard for conflict of interest; attacking boats and killing people as adversaries of war without any clear justification that we are at war (and without any authorization from Congress); kidnapping and charging President Maduro of Venezuela in a way that even many of our allies regard as a violation of international law; making further threats of aggression against Canada, Greenland, and Cuba; and on and on it goes. And on and on it will go. 

God’s indictment continues in the second half of verse 28: “they do not defend the just cause of the poor.”  President Trump has failed to defend the cause of the poor both internationally, with the cut to foreign aid which will result in the unnecessary deaths of thousands of the poorest and most vulnerable around the world, and domestically, with his “big, beautiful bill” which cuts benefits for the poor while providing tax breaks that provide the greatest benefit to the rich. Since Mr. Trump has been president, his net worth has skyrocketed and Mr. Musk has been offered the first trillion-dollar contract, while millions of lower income people in America and around the world find their condition becoming increasingly dire.

After pronouncing his indictments in verse 28: “their evil dceds have no limit … they do not defend the just cause of the poor,” God asks two questions, “Should I not punish them for this?” “Should I nor avenge myself on such a nation as this?” (verse 29).  The implied answer is of course he should punish them and avenge himself on such a people as this.  That is why God is the one we should fear and dread.  The warning applies not only to the leader, in our case President Trump, but to the nation, for putting him into power and for defending his evils while opposing those who attempt to hold him accountable.