Jeremiah 12:1. "Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I complain to thee; yet I would plead my case before thee. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?"

These are the questions of our time, aren't they?! Wickedness and treachery are prospering all around us and never seem to get punished, rather, the people who try to expose or investigate the wickedness are the ones who are punished! The innocent, the poor, our children, and our world are suffering terribly, and their future being greatly diminished, while the wicked and corrupt are enriched. What gives, God?

Jeremiah was talking about his own people here, not some far off group of heathens, but fellow Jews. He says God "plantest them, and they take root; they grow and bring forth fruit; thou art near in their mouth and far from their heart." Jeremiah 12:2. It is always the people who know better, but choose evil anyway, who do the most damage. They "have God in their mouths" but still do the most wicked things.

In Jeremiah's case, the God in the mouth of the wicked was his God, the true God, the God of Israel. In our own times, it is sometimes the same, like in the case of our "devoutly Catholic" president who whole heartedly supports abortion, but often the god that the wicked people have in their mouths is their own god. They will be quick to tell you not to speak to them of the rules of "your God," and then proceed to enforce on you the rules of theirs, be it "pride", "DEI,"  mis-used "science," their politics, or whatever.

No matter which god the wicked serve, they will do the most twisted things, and all the time present themselves as the most righteous people. I think a lot of them even believe they are righteous, they are too far gone to see the error of their ways. This was the state of the Jews in Jeremiah's time - they thought of themselves as righteous observers of the faith, but they were completely corrupt and were harming and abusing the nation's children, poor, and many others terribly. They would not listen to the prophets or to the good priests, they were too convinced of their own righteousness and blind to the evil they were doing. So it did seem a bit hopeless to Jeremiah, prompting him to ask God why He allows this. But during Jeremiah's lifetime, God did act to punish the treachery and wickedness, and it was horrible. Jerusalem fell with tremendous suffering, death and destruction, and the people were taken into exile.

One reason why God seems to "delay" His justice is to allow for conversion and repentance, so that when He chooses to act, it will not be as horrific as the fall of Jerusalem was. This is why we must pray for our enemies, and hope for their conversion. This is why I pray for our president and a whole host of others every day. It will not only go better for them if they repent and convert, but it will go better for all of us, as the chastisements we all must suffer through will not be as harsh as God's justice would otherwise require.