When the Injustice of Inflation Becomes the Law of the Land

Reflections on the Statutes of Omri by economics professor, Jeff Degner

Something’s wrong in the economy. Everyone knows it. Despite the widespread pain felt through raging inflation, collapsing retirement funds, and rising wealth inequality, our politicians are locked in a finger-pointing death match. They have no answers about the actual nature and causes of these economic ills.

In the meantime, it’s the poor who suffer the most. The price of a gallon of milk or fuel means little to nothing to the elites, but the poor, and even the middle class, increasingly face the dilemma of buying groceries versus making the rent or mortgage payment. These rising prices arouse anger among many. And because these conditions are the direct result of corrupt policies by wicked leadership, God Himself will now “maintain the cause of the afflicted and judgment for the needy'' (Ps. 140:12, LSB).

For many Christians, solutions to these problems might seem as simple as getting the “right” people into office: those politicians who will force the clever financial engineers on Wall Street and at the Fed to solve the issues. But what if we are looking to the wrong “saviors” when the solutions are actually to be found in the Scriptures themselves?

The Prophets’ Warnings

The Old Testament gives us specific guidance for identifying the precise governmental policies that lead to such economic miseries—and it also gives us the cures. The lives of Micah and Isaiah o