Can a zebra change his stripes?

Consider carefully the words of the "weeping prophet" Jeremiah, who was called to warn the people of Judah during a most difficult time in their history. The nation was politically and morally in a very bad place. Pride replaced humility, and vice replaced virtue. I need not draw any parallels between Judah and America. God is good and He takes no delight in chastising His stubborn children. So, like many times before, JAH sends a harsh warning via his prophet Jeremiah:

Thus says the LORD to me, "Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water." So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the LORD, and put it around my waist. And the word of the LORD came to me a second time, "Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock." So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me. And after many days the LORD said to me, "Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there." Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing.

Then the word of the LORD came to me: "Thus says the LORD: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the LORD, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

Hear and give ear; be not proud, for the LORD has spoken. Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness. But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock has been taken captive.

And if you say in your heart, 'Why have these things come upon me?' It is for the greatness of your iniquity that your skirts are lifted up [This was done to shame captive women and prostitutes.] and you suffer violence. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil. I will scatter you like chaff driven by the wind from the desert. This is your lot, the portion I have measured out to you, declares the LORD, because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies. I myself will lift up your skirts over your face, and your shame will be seen. I have seen your abominations, your adulteries and neighings, your lewd whorings, on the hills in the field. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will it be before you are made clean?

~ Jeremiah 13:1-11, 15-17, 22-27 English Standard Version.

JAH gave the prophet Jeremiah a strong word for his evil and stubborn people. But did Israel heed the prophet's warning of impending judgement? Well, let's see the rest of the story in two Old Testament books: Second Chronicles, chapter 36 and Second Kings, chapter 25.

2 Chron. 36:11-20b NKJV, "Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath by God; but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel. Moreover all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more, according to all the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house of the LORD which He had consecrated in Jerusalem. And the LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy."

"Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand. And all the articles from the house of God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his leaders, all these he took to Babylon. Then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons..."

This is so sad! JAH warned his people over and over but they would not listen. Second Kings 25 gives us additional details about the siege of Jerusalem and what happened to the hard-hearted King Zedekiah and "all the leaders of the priests and the people" who "transgressed more and more."

"Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around. So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled at night by way of the gate between two walls, which was by the king's garden, even though the Chaldeans were still encamped all around against the city. And the king [Zedekiah] went by way of the plain. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on him. Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon."

"They also took away the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which the priests ministered. The firepans and the basins, the things of solid gold and solid silver, the captain of the guard took away."

"And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. He also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, five men of the king's close associates who were found in the city, the chief recruiting officer of the army, who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. So Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land." ~ 2 Kings 25:1-7, 14-15, 18-21 NKJV.

This has to be one of the saddest episodes in Scripture. Jerusalem, the holy city of God, destroyed by the Babylonians. The house of the LORD burned to the ground. The king was captured and "they pronounced judgment on him." He was forced to watch his sons be put to death. And then the Chaldeans put out his eyes. Which means the last thing King Zedekiah saw was his sons being killed. Then the blind king was chained and taken to Babylon. The friends of the king who shared in his sin and his material prosperity were gathered up and brought before the king of Babylon. All of them were also put to death! Whoever was left alive after this devastation was carried off to Babylon to serve as slaves in a foreign land.

What a tragedy! But this is what happens when people forget the LORD and trust in lies! It happened to Judah, it can happen to America, it can happen to Canada or Japan. It can happen to Africa. JAH deals with nations as well as individuals. When an individual walks in the fear of the LORD, according to the Word of GOD, he or she will be blessed from on High. When a nation walks in the fear of the LORD, that nation, that people group, will also be blessed from on High. But the flip-side is just as TRUE. When an individual forgets God and trust in lies, judgment is sure to follow. And when a nation forgets God and trust in lies, the wrath of God is sure to follow! JAH is Lord over nations as well as individuals.

If we refuse to be humble servants in Jerusalem, we might end up broken slaves in Babylon, or worse! So what must we do? What can we do? Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Of course not! Just like a leopard cannot changes his spots, we cannot change our sinful nature. JAH alone can change our hearts. So what must we do? We must pray. We must ask God to do for us that which we can not do for ourselves! In Psalm 86:11 KJV, King David prays, "Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name."

In this prayer, David is looking to God to give him an undivided heart that's single-heartedly devoted to Him! I find that helpful and fascinating because it speaks to the fact that we are not called to rely on our own human resources to overcome our sinful nature. The apostle Paul declares in Galatians 2:20 NKJV, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." A zebra can't change his stripes, and we can't save ourselves. If we are to be saved, we will be saved by faith, and even that faith is itself part of the gift of God, not a product of my own power. See Ephesians 2:8-10. Also see my blog post "Unite My Heart to Fear thy Name" and the "Jesus is Lord" page.

Join me in praying for the winds of revival to spread across America. If JAH saw the sins of Israel and judged the nation accordingly, then how much longer before America is judged? JAH deals with nations as well as individuals. And just as individuals cannot change themselves, nations too are hopelessly lost unless revived by God. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters of the Most High God, the fate of our country hangs in the balance. We can sit back, do nothing and experience God's consuming fire of Judgment, or we can repent for personal and national sins and beg to experience God's cleansing fire of Revival. It's the people of faith who carry the burden of revival: "If My people who are called my My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (2 Chron. 7:14). The choice is ours: Humble servants in Jerusalem or broken slaves in Babylon.

Grace, Peace and Jahspeed!