The Harbinger: A Book Review

The Harbinger, by Jonathan Cahn, bears the subtitle "The Ancient Mystery that Holds the Secret of America's Future".  Written in narrative form, Cahn admits in his one sentence Forward:  "What you are about to read is written in the form of a story, but what is contained within the story is real."  He would have been better off ending the sentence after the word "story" and leaving it at that.  For in fact, this is nothing more than a fictional novel along the line of National Treasure spiced with religious flavoring.

The story is built on what Cahn honestly believes are biblical prophecies concerning the United States of America.  It seeks to explain the events that led to the terrorists attack on September 11, 2001 and continued through the economic collapse of 2008.  What Cahn describes as a "mystery" is revealed gradually throughout the book but hinges on his interpretation of Isaiah 9:10 which reads:  "The bricks have fallen, but with hewn stone we will rebuild;  the sycamores have been cut down, but with cedars we will plant in their place."

In telling his story Cahn uses a fictional journalist named Nouriel Kaplan and a Manhattan publishing executive named Ana Goren.  There is also an unnamed character identified only as The Prophet.  Kaplan approaches Goren with his tale of mysterious meetings with The Prophet.   In these meetings Kaplan is given a series of nine seals, or clay discs referred to as harbingers.  Each harbinger reveals a portion of the overall mystery that is rooted in Isaiah 9:10, an ancient prophecy that supposedly predicts the events of 9/11 and those in the following decade.

Cahn repeatedly seeks to establish a clear parallel between ancient Israel and modern-day America.  In doing so, unfortunately, he is forced to use very poor exegesis while freely interjecting far too much personal bias.  Rather than using the scriptures as inspiration for his teaching, Cahn begins with his own preconceived theories and then tries to plug in scripture that gives a weak and unconvincing effort to support his claims.  The result is a fictional novel that is sadly misinterpreted by far too many well-intentioned Christians as an authentic interpretation of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament.  Truth be told, there is nothing Christian about The Harbinger.  Jonathan Cahn is President of Hope of the World Ministries and the Senior Pastor of the Jerusalem Center/Beth Israel.  He claims to be a Messianic Rabbi.  I have no reason to doubt him.  Still, his ministry and his book The Harbinger is far more Jewish than Christian.  This is evidenced by the use of Jewish names in the book along with quoting the Old Testament scriptures.  While God is mentioned with some regularity, Jesus is strikingly obscured. 

I found the dialog between Kaplan and Goren labored and tedious.  It is not well written from a literary point of view.  But what bothered me even more were the assumptions and manipulations presented as biblical truth.  Even some of his historical presentations are not entirely accurate.  It begins with Cahn's belief that Ancient Israel and modern America are the only two nations in history that were founded on the Word of God and uniquely dedicated to God's purpose.    In reality many differences exist, however.  Israel was found as a theocracy.  The United States was not.  In fact the Constitution clearly states that the United States is prohibited from establishing or endorsing any religion.  In the truest sense, then, the United States is a secular nation.  Even though many of the founding fathers were known to mention the name "God" from time to time, this cannot be construed as a desire to make the United States a "Christian Nation".  Indeed, quite the opposite was true.  Such quotes must be understood as little more than political jargon intended to win the support of potential voters.

Another difference is found in the fact that Israel was established by a covenant with God.  The United States was established by revolution and rebellion.

Cahn also says that the year 732 B.C. was the year God removed his "hedge of protection" from Israel allowing the Assyrians to successfully strike a devastating blow.  This, he argues, is mirrored in 9/11/2001 when the terrorists struck a devastating blow to the United States.  In both cases Cahn states that the enemy struck and then left without dealing a fatal blow.  The truth is, however, that Assyria not only struck a devastating blow to Israel in 732 B. C., they did conquer the nation and took the citizens into Exile.  The Kingdom of Israel would never again exist as an independent, sovereign nation.  What Cahn fails to mention is that the Kingdom of Israel as it was under Saul, David and Solomon had divided into two separate kingdoms upon Solomon's death.  These two kingdoms were entirely separate entities, as separate as Great Britain and the United States following the American Revolution.  The Northern Kingdom retained the name Israel.  The Southern portion took the name Judah.  It was the Northern Kingdom of Israel that was attacked and destroyed by the Assyrians in 732 B. C.  The King of Assyria chose not to attack Judah because of her alliance with Egypt.  Conversely, on September 11 the United States was indeed attacked but was never defeated.  No one was captured and taken into Exile.  Rather than a prolonged war as experienced by Israel the terrorists made their attack in the course of a few hours.

Cahn goes on to claim that the Assyrians "are the spiritual fathers of al Qaeda (page 39)"   based on his understanding that Assyria occupied what is modern day Iraq.  This understanding has a few flaws to it, however.  For one thing, Ancient Assyria only occupied a small portion of Northern Iraq.  It actually consisted of as much of Southeast Turkey as it did Iraq.  Secondly, I fail to see the connection between Iraq and al Qaeda.  Saddam Hussein was many things but I do not recall anyone who ever claimed he was a member of al Qaeda.   Cahn continues by comparing the torturous techniques of the Assyrians with the practices of al Qaeda, yet the truth is many, many groups and nations in history could share such a claim.  The ancient Aztecs, the Sicarii of the 1^st Centuray A.D., Nazi Germany, the Japanese before their defeat in World War II, the South American Drug lords, and far too many more to list here.

One of the parallels Cahn tries to make between Ancient Israel and the United States is found in the response to their respective "terrorist attacks".  Following the Assyrian invasion of 732 B. C. the Kingdom of Israel showed a defiance toward Assyria and toward God, whom the people blamed their demise on.  What Cahn fails to reveal is that the Northern Kingdom of Israel began defying God the very moment they broke from the House of David and formed their separate nation in the year 930 B. C.    Yet even with such oversight, Cahn's comparison fails when we consider that the response of the American people in 2001 was, generally, a call for repentance and a plea for God to protect this nation.  From the words of President Bush to Senator Tom Daschle and many others it is clear that the United States never truly promoted a rejection of God because of the terrorists attack on September 11.  Thus the comparison between Israel and the United States does not stand up.

I could cite many other flaws in the book itself but I am actually more concerned about a deeper effect.  I am amazed and disappointed in the remarkable interest shown in this book by an overwhelming number of Christian believers.  Evangelical and fundamentalist Christians seemingly buy into the message that is promoted by The Harbinger.  I am sure most of these people are good and faithful followers of Jesus.  Yet I also fear they are so easily misled because of their lack of biblical and historical understanding.  The Harbinger falls into a similar category of the Left Behind series (which I will refrain from detailing at this time).  That is to say it builds on a culture of popular sensationalism and intrigue with just enough biblical seasoning and religiosity as to entice Christians into falling for its premise, no matter how flawed it may be.  I have to agree with the opinion of Dave James who says of The Harbinger "...because of serious flaws throughout the book, the potential dangers may well outweigh the benefits."  He goes on to say "the book could well leave its readers with serious misunderstandings about how to appropriately interpret and apply the Word of God.  Beyond this, in trying to support his conclusions Cahn appears to variously overstate his case, see prophetic fulfillment where arguably none exist and presses details to draw parallels between historical events beyond what the facts reasonably support."

In conclusion, the only "mystery" I found in The Harbinger is how such a book so flawed and sensationalized ever managed to become a New York Times Best Seller.

G. D. Gehr
October 22, 2012