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 1st
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
Thank you, Doug. I found this review Biblically accurate and well written.
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