Another misreading of Cahn's "Harbinger"

Proverbs 18:13: He that answereth a matter before he heareth [it], it [is] folly and shame unto him

This review by a pastor Gary Gilley starts out positive about the book, though not in a particularly relevant way in my opinion, but then veers off into a serious misreading of the essential message:

So far so good. But then Cahn determines that Isaiah 9:10-11 contains a hidden second prophecy directed not to ancient Israel but to modern America.

No, Jonathan Cahn did not "determine" any such thing. What happened is that he OBSERVED that certain elements described in Isaiah 9:10, that demonstrate Israel's defiance of God's judgment of their nation, ALSO ACTUALLY LITERALLY OCCURRED OR "MANIFESTED" IN AMERICA in connection with 9/11.

Literally. Actually. Physical things: bricks, a hewn stone, a sycamore tree, a conifer tree, plus some speeches by American leaders that quoted this very scripture or echoed its spirit. This is based on the simplest possible reading of Isaiah 9:10, nothing added to it.

At this point the author massages Scripture and current events in an attempt to prove that God’s judgment on the United States has been hiding in these verses from the day they were given by Isaiah, but have now been unlocked by the careful investigation of Cahn.

Nonsense! Did this reviewer actually read this book? This is absurd and unjust.

Nothing could be further from the truth and, even more importantly, once someone decides they can cherry-pick verses at will, change the meaning of these texts to fit his theories and use random hermeneutical methods, anything can be “proven.”

Which I'm afraid describes what this reviewer has done to Jonathan Cahn! The reviewer has read all kinds of things into his book that simply are not there. Is this perhaps his own theology that he is imposing on Cahn?

Bottomline: The Harbinger is a semi-interesting novel that exposes the pride and sinfulness of America and God’s distain for such rebelliousness. But the novel does not in reality discover a mysterious Old Testament prophecy about America. Read as fiction with an important point, the book has value. Read as a prophecy, it is dangerous.

As I mention in my previous post, it's becoming clear that "Harbinger" takes some effort to really get the message to avoid some pretty odd misunderstandings, but sometimes it sounds like the critic didn't even really read the book or listen to Cahn's talks.

I could repeat my own description of what the book is about but I've repeated it so many times now I figure anyone who wants to won't have a hard time finding it-- label or key word "Jonathan Cahn" should do it.

Brannon Howse interviews Jonathan Cahn on "Harbinger"

Thank you, Brannon Howse, for having Jonathan Cahn on your radio program and giving him a chance to explain his "Harbinger" revelation. I hope this is sufficient to answer the misunderstandings expressed by Jimmy DeYoung about the book on a previous show.

I recognize that one doesn't necessarily have to read a book or see a movie to understand enough about it to criticize it fairly, but the more I hear about people's reactions to Jonathan Cahn's study the more I have to appreciate that it's a difficult message to grasp unless you spend some time thinking about it. Not that you have to have read the book but you do have to understand what he's actually saying, and apparently that's not easy to get UNLESS you either read the book or hear his talks.

The ways people have managed to misunderstand the message are a bit boggling. Cahn himself was boggled at the thought that anyone would accuse him of "replacement theology" but I guess it is possible to get that out of it if you don't spend enough time really thinking it through.

(I don't consider myself to be into replacement theology either, but I may be more in that direction than Jonathan Cahn is -- I certainly don't think physical Israel has been replaced by the Church, but I do think that the Church IS "Israel" in the spiritual sense, so that all who are saved and born again in Christ ARE spiritual Israel, and I believe scripture says that Abraham himself looked to a spiritual "land" -- although God certainly DID give physical Israel to his descendants. So there is no doubt yet a role left for physical Israel to bring glory to God as this wrecked and groaning planet reels to its soon-coming end -- but enough, I've posted on this recently already.)

It also seemed to me to be a handicap for Brannon Howse that he hadn't been able to read the book or find out much more about the "Harbinger" before doing the interview, as he seemed not to really "get it" for most of the interview, though maybe it was getting through to him more by the end. Cahn seems to be having to work extremely hard just to get the basics across. This message is more important than that, and I hope Brannon Howse will eventually find some time to give it some real thought.

I get that if you really believe God has given up on America you may not see the point of putting much effort into trying to understand a message which is really a call to repentance, but it seems to me that God's giving us these signs or omens or harbingers MIGHT suggest that He's still giving us time to repent despite it all.

Maybe not, maybe they are just supposed to stand as mute testimony against America just as the same signs were against ancient Israel, so that we really are doomed.

But again, God's even allowing this book to come out DOES suggest that we may still have some time IF the churches were to wake up and seek God in earnest. I personally think God's people and especially pastors and other leaders should be CALLING THE CHURCHES TO RESPOND TO THIS MESSAGE OF THE HARBINGERS WITH REPENTANCE, PRAYER AND FASTING BEYOND ANY LEVEL OF COMMITMENT WE'VE EVER EVEN THOUGHT OF DOING BEFORE, instead of sitting back and ASSUMING we're doomed. [Sigh. Feel I must add here, days later, that I'm again assailed with the doubt that this could happen without the interference of all the antichrist forces now occupying what used to be orthodox churches, even the inclusion of Mormons and the Pope, ai yi yi yi. How I wish we could have such prayer for revival and leave all of them out of it, or make prayer against them an effective part of it.]

Just have to post for the umpteenth time Jonathan Cahn's talk on this from 2005 (I'd post the most recent one but it's not available online:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXei0Zb3dxM