Thursday, May 31, 2012

The Harbinger under attack again

I received a note from a friend yesterday saying that a certain ministry is going to be coming out with their response to Jonathan Cahn's Harbinger in their June Newsletter. The friend had written to them to ask their opinion of the book and got this information. They also told her that they have some misgivings about how Jonathan Cahn "handled" Isaiah 9:10. That way of putting it reminded me of another review of the book that I blasted in a blog post as extremely unfair to Cahn, and made me suspect that this ministry is going to say something just as unfair.

Today I got my Understanding the Times newsletter from Jan Markell in which it sounds like she knows of this same ministry's intention to review Cahn's book and apparently in a very critical light:
Why Is This Message Controversial?
By Jan Markell

Note from Jan: In a few days a prominent "discernment ministry" is going to release their review of Jonathan Cahn's, "The Harbinger" and companion film, "Isaiah 9:10 Judgment." I have been proud to work with this ministry over the years. But if "discernment" is now tearing down a person's character and throwing a message of repentance into, "The Shack" category, then I guess I'll have to re-think whether I remain such a ministry. I guess it's true: Christians not only shoot their own, they also watch them die a death of agony. In today's world of deception, we do need ministries who tell the truth, but not in the tone of the review that will come out shortly.
This implies that what this other ministry is going to say IS the truth, just that the tone is wrong. Since she isn't naming them I won't either but it will be out soon enough, but my own suspicion is that anything that questions how Jonathan Cahn handled Isaiah 9:10 is not going to be the truth. He didn't read that passage in any unusual way, he read it according to all the main commentaries on it, which he himself quotes in all his talks and the book as well. There is NO problem with Isaiah 9:10.

There IS a problem with some people who don't read carefully and don't think. You can fault the Harbinger for a few things if you have a mind to, such as the choice to put it in fictional form, or the hyped-up advertising that has accompanied it, but if you really READ it and THINK ABOUT it the only honest conclusion you can come to is that Cahn simply RECOGNIZED SOMETHING GOD DID AND REPORTED ON IT. GOD HIMSELF used Isaiah 9:10 for HIS message to America, and Cahn was His willing servant to bring His message to our attention.