PART III
A NEW RESPONSE FROM DAVID JAMES AGAINST DR. DAVID R. REAGAN WHO WROTE: In Defense of a Prophetic Voice
SIDEBAR: A word of explanation is in order before we begin. I had originally planned for this to be the third and last installment of this series, but because of the need to address each one of the charges individually in a biblical and thorough manner, I have had to break Part III of this series into various parts which I will post as we go along in this reply of mine to David James’ response to Dr. Reagan’s excellent article.
There are several places where I write in the first person and direct myself to David James and to his colleagues; whereas there are other places where I direct myself to the readers. This explanation is so that when the readers come across this, they will not be confused by my use of addressing David James in the first person when writing to the general readership in some places in the following paragraphs, and then switch from the first person to addressing Mr. James directly, or visa-versa.
In some cases I felt compelled to pose a question to Mr. James and to his colleagues directly. But the narrative of this broadside is generally is an examination and refutation of Mr. James’ contentions one by one. Some of these contentions come from his book, others he’s developed along the way, but they are all addressed here, biblically, accurately, and with as much respect as possible under the circumstances. Mr. James and his colleagues have vilified my pastor and spiritual leader for eighteen months, and continue to do so, and they must account for what they have done. I would have preferred the biblical manner as described in God’s Word, which was to take this matter privately to them, but after months of failed attempt after failed attempt to resolve this privately with Mr. James, I have realized that really has gotten both parties nowhere.
Perhaps we all have one thing to thank David James, I more than others because I’ve engaged him for this past year on this topic, that because he misread The Harbinger and wrote what he read into the narrative, it providentially compelled people like me to address these charges, and thus present a thorough examination of what The Harbinger is all about, not just what I know about it from Rabbi Cahn’s teachings which I’ve heard and have in my possession, but also the possibilities – which always exist that someone would misread and misunderstand and therefore misinterpret what Rabbi Cahn has taught and what developed into The Harbinger from these teachings when the Lord imparted the insight to him through the Holy Spirit, and helped him write it.
Sure enough, that possibility has indeed come to pass in the writings of David James, and it has produced what he writes here, and in other places, and the following of critics who have read these, and made their opinions known on the Internet without having first read the book for themselves. I am thankful then to David James for doing the homework of putting to writing every possible misinterpretation of what Pastor and Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn has written, so that it can be fully vetted here and in other places, including in my upcoming book which will be released later this year, as the Lord wills it.
I wish to express my appreciation to David James and his colleagues for this opportunity, but where I draw the line is in the methods used by them about this entire matter, and how they’ve continued to protract the controversy over a year and a half without no end in sight. The method is wrong. The things said are entirely incorrect, unfair, unjust, and libelous, and unbecoming people who profess the Christian Faith; therefore it is there where I draw the line, because I know Jonathan Cahn the man, Jonathan Cahn the brother in Messiah, Jonathan Cahn my Pastor and Rabbi, and Jonathan Cahn and how he teaches God’s Word, and what he has written in The Harbinger.
Because of these, I have addressed and will continue to address in a biblical manner the things said which must be answered. When you see a friend you’ve known for many years, whose points of views and beliefs you are intimately acquainted with so mischaracterized and pilloried as they have been by people whom I will designate as “critics of The Harbinger,” not only are you compelled by your knowledge of that person, his beliefs, and teachings, contained in what he has written, when his integrity, motives, and legitimacy are being questioned – as they are here and elsewhere below – but by Scripture itself, because if we do not sound an alarm as danger approaches, and fail to do good when it is in our power to do it, then it is unmistakably sin.
I cannot before God, sit idly by and allow people who do not know Jonathan, and do not know either what his core beliefs are, bring into question these very things and then claim they are not personally attacking him by hiding behind the false mantle of “discernment.” Let me repeat once more so that I may make myself perfectly clear; it is because I know the man and his beliefs and teachings and faith and dedication in God, that I cannot keep silent when I see others who do not know him or his personal faith and dedication to God, or his teachings, who on the word of one man – David James – have subjected my friend and brother to public disgrace by questioning his teachings and his book, both of which I know of and know what it says and what it doesn’t say, that I engage Mr. James, whom I have told is at the epicenter of this entire controversy and therefore has responded as he has to Dr. Reagan, though Dr. Reagan has not mentioned him or anyone else by name anywhere in his well-written and thoughtful article.
Having said this; everyone who reads it understands what the stakes are. At a time when our nation accelerates more and more with each year and each election into the abyss of sin and depravity, it does not bode well when Christians focus their attention into the Body of Christ to attack other Christians for warning the nation and calling them to repentance because they disagree with how it is being done. Let God be the judge of that, and let us win souls for Christ and stop bickering among ourselves about semantical issues where as Paul warned, Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. (2Timothy 2:14) Let’s put a stop to this madness and unprofitable enterprise, because it is foolishness as you will see. This has gone for on too long, and the stakes are too high for this unnecessary distraction. They are very high; they deal with the future of our nation, and the outcome of what we as God’s people do – as well as what we do not do – will determine the fate of this nation according to God’s Sovereign Providence in His will. JB
Jonathan Cahn
by Dr. David R. Reagan
People love pillow prophets. They hate true prophets. Pillow prophets tell people what they want to hear. They cry, "Peace and safety!" when danger is imminent. True prophets warn of danger and cry for repentance.
When Jeremiah told the people of Judah that it was God's will for them to surrender to the Babylonians and go into captivity, he was demonized as a false prophet and a traitor, and the people tried to kill him.
In like manner, Jonathan Cahn has been the victim of irresponsible and vicious attacks. He has been accused of "parading as a prophet." Others have branded him a "false prophet." These charges are reckless, unwarranted and un-Christ-like.
Jonathan Cahn's message is thoroughly biblical. It is not based on any new revelation from God. Rather, it is based on the biblical principles that govern God's relationship with nations. These are principles that I outlined in detail in my 2003 book entitled America the Beautiful? The United States in Bible Prophecy (revised editions in 2006 and 2009).
False Prophet?
The charge that he is a "false prophet" is downright ludicrous. His message is that America is in rebellion against God, that God has placed remedial judgments upon us, and that if we do not repent, God will deliver us from judgment to destruction. I ask you, "What part of that message is unbiblical?"
Furthermore, the Bible defines a false prophet as one who prophesies events that do not come to pass. If Rabbi Cahn prophesied that a specific event would take place on a specific date and that date were to come and go without the event happening, then he could legitimately be labeled as a "false prophet." But he has done no such thing.
He is simply declaring biblical principles. He is reminding us of the following truths:
•That when a richly blessed nation like ours sets its face against God, the judgment of God will fall upon it.
•That the only way for a rebellious nation to avoid the ultimate judgment of God — namely, destruction — is for it to repent.
Misuse of Scripture?
Others have attacked Rabbi Cahn because they argue that he has taken a scripture directed to ancient Israel (Isaiah 9:10) and has applied it to the United States. Again, I ask, "What is wrong with that?" If the scripture is applicable, why not apply it to our nation?
Actually, we do that all the time. The Psalms and Proverbs were written to the Jewish people, yet we apply them to ourselves. Should we reject the 23rd Psalm because it was not specifically addressed to the Church?
Incredibly, Rabbi Cahn has been criticized for applying 2 Chronicles 7:14 to the United States. It reads as follows:
[If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Are we actually going to contend that this scripture applies only to Israel? Are we really going to argue that if the professing Christians of this nation were to sincerely repent of their sins and the sins of our nation, that God would ignore it?
This particular scripture contains a timeless principle about repentance that even applies to pagan nations. Thus, when God sent the prophet Jonah to the pagan city of Nineveh with a message of "Turn or Burn!" the Lord changed His mind when the king put on sack cloth and ashes, repented, and called for the whole city to do likewise.
Or consider the seven letters contained in the second and third chapters of Revelation. Each one was addressed to a specific church located in the area of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). Do the letters apply only to those specific churches? Of course not! They are just as relevant to the Church at large today as they were when they were written to the seven specific churches in the First Century.
Jumping to Conclusions
Many of the criticisms of Rabbi Cahn's message are based on unwarranted conclusions that people have jumped to in an effort to find something to criticize. For example, he has been accused of teaching that America is in a covenant relationship with God. The fact of the matter is that he has never said that. He simply notes that America's founding fathers believed that, and therefore they consecrated the nation to God.
Another unwarranted conclusion is that he teaches Isaiah 9:10 was a prophecy about the United States rather than Israel. Again, Rabbi Cahn has never made such an assertion. What he teaches instead is that the ancient pattern of judgment that occurred in Israel is now recurring in America, and in "a stunningly precise way."
A Book and a Sermon
As I reported in a recent issue of this magazine, I was not particularly impacted with Rabbi Cahn's book, The Harbinger. Its writing style was not my cup of tea. But so what? It greatly impacted tens of thousands of others, and I was immensely impressed with the overall message of the book. It contained a biblical message that I believe the American people desperately need to hear, and I was delighted over the book's success as it rose to the top of the best seller list.
What impressed me even more was Rabbi Cahn's sermon which he presented at the recent Presidential Inaugural Breakfast in Washington, D.C. As I watched it on YouTube, I was transfixed by the frank, biblical content of the message and by Rabbi Cahn's powerful, anointed delivery of it.
The message presented a stark, bone-chilling indictment against this nation for thumbing its nose at God. It was a hardhitting prophetic message that took great courage to deliver. I urge you to watch the 35 minute message on YouTube. (You can find it easily by googling Cahn's name.)
Christians should be giving Rabbi Cahn a standing ovation, and many have. But some leaders of discernment ministries have tried, instead, to crucify him.
I know a genuine prophetic voice when I hear one, and as I watched Rabbi Cahn deliver his powerful message, I realized he was a prophetic voice raised up by God to warn this nation of its impending doom and to call us to repentance.
He is the successor to David Wilkerson who began delivering the same message in the 1970's. At that time Wilkerson was the darling of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements. But the moment he began to call this nation to repentance and warn of God's impending judgment, he was mercilessly attacked as a "false prophet" and was accused of misusing scriptures. Many churches stopped handling his books and speaking invitations were canceled. He was condemned for preaching a "negative message."
Christian McCarthyism
The current unbridled, petty and vicious attacks on Rabbi Cahn smack of what I would call "Christian McCarthyism." For those of you who might not be familiar with what I'm referring to, let me explain.
In the 1950s a wave of anti-Communism swept this nation and a Senator from Wisconsin named Joseph McCarthy decided to ride the wave. He started holding Congressional hearings during which he made wild allegations against many people, accusing them of being either Communists or Communist sympathizers. In the process, he ruined the lives of many people.
Senator McCarthy met his Waterloo when he decided to attack the U.S. Army, claiming many of its top officers were tainted by Communism. This action hurt him in two ways. First, it turned President Eisenhower against him. Second, the Army hired a defense counsel who would surprisingly prove to be very formidable. I say surprisingly because the attorney, Joseph Welch, seemed to be someone who would be eaten alive by McCarthy. That's because Mr. Welch had a high, squeaky voice and an elf-like appearance.
As Mr. Welch began to demand that Senator McCarthy present evidence of his allegations, the Senator decided to go on the attack. He started accusing a young lawyer on Welch's staff of being a Communist sympathizer. Welch interrupted the Senator and cried out in a wailing voice, "Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness..." When McCarthy resumed his attack, Welch interrupted him: "Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"
This was one of the first Congressional hearings ever to be televised, and it exposed the Senator for what he was — a shallow, irresponsible, arrogant power-seeker who was willing to destroy other people in order to gain the limelight.
In like manner there are hyper-critics within Christianity today who are yelling "Apostate! Apostate!" over matters that really amount to nothing. If a person speaks to a group they disapprove of, they label him an "Apostate." If he has a different viewpoint from theirs about a non-essential doctrine, he is branded an "Apostate." If he compliments someone they don't like, he is relegated to Hell as an "Apostate."
An Appeal for Sanity
Grant Phillips, a Bible teacher in Kentucky who has pastored six churches in his lifetime, recently responded to the hysterical critics of Jonathan Cahn with these words:
Look folks, many of us need to... stop nitpicking everything the Lord is trying to tell us and just listen to what He is saying in whatever manner He chooses to say it. Even in my own experience of writing articles, every now and then, someone emails me who just wants to nit-pick at something I wrote while missing the message of the article. The phrase comes to mind, "They're so heavenly minded, they're no earthly good." We need to humble our hearts and stop being so self-righteous.
In my personal correspondence with Jonathan Cahn, I have discovered that he has a very Christ-like spirit and a great sense of humor. In responding to his critics, he has killed them with kindness, refusing to respond with the same invective they have used in attacking him. He has dealt with issues and not personalities.
And his sense of humor has helped him to put the criticism in perspective. Let me give you some examples:
•In response to crazy allegations that he is somehow involved in advocating the prosperity message of the Word of Faith Movement, he wrote: "I not only speak against those doctrines regularly, but my author's photo [shown on the cover of this magazine] was taken at Sears Budget Photo!"
•In response to an assertion that he is advocating Replacement Theology, he wrote: "I'm Jewish and a believer. In order to subscribe to Replacement Theology, I'd have to replace myself with myself. I'm open to trying, but it just strikes me as a lot of work to end up no better off than when I started!"
•In response to the nutty charge that he is espousing principles of Mormonism, he wrote: "Okay, I was once into Donny and Marie Osmond, but when they started singing 'I'm A Little Bit Country, And I'm A Little Bit Rock and Roll,' I drew the line. You see, I don't believe in mixing doctrines."
•In response to the absurd allegation that he is involved in some way in Masonry, he replied: "It's true. I once had involvement with Masonry. It happened when I appeared as a guest on the Jackie Mason Show. But he's the only Mason I've been involved with. And I renounced his comedy soon after the show."
My Personal Stance
The nit-picking, Pharisaical hyper-critics of Christianity need to be reminded of the wisdom of Gamaliel which he shared with the Sanhedrin Council when they arrested Peter and the apostles and desired to kill them (Acts 5:29-33). Gamaliel stated that if what the followers of Jesus were teaching was false, nothing would come of it. "But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them." He then added, "You may even be found fighting against God" (Acts 5:38-39).
The pit bulls of Christianity can growl and yap and snarl all they please, but anointed messengers of God like Wilkerson and Cahn will prevail because they are speaking the truth. I stand with them, and I am proud to do so.
Together with them, I cry from the depths of my heart, "Wake up America! You are blaspheming the very God who blessed you. He has sent prophetic voices and remedial judgments to warn you and call you to repentance. What will be your choice? Repentance or Destruction?"
v By David James
UPDATE: I sent Dr. Reagan a personal email within about 12 hours of posting this article, to let him know that it was now on the ABI website, and assurred (sic) him that my intention was to focus on the issues and not to harm him or anyone else.
I also wrote:
My intent is not to get into an escalating war of words, but rather to bring some balance and reason to a situation that has become far too emotional and characterized by quite a bit of harsh language, accusations and ad hominem attacks.
Dr. Reagan responded within a few hours:
Thanks for sending me a copy of your article. I have nothing to say in reply to it except that I stand by what I wrote in my article.
Have a blessed day in the Lord.
Dave Reagan
Lamb & Lion Ministries
THE PEPSTER FOR DR. REAGAN: I commend Dr. Reagan in the Lord Jesus for not engaging Mr. James. I do believe that it was wise of Dr. Reagan not to address David James, but to reply as he did. To engage him would be an endless and fruitless folly. I applaud this response of Dr. Reagan’s to The Harbinger’s critics. It is strange that though Dr. Reagan hasn’t anywhere mentioned anyone by name, David James responded directly to him though Dr. Reagan does not mention his name at all.
Several things become clear here, and make themselves apparent to the clear and sober thinker. They are:
1.) Dr. Reagan wrote generally about The Harbinger’s critics.
2.) Dr. Reagan did not mention anyone by name.
3.) Dr. Reagan did not direct his write-up to any individual or group in particular, just The Harbinger’s critics, and there are a few groups that fall under that category that comprise the overall general group of critics Dr. Reagan addresses here.
4.) Therefore Dr. Reagan did not make this write-up personal in any way about any person.
5.) In spite of the above, David James instantly wasted no time in personalizing it to himself and his group. David James “sent Dr. Reagan a personal email within about 12 hours of posting this article.
6.) David James writes for himself and his group, because it has been posted on David James’ site, the Berean Call’s site, and at Worldview Weekend’s site.
7.) In this personal e-mail to Dr. Reagan, David James writes that writes him to “let him know that it was now on the ABI website, and assurred (sic) him that my intention was to focus on the issues and not to harm him or anyone else.”
8.) Yet, this is precisely NOT what David James does here, as we shall see. He makes it very personal, both to Dr. Reagan and to Pastor and Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn.
9.) David James believes that Dr. Reagan’s criticisms about how The Harbinger’s critics have mishandled the material is a personal attack against him, though nowhere in his write-up does Dr. Reagan mention anyone or any organization by name.
10.) Dr. Reagan could have named people and organizations, but he chose not to in order to prevent his general write-up from being personal.
11.) This did not stop David James from interpreting Dr. Reagan’s statements as personal affronts to him and his colleagues.
12.) David James then proceeds to personally attack Dr. Reagan, accusing him of launching “a fairly serious attack against the critics of The Harbinger,” and then questions “whether Dr. Reagan has actually read some of the more significant critical reviews of The Harbinger. Has he actually considered the substance of our concerns? Has he read The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction?” He finds “Dr. Reagan’s article both puzzling and troubling,” failing to understand that there is something fundamentally wrong in one Christian performing a month’s long public attack upon another over a literary disagreement.
13.) Then he accuses Dr. Reagan of writing what “feels like” (to David James) “an unnecessarily mean-spirited turn,” because Dr. Reagan correctly equates the attack mounted against other Christians by The Harbinger’s critics a form of “Christian McCarthyism.” David James fails to understand and appreciate that it is one thing to write a review of something, and it is quite another to conduct a multi-month polemical public relations campaign against another Christian to discredit what he has written…
14.) So he continues to respond in his self-justification mounting a multi-month polemical public relations campaign against The Harbinger to discredit it and it author, and promising to do more, because, as he puts it below in his response, “it has gotten out of hand.”
15.) David James takes personal umbrage at the term “Pillow Prophet” used by Dr. Reagan to describe The Harbinger’s critics, as he does for Dr. Reagan’s comparison of Jonathan Cahn to the biblical prophet Jeremiah; so not only does he take the shoe right out of Dr. Reagan’s hand, but he takes it out and wears it! LOL
16.) Within a few hours of receiving this personal e-mail from David James, Dr. Reagan responded as a courtesy by not further engaging in this useless and endless circular argument with Mr. James over a personal disagreement Mr. James has with The Harbinger which has been used as a multi-month polemical public relations campaign against the New York Times bestseller and its author.
17.) This is a form of self-incrimination on David James’ part, because Dr. Reagan hasn’t mention him by name, yet Mr. James is the first to respond personally to what Dr. Reagan writes. This is because Mr. James is truly the man at the epicenter of this controversy, and has been for EIGHTEEN MONTHS!
18.) He is the one whose opinions have been used by other critics of The Harbinger who have not read The Harbinger but are going by what David James has written to attack it and Jonathan Cahn.
19.) These other critics of The Harbinger writings are linked prominently at Brannon Howse’s Worldview Weekend web site, the Berean Call’s website, and at the Alliance of Biblical Integrity website, as well as many others who offer their own hyperlinks to articles which at varying degrees unjustly call Jonathan Cahn everything from a Kabbalist to a Gnostic, to an Occult Mystic.
20.) It has been reported that Jimmy DeYoung has publicly brought into question Jonathan Cahn’s salvation, and when pressed about whether or not he believes Jonathan Cahn is born again, Brannon Howse has not posited an answer. This is the fruit that this tree has borne over the months, not to mention the unnecessary divisions it has created within the Body of Christ, and among Christian Evangelicals in it.
21.) All of these charges made by these men and all of The Harbinger’s critics are completely untrue and scurrilous. The Berean Call (T.A. McMahon), the Alliance for Biblical Integrity (David James), Worldview Weekend (Brannon Howse), Jimmy DeYoung (Prophecy Today); all have links to these scurrilous and libelous articles, and have yet to take issue with them for their inaccurate portrayal of Rabbi Cahn and his book. On the contrary, they enthusiastically endorse them, and in fact promote these false charges by keeping these links up as part of their promotion. This is nothing more than a public reproach of another over a disagreement regarding differences of opinion made to look biblical because the people involved in it are a group of Cessationist theologians.
LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR; THIS IS NOT A PERSONAL OBSERVATION OF MINE; DAVID JAMES WAS THE FIRST TO WRITE AGAINST THE HARBINGER. HE WAS APPROACHED BY T.A. MACMAHON TO WRITE AN ARTICLE BASED ON THESE PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS AND OPINIONS OF HIS AGAINST THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. IN THE FORWARD TO HIS UNFORTUNATE BOOK, HE DESCRIBES HOW IT HAPPENED. I QUOTE:
“On January 6, 2012 I received an email from Jimmy DeYoung (Prophecy Today), which contained a link to a segment of the January 3, 2012 700 Club program in which Pat Robertson interviewed Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn about his new book The harbinger, which had been released that day. Based on the interview Jimmy DeYoung sensed that there might be cause for concern about the way the author was handling certain Bible passages and connecting biblical prophecy to current events.” (David James, The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction?, Preface on page 13, the Berean Call, 2012 Bend, Oregon.)
(NOTE: THIS IS A CHARGE THAT IS REPEATEDLY MADE AGAINST THE HARBINGER BY ITS CRITICS, BECAUSE THEY MISINTERPRET ITS DESCRIPTION OF MODERN AMERICAN LEADERS USING THE BIBLICAL PASSAGE TO CONNECT IT TO 9/11, AND READ INTO IT THAT JONATHAN CAHN IS PROMOTING THE BELIEF THAT ISAIAH 9:10 SPEAKS OF AMERICA, WHEN HE DOES NOT, BUT WE’LL GO INTO THAT LATER. JB) LATER IN HIS DESCRIPTION, HE WRITES HOW HE APPROACHED “TWO TRUSTED MEN” TO CONFER WITH THEM ABOUT THE BOOK, WE CAN TAKE THAT “TRUSTED MEN” IS CODESPEAK FOR PEOPLE WHO EXPRESS IDENTICAL THEOLOGICAL POINTS OF VIEW WITH THOSE OF MR. JAMES, WHO IS A CESSATIONIST, THEREFORE ANYTHING THAT APPEARS EVEN REMOTELY TO BE “PROPHETIC” IN NATURE IS UNACCEPTABLE REGARDLESS OF ANY OTHER CONSIDERATION. WE CONTINUE QUOTING:
“Initially I planned to write only a brief four-to-six-page review of The Harbinger. However, the more I studied and interacted with the book, the longer the review became due to the extent of the problems I was encountering, all of which I have documented extensively.” (ibid, Preface on page 13, the Berean Call, 2012 Bend, Oregon.)
HE WAS GOING TO WRITE AN ARTICLE, BUT WROTE A BOOK INSTEAD, AND THE BEREAN CALL PUBLICIZED IT. DAVID JAMES IS VERY MUCH AT THE EPICENTER OF THIS CONTROVERSY, AND IS THE INSTRUMENT OF MAKING IT PUBLIC. THERE WAS NO CONTROVERSY UNTIL HE AND HIS COLLEAGUES PUBLICIZED THEIR PRIVATE OBJECTIONS TO THE BOOK. THIS WAS NOT A BIBLICAL METHOD BECAUSE THEY TOOK THE PROVERBIAL “CART BEFORE THE HORSE” BY PUBLICIZING THEIR PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS BEFORE SPEAKING WITH THE BOOK’S AUTHOR TO ALLOW HIM TO EXPLAIN TO THEM FURTHER WHAT HE WROTE. THEY HAVE COMPLICATED AND COMPOUNDED WHAT THEY’VE DONE BY A MULTI-MONTH POLEMICAL PUBLIC RELATIONS COMPAIGN AGAINST THE BOOK WHICH HAS (NOW AS OF THIS WRITING) LASTED MORE THAN EIGHTEEN MONTHS IN DURATION WITH NO END IN SIGHT.
At this point, both men have their opinions on the matter; David James has his, and Dr. Reagan has his. David James has made his opinion known, and so has Dr. Reagan. It is the best thing that both men can do under the circumstances. Dr. Reagan read The Harbinger for himself, knows what it says, and has read what the critics have had to say, and he sees it for what it is; opinions. He’s examined both sides of the issue – not as The Harbinger’s critics claim below, superficially – and understands that the eighteen month polemical public relations campaign against The Harbinger and its author is nothing but the opinions of a group of men who disagree with the book, who have publicized their disagreements over it – that’s all. He has correctly discerned that Mr James is at the epicenter of a group of men who are united in squelching the call to repentance and revival The Harbinger has brought to this nation. They may claim that they’re not against the call to repentance, but against what the book says; but they’re against the book, they’re against its call to repentance, because they criticize how it does that by criticizing how the Gospel is presented in it – AS WE SHALL SEE; and because the call to repentance is what the book is all about.
It is not The Shack, it is not The Da Vince Code, and does not fall into the category of those two books and should not be confused with them, because – in the words of Dr. Gary E. Gilley, himself a critic of The Harbinger – “The Da Vinci Code, wanted to cast doubt on the Christian message and interject the teaching of ancient Gnosticism” and “The Shack portrays a new-age, unconditionally accepting view of God which promotes universalism it is not eschatology.” The Harbinger does neither, it is a novel that contains a prophetic warning to America and God’s people in it that we must repent and seek God, and turn from our wickedness. For Christians – it is call to repent and return; to non-Christians, it is a call to repent and to receive God’s offer of personal salvation by calling on the name of Yeshua/Jesus because, there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 2:4:12) And it is not Jewish mysticism, as some have falsely charged, nor is it in any way, shape, or form Occult as some critics have alleged; it is a call to repentance to the nation and to God’s people in it.
Have you ever read where in the Psalms, the question is put, O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? (Psalm 15:1), and the divine answer follows? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. (Psalm 15:2) Now take note of what he does not do:
He does not slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
In whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
But who honors those who fear the Lord;
He swears to his own hurt and does not change;
He does not put out his money at interest,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.
(Psalm 15)
I put the question to David James, and to his colleagues, and to all critics of The Harbinger, all who claim to speak in the defense of God’s Word, “Have you not considered that what you are engaged in and have been engaged in for more than a year and a half has been nothing but slandering your brother, doing evil to him by bearing false witness against him, by taking up a public reproach of him? Have you not considered what the Psalm says about what the man of God does? Jonathan Cahn has not spoken evil of you, nor has he slandered you, nor has he treated you with contempt or taken up a reproach against you in public as you have done to him.
Jonathan Cahn has not sinned against these people, but they are doing him wrong by waging war against him; may the Lord, the Judge, judge today between him and them. (Judges 11:27) He has done them no wrong, nor lifted his voice against them, as they do him; nor has he done anything that would bring them and their ministry into question or ruin their reputation; but they have not ceased since the first day to question a good many things about him. For a year and a half now The Harbinger’s critics have literally practiced spiritual fratricide. Why do I use this term – “spiritual fratricide”? – because when a man strikes his brother a mortal wound, this is known a fratricide; and anyone who attacks his brother in Christ – even unknowingly – commits “spiritual fratricide,” because he is striking him a spiritually mortal wound inasmuch as he is bringing his brother in Christ is doing into question by subjecting him to a public reproach of his teachings and literature – a mortal wound to any ministry and service to God, to bring him into discreditation and close his ministry, and end his service for God. Are these men aware of what they are doing?
There are methods that they haven’t used that are biblical in resolving disagreements over doctrine or opinions without resorting to using the usual unjust and unfounded epithets such as, “false teacher,” “false prophet,” “Occult Shaman,” “Gnostic,” “Mystic,” and “one who mishandles the Scriptures” and a good many others Mr. James uses here (below) and have used in his book and other places.
Let me give you an example of what I mean. When it comes to Eschatology, I often teach the various views first and present them as theological positions and not as some claim, what the Word of God teaches. If it’s Pre-Trib, I say, “This is what those who believe in Pre-Tribulation Rapture believe,” or if it is Post-Trib, I say, “This is what those who believe in the Post-Trib view teach,” and regarding Cessationism, I teach, “This what Cessationists teach regarding the gifts,” or if it’s about Continuationism, I’ll say, “This is what those who believe that the gifts of the Spirit will continue until Christ comes teach,” and then I will end with saying, “This is my opinion on the matter, but let me stress, this what Scripture says, and this is what I say.” If it’s not clearly in the Word, but a matter of my own opinion, I will phrase in this manner, as I have whenever teaching a class, “Now these are the different positions of each school of thought on Eschatology, and this is my opinion, but I must stress, this is my opinion on the subject.”
But, if the teaching is from an Evangelical source whom I disagree with; you’ll never hear me call that source a “false prophet,” “false teacher,” or “someone who mishandles God’s Word,” because I am commenting on his interpretation, nothing more, and I am expressing my own opinion about which that person writes. While I personally believe David James has grossly misinterpreted The Harbinger and is entirely wrong in every observation he makes, because every one of them is based on his own flawed interpretation of them, the reader will never hear me call him a “false prophet,” or “false teacher,” or “one who mishandles Scripture.” He posits a Cessationist and Hyper-Dispensationalist theology and hermeneutic – an approach I myself do not espouse, because I am not a Cessationist, though I do teach historically from a Dispensationalist approach without necessarily using it as theology, but as a means of organizing history in Bible Class. But I will not use epithets against him here – as he does against those with whom he disagrees.
v DAVID JAMES: Over the past year, The Harbinger and its author, Jonathan Cahn, have experienced an almost unprecedented rise to prominence, influence and fame in America by a Christian book and author. Its status as the #1 Christian book for 2012, with over 75 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and one million copies sold is impressive by any measure.
THE PEPSTER FOR DR. REAGAN: What is wrong with this? This is a work that calls the nation in general, and God’s people in particular; to repentance. It is sounding the alarm that our nation is adrift in swift decline and accelerating every day further into moral and spiritual depravity. You should be rejoicing in the fact that it is a national New York Times bestseller, not bemoaning it. This completely in keeping with God’s admonition to Ezekiel, and to every one of us in preaching the Gospel, where the Lord says:
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’
“Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.
“Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have spoken, saying, “Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?”’ Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, ‘The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’ When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. (OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS AND GOOD DEEDS DO NOT SAVE US – THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IMPUTED TO US SAVES US – OUR FAITH IN CHRIST’S FINISH WORK SAVES US – BUT APART FROM THAT NO RIGHTEOUSNESS CAN SAVE US FOR THE FIRST ACT SIN WILL CONDEMN US OVER THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS OF OURS; IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO SAVE; CHRIST SAVES) But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness, if a wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; (THE GREATEST EXPRESSION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS TO REPENT AND TURN FROM SIN AND ACCEPT GOD’S REDEMPTION; THIS IS FAITH PUT INTO ACTION, AS JAMES SAYS) he shall surely live.
“Yet your fellow citizens say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right,’ when it is their own way that is not right. When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, then he shall die in it. But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them.(AS THE APOSTLE PAUL HAS WRITTEN IN THE SPIRIT, BUT THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH. ROMANS 1:17, GALATIANS 3:11) Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.” (Ezekiel 33:1-16)
The Harbinger is an instrument used by the Lord God as a part of fulfilling the Great Commission by calling every man everywhere to repentance, that he might seek God, accept His free offer of redemption in Christ and salvation by faith in His complete work, and therefore in God’s perfect will.
v DAVID JAMES: The Harbinger has struck a chord with many Christians because of its call to repentance in the face of present or impending judgment by God. Cahn claims this judgment is evidenced by a series of events which began with the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 and which have continued since then, following what he says is a “template” found in Isaiah 9:10. The case the author presents for parallels between events in ancient Israel and present-day America has persuaded many that it is impossible for this correspondence to be mere coincidence and therefore it must be a message from God, making it a “must-read.”
THE PEPSTER FOR DR. REAGAN: There is no aberration in this message, except with anyone who would spend their time looking for it, and then according to their opinion and interpretation based entirely on Cessationist Theology, declare its existence. But it is simply not there. It is not right for David James to write that by some incredible power Jonathan Cahn “has persuaded many that it is impossible for this correspondence to be mere coincidence and therefore it must be a message from God, making it a ‘must read,” because they do not need any persuading; it is obvious that the message of The Harbinger, regardless of whether or not a person is convinced that it is a direct message from God, is a message for our times. This nation is rapidly spiraling out of control morally and spiritual. The message The Harbinger conveys is a necessary one.
Also puzzling is to claim that what The Harbinger describes are only just “claims” that Jonathan Cahn makes as though the events recounted in the book never occurred, when in fact they did. David James writes as though they hadn’t in complete “denial mode” and sounds cynical and unbelieving. I hate to sound cliché-ish, but “the proof is in the pudding,” as they say.
The events did happen, they happened precisely in the order that they did, when they did, where they did, and all of the elements The Harbinger describes in the narrative – biblical and historical are correct and can be crossed-referenced to the extensive notation found in the back of the book. Jonathan Cahn did his homework on this book, what’s more, what he writes about took place long before he wrote it. David James writes to counter-comment on what Jonathan Cahn has written solely based on his own opinion against the facts. He does this by attempting to read into the narrative and replace it with one of his own creation based upon his interpretation of what he thinks The Harbinger says.
Again, what The Harbinger’s critics do not understand is that God is using this message and NOT THE CRITICS’ COUNTER-MESSAGE to bring countless numbers of people to repentance across the nation, as over and over and over again, we are hearing stories of backsliders returning to Christ, people getting saved, and the message even reaching members of congress. What is wrong with this!!??? If God is bringing all of these people to Christ, WHY STAND IN HIS WAY!!!!????
But by God’s grace and an impartation of understanding from God’s Holy Spirit, it is incumbent upon us to write properly concerning these things, and show from the Scriptures the evidence for the message given in The Harbinger, which we strive to do here as we will address point by point every contention David James makes and compare his contentions with what the Scriptures and Jonathan Cahn’s book, The Harbinger say, and not what he claims it says.
It will be discovered that in various places David James contradicts the clear text of God’s Word, while in other places he contradicts something he said previously. THIS IS NOT AN OPINION, NOR IS IT A PERSONAL ATTACK; WE WILL SHOW THAT HE ACTUALLY DOES THIS THROUGH DIRECT QUOTES AS WE PUT THEM SIDE BY SIDE; ONE FOLLOWING THE OTHER. But let the reader judge for himself/herself.
I’ve read The Harbinger and The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction? and whatever David James read, it was not The Harbinger. If I were to judge The Harbinger by what Mr. James writes, I would come away thinking that he read some other book and wrote about it, because not one of his theological contentions come close to anything The Harbinger says, though he quotes extensively from it, and even from some of Jonathan Cahn’s teachings; but it is NOT The Harbinger, nor what he criticizes with regards to Rabbi Cahn’s teachings, in his teachings. But we will prove this here by examining these contentions, much of which Mr. James reproduces here in arguing his case against the esteemed Dr. David R. Reagan.
v DAVID JAMES: Ultimately, the level of The Harbinger’s success can be attributed largely to the support and promotion from a wide array of ministry leaders who have also become convinced that God is using Cahn as a prophetic voice and who have combined constituencies numbering in the millions. Jonathan Cahn has been interviewed countless times, with one writer referring to him as “one of the most interviewed Christian in America.”1 and has appeared (sometimes multiple times) on some of the most highly watched programs on Christian television such as The Jim Bakker Show with Jim and Lori Bakker, The 700 Club with Pat Robertson, It’s Supernatural with Sid Roth, Prophecy in the News with Gary Stearman, This is Your Day with Benny Hinn, Praise the Lord on TBN and many others. Last year he was interviewed on two consecutive days by Glenn Beck, and within the last few weeks he has been interviewed on the radio by former Gov. Mike Huckabee of FoxNews and also by Dani Johnson (Secret Millionaire).
THE PEPSTER FOR DR. REAGAN: David James’ blanket statement attributing The Harbinger’s phenomenal success does not give glory to the One who has made it a success – the Lord God – but he claims that its success “can be attributed largely to the support and promotion from a wide array of ministry leaders who have also become convinced that God is using Cahn as a prophetic voice and who have combined constituencies numbering in the millions, which infers directly that man and not God is the cause of this success, because nowhere is God given glory for this success, but man. This is an interesting statement coming from an Evangelical. It is also interesting that almost whenever Mr. James discusses The Harbinger, he brings its success up and its support among a great number of Christian Evangelical leaders with television and radio ministries.
I DIRECT MY NEXT STATEMENTS TO DAVID JAMES. NO DAVID, I DISAGREE WITH WHAT YOU WRITE HERE; ULTIMATELY THE LEVEL OF SUCCESS OF THE HARBINGER IS ATTRIBUTABLE TO GOD, AND THROUGH MANY OF HIS SERVANTS, WHOM YOU LIST HERE. Is there something wrong with this? What’s wrong with appearing on all of these programs? If God is speaking through The Harbinger prophetically, warning God’s people and the nation to repentance to return to God, to seek salvation in Christ, what is wrong with one of God’s servants if he appears in every venue possible? Praise God for that! You should be shouting praises to God for this to be happening, not writing as though you envied these appearances. There was a time when to see this happen fostered a good feeling of thanksgiving to God that His message is getting through, but now the most we can expect is a subliminal acknowledgment by critics.
It was envy that motivated the chief priests and Pharisees to hand Jesus over to Pilate for execution. (Matthew 27:18, Mark 15:10) Why are you doing this David? Why bring this up at all? Don’t you know the Scripture which admonishes, Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:26) And James’ own warning? Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor? (James 4:11-12) Aren’t you aware of the Psalm that speaks of those who speak against their brethren, where it says: But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to tell of My statutes
And to take My covenant in your mouth?
“For you hate discipline,
And you cast My words behind you.
(Psalm 50:17-18)
How often have THE HARBINGER’S CRITICS heard reproof from godly people; servants of the Most High, warning THEY not engage in this kind of rhetorical polemic and behavior against another servant of Christ? Not to slander their brother in Christ in this manner? Not to libel him, and bear false witness against him? Not to bring into question Christ whom he has in his heart and in his life, to whom he has committed his fate; and for Whom he lives? For we are children of the same mother – the New Jerusalem – who awaits (Galatians 4:26), which is in heaven (Hebrews 11:6, 12:22-25), and will someday come down from heaven (Revelations 21); and the Psalm continues to reprove you and your colleagues for what you do where it says:
“You let your mouth loose in evil
And your tongue frames deceit.
“You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
“These things you have done and I kept silence;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.
(Psalm 50:20-21)
How often will concerned brethren write TO THESE PEOPLE, admonishing THEM and exhorting THEM to be careful with THEIR words and what THEY say about Jonathan Cahn, a servant like themselves, of the Most High God? What does the proverb warn about those who refuse to listen to repeated warnings?
A man who hardens his neck after much reproof Will suddenly be broken beyond remedy. (Proverbs 29:1)
LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR BEFORE I CONTINUE; THIS IS NOT A PERSONAL ACCUSATION, IT IS A STATEMENT OF FACT, AND THE RECORD OF IT IS ALREADY WRITTEN FOR IT HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR MONTHS. For too long now THE HARBINGER’S CRITICS have slandered and vilified a brother, and have borne false witness against him by calling him a false teacher and one who teaches falsely about God, while building themselves up and professing themselves to speak for God, thinking that God thinks as THEY think, and THEY’RE wrong, very wrong; for you think as men think, not as God thinks, and He says that these are they whom He reproves. Consider these words, David. Consider them well, because they are the words of God, and He is displeased when men speak against their brethren, and lie in wait to do them in by speaking against them.
I didn’t put these words into God’s mouth, if that’s what many of these people are thinking, God spoke them long before I was born, and they apply to THIS situation, because THE HARBINGER’S CRITICS have been literally stalking Jonathan Cahn, tracking everywhere he’s been, listening to everything he’s said and has had said to him; in order to discredit him and destroy his ministry.
They have gone beyond just criticizing his book, they have engaged in slandering a brother in Christ, and some among their number – like Brannon Howse – will not answer whether or not he believes Rabbi Cahn is a Christian, while others, like Jimmy DeYoung – have brought into question Jonathan Cahn’s salvation. This is blasphemous, it is a blanket denial of the work of the Holy Spirit in Jonathan Cahn’s life, and by it – a denial of Christ having come into a brother’s life – a form of antichrist confession.
v DAVID JAMES: However, there has also been a significant amount of controversy within the Body of Christ over The Harbinger and Jonathan Cahn as not everyone has shared this enthusiasm for the book. That such a book would generate at least some controversy isn’t entirely unusual in today’s theological climate. However, what is unusual regarding this particular controversy is the sharp division within the evangelical community.
THE PEPSTER FOR DR. REAGAN: THIS IS THE FIRST OF THE MANY FALSE WITNESSES WHICH YOU BEAR AGAINST YOUR NEIGHBOR, YOUR BROTHER, FOR YOU CLAIM THAT IT WAS THE BOOK WHICH HAS BROUGHT THIS CONTROVERSY ABOUT, AND IT IS NOT THE BOOK, BUT YOUR CONTENTIONS AGAINST IT THAT HAS FOMENTED THE CONTROVERY. YOU’RE LIKE THE CHILD WHO THREW THE STONE, BUT WHEN CAUGHT CLAIMS THE STONE THEW ITSELF. SINCE HE DID NOT “THROW THE STONE” HE CLAIMS THAT IT IS THE TARGET’S FAULT FOR BEING IN THE WAY.
LET ME STRESS, THIS IS NOT PERSONAL. SINCE DAVID JAMES HAS WRITTEN, WHAT I WRITE HERE IS A RESPONSE TO WHAT HE HAS WRITTEN, THEREFORE, I NAME HIM AS I ADDRESS WHAT HE WROTE TO ADDRESS IT. Let the reader take note how David James cleverly crafts the manner in which he expresses his first of several false witnesses against The Harbinger and its author. He mentions that a controversy surrounds the book, but his claim is that “there has also been a significant amount of controversy within the Body of Christ over The Harbinger and Jonathan Cahn as not everyone has shared this enthusiasm for the book.”
Take note; he begins by what appears to be an innocuous neutral observation that there has been a significant amount of controversy within the Body of Christ over The Harbinger and Jonathan Cahn…”
But note also what follows the first half of this statement is the self-incriminating, “as not everyone has shared this enthusiasm for the book.” Deep down inside David James admits that this controversy was begun with the objections of the second group of people in his above statement – those whom he describes as not sharing this enthusiasm for Jonathan Cahn’s book.
Without realizing it, under a single breath, David James brings up the controversy over the book that has divided Evangelical Christianity, and admits that it was started by the second group which he describes as those whom have not shared in the first group’s enthusiasm for the book.
After having disarmed the reader with the first statement, which unbeknownst to James, includes a self-incriminating admission about himself and the group he belongs to – the second group – he then hits the audience squarely with the charge that the controversy was caused by the book itself by commenting;
That such a book would generate at least some controversy isn’t entirely unusual in today’s theological climate,” which is to say that it was the book that caused the controversy, not David James and his group. A direct contradiction of the self-incriminating admission he had just made in the sentence before it. Then to bring home his charge, and cement his first false witness, he pursues it to another degree by adding, “However, what is unusual regarding this particular controversy is the sharp division within the evangelical community.”
The significant amount of controversy was created and fomented by T.A. McMahon who commissioned David James to write an article that became a book against The Harbinger (see above), and then with Brannon Howse, Jimmy DeYoung, Thomas Ice, Chris Rosebrough, and others in this group; have perpetuated this “controversy” by making it a month’s long (a year and a half and counting) polemical public relations campaign to discredit The Harbinger and its author. There was no controversy until David James and his colleagues created it by launching the longest modern witch hunt within the evangelical community in its history. “Not everyone has shared this enthusiasm for the book” as David James write above, is an understatement coming from him, but as we have seen, it is a self-incriminating one, for in it Mr. James admits without realizing it, that he is guilty of creating the controversy to begin with. I repeat – there wouldn’t be this sharp division within the evangelical community if The Harbinger’s critics had not started this personal attack against another member of the Evangelical Christian Community.
He could have handled his theological differences the biblical way, but instead he chose to create and then foment a theological scandal the likes of which I have not witnessed before in thirty-seven years of walking in God’s grace. He has said it himself. He and the other critics of The Harbinger will not abate and will not retract a word of what they have said and written, even though it has been discovered by others and pointed out to them and his colleagues just how wrong they are and how fast and loose with the facts. How selective they’ve been in their criticism, and how they’ve hypocritically withheld their criticism of those who teach that Scripture teaches literally and directly about America (see The United States in Bible Prophecy), yet agree with them with regard to The Harbinger, because they got their facts about it from David James, who got it all wrong as well. Had Rabbi Cahn been one from among them, they would have treated him differently, but because he was an virtual unknown until he wrote and published The Harbinger, and it became a New York Times bestseller, and has impacted America like no other Christian work of fiction; their radar was soon trained on him, and like a wolf pack of Nazi U-boats, they’ve gone after him for months, and after anyone who who’s had the courage to stand up to them and call them out on what they’ve done and continue to do.
This ends Part III in the series. Lord willing, we will continue this exchange in my next post of Part Two of Part VI in the series. Thank you and God bless and keep you in His grace. JB
