“O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.”
Additional PsalmsPsalms 48:1–14, Psalms 4:1–8
I have been writing in response to critics of The Harbinger since late last year. There are a myriad of articles also that I’ve addressed, some others I have yet to address, much of these I have already addressed and my articles can be accessed at my website, The Pepster’s Post: A Voice in Cyberspace.
I have had the privilege to have what is a front row seat to the teachings and messages that Pastor Cahn has given over a ten year period which comprise the message of The Harbinger, and I know these messages very well. What’s more, I also have read The Harbinger for myself several times, and I know Pastor Cahn personally. None of The Harbinger’s critics can make this claim, and those who wrote their polemic against the book, cannot make any of these claims. It is my close and intimate knowledge of the topic, the one who has taught it for ten years in various messages which eventually became what the book contains, and know personally firsthand all of the aspects of this topic that needs to be known in order to examine it in the most thorough and biblical manner possible that has enabled me to write The Truth about The Harbinger: Addressing the Controversy and Discovering the Facts About This Prophetic Message and get it published October 1st of this year.
I was planning and had desired to end my discussions addressing the criticisms against The Harbinger and move on to other projects, and had prepared to do so after the publication of my book The Truth about The Harbinger: Addressing the Controversy and Discovering the Facts About This Prophetic Message on October 1st of 2013; but it had become increasingly evident from certain objections raised by one of them to my article about Pastor Gary Gilley’s brief but highly charged broadside that it was not enough for me and others to warn these brethren that their approach and methods, and their treatment of a brother in the faith – Jonathan Cahn – a fellow minister in service to Jesus Christ no less; the language they used against him, and their behavior towards those people – like myself – who brought these things to their attention; was not enough to tell them of this, the evidence for it had to be presented to them, because they had become convinced in their minds that they had done no wrong and had not sinned in what they did to Jonathan Cahn for two years – 2012 and 2013.
Having made this clear, we now go on, and again express our appreciation to these critics for allowing me to fully examine everything possible according to the Scriptures, to verify both the efficacy of the message of The Harbinger and its particulars to the light of God’s Word, while we address man’s contentions with it. In doing this, we understand the purpose of such divisions these arguments pose to the body, and while we lament them, we also so God’s purpose in this, as Paul does when he writes in the Holy Spirit the following. I quote:
But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God. But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.
(1Corinthians 11:16-19)
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) I believe that God more than amply supplies what is necessary to validate something that is His by allowing critics of it to have their say, and then raising His servants to defend it biblically. In the case of The Harbinger, He has used the critics to compel His people to get their noses back in their Bibles to verify the content of this incredible New York Times bestseller. The critics of The Harbinger have allowed all of us to closely examine the Scriptural, historical, and public records available to us, and the arguments they present, so that we may biblically arrive at a definitive conclusion about this topic and address its clarion call to all of God’s people and the leaders of this nation, and its citizens to know the degenerate state we are in, seek God, and call upon the name of Jesus Christ in full personal repentance individually and then collectively as a nation. This is something all Jews, Christians – Jewish Messianics, Evangelicals, and all people of faith can agree with and do, and we must do it sincerely and fervently to avert disaster.
Below is another installment by someone named Berit Kjos, who’s aligned herself with David James, and someone named Jeremy James (whose article follows the one below), as well as Christine Pack of the Sola Sisters, a former Gnostic; whose highly charged and wholly inaccurate articles about The Harbinger and Jonathan Cahn, started the urban legend that he was some kind of Pagan New Age Gnostic who dabbled in Jewish Kabbalistic Mysticism and taught heresy out of the Book of Zohar and other objectionable rabbinic writings.
Articles like those below were typical in this barrage of criticisms and is evidence that it was beyond The Harbinger that they had taken this crusade; they advanced their attacks to equating ALL of Rabbi Jonathan Cahn’s teachings as “New Age,” from the articles below that I cite. The link to each website is embedded within the title of the article, as are all the others for ease to the reader. By the summer months of 2012, many of these people have now made this their personal crusade, and these are the articles that began the urban legends surrounding Rabbi Cahn being a Jewish Mystic and Kabbalist who dabbles in the Mystic Arts of the Occult and practices sorcery and teaches heresy – all of it completely false and untrue based on a cacophony of lies and pure sophistry; all of which began with David James’ book, The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction?, which my own book, The Truth About The Harbinger, various Internet articles like this one posted on my website, The Pepster’s Post: A Voice in Cyberspace, and other postings on Faith’s Corner, and the writings of Ladybug, all biblically address as well as the absurd charges below, and other objections needlessly raised by The Harbinger’s critics. JB
The Zohar & Kabbalistic Mysticism
By Berit Kjos ~ Updated on July 30, 2012
See What's Wrong with The Harbinger's "Ancient Mystery"?
Below are notes and quotes, not an article. The information they contain provides valuable insights into Jonathan Cahn's mysterious theology. They may also help to explain some of the puzzles in his popular book, The Harbinger, with its guru-like ‘prophet’, so-called mysteries, and bewildering misapplication of Scripture.
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: These choice words begins the article written by Berit Kjos, who has never visited Beth Israel, has never met or spoken with Jonathan Cahn, has never heard prior to this any of his teachings, has not made any effort to contact him to verify if what she posits here has any basis in reality, or is nothing more than the extreme emotional bias of a person who writes about another an unfortunate article almost wholly based on her own ignorance of what she is talking about. It is unfortunate for many reasons. What she writes is both injurious and harmful, and entirely inaccurate and without any shred of truth in it whatsoever in the parts where she attempts to connect Jonathan Cahn and his book to the Kabbalah and makes a vigorous effort to present him as some type of cult leader who teaches heresy. It is also unfortunate because I believe she is entirely sincere and well-meaning in her expressions here. A person can be sincere and well-meaning and still be in error about someone else. The initial critics of The Harbinger are such an example of this. What is interesting about this article and others like it, is that what is the main focus of its discussion has absolutely nothing to do with what The Harbinger says. In fact, nowhere in The Harbinger is The Zohar mentioned or discussed, and neither is Golgotha, the place of Jesus’ crucifixion, yet by same strange reasoning the writers of the following articles – Berit Kjos, Jeremy James, and Christine Pack – somehow work extremely hard to make it.
Berit Kjos: On the video in the box below, Cahn quotes from the Zohar [the mystical rabbinical writings behind the Kabbala] and presents his view of Golgatha [Gulgalta]. Notice in that partial transcript that the "god" who is credited with salvation, redemption, spiritual light and life is merely a place or object -- a skull or Gulgalta -- not Jesus Christ our Lord! Apparently, the rabbis behind the Zohar have borrowed from the actual Bible but twisted God's Word into their own esoteric message. Please remember this warnings from God's true Word:
"You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it..." Deut. 4:2
Some say that the Zohar is to kabbalists what the Bible is to Christians. That's partly true! Much of the Zohar even sounds Christian to those who are not familiar with the Bible. But in reality, it presents a deceptive blend of distorted truth and kabbalistic occultism.
Quoting from the Zohar, Jonathan Cahn affirms that an amazing life-changing event did occur at Golgatha. But his teaching is a corruption of our Lord's redemptive work through the cross! It exalts a skull and a "thing" rather than our Savior and King!
"...have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them." Ephesians 5:11
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: No it does NOT! Do you not understand that Jonathan Cahn’s reference to the place of Golgotha as the place where God set forth His redemptive plan, is not as you say here, where you write, “the "god" who is credited with salvation, redemption, spiritual light and life is merely a place or object -- a skull or Gulgalta -- not Jesus Christ our Lord,” but in the same context as when the Apostle Paul and the other Apostles speak of the cross, or the preaching of the cross!!!???? If you were to understand the context in which he was teaching about Golgotha, you would recognize that it is the same context in which we preach the cross; yes, sister, the cross where Christ was crucified for our sins, not some Occult symbol or terminology. Golgotha was the place of execution where the Son of God was crucified for the sins of the world.
Kjos’ citation of Deuteronomy 4:2 is misapplied, because nowhere does Jonathan Cahn add to God’s Word in his message. The use of a hostile witness in support of the Gospel in Christian Apologetics and Messianic Jewish Apologetics is not tantamount, as Kjos charges here, with adding to the Scriptures. The charge is both unfortunate and unfounded and unnecessary.
In order to feed the reader with the impression that what he teaches is New Age, and “a corruption of our Lord’s redemptive work through the cross” Berit Kjos uses phrases like “Jonathan Cahn's mysterious theology” to describe Rabbi Cahn’s teachings. This sets the mood of the rest of the article, and it progressively deteriorates from there.
Jonathan Cahn here cites the Book of Zohar as a hostile witness that corroborates the Gospel accounts that Golgotha, the place where the Messiah was crucified, is for those who believe the place of our redemption, because it was for that purpose that Christ gave up His life. That Kjos and others like her would read something else into this is most unfortunate and sad, and worse is that she would impute upon Rabbi Cahn the sin of sorcery and teaching the Occult in this article, and create an Internet urban legend around it that he is some type of gnostic, is more than sad; it is contemptible, especially from a fellow Christian.
Jonathan Cahn is no mystic, no gnostic, and he does not practice sorcery or spiritualism. He is a born again, Spirit-filled called and ordained minister of the Lord God in Christ. No Christian should ever cross the line where they attribute the epithet of false teacher or false prophet to another servant of Christ and brother in the Lord. That is biblically unfounded and unsound, since false prophets and false teachers do not teach Christ, and do not preach the true Gospel, and do not bear witness of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. No matter how “mainstream” a false teacher or false prophet may appear, there is always an aberrant view they express about the Person of Christ, either His deity or other aspects of His work and ministry. I have known Jonathan Cahn for over ten years, and I bear witness that there is not a single aberrant teaching in his repertoire of messages that I know of. Not one.
HOW DARE YOU PRESUME TO JUDGE ANOTHER SERVANT OF CHRIST AND THEN TO POST THAT HE IS A FALSE TEACHER WITHOUT FIRST HAVING SPOKEN WITH THAT PERSON AND ALLOWED HIM TO PRESENT TO YOU A DEFENSE FOR THE FAITH THAT HE HOLDS!? (Exodus 23:1, Deuteronomy 17:6, Deuteronomy 19:15, Proverbs 18:13, Acts 23:3) HOW DARE YOU!?
Do you not realize that Scripture teaches that if you have a charge against anyone in the church, that person must be allowed to speak on their own behalf, as well as present witnesses for their defense? (Matthew 18:15, John 7:50-51, 8:17, 2Corinthians 13:1, Hebrews 10:28) Especially in this case, because you are dealing with an Elder; an ordained minister of Christ. (1 Timothy 5:19) And have you forgotten the words of Our Lord, which serves as a warning, that if the religious opposition of His day called Him a heretic, a false prophet, even the Lord of the Flies Himself; then what could await for us; Jesus’ followers? The Lord warns us in the following manner:
“It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!”
(Matthew 10:25)
But this is in regard to those outside of the faith, never did it anticipate that some within the faith would fall prey to labeling others within the body these slanderous and false epithets which they employ to discredit and disarm their targets in the eyes of other Christians, most of whom are unaware of the issues which surround these and those who make them. No; this is line that no Christian should ever cross, but these critics have crossed it, and more than once.
Disagreements between brethren are to be handled in a biblical manner, by consensus between parties in a private setting, so as not to cause any misunderstanding that would arise out of the meeting and what is discussed therein. They’re not to be handled in a public forum, where one party extracts without the other party’s consent or permission their intellectual property; then airs an interview publicly and uses content from that interview and the other party’s intellectual property without their say-so to write a polemic against that person, while they profit from the sales of this polemic but do not compensate the other party for having used material (intellectual property) for their polemic. Not only is this unethical by any standards, it is un-Christian, it is unbiblical, and it is unscriptural by all standards and norms which constitute good, honest, and forthright behavior by a servant of Christ. This is without question the greatest breach of all of these that I have ever witnessed in my lifetime, and especially in my thirty-seven years of service to God by His grace and calling.
Berit Kjos: Let's take a look at the video titled The Zohar Speaks: Gulgalta - The Cosmic Skull. [This video has now been removed and replaced by an innocuous portion of a different scene. But please read Cahn's statements below from the original video expressing the unbiblical views of the Kabbalah]
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: I must repeat what I wrote earlier above. What is interesting about this article and others like it which we examine here; is that what is the main focus of its discussion has absolutely nothing to do with what The Harbinger says or contains within its pages, or is about. In fact, nowhere in The Harbinger is The Zohar mentioned or discussed, and neither is Golgotha, the place of Jesus’ crucifixion, yet by same strange reasoning the writers of the following articles – Berit Kjos, Jeremy James, and Christine Pack – somehow work extremely hard to interpolate connections into The Harbinger that do not exist. Now they may argue that what connects The Harbinger with The Zohar Speaks message is the messenger, Jonathan Cahn, and from there they work to develop and convince the reader through pure sophistry that Jonathan Cahn is some strange amalgamation of Christian Evangelical mixed with Jewish Mystic and Kabbalist who teaches Occult and Gnostic beliefs by mixing them into his messages and through these promotes, New Age heresy that advances Anti-Semitic Replacement Theology, British Israelism, Mormonism and Freemason beliefs. If they don’t say it outright – and much of it they do, this is what they imply and this is where the urban legends that they have created about him were spawned. All false. All egregious mischaracterizations. All bearing false witness against a born again Evangelical Christian brother and fellow minister.
These are amongst the most outlandish epithets that he’s had to endure for two years thus far. And none of these have been countered by David James, T.A. McMahon, Brannon Howse, or Jimmy DeYoung, and the rest of the entourage that set their face to subject Jonathan Cahn – a brother in Christ – to open reproach and disrepute. As a matter of record, these horrendous articles I rebut here are advanced and promoted by these gentlemen to this very day! This is horrendous. It is contemptible. It is a sin of the highest order; a direct breach of one of the most sacred commandments of Our Lord, and one that no Christian should ever make against another, because we are commanded not to bear false witness against our neighbor. These people have been and continue to bear false witness against a fellow Christian brother!!!
This is no game. This is extremely serious. When some ambulance chasing heresy hunter like Brannon Howse or Jimmy DeYoung speak publicly against another Evangelical Christian ministry, there are thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of people who are listening to what they say about that other ministry, who put stock in their statements. Some people actually believe every word these people speak, and some of them, like Howse, actually exude an arrogance of infallibility and self-righteous attitude that comes loudly across. It is most unfortunate, because years ago, Brannon Howse had an excellent program, and I still often find his programs informative on such topics as Obamacare, the Vatican, and the mingling of New Age heresy, Chrislam, and Liberation Theology into many of America’s Post Modern churches – a growing and frightening trend. But these people have totally misread and misinterpreted Jonathan Cahn, his book, and his teachings, and their assessment has been highly influenced either directly or indirectly by the writings and opinions of one man; David James.
One has to question the methods of people who claim to defend the Christian Faith, but do it by hurling stones at their own brethren before they have given them the opportunity to converse with them and discuss their differences. Any public outing of another should only be done in the most extreme cases, and I mean in cases where all other avenues of reciprocation have been exhausted biblically. None of these brethren have done this. In fact in another report, if the Lord wills, I will outline how these men were very quick to judge, criticize, and then condemn Jonathan Cahn and his book long before he spoke with them. They never reached out to him, but he was the one who initiated contact and spoke with them, and even afterwards, they continued with more vigor to pursue their campaign to discredit him.
As far as the video was concerned, it was removed from the site, because pure to form, someone like Berit Kjos, who has absolutely no knowledge of what she writes, decided without first investigating for herself by contacting Rabbi Cahn herself; to pillory him mercilessly by attributing to him attributes he does not possess – such as an Occultist, and Mystic, and a Kabbalist, which she does here and throughout this article. Kjos should have first verified whether or not Rabbi Cahn believes in the Kabbalah and the writings of the Book of Zohar – he does not – and then should have proceeded to ask him why, if he does not believe in the Zohar, did he use it to teach on the significance of the location where Jesus was crucified. He would have told her his use of the Book of Zohar in the Kabbalah was strictly as a hostile witness in support of the Gospel, showing that the ancient rabbis unwittingly while rejecting the Gospel, confirmed much of it in their own mystical writings. Jonathan Cahn did not the Book of Zohar because he believed in it and was a Kabbalist, as Kjos here and throughout this article suggests; but used these sources as hostile witnesses to promote the Gospel, just as Paul did when he preached on Mar’s Hill.
Berit Kjos: The speaker is Jonathan Cahn. Notice how he twists Biblical truth, approves of mystical symbolism, and praises the kabbalistic traditions that distort and ignore our actual Savior: [My comments are italicized within brackets]
"I found it in the mystical writings, Jewish writing of the Zohar.... The Zohar speaks, the rabbis are writing of the redemption of the worlds with Messiah's coming. They speak of life from – the dead, they speak of the resurrection -- the redemption of the worlds....
[What "worlds"? Our Lord doesn't promise to redeem any 'worlds.' Instead He calls us to choose between this evil world and life with Him in His Kingdom. “My kingdom is not of this world," He tells us. Only those who trust and follow Him -- and who confess their [bondage to] sin -- can share in the joy of His redemption and eternal salvation!
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: I will ask the reader to take notice here of the manner in which Ms. Kjos describes Jonathan Cahn. As she refers to Jonathan Cahn, she asks the reader to “Notice how he twists Biblical truth, approves of mystical symbolism, and praises the kabbalistic traditions that distort and ignore our actual Savior.” In point of fact, nowhere does Jonathan Cahn, or his book The Harbinger “twists Biblical truth, approves of mystical symbolism, and praises the kabbalistic traditions that distort and ignore our actual Savior.” This is a false charge containing no basis in reality.
Unfortunately, because of a lack of understanding regarding the above, Kjos here rhetorically and almost mockingly asks, “What worlds,” unknowingly exclaims, “What worlds?” Then posits “Our Lord” in order add to her own legitimacy, after all, what Christian can argue with someone who writes that Our Lord “calls us to choose between this evil world and life with Him in His Kingdom. “My kingdom is not of this world," He tells us. Only those who trust and follow Him -- and who confess their [bondage to] sin -- can share in the joy of His redemption and eternal salvation!” Of course one concurs with these statements, as I know Rabbi Cahn would too were he to read them. What I and he would take issue with is the misapplication of this truth by Kjos in her attempt to apply it to The Harbinger and to Jonathan Cahn as some type of false teacher or false prophet. He is none of those two.
Berit Kjos: "They say it all will come -- the power of all this, the miracle of all this -- will come from a sacred thing, a sacred place. And this place, this thing is where all the mercy of God is stored....all the mercy of God pours out from this place... all the blessings come from this place, this 'thing' ... They call it the Gulgalta....
[That's an occult distortion. God's love, mercy, redemption and guidance doesn't dwell in (or come from) a "thing" or an earthly place! It comes from our wonderful sovereign Lord Himself!]
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: Unfortunately, here Kjos misquotes Rabbi Cahn who is using The Zohar as a hostile witness apologetically to corroborate and support the Gospel accounts of both the location of where Jesus Christ shed His blood for us, and the significance of His act on our behalf at that location. Again, I hate to sound repetitive here, but what Kjos discusses here has absolutely nothing to do with The Harbinger and what it says. In fact, nowhere in The Harbinger is The Zohar mentioned or discussed, and neither is Golgotha, the place of Jesus’ crucifixion, yet by same strange reasoning these critics of The Harbinger – Berit Kjos, Jeremy James, and Christine Pack – somehow work extremely hard to make it.
Berit Kjos: What is Gulgalta? ... The rabbis are saying that all the mercy of God comes from Gulgalta. Gulgalta, the radiance of God that brings to life. Wow! That's amazing stuff. ...the place of the skull.
"All the mercy of God leads to a skull.... From this comes drips -- salvation drips, resurrection. For all the forgiveness of God you want, you have to go to Gulgalta....
"The rabbis are saying 'From Gulgalta is all the mercy of God you could ever need.... From Gulgalta the forgiveness of Adonai is poured out to the world. From Gulgalta comes the redemption of the universe... [This is from Rabbi Zohar 1, 28b]
[What "universe" would be redeemed? Will this corrupt world will be redeemed rather than destroyed? (1 Thess. 5:2-6) This message is totally contrary to the Bible!]
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: Because Berit Kjos has no concept of the biblical Jewish belief in the full restoration of creation, she writes as she does here. And if she does, she’s forgotten that the Scriptures themselves teach that God has set a date when there shall be a New Heavens and New Earth. (Isaiah 65:17, 66:22, Acts 3:21, Romans 8:18-25, 2Peter 3:10, Revelation 21:1) This entails a full restoration of all creation to God. Has sister Kjos been so taken up by the false narrative created by David James and other critics of The Harbinger that she has forgotten what the Scriptures teach, and here unwittingly preaches against it? Unfortunately this is what happens when one is so wedded to an interpolated narrative (David James’) that they forget the very concepts and teachings of the Scriptures themselves in order to promote that interpolated narrative they support. This is what has happened here.
From Wikipedia the Online Encyclopedia: Tikkun olam (Hebrew: תיקון עולם or תקון עולם[1]) is a Hebrew phrase that means "repairing the world" (or "healing the world") which suggests humanity's shared responsibility to heal, repair and transform the world. In Judaism, the concept of tikkun olam originated in the early rabbinic period. The concept was given new meanings in the kabbalah of the medieval period and has come to possess further connotations in modern Judaism.[2]
And no dear sister Kjos, the Bible teaches that there will be a new heaven and a new earth someday. This the context of The Zohar Speaks, because the significance of this apologetic message is that it teaches that at Golgotha where Christ was crucified, God gave His Only Begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. And that The Zohar as a hostile witness bears this out, because from the cross and from where Christ was crucified (Golgotha), God did His work of redemption for all of mankind, indeed for all of creation, and from there He has worked to restore all things unto Himself; from the point of Christ’s sacrifice of Himself.
Berit Kjos: "In the Gulgalta... sit thousand of myriad of worlds. And from the Gulgalta drips dew and... the dew fills the world and the dead will awaken in the world to come as the dew comes forth. The dew is the lights of the ancient one. The light of the ancient one comes from Gulgalta and as it touches, the dead comes to life. From Gulgalta is the light of God bringing life from the dead..."
[But the Bible tells us that Jesus -- not the physical place of His crucifixion -- is "the Light of the world." John 8:12]
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: Yes, dear sister Kjos, Jesus is the Only Light of the world, but no dear sister, you misinterpret what Rabbi Cahn is saying. Rabbi Cahn is affirming the truth that Jesus the Messiah is the light of the world, and that it was His sacrificial death on the cross over Golgotha, from that place where He gave His life, that He has brought life from the dead. Rabbi Cahn is not saying that the physical place of His crucifixion has imparted that life, but that from that place where His vicarious death took place, He – not it – has imparted life from His death. Where did it take place? Where was He executed? Where did He give up His spirit? At Golgotha. This is what Rabbi Cahn is teaching and it is in the Gospel narratives. Two Synoptic Gospels bears witness of this and so does the Gospel of John. (Matthew, 27:33, Mark 15:22, John 19:17) Again, Kjos unwittingly criticizes something she does not understand and knows scant little about, though I am not disputing her knowledge of the Gospel and eternal redemption. I dispute her knowledge of Judaism and its rabbinic writings, and the context of their use in Rabbi Cahn’s message, which I implicitly understand in its proper biblical setting. But Kjos writes well-meaning, but not knowing, full of zeal, but not in accordance to knowledge.
Berit Kjos: "Gulgalta, the radiance of God that brings to life. Wow! That's amazing stuff. That may be the first times its ever been said....
"The death of Messiah... all pinpoint us in time and space: ... The prophets, Daniel zeroes in on the time period mathematically... those 70x7s. ...The Rabbis in the Book of Moed unwittingly gives the name of it... Gulgalta.... Moses zeroed in on the place. He said where shall it be! It says 'in that Mountain the Lord shall provide the lamb,' which is the mountain of Moriah.... And now the very hill, the very place here in...the rabbinical writings of the Zohar unwittingly gives the name of it: Gulgalta - the center of everything. Listen to the rabbis!"
[Gulgalta is not the "center of everything!" That honor belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ! He should be at center of all! From Him we receive all the spiritual riches of God: His love, life, light, joy, peace and strength -- everything we need! But He wasn't even mentioned.]
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: Beloved sister, Jonathan Cahn is here quoting from a passage in the Book of Zohar that corroborates that the place where Messiah died, where He gave His life, where He shed His blood, where He became sin on our behalf, where He took our sins upon Himself, where He took our infirmities and our guilt upon Himself, where He was smitten of God and afflicted; where He became our sin and guilt offering to God; where He became the Lamb of God who was slain from the foundation of the world; this place, which the Gospel accounts relate was called Golgotha, the Zohar confirms unwittingly would be hallowed ground, for from this very spot, God would institute through the cross of the Messiah universal salvation for all of mankind, beginning with His people, and spreading through the entire human race through the preaching of the Gospel by Yeshua’s first faithful Jewish followers, as God’s Word attests.
Dear sister Kjos, I appreciate and understand your statement which you make above, when you say, “…Jesus Christ! He should be at center of all! From Him we receive all the spiritual riches of God: His love, life, light, joy, peace and strength -- everything we need!,” but Jonathan Cahn is here using the statement that the Zohar makes to illustrate through a hostile and unwitting witness the truth which we all know the Gospel preaches – and he is using it in the manner that we read where Paul and others preach “the cross” – not because “the cross” itself is anything, just as Golgotha is anything, but that the One who died on it, is everything, and therefore it underscores that from this place God would through the One who died on it, restore all of creation – all of everything that has ever been created – be it thrones, or dominions, or sea life, or plant life, or animal life, or human life, or any other, spirit and material, all life – God would restore to Himself through the One through whom He created all things, and through whom all things exist. (See Isaiah 65:17, 66:22, Acts 3:21, Romans 8:18-25, 2Peter 3:10, Revelation 21:1) This is the context in which this passage should be read and understood, not as you misunderstood above, I respectfully submit to you. In the final analysis, this has absolutely nothing to do with The Harbinger, and should not be used by its critics against it, because the Book of Zohar is nowhere mentioned in The Harbinger. It is The Harbinger’s critics who bring it up here and in some other misguided articles.
Berit Kjos:
Our Lord is protective of his holy and eternal Word. The following warnings are His, not mine:
"Do not add to His words...." Proverbs 30:6
"...the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light...." John 3:19
"...if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed." Galatians 1:9
"...the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things..." 2 Timothy 4:2-5
Notice the similarities between the next two paragraphs. The first one is a quote from Cahn's video message, The Zohar Speaks. The second one is from the actual writings in the Zohar. Neither one deals with sin, our fallen nature, the reason for redemption, or the painful cost paid by Jesus. The Biblical context is totally distorted!
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: I agree with the Scriptures cited above, but I disagree with the context in which they are being misapplied to Rabbi Cahn’s teaching here. Rabbi Cahn’s message is citing an non-biblical rabbinical source and using it apologetically to substantiate the historic event of Messiah’s death at Golgotha, and that is its primary concern. The call to repentance and receive the Messiah and be born again, always follows the main message which Jonathan Cahn gives. It is unfair to cite a portion of The Zohar and criticize him in this way. His message is one of Messianic Jewish Apologetics, and it should be read and understood in this context and not in any other. If you understood the context of how Rabbi Cahn uses the Book of Zohar as a hostile witness, and how certain passages from it can be used apologetically to corroborate the truth and power of the Gospel of Salvation, you would not write as you do above. The Gospel is one and the same Gospel, not another; there is no faith and prosperity being preached, no name it and claim it being preached, no go after other gods being advocated, no positive thinking substituting for the message of redemption being taught, nor is there any message seeking to replace the one that preaches that Christ died for our sins, and that the significance of the place where He died is that He died on it, and that it is not only named in our Gospel accounts in our Bibles, but that they are also mentioned by the rabbis of Judaism in of all places, The Book of Zohar! This is the gist of what is being said. I reiterate, in the final analysis, this has absolutely nothing to do with The Harbinger, and should not be used by its critics against it, because the Book of Zohar is nowhere mentioned in The Harbinger. It is The Harbinger’s critics who bring it up here and in some other misguided articles.
As I’ve written above, Berit Kjos, Jeremy James, and Christine Pack – somehow work extremely hard to interpolate connections into The Harbinger that do not exist. Now they may argue that what connects The Harbinger with The Zohar Speaks message is the messenger, Jonathan Cahn, and from there they work to develop and convince the reader through pure sophistry that Jonathan Cahn is some strange amalgamation of Christian Evangelical mixed with Pagan Jewish Mystic and Kabbalist. Here Kjos not only implies it, but says it, and this is where the urban legends that they have created about him began. All false. All egregious mischaracterizations. All bearing false witness against a born again Evangelical Christian brother and fellow minister.
Berit Kjos: 1. “In the Gulgalta... sit thousand of myriad of worlds. And from the Gulgalta drips dew and... the dew fills the world and the dead will awaken in the world to come as the dew comes forth. The dew is the lights of the ancient one. The light of the ancient one comes from Gulgalta and as it touches, the dead comes to life. From Gulgalta is the light of God bringing life from the dead..."
2. “In the Gulgalta sit thirteen thousand myriads of worlds which move on feet and lean on them. And from that Gulgalta dew drips upon Him who is outside, and fills his head every day.... And from that dew which He who sits outside shakes from His head, the dead will awaken in the World to Come, as it is written, 'For a dew of light is Thy dew, and the earth shall bring forth the shades (Isa. 26:19). That dew is the light of the pale glow of the Ancient One [That's not a reference to our God!]. And from that dew exist the supernal saints, and it is the manna which they grind for the righteous in the World to Come. And that dew drips down to the field of Sacred Apples...”
Idra Rabba, Zohar 3: 128b [Quoted in The Messiah Texts by Raphael Patai, Wayne State University, 1979] Jeremy James, an Irish researcher provided this information.
"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. " Colossians 2:8
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: I REPEAT; PASTOR AND MESSIANIC RABBI JONATHAN CAHN IS NOT A KABBALIST, NOR IS HE A MYSTIC SHAMAN, OR A THEOSOPHIST, OR A GNOSTIC TEACHER OF HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE AND MYSTERIES. He utilizes the writings of Judaism as hostile witnesses to illustrate from these writings that even they bear witnesses (unknowingly of course) to the Messiaship of Jesus Christ. That Berit Kjos and others have misunderstood misapplied what he says and written on this topic is a testament to willful religious ignorance presented as discernment. The misuse of discernment to mean that one has to contend with other Christians about things that should be obvious to both parties have long been resolved and established by God’s Word, is in itself staggering. There is no end with these people and their contentious and divisive ways. It is unfortunate that so many have fallen into their trap. The writing above is an example of this, perhaps one of the most egregious examples on the Internet. It is cited by The Berean Call, The Alliance for Biblical Integrity, False Teachers « Christians United Against Apostasy, and other self-appointed “contenders for the faith,” who most of the time are nothing but ambulance chasing heresy hunters devoting most of their time and energies on searching for heresies under every ministry rather than preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and leading people to salvation.
Berit Kjos: Compare Jonathan Cahn's previous message with the following quote from a lecture by the occultist Rudolf Steiner (involved first in Theosophy, then Anthroposophy) titled "The Mystery of Golgatha:"
"MANKIND is reaching out to apprehend the Mystery of Golgotha once more with all the forces of the human soul; to understand it not only from the limited standpoint of present-day civilisation, but so as to unite with it all the forces of man's being. But this will only be possible if we are ready to approach the Mystery of Golgotha once more in the light of spiritual knowledge.
"...if as initiates of modern time we fill ourselves with Christ, who made manifest His life in the Mystery of Golgotha...then will Christ lead us even through this Death....
"These things must be regained in spiritual knowledge, in the new Science of Initiation. Then only shall we take hold of the Mystery of Golgotha as the true meaning of all Earth-existence." (From a lecture delivered in Manchester College Chapel, Oxford, August 27,1922.)
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: Similar narrative must be read and understood in the context in which they have been originally given, and not to make associations that do not necessarily agree. In the final analysis, this has absolutely nothing to do with The Harbinger, and should not be used by its critics against it, because the Book of Zohar is nowhere mentioned in The Harbinger. It is The Harbinger’s critic who bring it up here and in some other misguided articles.
Berit Kjos: In a recent interview, Cahn responded with some interesting comments:
Question: "It is stated that Jonathan Cahn 'says that Zohar, an extrabiblical, mystical source from which the occultic and mystical Kabbalah is derived, greatly influenced his writing.'"
Cahn's answer: "Unfortunately this kind of statements represents some of the extreme and bizarre opposition to The Harbinger – It is an extreme false accusation. No. I have never in my life said that the Zohar has greatly influenced my writing – nor has it ever. ... Rabbinical writings, mystical or otherwise, have been quoted for ages, in Bible commentaries, apologetics, works such as The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, etc....
"The apostle Paul actually quoted from a pagan hymn to Zeus [that's not true] in order to share the truth of the Gospel at Mars Hill. If we were to then to accuse him of being into Zeus worship, or that pagan writings were behind the epistles, or accuse of him of being secretly pagan – I would think we would need to repent. It’s called bearing false witness.
Berit's response: Here is the Biblical context for Cahn's reference to Mars Hill. Notice that there is no reference to Zeus. Instead, Paul happened to see the inscription on an altar "TO THE UNKNOWN GOD," then uses that reference to turn the idol worshippers from an "unknown god" to our sovereign God who does makes Himself known to His people:
"Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus [Mars Hill] and said, 'Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
"Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. ...since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising." Acts 17:22-29
How true that is! But today's post-modern churches are rarely rooted in the solid foundations of God's Word. Influenced by secularism, ecumenism, pluralism, mysticism or even occultism, they are fast losing sight of their only source of true hope. Like the Athenian pagans, the American masses have learned to love the world's darkening thrills.
"...what communion has light with darkness?" 2 Corinthians 6:14
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: I agree about Kjos’ description of “today’s post-modern churches,” but she misapplies it to Jonathan Cahn and his ministry, teachings, and book. He is not post-modern, or liberal in his theology, but conservative, believing that God’s written Word – the cannon of Scripture comprised of The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and Brith Chadashah (New Testament) is both infallible and our sole authority on all matters. His teachings are mainline Evangelical, and holds the all of the most cherished fundamental teachings of the Christian Faith. I know this firsthand. It is so sad that I have to affirm and bear witness of this here, but I do so fully cognizant of what I do.
Berit Kjos:
From Webster's Dictionary (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1905)
The Zohar: "A Jewish Cabalistic book attributed by tradition to Rabbi Simon ben Yochi who lived near the end of the 1st century. Modern critics believe it to be a compilation of the 13th century."
The Cabala [or Kabbalah, Kabbala, etc]: "A kind of occult Theosophy or traditional interpretation of Scriptures among Jewish rabbis and certain medieval Christians [Gnostics]....It assumes that every little word, number, and accent of Scriptures contains a hidden sense; and it teaches the methods of interpretation for ascertaining these occult meanings. The Cabalists pretend to foretell events this means."
The quotes below are from An Encyclopedia of Religion (Edited by Vergilius Ferm, Philosophical Library, pp. 412-413)
1. Zohar: (Splendor, Brightness—derived from Daniel 12.3) "A Jewish mystical work of diverse origin which became the classic text of Kabbalah and the Bible of medieval mysticism.
"The Zohar is in the form of a commentary on the Pentateuch*, written in Aramaic and in Hebrew, which purports to be the record of the revelations made to Rabbi Simeon ben Yochai (2nd C. A.D.) while hiding in a cave for thirteen years, and by him transmitted to his disciples. This pseudepigrapha was... made public in 1300.
"The body of the Zohar is interspersed and supplemented with special tracts and dissertations which together form an unsystematic and frequently contradictory compendium of Jewish mystic lore on the nature of God, His attributes and dimension, the mysteries of the Tetra_grammaton, the evolution of the cosmos, the nature of the human soul, heaven and hell, angelology, magic and astrology...
"Next to the Bible, the Zohar came to be regarded in the centuries following its publication as the holiest book in Judaism and profoundly influenced the theology, liturgy, poetry and the messianic hopes of the people. The Zohar also influenced Christian thought in the 16th and 17th centuries, and a considerable number of eminent Christian scholars were attracted to it, translated portions of it, wrote commentaries upon it and used it for purposes of Christian apologetics."
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: This has absolutely thing to do with either The Harbinger or the use of the Book of Zohar apologetically to corroborate the truth about the accounts in the Gospels by either Rabbi Cahn or any other Jewish or Gentile Christian apologist. It is most unfortunate that the contention made by this sister in Christ betrays an acute ignorance of the topic she purports to discuss. It is amazing that Ms. Kjos cannot fathom the use of a hostile witness such as the Zohar to corroborate the Gospel account.
What’s more, Rabbi Jonathan Cahn does not believe in the writings contained within the Book of Zohar. Nor is he a Gnostic. Gnostics are involved the suppression of mystery, not its discovery. Gnosticism has aberrant teachings pertaining to the Person and deity of Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah. No, mam; Jonathan Cahn does not believe or teach Gnosticism. I repeat here, as I have above; this, this has absolutely nothing to do with The Harbinger, and should not be used by its critics against it, because the Book of Zohar is nowhere mentioned in The Harbinger. It is The Harbinger’s critics who bring it up here and in some other misguided articles.
Berit Kjos: 2. Kabbalah: (Heb. Kabel—to receive, hence tradition) "The esoteric mystic lore of Judaism based upon an occult interpretation of the Bible and handed down as secret doctrine to the initiated. The origin is obscure. Evidences of kabbalistic themes both as speculative theosophy and practical thaumaturgy are found in Apocryphal and Apocalyptic literature..."
"In the course of its long development, many streams from alien sources flowed into it—Gnosticism, Neo-Platonism, Neo-Pythagoreanism, possibly also Zoroastrianism and Sufism. Its birthplace was Palestine, but it was in Babylonia, during the Geonic period (550-1000 A.D.) that it experienced its first substantial systematic development. At least two important Kabbalistic works were composed ... [one was]...on the dimensions of the Deity....
"The most significant book of this period, however, and the one which came to be regarded as the holiest of all Kabbalistic writings, and the very epitome of Jewish mysticism, was the Zohar, made known to the public by Moses de Leon in 1300.
"The next great period of Kabbalah was in the 16th century. Its principal center was in Palestine, more especially in the city of Safed. Next in importance was the center in Poland. The foremost Kabbalists of this period were Moses Cordovero (1522-1570), Isaac Luria (1533- 1572), the father of modern 'practical' Kabbalah....Luria was the founder of a school of Kabbalistic speculation in which redemption and messianism figured prominently....
"With the advent of the Zohar, the study of Kabbalah spread among the masses of the people. It ceased to be the secret doctrine of the few.... Frequently leading Rabbinic authorities inveighed against this popular absorption in Kabbalistic studies which fed many superstitions and aberrations.
"Kabbalism attracted the interest of Christian scholars in the Middle Ages....
"The central themes of Kabbalah are the nature of the Deity... and the ways by which He has made Himself manifest—the 'Ten Sefirot' (Emanations) the four Universes of Atzilah... the Soul of man, its nature and consummation, the mysteries of the Divine Name, good and evil, man’s place in the universe, heaven and hell, the order of the angels and demons, Israel, the Exile, redemption and the Messiah.
"Kabbalah ... regarded not only every word of the Bible— written in Hebrew, the very language of God— but every letter, every vowel and all their possible permutations and combinations as holding profound mysteries. Thus the Bible was interpreted not only literally, allegorically... but also through the devices of Gematria (the interpretation of a word according to the numerical value of its letters).... Thus Kabbalah ...never came into conflict with the written Scriptures as Christian mystics frequently did."
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: All of the above is true, but it has absolutely nothing to do with Jonathan Cahn, The Harbinger, or his message The Zohar Speaks, because Jonathan Cahn does not endorse The Book of Zohar, The Kabbalah upon which it is based, The Harbinger makes no mention of it, nor does its quote as a hostile witness in The Zohar Speaks message mean that Rabbi Cahn endorses Kabbalah and its holy book, The Zohar.
The writers of these articles – Berit Kjos, Jeremy James, and Christine Pack – use all sorts of twisted reasoning and verbal gymnastics to interpolate connections into The Harbinger and the faith and personal walk of its author that do not exist.
The informative narrative Kjos provides above is a method used in padding out a critical review and is meant to help the critic appear that they have a knowledge of the topic they’re discussing. It makes interesting, and at times, informative reading, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the purpose of Jonathan Cahn’s message or his New York Times bestseller, The Harbinger. As I have said before, so I will state again; in the final analysis about the topic discussed. This has absolutely nothing to do with The Harbinger, and should not be used by its critics against it, because the Book of Zohar is nowhere mentioned in The Harbinger. It is The Harbinger’s critics who bring it up here and in some other misguided articles.
Berit Kjos:
From Wikipedia: Kabbalism ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalism
"The following article is about Kabbalah's origin. For specific Kabbalistic traditions see Christian Kabbalah, Hermetic Qabalah, and Practical Kabbalah."
"Kabbalah, also spelled Kabala or Cabala, is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought. Its definition varies according to the tradition and aims of those following it, from its religious origin as an integral part of Judaism, to Christian, New Age, or Occultist syncretic adaptations. Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an unchanging, eternal and mysterious Ein Sof (no end) and the mortal and finite universe....
"Inside Judaism, it forms the foundations of mystical religious interpretation. Outside Judaism, its scriptures are read outside the traditional canons of organized religion.....
"Kabbalah originally developed entirely within the realm of Jewish thought and kabbalists often use classical Jewish sources to explain and demonstrate its esoteric teachings."
Mystic elements of the Torah
"According to adherents of Kabbalah, its origin begins with secrets that God revealed to Adam. ... When read by later generations of Kabbalists, the Torah's description of the creation in the Book of Genesis reveals mysteries about the godhead itself, the true nature of Adam and Eve... and the Tree of Life...
"The 72 letter name of God which is used in Jewish mysticism for meditation purposes is derived from the Hebrew verbal utterance Moses spoke in the presence of an angel, while the Sea of Reeds parted..." [That's not in the Bible]
"...the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." 2 Timothy 4:3-5
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: No it’s not in the Bible, but it is not in The Harbinger either, nor does it mean that because Rabbi Cahn uses the Zohar for apologetics purposes, that this connects him to the Kabbalah or Jewish Mysticism in any way. The use of a hostile witness in Christian Apologetics and Messianic Jewish Apologetics is a valid method used by defenders of the Christian Faith, and here Jonathan Cahn in The Zohar Speaks message cited by Kjos, and the others.
This nothing but an absurd fallacy. It is most unfortunate that other critics of The Harbinger have allowed this urban legend to spread as they have without addressing it. But there is a reason for this and it is that were they to do this, they would have to require David James to do entire re-writes of his book, especially Chapter 17 where he goes out of his way to mischaracterize Jonathan Cahn as an mystery-loving Jewish mystic. Absolute nonsense. The adage; “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” works very well here, and therein lies the reason why the main critics of The Harbinger have not taken issue with these ridiculous articles, but in fact, cite them prominently on their websites to further confuse and obfuscate their own guilt and complicity in bearing false witness against Jonathan Cahn.
Although publicly they have written, as David James has, that they consider Rabbi Cahn a brother in the faith and fellow bondservant of Jesus Christ; when discussing his book and his teachings amongst themselves in over a dozen or more radio broadcasts, and in print, they have treated and referred to him as a false teacher, a false prophet, and one who misinterprets God’s Word, and incorrectly accuse him of using faulty hermeneutics in The Harbinger – an erroneous charge based entirely on the misinterpretation and intellectual interpolation of David James’ assessment of what The Harbinger says.
Well, Jonathan Cahn is a beloved brother and fellow bondservant of God in Messiah, and is not an enemy of the Christian Faith, and should not be treated as such and spoken of as such, or written about as such. Why do these men persist in doing this? And why do they promote trash that smears the good name of another brother in the faith in order to discredit him, ruin his ministry, and finish him for good??? Why?
Berit Kjos: God's people are being deceived! It's time to wake up and take a stand! Will we search God's Word for His Truth and guidance, or will we simply flow with the crowd and accept each new and alluring suggestion?
Remember Satan's lures involves all kinds of enticing but misleading expressions. For those who believe his lies, the source and outcomes is essentially the same: deception, spiritual blindness, and rejection (or false interpretation) of God's true Word!
Jesus told His disciples that His way would be narrow and difficult. "There are few who find it," he said. But "wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it." (Matthew 7:13-14) Yet, for those who walk with Him, there's abundant strength in Christ for all the challenges ahead! This promise is for us today:
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: Amen sister! I agree, but where I complete disagree with you is when you unfairly and libelously connect and apply it to Jonathan Cahn for his apologetic use of The Zohar in defense of the Gospel, and your intentional reinterpreting his statements to ascribe meanings to them he did not intend. Remember dear sister, his use and citation of this Medieval Mystic Jewish book is not to teach its contents, but to show that as a remote a place as this piece of literature, there is evidence of the significance of the historical place where the Messiah surrendered Himself for our sins. This is what is known in Apologetics as Extra-biblical Evidence in corroboration of the historicity of the Gospels and the efficacy of Christ’s death at Golgotha. Nothing more. Please don’t read into it something that is not there.
Craig Henderson: Greetings to all at crossroads,
I want to say a very sincere thanks for your constant stand against occultism and new age corruption, as seen recently with J. Cahn and Harbinger.
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: The charge of “occultism and new age corruption, as seen recently with J. Cahn and Harbinger” (sic) is a most unfortunate and erroneous charge. I've known Rabbi Cahn for over ten years. He is not a Jewish Mystic or Occultist, or Kabbalist, nor is he a Gnostic. He is not in any way involved with “occultism and new age corruption,” as Mr. Henderson accuses him of here. He is a Messianic Jewish believer in the Messiah of Israel and teaches mainline Judeo-Christian teachings, that is teachings based upon the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and the Brit Chadashah (New Testament). By God's grace, calling, and election in the Lord Yeshua/Jesus, I teach at the Arise and Shine Academy at the Beth Israel Jerusalem Center in Wayne, NJ, where Rabbi Cahn shepherds. So I have personal knowledge of these things and of what I write here.
Craig Henderson: Your writers have done an excellent, even gifted job of stating the facts about this present heresy. Many of my friends are all abuzz about Cahn's book, as if it was God's latest word. The sweet alluring mystery has caught their minds and hearts.
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: Your statements sir, are nothing but an affront and complete libel of Rabbi Cahn and what he stands for. You neither know the man, know or ever heard his teaching, and I am willing to wager that you have not read The Harbinger, have you? To imply as you and Berit Kjos do here; that Jonathan Cahn teaches “this present heresy” is to call him a false teacher. This is a completely unbiblical charge, not only because it has absolute no basis in fact, and therefore no foundation, it is unbiblical by the metric of God’s Word and what it teaches a false teacher is. Let me explain.
As I wrote above, God’s Word sets the following guidelines as to what a false prophet is. This is from the Hebrew Bible, which you, I, and Berit Kjos believe is God’s infallible and inspired Word:
“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.
(Deuteronomy 13:1-5)
It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
(Deuteronomy 18:19-22)
The Law of Moses sets some very strict guidelines as to the differences between a true prophet and a false one.
1.) Even if what the prophet were to prophesy something that would come to pass to the letter, if he misleads you to worship other gods, he is a false prophet and capital punishment was to be exacted upon him.
2.) God calls false prophecy rebellion against the Lord “to seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk.”
3.) A true prophet was to be listened to, and anyone who would not listen to him God Himself would make him accountable for it.
4.) If a prophet were to speak from his own spirit and not from the Spirit of God, and claim that God has spoken; he has spoken presumptuously was to also suffer capital punishment for his sin.
5.) If a prophet even spoke in God’s name presumptuously or in the name of another god, capital punishment was to exacted upon him. Since the prophet had spoken presumptuously, he was not to be feared by the people.
All of these indicate a predictive agent as the cause of the offense, or where the prophet lead Israel astray to follow other gods. This is the biblical definition of a false prophet.
Under the New Testament, the following is added:
Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
(1Corinthians 12:2)
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
(1John 4:1-6)
We see also the behavior of the false prophet in the New Testament, in the following passage Luke the historian has recorded for us:
Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” (El Gran Poder de Dios) And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts. But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus the Messiah, they were being baptized, men and women alike. Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.
Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
(Acts 8:9-24)
We see then another trait of the false prophet is greed and a desire to call away from God and unto himself. Simon thought he could purchase God’s gift and His favor. So it can also be added that:
6.) God’s prophet does not seek self-glorification by turning people’s attention away from the Lord and unto himself.
7.) God’s prophet would not seek to amass for himself wealth or possessions.
8.) Nor God’s prophet could be bribed.
9.) No prophet of God would declare “Jesus is accursed.”
10.) A true prophet of God declares and bears witness that Jesus is Lord, and teaches it.
11.) We are not to believe every spirit that prophesies, but test the spirits to see if they are from God.
12.) There are many false prophets, while the obverse is also true; there are many prophets of God as well, otherwise the command to “test the spirits” would not be given.
13.) The true prophet of God affirms the historical, physical appearance of Jesus to Israel as prophesied by Israel’s prophets in the Hebrew Bible and recorded in the living records of His appearance in the land as B’nai Yisrael/Son of Israel to the nation as its Goel (Redeemer/Kinsman, or Fellow countryman, a Jew). This distinction had to be made because of Gnostic teachings had crept into the church.
14.) God’s prophet confesses Jesus, that is; he confesses Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah
Under this criteria, a false prophet would have to do the following, which includes some or all of the following:
1.) Deny Jesus as Lord.
2.) Call Him accursed.
3.) Deny Jesus came in bodily form. Jehovah’s Witnesses of the Watchtower Society teach the error that Jesus resurrected as a spirit.
4.) Deny Jesus His rightful role as Israel’s Messiah.
5.) Deny the various aspects and purpose of His life, death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of God.
6.) Would have to give a prophetic prediction that has not come to pass.
7.) Would have to give a prophetic prediction that has only not entirely come to pass.
8.) Would have to teach the Jewish people and all others who attach themselves to them to follow other gods.
9.) Would advocate a breaking and departure from God’s commandments, for it says, You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.
Under this biblical metric, your accusation against Rabbi Jonathan Cahn is unbiblical and unwarranted, for he has not denied Jesus, but affirmed Him as both Lord and Messiah; hasn’t cursed His name, but blessed it many times over; has never denied Jesus’ coming to Israel in bodily form; has never made a prophetic prediction that has not come to pass, in fact in all my years that I’ve known him personally, I have never heard make any predictions.
Even his book The Harbinger makes no predictions.
Nor has Jonathan Cahn ever advocated that God’s people ever worship anyone but Lord their God – YHWH through Yeshua/Jesus His Messiah, in His name; and has never said that anyone should ever break any of His commandments.
Nor has he ever attempted to amass wealth, or taken a bribe, or called attention to himself, but always has sought and seeks people to God by bringing them every time to the feet of the Master, the Lord Jesus at Golgotha/Calvary where the Messiah died for their sins.
Therefore under the biblical metric Jonathan Cahn cannot be called a false prophet, false teacher, or a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and to do so would be a gross breach of the biblical standard by which such determinations are made.
The Harbinger is not a work of Eschatology. It is not a work of prophecy – it is prophetic, but it does not make predictions, or prognostications of any type. It does not advocate any political party, religion, denomination – Christian or otherwise, does not advocate any temporal affiliation to any club, any society, any charity, any endeavor or work of man, or any military order, religious order, philosophy, belief system outside of the Bible, or any other created thing.
The Harbinger, when broken down to its most base elements, is a fictional literary work that both describes and contains facts about a specific pattern of prophetic warnings of judgment that occurred in ancient Israel, and have occurred (when studied thoroughly) throughout history with every great civilization to one extent or another, and have reappeared now since 9/11 on American soil. God has always warned, and often several times, with each warning becoming more severe, of impending judgment to a nation that repeatedly ignores these warning – as America is currently doing. Great civilizations and the nations that built them have all fallen because of the same patterns of corruption and moral decay that this nation is now undergoing has been progressively for a generation. We must never forget and recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’ (Daniel 4:25, 32) During the long and arduous negotiations of congress to reach a consensus in drafting a national Constitution that all thirteen states could adopt, Benjamin Franklin made the following observation. I quote:
“—In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. [emphasis in Elliot's edition - kc]. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that "except the Lord build the House they labour in vain those that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war and conquest.
“I therefore beg leave to move—that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.”
Benjamin Franklin here alludes to the Providence and direct and personal intervention of God in the affairs of men and nations and their deliberations and the need for both to seek His favor before embarking on any enterprise small or great in order to assure themselves of His favor for it, otherwise it is done purely in vain and without the approval, blessings, and help of Almighty God. The two Scriptures he alludes to – and everyone present in that chamber knew them well – were the following Scriptures:
“Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”
(Matthew 10:29-31, see also Luke 12:6-7)
And:
Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.
(Psalm 127:1)
Perhaps the greatest evidence that God’s people have forgotten this most important and foundation truth from God’s Word regarding the One Who Alone ‘“is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes,’” (Daniel 4:25, 32) that our founders, such men as Benjamin Franklin understood, “that God governs in the affairs of men, And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that "except the Lord build the House they labour in vain those that build it. I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war and conquest.” Who among the leaders of today can so articulate this truth? The best that we have seen has been three pronunciations on three separate occasions the vow in Isaiah 9:10 – a vow that proved to be a curse for Israel inasmuch as they pronounced it unknowingly to their destruction, as our own leaders have done the same. The thinking that now permeates civil as well as religious thought is the deistic and relativistic thinking that has infected like a spreading virus the body of Christ and Western Civilization in this Post Modern Era.
Craig Henderson: This is especially painful to me because Jesus saved me out of new age and Greek deception over 40 years ago. I look back and now know that it was only His mercy and power that chose me for salvation and rescued me from darkness such as was taught by Rudolph Steiner. Yes, I read him and many others, but when the light of the gospel appeared I burned his books, both mentally and actually. It grieves me to see folly such as Cahn is saying about Golgotha return again. According to his message, our salvation rests in relics, not in the Saviour's blood.
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: Brother, I cannot fault you for what you write here in ignorance. While I celebrate joyously with you your salvation in the Lord, it equally pains me to read your unfounded unkind words against Rabbi Cahn, and your words grieve me just as much as you claim that Pastor Cahn’s teaching on Golgotha, the place of Christ’s death, also grieves you because you mistake it for a relic, rather than the preaching of the Gospel. If Golgotha which Rabbi Cahn preaches is a relic to you, then the cross which Paul preaches must also be a relic as well. Do you not understand? Do you not see that as Paul uses the cross thematically to preach the Gospel, so does Jonathan Cahn use Golgotha to thematically preach the Gospel as well? And allow me to remind you dear brother, and I do so in love, so please do not misunderstand the spirit in which I say it; the same blood that cleanses us all of sin and guilt was shed on the cross that was erected over Golgotha – the place where God met man through His Son to bring him his eternal salvation by paying for his redemption – where? At the cross over Golgotha.
Pastor and Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn does not teach “folly” as you call it here. This is most unfortunate that before you’ve investigated what Rabbi Cahn teaches, and consult someone who knows Rabbi Cahn personally, you have made these extremely unfair mischaracterizations of him. I would be more than willing to discuss with you more about this if you wish. You can reach me at my website, The Pepster’s Post: A Voice in Cyberspace, or through Beth Israel, or on the various Amazon.com discussion boards where I engage both supporters and detractors of The Harbinger in order to set the record straight, because so much error has been said and written about The Harbinger. This is why I recently wrote a book to address these errors, lies, mischaracterizations, and outright fallacies made by critics of The Harbinger. My book is titled The Truth about The Harbinger: Addressing the Controversy and Discovering the Facts About This Prophetic Message. May I suggest you get yourself a copy of it and read it for yourself? Please, brother, before you continue to pass judgment, read my book. You will appreciate from someone who personally knows Rabbi Cahn and has known him for over ten years, what the man teaches, what The Harbinger is all about, and why its critics have totally misread, misrepresented, and all but based their criticisms of the book from the errors contained in the writings of David James.
Craig Henderson: Satan's lies are just re-invented and coated with new sugar each generation.
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: Very true, but this does not in any way apply to Jonathan Cahn or The Harbinger. Please do not try to connect it. Be very careful what you write in this regard brother. I understand that you do this in complete ignorance of the facts surrounding Rabbi Cahn, his book, and his ministry, so I will not hold you completely accountable for it, but I will admonish you as a brother in the faith to be very careful with these charges, and investigate this thoroughly. I am ready to help you with any questions you may have.
Craig Henderson: Crossroads has done an excellent job of presenting the truth that will set us free, not just in The Harbinger articles but in many others I have read. May all of you be blessed for your concern for the lost and for truth. I pray His richest blessing on you and all the words you speak.
For Messiah,
Craig Henderson
CLARIFICATION AND CORRECTION: Unfortunately brother, I must disagree with your incorrect assessment of the article you laud. It is based upon the false misreading and mischaracterization of critics who intentionally wrote what is nothing but libels against Rabbi Cahn; libels which have needed to be addressed biblically and factually so as to correct the errors, mischaracterizations, misreading, and false interpretation of its narrative. For this purpose I have addressed these on my website, The Pepster’s Post: A Voice in Cyberspace and have written my book, The Truth about The Harbinger: Addressing the Controversy and Discovering the Facts About This Prophetic Message.
SIDEBAR: The following articles were posted by Kim Olsen on her web site DiscernIt. It is unfortunate that she included, unknowingly I believe, the following posts by others who have written some of the most egregious articles on the New York Times best-seller, The Harbinger and against its author Pastor and Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn thus far. JB
DISCERNIT ARTICLE:
Posted on by Kim Olsen of DiscernIt Ministries June 13, 2012
Yet another book is being promoted from the Christian community. The reviews are out and here are what some of the well-respected ministries are saying about this book.
http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/scarpatiletter.html by “a former Associate Pastor who was with Jonathan Cahn for years” Robert Scarpati
http://www.bibleprophecyblog.com/2012/07/critical-look-at-harbinger.html# by Dr. Thomas Ice
http://www.worldviewweekend.com/worldview-times/article.php?articleid=8385 (Christine Pack, Sola Sisters)
http://www.pawcreek.org/open-bible-dialog/the-harbinger-a-forbidden-fable-nine-aspects-in-biblical-discernment Joseph Chambers (this is the article where Jan Markell posts a comment)
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2012/06/harbinger.html Pastor Larry DeBruyn
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: I have already biblically addressed the objections made in the articles appearing at the various links provided by Ms. Olsen above in various articles I’ve posted on my website, The Pepster’s Post: A Voice in Cyberspace, and in my new book, The Truth about The Harbinger: Addressing the Controversy and Discovering the Facts About This Prophetic Message, as well in various e-mails sent to Christian leaders, elders, ministers, and lay persons in ministry during the latter months of 2012 and throughout 2013. Additionally, these objections and others made by these critics to the sites above have also been addressed by others like Connie/Faith of Faith’s Corner, and on the Amazon.com discussion boards by Ladybug, LWeeks, JPCollado, Tjiminez, and others, as well as by Jonathan Cahn himself, and as of this writing, have been thoroughly discussed and vetted. If there is one benefit and blessing that has come from this controversy, it has been that this topic has been thoroughly examined biblically, and the objections have been answered.
DISCERNIT ARTICLE: Paul commended the Bereans for examining everything he said. They wanted to know if what he was saying was true. If Paul was not above examination, certainly neither is the Christian book writing community.
We have to remember that the epistles are full of warnings of false teachings WITHIN the church. To think that we should not carefully look at someone who professes to be Christian is down right (sic) dangerous and goes against the warnings that are given in the Bible. I thank those who have taken the time to help me with scripture and have corrected me when I have been wrong. This is a blessing not a curse.
I am grateful for the above posts and the diligence taken in holding true to scripture.
It is more important to please God than men
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: Sister Olsen, I agree with you one hundred percent, that it is more important to please God than men, and that is of paramount importance in the order of what we must do as Christians. But I would like you to cite for me specific examples how your warning, where you write above, “the epistles are full of warnings of false teachings WITHIN the church. To think that we should not carefully look at someone who professes to be Christian is down right (sic) dangerous and goes against the warnings that are given in the Bible” and how this applies to The Harbinger and to its author Jonathan Cahn.
DISCERNIT ARTICLE: Mysteries from Jonathan Cahn.
Posted by Kim Olsen on her website DiscernIt on June 18, 2012
The introduction below appears on the site of Hope of the World Ministries:
Grow in God
Jonathan Cahn is known for bringing out the deep mysteries and rich revelations of God’s word, as well as restoring the originally biblically Jewish context and flavor of the New Testament. You can search and order resources here. New messages are posted every week as they become available.
I would love to know these secrets…but you have to purchase them.
Here are just a few of the many prophetic messages for sale at this website address:
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: This is an article that from the onset drips with sarcastic cynicism, and its writer makes sure she doesn’t restrain herself from using sarcasm as a tool of expressing her personal disbelief. Of course one has to purchase a copy of the book, otherwise if one were to take it without the express permission from its author and or publisher, and accept what they had to say in it.
DISCERNIT ARTICLE: An amazing mystery never before shared -Jonathan reveals the Mystery of the End of the Age, and the kingdom, hidden in the Sabbath prayer books of the rabbis -in The Sabbath Code!
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: Again, none of what Ms. Olsen writes here appears in The Harbinger, and the connections made here are dubious at best, and nothing but pure fallacy mixed with sophistry. It is amazing that something like this criticism can be written and put up by anyone. The following list is a prime example of jumping to conclusions while cherry-picking specific mystically sounding titles from a collection of over one thousand seven hundred titles to misrepresent Jonathan Cahn in the most unfavorable light possible.
DISCERNIT ARTICLE: The Kraspedon Mysteries comes to their conclusion- The mystery of Messiah’s sacred garment and the mystery of its fringe and a hint- It has everything to do with you.
The Mystery of the Ilanot:
The plan of the age as hidden in the mystery of the Law of the Trees, the Olive Tree Mystery, the Fig Tree Mystery, the Four and Five Ages, the Mystery of the Rains, the Law of the Spiritual and Physical Resurrections, the rebirth of the Messianic movement and the rebirth of Israel, and MORE! (Recorded live at Messiah Conference)
The Arbella Prophecy:
The 10th anniversary of 9/11 – the mystery of the City on the Hill – the prophecy planted in America’s foundation – the ancient pattern of judgment – the fate and future of America – the ancient prophetic warning for such a time as this
As You Love Yourself:
One of the most overlooked, missed, and misunderstood realms of the believer – your relationship with you! Do you mistreat yourself? Neglect yourself? Condemn yourself? Sabotage yourself? Devalue yourself? A message with the biblical keys to bring healing & a healthy new relationship – with you
The Mount Sinai Pentecost:
There exists a mystical link between the Day of Pentecost and Mt. Sinai – a link which opens up a whole other realm of revelation of the powers that are given in the Spirit – for victory in every part of your life (The DVD includes The Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost Celebration).
The Mystery of the Two Kehilahs
There are two entities in the world, very different, & yet mystically joined, each containing the mystery of the kingdom of God – unveiled!
If anyone has purchased these teachings I would like to hear from you because I am wondering if I am missing some great biblical teaching.
You may already have a major teaching from Rabbi Jonathan Cahn who has published a book by the name of “The Harbinger”
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: It is most unfortunate that the critic here attacks The Harbinger because she disagrees with the use of Greek words like Kraspedon (look it up in Strong’s Concordance, Ms. Olsen, it has to do with the Tallit with Tzitzit – which every Hebrew wore as part of their wardrobe during the Second Temple Era and prior to it going all the way back to the Pre-exilic Era in Judaism and some say as far back as the giving of the Law because it is stipulated for every male Israelite (Deuteronomy 22:12), and is today worn underneath one’s attire by Observant Jews) There is so much ignorance regarding these titles involved with this critic and the others like David James, who began this sorry process, that it is a case study in religious and bigoted Anti-Semitic ignorance used in the most egregious display of error I have ever encountered by Christian Evangelicals.
Now please listen Ms. Olsen, I have heard many of these messages through the years, and they have nothing to do with the Occult, or with Kabbalah, and more importantly than this is that nowhere do they appear in The Harbinger, but they are mentioned in David James’ polemic against The Harbinger, The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction? My own book, The Truth about The Harbinger: Addressing the Controversy and Discovering the Facts About This Prophetic Message discloses a good many things about the fallacies, errors, misreading, insinuations, misinterpretations and outright fabrications and sophistry of this unfortunate religious polemic.
Christine Pack: Posted on June 28, 2012
A Commentary on The Harbinger: A Warning About The Harbinger
by Christine Pack
Source
A book called The Harbinger is fast becoming a lightning rod issue among evangelical Christians, with many Christians saying it is exactly what America needs right now to “wake up” and repent, and come back to biblical truth, but other Christians documenting that Cahn quotes liberally from extra-biblical and mystical sources for his book. The cover of Cahn’s book (right) boldly claims that The Harbinger is an “Ancient Mystery that Holds the Secret of America’s Future.”
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: Christine Pack begins here article graciously calling The Harbinger a book that “is fast becoming a lightning rod issue among evangelical Christians, with many Christians saying it is exactly what America needs right now to “wake up” and repent, and come back to biblical truth,” but unfortunately what she writes next is sadly also just as true, where she describes The Harbinger’s critics as “other Christians documenting that Cahn quotes liberally from extra-biblical and mystical sources for his book.” She follows through by writing, “The cover of Cahn’s book (right) boldly claims that The Harbinger is an “Ancient Mystery that Holds the Secret of America’s Future.” Pretty innocuous right? Well, don’t hold your breath. Let’s keep reading.
Christine Pack: Could this be true? Could it be that there are hidden truths that need to be decoded and unveiled to Christians today? And if so, for what purpose? Cahn seems to think so, and has written a book which proclaims just that. The Harbinger is a fiction book, and features a character known as The Prophet who is slowly giving seals to one of the main characters. These seals contain messages (nine in all) which are meant to be put together as clues in a mystery, so that a final, distinct message will emerge and be revealed. This message, once decoded, is intimated to hold the secret to bringing America back to its moral center and becoming once again a Godly nation.
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: Ms. Pack’s next questions are legitimate ones that every Christian must ask. They are:
“Could this be true? Could it be that there are hidden truths that need to be decoded and unveiled to Christians today? And if so, for what purpose?”
But she answers these questions in a disbelieving and cynical manner, when she replies, “Cahn seems to think so, and has written a book which proclaims just that.” Most of the rest of her review belies this highly disbelieving and cynical view, and impels her to make connections between The Harbinger, its author, and Gnosticism that do not exist. But, we’ll get to these in time. Let us proceed.
Her next observation seems pretty innocuous enough. She is correct when she describes The Harbinger as “a fiction book, and features a character known as The Prophet who is slowly giving seals to one of the main characters. These seals contain messages (nine in all) which are meant to be put together as clues in a mystery, so that a final, distinct message will emerge and be revealed. This message, once decoded, is intimated to hold the secret to bringing America back to its moral center and becoming once again a Godly nation.”
Anything that a person does not know or is unaware of is a mystery to that person. For example, I know next to nothing about being an auto mechanic. I cannot explain the operations of an automobile and intricacies involved in the workings of the Internal Combustion Engine, a Transmission, Differential, and other parts of a car interact to cause the automobile to move forward, in reverse, turn to the right, turn to the left, and stop. To me it is all a mystery. To me, its operation is hidden from me until the day I decide to pick up a book about how these intricate mechanisms work, and read it, and even then, much of it will be nothing more than extremely abstract to me unless I dabble in it and learn how it all interoperates.
So too, it is with an intricate wrist-watch. And so it is with the information The Harbinger presents using a fictional narrative presenting the elements within it to move that narrative along and present in a manner that is both compelling and entertaining to the reader, as well as biblically and historically accurate. It is not a work of Eschatology. It is not a work of Extra-biblical Knowledge. It is not a Prophecy. It is not Occult, Mystic, or Masonic, or Gnostic. It is a prophetic warning and call to repentance to God through Jesus the Savior.
There is absolutely no reason why Jonathan Cahn would want to mislead anyone when the aim of The Harbinger is to bring the person who reads it to repentance and Jesus Christ. Since I know this man and his teaching for more than ten years personally, I bare witness both to the accuracy of his teachings, and the work and effort that he put into writing an accurate account of a topic that is so compelling that it has shot up to the New York Times’ bestseller and remained there to this day since the day it was released.
Christine Pack: I have many concerns about this book, and so I will address them one at a time.
Gnosticism
There is an exchange between two of the characters in The Harbinger who are discussing a secret message from a mysterious character (“The Prophet”) in the book:
“It’s the appointed time, but not for an ancient nation. It’s time for the word to be given…..for the mystery to be revealed…..for the message to go forth. It’s the appointed time⎯but not for an ancient nation.” (The Harbinger, p 13)
Friends, anytime you see language like this, and like the language below (also from The Harbinger)…..
¡ “ancient mystery hidden for thousands of years……but now revealed”
¡ a “mystery” that holds a “secret” to our future
¡ “clues” needed to “unlock” a mystery
¡ “messages” that need to be “unveiled”
……what you are dealing with is an ancient heresy called Gnosticism.
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: It is if what is being taught is Gnostic teaching. If it pertains to the Gospel or any aspect of God’s Word, it is not Gnosticism, because the mystery of the Gospel is meant to be revealed by the Holy Spirit-filled preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Nowhere in The Harbinger is there anything pertaining to a secret knowledge that is to remain hidden, but unknown data and information that is being shared through the narrative of fiction about historical events for which there are public records which The Harbinger’s rather well-documented bibliography presents to the serious researcher willing to take to the time and make the effort of verifying what they read. This is a far cry from what Ms. Pack here tries to make The Harbinger. It is unfortunate that she can so easily read into The Harbinger what is not there, but then again chapter 17 of David James’ book, The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction? had already paved the way for her to make the necessary connections here. She’s just following in its misbegotten steps.
Christine Pack: Gnosticism is a very old heresy that teaches that the truth has to be decoded, uncovered, unlocked, unveiled, discovered.
Secret Knowledge = Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a heresy because, according to God, we are given all that we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3) in God’s word. We don’t need to decode secret mysteries, unravel sealed up messages, decipher clues, or pull back the veil on hidden things. All that we need, all that God wants us to know, is contained in the Bible. Now, I will grant that in the New Testament, Paul does talk about the mystery of Gentiles and Jews being united together in a common church and common faith (something that could have scarcely been imagined in Old Testament times). There is also the mystery of Jesus Christ, who was dimly glimpsed through types and shadows in the Old Testament, but Who was gloriously revealed in his fullness as our Savior in the New Testament. But these are mysteries which are laid open for all to see and know and understand and respond to, and not clues on a Mysterious Journey to Somewhere (which is really the more western understanding of the word “mystery”).
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: While I fully concur with the Scripture Ms. Pack quotes here - we are given all that we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3) – but I do not agree with her claim that The Harbinger has us doing something that she claims we do not need to do, where she writes, “We don’t need to decode secret mysteries, unravel sealed up messages, decipher clues, or pull back the veil on hidden things.” You do such things in a fictional narrative when it is presented that way, and that in no way makes that narrative into some type of Gnostic heresy, just elements used to carry the fictional narrative along and make it entertaining to the reader, especially if he/she is like me – one who prefers non-fiction to fiction.
In an interview featured on the Stand Up For the Truth website, Jonathan Cahn is asked, “Does Rabbi Cahn draw from extra-biblical, mystical writings as his sources?” His answer? “No. I only draw on one source for spiritual truth – the Bible. I only believe the Bible is the Word of God. One may use quotes in writing from a variety of sources – but this is not to be confused with relying on any source for spiritual truth – apart from the Bible.”
Ms. Pack should not make more of this than what is there. It so unfortunate that she puts into the story attributes that do not exist regarding it, because The Harbinger is not a book of Gnosticism, nor is Jonathan Cahn a Gnostic. I know what Gnosticism is, how it was taught in the early church, how it is being promoted today the pantheism of the New Age Movement and Ecumenicism promoted by the Vatican and the Emergent Church, and Mormons. Jonathan Cahn and The Harbinger do not teach this. I personally know it.
Here Ms. Pack resorts to the same use of a long narrative explaining why Gnosticism is unnecessary – I agree – except that neither does The Harbinger teach Gnosticism (as Ms. Pack wrongfully tries to imply), or is its author, Jonathan Cahn, a Gnostic. Christine Pack doesn’t know this, I do; I know Jonathan Cahn. I know what he teaches. I know what he does not teach. Jonathan Cahn is not a Gnostic. He is not a Jewish Mystic, Kabbalist, Existentialist, Occult practitioner, Spiritualist, New Age Prophet, Freemason, Mormon, Emergent, NAR, or Dominion preacher, Name it and Claim false and materialistic Prosperity Gospel, or any other aberrant discipline considered anathema by most Mainline Christian Evangelicals, including myself. His use of rabbinic literature and any other is in the context of Christian Apologetics – in this case; Messianic Jewish Apologetics – to corroborate and support and promote the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah, nothing more. It is not doctrine, it is not theological, it is not exegetical, but strictly apologetic.
A little further in the interview featured on the Stand Up For the Truth website, when asked about the charge of being a Gnostic, obviously coming from Christine Pack’s article, Jonathan Cahn replied:
Question: “One critic said that since The Harbinger speaks of mysteries being revealed – does this have to do with Gnostic beliefs?”
Answer: “A very confused view. Unless we want to call the apostle Paul a Gnostic, since he also spoke of mysteries. It’s precisely the opposite. The Gnostics believed in knowledge that was to be kept secret, to stay a mystery. God is the One who reveals mysteries. The Harbinger does likewise – it reveals mysteries.
“If there are no mysteries, then we know everything there is to know. But we don’t. And God, by His Spirit, is to lead us to continual insight, and show us things we don’t yet know. That’s the opposite of Gnosticism.”
Rabbi Jonathan Cahn is not claiming new revelation, nor is he claiming to be a prophet, and his use of the words he employs is in the context of God revealing through His Holy Spirit the knowledge of what His Word teaches, what is already contained in the written word - Sola Scriptura. When Rabbi Cahn employs such words as "mystery" and others like "secret", he is doing it in context of 1Corinthians 2. To the unsaved the Bible is a closed book and its content, mysteries and secrets, just as Paul the Apostle under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes the following:
Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written,
“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
(1Corinthians 2:6-14)
It is in this context that Rabbi Cahn speaks of the mystery of the Nine Harbingers contained in clay tablets that are signs of each Harbinger, or warning. In this regard, I have posted the following on my web site to explain what Rabbi Cahn means by the phraseology he uses, which his critics find objectionable because of their misunderstanding of them; a misunderstanding that began and has been perpetuated by T.A. McMahon, David James, and Jimmy DeYoung and others of the Berean Call and other self-professed “discernment ministries” associated with theirs.
I have spoken with Rabbi Cahn, I have read his book The Harbinger, I know what he means when he employs words such as sign, mystery, etc.. and it is within the context of the story itself. You read the book, you realize that the clay seals depicting each Harbinger is a sign, much in the context of an Exit or Stop sign one sees when travelling a road. And as to mystery that is revealed, no Rabbi Cahn is not practicing divination as Pastor Douma claims in a Sunday school sermon he gave at his church, but Rabbi Cahn employs the word in the context of 1Corinthians 2, where the Apostle Paul studies the dichotomy between the regenerative man and the unregenerate man, and the two separate world views the two have and the completely different lives each leads, and how they understand things and view the world around them.
When Rabbi Cahn speaks of mysteries, he is referring to the fact that the Holy Scriptures and what they contain are both a mystery and a sealed book to the unsaved, not some new revelation or new prophecy outside of the cannon of Scripture that is to be treated as authoritative as the Bible as these people charge. There is no new revelation, but the revelation is in God’s written Word, understood through careful study of the Scriptures as the Holy Spirit of God provides the believer the insight into His Word. When Rabbi Cahn speaks of these harbingers, and they are variably called “signs,” he is using the word as one uses it plainly as for example that a “sign” of inflation is the rise in the price of good or fuel. This is what he means by “sign.”
Moreover, to those who do not understand economics, these indications or signs are simply a mystery, inasmuch that they are inexplicable to them because they do not have a technical reference point to connect them one to the other than they just know it costs more to purchase goods and services, and energy. To those who know the “mystery” behind the economics, it is understood that when the Federal Reserve inflates the currency, it devalues the currency in circulation. Therefore it costs more to purchase an item because now the item’s price has increased relative to the value of the dollar used in purchasing that item, because the dollar is now worth less requiring more of it to purchase the item. Therefore it can be said that higher prices are a harbinger of inflation.
This is what is meant by The HarbingerS being signs, because they indicate or point to something greater than themselves; to their culminations. A harbinger is a warning or an indication of something coming which has not yet arrived. Why David James and other Cessationist critics of The Harbinger wish to attach to the plain meaning of what Rabbi Cahn is writing other nefarious meanings is beyond me, but this is precisely what they do, and this is precisely what David James does throughout his book.
The accusation flung at him (Rabbi Cahn) that he is attempting to teach a new revelation or reveal hidden mysteries is absurd and completely groundless. Those who make such charges know themselves that this is not true; they are merely using hyperbole, and in so doing creating a false witness against Rabbi Cahn that should not exist. This is very serious.
Christine Pack: “I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right.”(Isaiah 45:19)
As a former Gnostic, I found great comfort as a born again Christian in understanding that all that God truly wants me to know He has plainly revealed in his Word. I spent more than a decade of my life as a New Ager/Gnostic going from teaching to teaching to teaching. I lost track of how many conferences I went to, books I purchased, teachers and gurus that I sought out, all in an effort to find truth. My quest for truth was sincere, but truth proved to be surprisingly elusive to attain. By the time God saved me, I was weary. I was worn out. I didn’t have it in me to go after One More Thing. All I could think of at the end was that I wanted rest, just a little bit of rest, from all my fruitless searching. The Lord, in his infinite mercy, gave me rest by rescuing me out of the mire of man-made wisdom and giving me the elegant simplicity of his Word. There is such a lovely purity and clarity in knowing that I can rest securely in the knowledge that all that God wants me to know I can find in the Bible.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
If you are unfamiliar with the heresy of Gnosticism, please listen to Phil Johnson in this in-depth discussion of what Gnosticism is, and see if you don’t come away from that talk thinking of The Harbinger.
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: I joyously concur with Ms. Pack here, who shares her encounter with God’s grace that delivered her from the Occult World of New Age/Gnosticism, just as He delivered me out of the same world of Existentialism and Spiritualism that I was involved in as a teenager until the day that God called me out of the darkness and brought me into the light of the Gospel of His Only Begotten Son – August 30th, 1976 at 5:30 in morning when I repented and accepted His free gift of salvation.
But it is amazing that as a former Gnostic, Ms. Pack would confuse Jonathan Cahn’s teaching and his book, The Harbinger with a philosophy and discipline that she once knew, but again, David James has convinced people like her of this, and having fallen “hook, line, and sinker,” Ms. Pack has been all too willing to augment Mr. James’ false narrative with her own here, lending the “weight” of her being a former Gnostic to her voice to convince people that Jonathan Cahn, whom I personally know is not a Gnostic, is what she once was, and teaches Gnosticism. Anyone who has studied Comparative Religion or Philosophy, as well as Church History knows what Gnosticism is.
For Ms. Pack to equate Messianic Apologetics with Gnosticism here belies her ignorance of the use of hostile witnesses in Christian Apologetics and the mystical rabbinic writings in Messianic Apologetics. Obviously she knows little of nothing of this, and this article and others like it from Berit Kjos, and David James betrays that fact. It is most unfortunate, because it requires double the effort and double the work to dispel what is nothing more than urban legends perpetrated by Christian brethren who should never had spoken in this manner about another brother in the faith until they had first conferred with that person and verified whether or not their apprehensions about them had any basis in fact. It’s sad.
Christine Pack: Fiction? or Fiction Masquerading Itself as Fact?
Much like William P. Young’s troublesome book The Shack, The Harbinger also has a fictional character who is teaching things that are contrary to Scripture, but which the author wants to claim as truth. Of course, when pressed on the biblical problems with the teachings, both Young and Cahn have resorted to saying, But it’s only a fictional character! The problem with this is that Young and Cahn both personally believe what they have written, and are seeking to teach a wide audience of readers what they believe to be true, while hiding behind the label “Fiction.”
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: This is an entirely fallacious claim. There is a fictional character; there are three fictional characters; Nouriel Kaplan, Anna Goren, and someone known as “the prophet.” It is Nouriel Kaplan who designates this other character as “the prophet” because he does not know the mysterious man’s name, though they’ve met many times and in many places to discuss the Nine Harbingers. But Ms. Pack’s mention of The Shack, which is an entirely unbiblical literary work, here with The Harbinger, to categorically connect it in some way to The Shack is extremely unfortunate of her, because both works stand worlds, if not, universes apart. There is absolutely no biblical foundation to The Shack, whereas The Harbinger presents biblical history, American history, and ties the elements that make up The HarbingerS and other elements key to the founding as well as the judgment of this nation into pieces that it puts together as it calls the reader to repent, seek God, call on the name of Jesus for salvation, and pray for the nation. There is nothing unbiblical about this. That Christine Pack cannot identify this is astonishing, but there is the possibility that she has not read The Harbinger, or read it when she wrote her unfortunate article. This is why I wrote several articles on my website, The Pepster’s Post: A Voice in Cyberspace, addressing biblically and historically the charges that have created urban legends such as those Ms. Pack created here. This is also why I wrote The Truth About The Harbinger to address these charges in a precise biblical manner without naming names, but taking each charge and comparing them to the facts to allow the reader to make their own determination about them.
Christine Pack: The Truth About America’s Future
The truth about America’s future (and the future of all nations, for that matter), is that God holds the future in His hands. Yes, we should pray, we are commanded and exhorted to pray, but ultimately, we know that our sovereign Lord will work all things together for the good of those who love him and for HIS own purposes (Romans 8:28). And sometimes, in God’s sovereign wisdom, this means that He will allow countries to fall, and nations to topple. Even, that is, nations that He has used in a mighty way to proclaim his truth to the world. I certainly do not desire to see America fall, and I pray for the leaders of this country, but at the same time, we know from the Bible that God has often used times of distress and difficulty as a means of chastening and disciplining his people.
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: Amen. I concur whole-heartedly with sister Pack here. I too pray and hope that America will be spared God’s wrath, but it will depend on each and every one of US, and how we come before Our Maker and Eternal Father, to beseech from Him His grace for US and for our nation and its leaders. Rather than argue about The Harbinger, let’s each of US seek our Eternal Father and learn to walk in humility in His ways, and love one another as Jesus Our Blessed Messiah has loved US and commanded US to love one another, so that all men may know that we are undoubtedly His disciples. Sister Pack, should reexamine what she has written here, and make all attempts to reach out to Jonathan Cahn, to make amends and verify what things are so and what things are not so. I exhort her in the love of Jesus Christ to do so.
Christine Pack: “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.” (Proverbs 21:1)
When I was a fairly new Christian, I came across a resource called James Ussher’s Chronological Chart of History that helped steady my thinking in this regard. James Ussher was a 17th century Anglican bishop who painstakingly charted out the bloodline from Adam and Eve to Jesus. His chart features the Biblical timeline going across the top and the corresponding world history underneath it. It’s so amazing to look at this chart, and see God’s hand sovereignly guiding all of human history. Below the scarlet thread of Jesus’s bloodline, you see nations and kings rise and fall, rise and fall, but above it all, God’s bloodline marches steadily onward toward the fulfillment of his purposes.
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: I share with the sister’s writing here. Would that the rest of her article were as uplifting and correct
Christine Pack: As Americans, we tend to think that we are so mighty, the greatest nation on earth. Well, when you look at Ussher’s timeline, you realize that ALL these kingdoms once had their day in the sun, but where are they now? Egypt was once the mightiest nation in the world, known for the architectural magnificence of their awe-inspiring pyramids, and for taming the Nile River. Babylon, known for their acclaimed Hanging Gardens, and brilliant military campaigns led by Nebuchadnezzar. Rome, their amazing Roman roads and contributions to education and government. Where are they now? Some of them are still around, but do they rule the world? Looking at this chart is truly humbling, and it brings the deeper realization that all that is here will be one day be burned up and destroyed, when God himself creates a new heavens and a new earth. No government that exists here on earth – not even America – will be reigning in that Kingdom to come. But this is not bad news, this is glorious, good news, that should gladden the heart of all who truly love God and bend the knee to his sovereign will and purposes.
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: This is how the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the Brit Chadashah (New Testament) describe the coming/return of the Messiah and some of what is to follow:
The Ancient of Days Reigns
“I kept looking
Until thrones were set up,
And the Ancient of Days took His seat;
His vesture was like white snow
And the hair of His head like pure wool.
His throne was ablaze with flames,
Its wheels were a burning fire.
“A river of fire was flowing
And coming out from before Him;
Thousands upon thousands were attending Him,
And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him;
The court sat,
And the books were opened.
(Daniel 7:9-10)
The Son of Man Presented
“I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
“And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations and men of every language
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.”
(Daniel 7:13-14)
“But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”
(Matthew 24:29-32)
God Will Battle Jerusalem’s Foes
Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!
In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.
And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.
God Will Be King over All
And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.
All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.
Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. It will come about in that day that a great panic from the Lord will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another. Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance. So also like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey and all the cattle that will be in those camps.
Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day.
(Zechariah 14)
…Messiah also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
(Hebrews 9:28)
“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.”
(Matthew 16:27)
“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”
(John 5:19-24)
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
(Matthew 25:31-46)
A Tree and Its Fruit
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
(Matthew 7:15-23)
The Two Foundations
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
(Matthew 7:24-27)
Two Resurrections
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”
(John 5:25-29)
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.
Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
Satan Freed, Doomed
When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Judgment at the Throne of God
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
(Revelations 20)
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”
(John 5:39-40)
“I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”
(John 6:35, 37-40)
The Narrow and Wide Gates
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
(Matthew 7:13-14)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.”
(John 14:6-11)
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.
So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
(John 10:1-10)
“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
(John 10:14-18)
At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
(John 10:22-23, 27-30)
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
(Romans 8:1-4)
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
(Colossians 1:14-20)
Christine Pack: As far as America goes, all people everywhere are commanded to repent and believe on Christ for the forgiveness of sins, but that is not the basic message of this book. This book teaches that there is a secret message encoded in the Bible that needs to be decoded to be understood, and if we will only buy this book and decode this message, then we can bring America back. But as I wrote above, this is the heresy of Gnosticism. Our country does not need a “special” Gnostic teaching to tell us what we already know about repentance, salvation and the forgiveness of sins. In fact, I tend to agree with John MacArthur (When God Abandons A Nation), that when we look around us, we don’t need to wonder, will we be judged? because we are already under judgment. First came the sexual revolution of the 60s/70s/80s (Romans 1:24), then came the homosexual revolution (Romans 1:26-27), and next comes the debased mind (Romans 1:28). We are following the trajectory laid out in Romans 1, and where we are indicates not a country that is basically good and can come back to its moral center, but a country that has been given over to its depravity. So we can churn out book after book about “taking back America” and “reclaiming America” (including Jonathan Cahn’s The Harbinger), but in my opinion, America is past the tipping point. True Bible-believing Christians are in the minority in this country, and a minority is never going to reclaim a culture. We need to proclaim the gospel and snatch the few that we can from the flames.
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: Next Ms. Pack writes, “As far as America goes, all people everywhere are commanded to repent and believe on Christ for the forgiveness of sins, but that is not the basic message of this book.” As far as when Ms. Pack writes that “As far as America goes, all people everywhere are commanded to repent and believe on Christ for the forgiveness of sins,” she is correct. But she is patently incorrect when she follows what she writes with, “but that is not the basic message of this book.” The Harbinger devotes an entire chapter to the Gospel in which it is lovingly presented in a conversation between Nouriel Kaplan and the prophet.
But it gets worse. What Ms. Pack writes next is an nothing but sophistry. There is no secret message encoded in the Bible, and The Harbinger nowhere makes this claim. This is one of the many misunderstandings that have been made against it by its critics. It is most unfortunate for Ms. Pack to write, “This book teaches that there is a secret message encoded in the Bible that needs to be decoded to be understood, and if we will only buy this book and decode this message, then we can bring America back. But as I wrote above, this is the heresy of Gnosticism. Our country does not need a “special” Gnostic teaching to tell us what we already know about repentance, salvation and the forgiveness of sins.”
As I made clear above, The Harbinger is not Gnosticism and Christine Pack should know better than to call it that. Calling something by a name or trying to describe it a certain way does not mean that what is being described or given that name is necessarily that. Ms. Pack can insist all she wants, but The Harbinger is simply not Gnosticism. Calling that doesn’t make it become it.
It is interesting that Christine Pack agrees with the basic premise of The Harbinger, well, unwittingly when she writes:
“I tend to agree with John MacArthur (When God Abandons A Nation), that when we look around us, we don’t need to wonder, will we be judged? because we are already under judgment. First came the sexual revolution of the 60s/70s/80s (Romans 1:24), then came the homosexual revolution (Romans 1:26-27), and next comes the debased mind (Romans 1:28). We are following the trajectory laid out in Romans 1, and where we are indicates not a country that is basically good and can come back to its moral center, but a country that has been given over to its depravity. So we can churn out book after book about “taking back America” and “reclaiming America” (including Jonathan Cahn’s The Harbinger), but in my opinion, America is past the tipping point. True Bible-believing Christians are in the minority in this country, and a minority is never going to reclaim a culture. We need to proclaim the gospel and snatch the few that we can from the flames.”
Well, while I agree with the basic premise of what Ms. Pack writes here, I disagree that The Harbinger is like other books that are trying to reclaim a culture. And I agree that the main goal of the Christian is not to reclaim the culture, but to preach Christ, because He is the One who alone saves and is the Only One who alone can transform a person. I agree that “We need to proclaim the gospel (sic) and snatch the few that we can from the flames.” Having said that, I can also posit that it is the message of the Gospel that The Harbinger devotes an entire chapter to, and to this end, if the Gospel is preached and people are transformed, a culture and therefore even a nation can be transformed. Look at Jonah and Nineveh. Jonah’s prophetic warning transformed a generation and Assyria’s capital city was spared of God’s wrath, even without having preached repentance, or the hope of salvation that we preach and Christ offers to everyone who will accept it allow Him proper place – Lordship over their lives and destiny.
Christine Pack: Jonathan Cahn’s Extrabiblical, Mystical Sources
“An incredible thing, it blew me away, I found it in the mystical writings, Jewish writings, of the Zohar*….” Jonathan Cahn, discussing extra-biblical, mystical writings as his sources.
* Please note that Zohar is an extrabiblical, mystical source from which the occultic and mystical Kabbalah is derived.
The Zohar Speaks
Jonathan Cahn | Myspace Video
Jonathan Cahn Goes on Glenn Beck’s Show To Discuss How To “Save A Nation”
Harbinger author Jonathan Cahn joined Mormon Glenn Beck for two segments of Beck’s June 26/June 27 programs, and said the following things about The Harbinger:
“The Harbinger is a two and a half thousand year mystery that lies behind everything.”
“The message of The Harbinger is not to condemn, it’s to wake up and it’s to call back. This is I believe coming out now for a reason, it’s to save a nation, and to turn back.”
“We can’t maintain our blessings without God…..America is blessed as much as America follows God. If America does not follow God, you cannot expect the smiles of heaven.”
Once again, a Gnostic teaching about a “mystery” that has to be decoded, and a call for America to turn back to God.
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: Again here Christine Pack resorts to the same tactic of the others (Kjos and James), to bring up Rabbi Cahn’s apologetic message, The Zohar Speaks to conjure up the notion in people’s minds that somehow that message and The Harbinger are synonymous with Kabbalah, magic and sorcery, Gnosticism, Freemasonry, and Pagan Occult beliefs and that Jonathan Cahn is some type of New Age shaman. With regards to prophetic revelation that will come in “the End Time” – “the Last Days” – I’ve written the following:
The prophet Daniel himself is told to seal the prophecy of his book until the last days. Let’s go to God’s Word:
Then I, Daniel, looked and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the river and the other on that bank of the river. And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be until the end of these wonders?” I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed. As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?” He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand. From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days! But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age.”
(Daniel 12:5-13)
Without question, the prophecy contained within the Book of Daniel would be sealed until “the end time.” The Gospel itself was a mystery that was revealed only after the cross, but prophesied about and seen from a distance from ages past through the words of the prophets who prophesied of the grace of God, and who inquired about what they were prophesying about, things in which angels longed to look into. (1Peter 1:10-12) What’s more, Paul writes that the revelation that God would admit the Gentiles into the Israel of God – Jew and Gentile one in Messiah – while preserving His people Israel for a future time when “all Israel will be saved,” (Romans 11:26); indeed he calls the partial hardening of Israel a mystery (Romans 11:25) because until the cross, anyone who wished to be admitted into the congregation of Israel had to first convert to Judaism through Mosaic Circumcision in order to be grafted in a by becoming converted Jews, but Christ has circumcised the heart of those coming from among the nations and adopted them to the family of God as His fellow heirs, by redeeming them for God through His blood, and paying for the adoption as Father’s children (Romans 8:14-17), and sealing them with His life giving Spirit (John 20:31, Acts 2:38, Romans 8:10-11, 1Corinthians 15:45, Colossians 1:26-27) so they may enjoy the fellowship of the Holy Spirit through whom we all – Jew and Gentile alike – an ongoing process (Galatians 4:19, Ephesians 4:13) – so that we may all come before the throne of grace with confidence of His grace. (Hebrews 4:16) Paul calls this a hidden mystery that had been sealed until God called him to preach it. I quote:
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.
(Ephesians 3:1-10)
The Apostle Paul writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, also bears witness that the Third Person of the Trinity is the One who imparts to God’s children– the redeemed of God, born again, who are one in the Spirit and walk as one in the Spirit – the revelatory knowledge of His inspired written Word (Ephesians 1:17), opening the closed and mysterious Book of the Bible to them (it is a closed book and a mystery to they who are perishing), and enabling them to understand the glories and magnificence of God’s kingdom and their new life in it as Christ reigns supreme in their hearts and in their minds. Thus in the Spirit, he concludes by writing the following heartfelt wish for all of Christ’s followers:
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is (able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
(Ephesians 3:14-21)
According to the inspired writings of the New Testament, we have been living in these End Times since the end of the Day of Pentecost. See for example, in Acts 2 :14-36 where Peter precedes his monologue by quoting from Joel 2:28-29 “’And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,” (Acts 2:16-21) referring to the events of which he and the other first fruits of believers were partakers of, to which the crowds of Jewish pilgrims visiting Jerusalem were eye witnesses; as he spoke of about Joel’s prophecy coming to pass right before their eyes. We have witnessed amazing prophetic fulfillments in our day – the ingathering of the Jewish people to the land of Israel and the resurrection of a nation in one day, including the resurrection of the language of Hebrew in our day – amazing things that have never happened before in human history.
There is nothing about this Spirit-imparted ability that we as believers should be alarmed about. There is nothing about the things of God which are to the world mysteries, and hidden in Christ from the intellect and wisdom and thinking of unregenerate minds of the unsaved that should alarm us, because the written Word of God and the teachings of Christ (as we have seen) makes it clear that these things are understood and revealed by the Holy Spirit, and taught to us by Him as we read the Bible. Yes, to those who are perishing we speak as though in foolish riddles, and our words appear as though we speak mysteries. (1Corinthians 1:18) So why should some of these people read into our words – as they do with The Harbinger – things which are not there, when we write and speak about the hidden mysteries of God in his prophetic word, some of which judging by the myriad number of interpretations Evangelicals and others have of them; He has sealed until these last days, as we have seen with the Book of Daniel, with the Gospel to the nations itself, and with the impartation of the Holy Spirit to people who were before they came to faith in Christ outside of the Commonwealth of Israel?
Christine Pack: Conclusion
But, why is Jonathan Cahn, who is a Christian pastor, linking with a Mormon (Glenn Beck) in order to proclaim his message? Christians and Mormons do not worship the same God, and for Cahn to appear with Mormon Glenn Beck and for the two to discuss God and America turning back to God can only serve to send a very confusing message to the world about who “God” is.
Does The Harbinger hold clues to helping America find her way back God? In my view, Jonathan Cahn’s book is “hooking” those Christians in America who are burdened over the rising tide of immorality in our country, and who desire for America to repent and come back to the Lord. This is not a wrong or wicked desire…..it’s just that, it might not play out that way, in God’s sovereign plan. And this desire can become problematic, especially when Christians begin linking with non-Christians (as Jonathan Cahn did with Mormon Glenn Beck) in an effort to force those desires to come to fruition.
“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14)
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: Pastor David Jeremiah, one of the true leading men of God in our nation today, gave the following insight into what it means not to be bound with unbelievers, and places it in its proper biblical context with regards to socialization and the Gospel. I would love to quote his entire article, but I will only quote with that portion of it that is relevant to this discussion.
“Probably this is the most familiar portion of Scripture found in 2 Corinthians. The statement that begins verse 14 may be one of the most oft quoted portions of this marvelous epistle. It says, "Do not be bound together, or unequally yoked with unbelievers." And that is the principle which is so foundational, so much a cornerstone of Christian living that we have to give our attention to it very, very carefully.
“Now just at first reading it is clear from this passage that the Apostle Paul identifies two opposing worlds, two opposing realms or spheres or kingdoms or dimensions of life. One is described and characterized by righteousness, light, Christ, believers and the presence of God. The other is characterized, or described as lawless, dark, satanic, occupied by unbelievers and the presence of idols. Two societies, two realms, two spheres utterly different, utterly distinct, completely incongruous and incompatible. And the Apostle says there is no possibility for people in these two kingdoms to be bound together in common work, no partnership, no fellowship, no harmony, no commonality and no agreement does or can really exist.
“Years ago there was a ballad titled, "Two Different Worlds," and the first line simply said, "We live in two different worlds." And that is precisely the case here. Two different worlds that have utterly nothing in common. No one really lives in both. Some people try unsuccessfully but they are two distinct. One is old, the other is new. One is earthly, the other is heavenly. One is deadly, the other is life giving. One is material, the other is spiritual. One is filled with lies, the other is all truth. One relates to the unclean and the other to the pure. And Paul's message in this text is intended to make it very clear to all Christians that there is no possibility of living in both or shuttling back and forth.
“You say, ‘Why does he address that here?’ Answer, because the Corinthians were endeavoring to live in both or at least to shuttle back and forth. They had come to Christ. In chapter 5 and verse 17 the Apostle Paul had stated that if any man is in Christ he is a new creature. The old things passed away, behold new things have come. Salvation is called newness of life. And the Corinthians had entered into that newness. They had come to the new and the heavenly and the life giving and the spiritual and the true. They had come into the kingdom that is characterized by righteousness, light, Christ and the presence of God. And there was no possibility of having a relationship of any intimacy with what was old and earthly and deadly and material and filled with lies, what was lawless and dark and satanic and idolatrous. They had been made pure and they could have no further fellowship with what was impure.
“That's Paul's message and the Corinthians needed to hear it. Why? Because they were moving back and forth between the two incompatible, incongruous realms. Like the Thessalonians of whom Paul says, "You turned to God from idols," 1 Thessalonians 1:9, they had done that. The Corinthians had turned to God from idols but because of the influences of the pagan culture they were in they kept going back to the old idolatry. And there was really no possibility of any agreement, any harmony, any partnership, any fellowship with that old kingdom. They were allowing themselves because of the influence of their culture to get sucked back into the forms of their old idolatry.
“And to make matters worse, into their midst had come false teachers who brought a syncretistic eclectic kind of religion that took Christianity, Judaism and the most popular forms of pagan idolatry and melted it all together to form a false and satanic and damnable heresy which had had a great influence in the Corinthian church to the degree that some of the Corinthians had even turned against Paul in favor of these false apostles and lying teachers who had come with their doctrine of demons, their satanic concoction and now they were trying to link Christianity with this new stuff and link Paul with these false apostles and such was an absolute and utter impossibility. And more than just being impossible, it was frighteningly damaging, as we shall see.
“So Paul has to address himself to this problem in Corinth. It was there when he wrote the first letter, 1 Corinthians, to them. It was there before 1 Corinthians when he wrote his initial letter which doesn't appear in the Scripture. It is still there and it has been exacerbated now because of the arrival of the false teachers who have brought in another form of pagan religion mingled with perhaps Judaism and somehow Christianity to make it more palatable and so here are these erstwhile Corinthians, flopping back and forth from Christ to their pagan religion of the past, sometimes unwittingly. And so Paul makes a direct statement in verse 14 that is the command, the mandate, the standard and the principle which is elucidated in the rest of the text. It is this, "Do not be bound together with unbelievers."
“That is a classic statement. As I said, probably the most familiar statement out of this entire letter. It is a classic call by the Apostle to separation from unbelievers. And, in fact, that is the greatest challenge that you as a Christian have, and me too. Not to be bound together with unbelievers is our greatest challenge, to live a separated life is a tremendous challenge, particularly in a culture which is bombarding us with all of the elements of paganism.
“It is not only our greatest challenge, it is our greatest source of joy and usefulness when we obey that command. The pure and the polluted share nothing in common ultimately. And the people of God cannot form intimate relationships with those who don't belong to God. All relationships like that are superficial. You cannot make a meaningful relationship with an enemy of the gospel. They live in a different world with a different and completely hostile and antagonistic leader.
“Now what does that mean? What are the implications of that? Well first of all, the term "bound together" is usually translated "unequally yoked" because it comes from a Greek term that can have that implication. In fact, the Greek term, the Greek verb that is sometimes translated "unequally yoked," heterozugeo, can be used of yoking up in a common effort. Paul draws this analogy, however, not from the usage of the Greek term but from a concept back in Deuteronomy 22:10. When God was laying out prescriptions for the conduct of His people, He gave them a lot of prescriptions that on the surface are not particularly spiritual, they had to do with the uniqueness of Israel's life. But some of them were very practical and wise and one of the things that He instructed them, recorded in Deuteronomy 22:10 is that they were not to plow with an ox and an ass yoked together. And the reasons for that are obvious. Those two animals have two different natures. They don't have the same gait, they don't have the same disposition, they don't have the same strength. They don't have the same kind of instincts, completely different natures. You can't yoke them up and expect a straight furrow. And Paul is borrowing off of that analogy and using a Greek term that was used in that same kind of way, speaking of unequal yokes or equal yokes. In fact, in Paul's time that very verb was used to refer to teachers linked up in a common religion or common philosophy or a common school who did not agree and they were said to be unequally yoked.
“And so, Paul is borrowing from the Hebrew analogy of the Old Testament, and as well borrowing from some of the Greek usage of that very term because it does mean to be yoked...to be involved in a common enterprise linked together. And to have to do the same thing in perfect harmony is an utter impossibility if we are talking about a believer and an unbeliever. Do not allow yourself to be bound together in a yoke with an unbeliever.
“Now that opens up all kinds of possibilities. What in the world does Paul mean when he says, "Don't be bound together with unbelievers? How are we to understand that because the implications of that have all kinds of significance for our lives?"
“Now somebody is going to come along and say, "Well look, in the purest and truest sense it's really calling you to the monastic life style. Well what it's calling you to is that you should do like those monks of centuries ago, put on some dirty clothes and find a cave and stay there till you die. And you know, just stay up there and get dirtier and dirtier and read the Scripture and contemplate your navel and don't let anybody influence you. Just isolate yourself."
“That's really...it was the misinterpretation of this that was behind the monastic mentality. And some of us in a more modern environment might say, "Well what it really means is you better be sure that you buy your home from a Christian real estate agent. And you buy your car from a Christian car dealer. And that you make sure you've got Christian neighbors. And you make sure that you have your kids in a Christian school. And you make sure you buy your insurance from a Christian agent. And you make sure you find a Christian butcher," and on and on and on, ad infinitum. "And we just cannot get into any kind of thing and make sure, boy, you don't want to be in a mutual fund, boy, then you're really linked up with unbelievers. You better be careful who's putting money in your bank." I mean, it goes on and on and on.
“Where do we draw this line here? How far does this go? What about dating? What about marriage? What about a partnership? What about being on a team? What about working together with someone? What about recreating together with them? What about a mutual fund? What about a common business? What about a partnership? What about a limited partnership? What about...what about? Where do we draw the line here? What are we talking about? Are we supposed to go out of the world?
“Well that's kind of hard because the great commission says go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature, right? So we're not supposed to go out of the world. In fact, look what Paul said to the Corinthians. They would understand that statement in the context of what he had already said to them. So let's go back to 1 Corinthians and see how Paul defines what he means by that. And he sets some very clear parameters so that we don't have to be confused.
“In 1 Corinthians chapter 9, and we're going to kind of look at a few Scriptures in 1 Corinthians. I hadn't intended to really develop this this way but that's the way it turned out in the first service so that's the way it will turn out here. In fact, I told the people that...that I spent hours and hours and days and days preparing all of this and covered what I wrote in five minutes. And that's the adventure of preaching. I'm interested to hear what I'm going to say, and if I can remember what I said to them, I'll say it to you.
“First Corinthians chapter 9 verse 20, now Paul...verse 19 really sets it up, "Although I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all that I might win them more." Now Paul is saying, "Look, I'm free from all men, in one sense, I have been catapulted into the kingdom of light, there's no encumbrances in this world, but I have made myself consciously and purposely a slave to them all for evangelistic purposes." So Paul didn't want to pull out of the word...world, he was anything but a monastic. I mean, he was in the middle of everything. He was in the middle of every crowd there was. He was like Jesus, he created crowds. He went where the sinners were for the purpose of evangelism. And he says, verse 20, "To the Jews I became as Jew that I might win Jews, to those who were under the law as under the law, though not being myself under the law that I might win those who are under the law." He became a Jew and to those fastidious law-keeping Pharisees, he even followed their path, if need be, to win them.
“And to those who are without law, Gentiles, verse 21, he "...became as without law though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men that I may by all means save some and I do all things for the sake of the gospel that I may become a fellow partaker of it," another way of saying that I might have partners in this deal, I want to win people to Christ.
“So, look, Paul didn't leave the world. He didn't run from it. He got right in the middle of it for the purpose of leading people to the knowledge of Christ. He is not calling for isolation. There's no place for isolation from unbelievers. If God wanted us isolated from unbelievers, He would have saved us and instantly catapulted us into heaven. He is not calling for isolation. In fact, we are mandated to intersect with the unsaved all the time.
“Now let's follow this and see where Paul really sets his limits. Let's begin by going back to 1 Corinthians chapter 5, 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Somebody is going to say, "Well, I'll tell you right now, I...I'm going to limit my association with worldly people, I'm just not going to associate with...with really the riff-raff, I'm not going to associate with the bad ones. I just want to stay away from that. Is that where I draw the line?" Well, 1 Corinthians 5:9, ‘I wrote to you in my letter, previous to 1 Corinthians he had written them a letter, I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people.’
“And somebody is going to say, "That's it, there it is, that's the proof, I'm not associating with them." But, verse 10, "I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world." I'm not talking about unregenerate immoral people, or covetous or swindlers, or idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. And the implication would be to do that would be...what?...sinful, wrong, shirking your responsibility. I don't want you to go up in a cave. Paul says, "No, no, I'm not talking about not associating with immoral people in the world," verse 11, "I'm talking about associating with so-called brothers who are immoral, covetous, idolaters, revilers, drunkards, swindlers." I'm not talking about immoral people in the world, I'm talking about immoral people...where?...in the church. You've got to deal with those people. They'll pollute the fellowship. They're like leaven, you've got to put them out, you've got to turn them over to Satan, you've got to deal with them, don't eat with them. If they're heretics, admonish them a few times then dismiss them.
“Verse 12, "For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside God judges." What I'm concerned about, Paul is, those who are outside...Paul says...are going to fall into the judgment of God and I need to reach them with the gospel. So whatever it means not to be joined together or unequally yoked with unbelievers, it doesn't mean that we are to cut ourselves off from sinful unbelievers. Then we would have to go out of the world and going out of the world would defeat the very purpose for which God has left us in the world and that is to go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And what was the highest level of accusation ever rendered against Jesus from the religious establishment? They said he is the friend of...what?...sinners, he hangs around drunkards and wine bibbers and prostitutes and etc., etc. Sure, cause that's why he came. He didn't come for the righteous, but he came for sinners.
“So whatever it means not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, it doesn't mean that we are to cut off all association from them, otherwise we would have to go out of the world and that would be defying the very purpose for which the Lord saved us and left us and that is to go into the world. We need to be where they are.”
(David Jeremiah, Separating from Unbelievers, Part 1, 2 Corinthians 6:14)
When Jonathan Cahn appeared as a guest on Glenn Beck’s program on television, it was not to endorse Mr. Beck’s religious points of view, nor any other for that matter. What was discussed was precisely what Jonathan Cahn had set out to do when he purposed to go on the show; to call the nation and God’s people to repentance to God and to call on the Lord Jesus for salvation personal through the message of The Harbinger. There is absolutely no reason for this sister to take issue with Jonathan Cahn for having done what he did, because to do so, as she did here, was to commit the same error that Jesus’ detractors committed against Him when they criticized Him for the company He kept. Brethren, sister Pack; we have the Scriptures, and in this case, the Gospel narrative, warning us by the example of Scripture, of what Christ experienced when He walked the earth, to help us avert the same errors these people made. Why make the same mistake here and elsewhere whenever a brother appears on a secular show to discuss spiritual matters, as though their appearance on that program was synonymous with agreeing with that program’s viewpoints, when in fact it does not entail this, and we know so. Unfortunately, I believe that this dear but misguided sister in Christ in her zeal to defend the faith, got carried away and made this mistake by equating Jonathan Cahn’s appearance on Glenn Beck’s show with support for the man’s religious viewpoints. It is not. Jonathan Cahn visits various television hosts to speak of The Harbinger and share its warning and call to repentance, restoration in Christ, and renewal in God’s grace.
SIDEBAR: What follows is one of two article written by Jeremy James from Ireland, who invents connections between what is written in The Harbinger with his own interpretation of what he believes it represents, and uses extremely out-of-context examples of items in an incredible display of pure sophistry and clever invention. I am always amazed, but extremely saddened when I see this type of disinformation passing as a so-called defense of the Christian Faith. It is heart-breaking, because it nothing but pure contrived invention, and it is part of what created the urban legends about Jonathan Cahn being a Jewish Mystic and Kabbalist who dabbled in Witchcraft and Sorcery and while teaching Gnosticism. These articles are still, as far as I can tell, prominently displayed on the Worldview Weekend, The Berean Call, and The Alliance for Biblical Integrity websites as legitimate apologetics articles. They have not been pulled down, and have not been rebuked, though the hosts to these three sites know fully well that Jonathan Cahn is no Occult Mystic and Kabbalist, nor does he dabble in Sorcery and Witchcraft while teaching Gnosticism and Theosophy, as some of them have accused Rabbi Cahn of doing. Brethren, this is as bad as those who accused Jews of conspiracies in such Anti-Semitic writings as Protocols of the Elders of Zion. This is as bad as bad can get, and coming from Christian Evangelical brethren. It is nothing less than disgraceful.
Jeremy James: Posted on July 15, 2012
The Harbinger, the Inverted Tree, and Why Christians need to Discriminate very carefully between Prophecy and Speculation
by Jeremy James
Trinity Root : sculpture of an inverted tree outside Trinity Church on Wall Street
“The Sephirothic tree of the Qabbalah was therefore inverted…”- Manly P Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages
_______________________
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: See what I mean? Mr. James uses the eye-gate to connect the uprooted sycamore root that actually was struck by debris from the falling Twin Towers on 9/11 with the Kabbalah’s Sephirote. This is so ludicrous that it barely deserves mention. It is embarrassing the ignorance that is evident here, and yet this is promoted by these critics of The Harbinger. One can understand that these people need all the help they can get, but this is not the kind of help they really should desire or welcome. This is absolutely absurd, but this is how Jeremy James begins his broadside against The Harbinger. The Harbinger is not speculation, but a record of events that have transpired which form a biblical pattern of judgment that has been and continues to be reenacted on American soil as it did in ancient Israel two thousand seven hundred years ago.
If Mr. Jeremy James has an issue with whether America is under God’s judgment, then he’s at variance with most discerning Evangelical Christians, because the signs of a nation being warned repeatedly by God of judgment, a nation that has strayed far off course, a nation that is showing advance stages of degeneracy and is in steep decline is all around US. If Jeremy James thinks that the events depicted and described in The Harbinger were made up, then I suggest that he go back to bed and continue sleeping for the next hundred years. Even The Harbinger’s worst critic, David James agrees that America appears to be in some kind of judgment, and even graciously commends The Harbinger for warning America and calling people to individual repentance. In probably one of the few places in his polemic where he writes accurately, he posits the following:
“The overall purpose of The Harbinger is to explain that an ancient mystery revealed by these harbingers is a call to America to repent for rejecting God and abandoning the foundations upon which the country was built. The mystery therefore also warns of the imminent danger of God’s judgment if this call is ignored.
“Make no mistake – calling America back to God is a valid message and one that needs to be proclaimed. America is clearly in trouble in many ways. Cahn (sic) rightly points out that ‘Judgment isn’t ultimately about nations – but people. . . . And no one is exempt. Each must stand before Him.’ He thus challenges his readers to understand that what is even more important than a nation facing temporal judgment is that those who do not turn to Christ are facing eternal judgment. Jonathan Cahn is to be commended for his passion and commitment to sharing this message with as wide an audience as possible.”
(David James, The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction? from the Introduction, page 19, The Berean Call, Bend, Oregon, 2012)
This is an amazing admission coming from David James, and he is most gracious to have made it, but unfortunately it is brief and isolated, considering what follows after, one is left wondering if he wrote to “soften up” and “disarm” the reader. These remarks just do not fit with the rest of the narrative of this book. His book goes on to invent a new narrative for The Harbinger that simply does not exist, just as Jeremy James does here in this article in his sad attempt to connect an uprooted sycamore with the Kabbalistic Sephirote
Jeremy James: The Harbinger is a best-selling book by Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, published in January 2012. The publisher’s blurb on the back cover includes the following: Is it possible…That there exists an ancient mystery that holds the secret of America’s future? That this mystery is behind everything from 9/11 to the collapse of the global economy? That God is now sending a prophetic message on which America’s future hangs? Before its end as a nation, there appeared in ancient Israel a series of specific omens and signs warning of destruction – these same Nine Harbingers are now manifesting in America with profound ramifications for America’s future and end-time prophecy.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/98699045/The-Harbinger-The-Inverted-Tree-And-Prophetic-Speculation
Hidden in an ancient biblical verse from the Book of Isaiah, the mysteries revealed in The Harbinger are so precise that they foretell recent American events down to the exact days…the 3,000-year-old mystery that revealed the exact date of the stock market collapse of 2008…the ancient prophecy that was proclaimed from the floor of the US Senate and then came true…and more. The revelations are so specific that even the most hardened skeptic will find it hard to put down. Though it sounds like the plot of a Hollywood thriller – it’s real.
***
Fact or Fiction?
The message of repentance in The Harbinger is immensely important. We should shout it from the rooftops. But there are serious problems with the way the message is presented. And if we remain silent about these problems, we are failing in our duty to examine prophetic warnings, from whatever source, in strict accordance with God’s Holy Word. Americans find it very hard to accept that their nation is not mentioned in the Bible, except as one of the many Gentile nations on the earth today. Any responsible theologian who claimed that it was mentioned would be expected to demonstrate his conviction in a sound scriptural manner, in accordance with accepted principles of Biblical exegesis. But Rabbi Cahn does not do this. Instead he expresses his opinion in a fictional format and so avoids the need for traditional, legitimate scholarship. He assumes that his readers will get caught up in the flow of the narrative and will choose to believe his thesis. This would be perfectly okay were it not for the fact that he, or at least his supporters, also want his thesis to be accepted as though its truth had already been demonstrated in a sound Biblical manner. But he can’t have it both ways.
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: Jeremy James begins by quoting what I believe is a World Net Daily promotional of The Harbinger, and then he writes commendably here in the same manner as David James has in the portion of his book we cite above, when he declares emphatically, “The message of repentance in The Harbinger is immensely important. We should shout it from the rooftops. But there are serious problems with the way the message is presented. And if we remain silent about these problems, we are failing in our duty to examine prophetic warnings, from whatever source, in strict accordance with God’s Holy Word. Americans find it very hard to accept that their nation is not mentioned in the Bible, except as one of the many Gentile nations on the earth today. Any responsible theologian who claimed that it was mentioned would be expected to demonstrate his conviction in a sound scriptural manner, in accordance with accepted principles of Biblical exegesis.”; but like David James, he soon also descends in his remarks about The Harbinger, and writes, “But Rabbi Cahn does not do this. Instead he expresses his opinion in a fictional format and so avoids the need for traditional, legitimate scholarship. He assumes that his readers will get caught up in the flow of the narrative and will choose to believe his thesis. This would be perfectly okay were it not for the fact that he, or at least his supporters, also want his thesis to be accepted as though its truth had already been demonstrated in a sound Biblical manner. But he can’t have it both ways.”
Jeremy James next make a gratuitous reference to theology in accordance with accepted principles of biblical exegesis, as though this would in any way legitimize the ridiculous analogies he’s made in this article, and the dubious connections he’s tried to pass on to his readers as though they actually existed. He writes, “Any responsible theologian who claimed that it was mentioned would be expected to demonstrate his conviction in a sound scriptural manner, in accordance with accepted principles of Biblical exegesis.” This is entirely gratuitous on his part and meant to convey to the reader that he supports “accepted” exegesis, forgetting that depending on denomination, theological orientation, and yes, even religion; there are many “accepted” principles of exegesis – “accepted” that is by the denomination that supports it and uses it. Additionally, this statement of his, like the rest, do not add a single argument against The Harbinger and in support of its critics; it only serves to show once more that these are clever and well-written polemics, but when directly addressed in a concise biblical manner, and exposed as simple sophistries, they are seen for the ephemeral vapors that waft into the air without any substance whatsoever. I do not like to write in this manner regarding what another brother in the faith has written, but what Jeremy James write here is absurd, and his arguments have no value when he attempts to debunk The Harbinger. Just like “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel,” much in the same way, “gratuitous appeals to responsible theology is the last refuge of a religious scoundrel.” Any one of us can fall into that category if we attempt to manipulate another’s reasoning powers of perception by this type of gratuitous appeal to “orthodoxy” and “responsible exegesis” and “correct hermeneutics.” For the born again believer, regardless of his denominational affiliation, these things go without saying. To bring them up and use them to win someone over in an argument is intellectually dishonest and manipulative. But it’s done all the time by critics of The Harbinger. David James’ polemic is an entire volume that serves as a testament to this type of manipulation.
Additionally, Jonathan Cahn does not express “his opinion in a fictional format” as if to “avoid the need for traditional, legitimate scholarship,” as Mr. James posits here. The events that The Harbinger describes happened. They were not inventions, and they happened as described in The Harbinger long before Jonathan Cahn wrote his book. What’s more, he has said repeatedly in many interviews that though he originally intended the narrative of The Harbinger to be non-fictional, the publishers believed that writing it within a fictional narrative would reach beyond the Evangelicals in reaching the larger Non-Christian readership with the message of personal repentance and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They were right. Why does this brother in Christ (Jeremy James) impute to Jonathan Cahn motivations that he did not have when he wrote his book? And even in the face of Rabbi Cahn’s repeated and candid explanation of why he used a fictional narrative for The Harbinger? Why does Jeremy James do this? Because it furthers the false witness being established here along with the many others, which cumulatively have created urban legends about Jonathan Cahn that simply do not exist.
Next, Mr. James delves into the realm of pure speculation, even quoting a questionable source, Manly Palmer Hall, an avid collector of some of “most extensive collection of rare books and manuscripts in alchemy and esoteric fields from London auctioneer, Sotheby & Company.” (Wikipedia the Online Encyclopedia, Manly Palmer Hall)
Jeremy James: Either The Harbinger is fiction or it is fact. Since he chose to publish it in a fictional genre he is not entitled to claim that his work is anything other than speculation.
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: Allow me to provide this explanation. It is amazing that Jeremy James can’t tell the difference. But of course he can, he’s just using this argument as a vehicle to discredit The Harbinger by purposely blurring the fictional narrative’s description of the nine harbingers, and other elements that comprise the book which record factual events that have taken place. This is done in order to sow confusion as a tactic of discreditation of a piece of literature Mr. James finds he objects to. In the absence of any substantive criticism he can present, he concocts these fallacies which is the same that David James does in his criticisms of The Harbinger.
Jeremy James: Methodology
In his videotaped talk, The Zohar Speaks (which can be viewed on YouTube), Rabbi Cahn refers to the following passage from the Kabbalistic book, the Zohar, but then proceeds to quote it in a very selective way, as we shall see: “In the Gulgalta sit thirteen thousand myriads of worlds which move on feet and lean on them. And from that Gulgalta dew drips upon Him who is outside, and fills his head every day, as it is written, My head is filled with dew (Songs 5:2). And from that dew which He who sits outside shakes from His head, the dead will awaken in the World to Come, as it is written, For a dew of light is Thy dew, and the earth shall bring forth thes hades (Isa. 26:19). That dew is the light of the pale glow of the Ancient One. And from that dew exist the supernal saints, and it is the manna which they grind for the righteous in the World to Come. And that dew drips down to the field of Sacred Apples…” Idra Rabba, Zohar 3: 128b
[Quoted in The Messiah Texts by Raphael Patai, Wayne State University, 1979]
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: Here Jeremy James alludes to a teaching Jonathan Cahn gave that uses an excerpt from the Book of Zohar for apologetics purposes in support of the Gospel where it speaks of the place where the Lord was crucified as called Golgotha. Rabbi Cahn uses a hostile witness – The Zohar – to substantiate as a hostile witness the place of Christ’s crucifixion. I defer to Ladybug’s excellent explanation of this, and a discovery she made about David James’ writing. I quote:
David excluded some VERY CRITICAL portions of Jonathan's quote from his ZOHAR SPEAKS message-the same one he used to charge Jonathan with promoting mysticism. When Jonathan referred his congregation to The Zohar, he specifically said to them, "Listen to the rabbis..on THAT point". David failed to include those last three words in his first edition AND he failed to mention that The Zohar was being used simply as a "hostile witness" even though Jonathan BENT OVER BACKWARDS to explain this-INCLUDING on Brannon Howse's 7/3/12 show (David even cited THIS PART of the interview in his book-but only what suited him), both of which are VERY IMPORTANT. He added them later-after he was called out on it. But it's even worse than that. First, David NEVER mentioned that this was an APOLOGETIC series in EITHER edition. Second, when I compared more of what David quoted vs. what was actually said, I was ASTOUNDED! Below is the way his second edition copy reads:
". . . And now the very hill, the very place, here in, of all places, the rabbinical writings, the Zohar. . . . you want mercy, you go there. Listen to the rabbis on this point. . . ."
and below in caps is the portion David CONVENIENTLY removed:
". . . And now the very hill, the very place, here in, of all places, the rabbinical writings, the Zohar UNWITTINGLY GIVES THE NAME OF IT - GULGATAH - WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY WOULD HAVE CALLED IT AND TEACHES THAT GOLGOTHA IS THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING - OF GOD'S MERCY... you want mercy, you go there. Listen to the rabbis... on THAT point. . . ."
“Did you catch that? It's not very clear where people are to go for mercy in David's quote & he EVEN makes it appear as though Jonathan could very well be directing people to go to the Zohar ITSELF for God's mercy. But when Rabbi Cahn is quoted IN FULL, it is CLEAR that he is directing them to Golgotha! What was going on in David's mind here? Were these few extra words too much to include in this quote? Did his hands suddenly go limp & he could type no more? How could he believe this was unimportant?
In June, 2013, I decided to purchase the CD - which is available on the Beth Israel website (Message #840). At the VERY BEGINNING of that message, which prefaces EVERYTHING else that is taught, Rabbi Cahn says:
"The rabbis - who denied Him and yet who bear witness to Him - which is a powerful thing because, remember, these are the words of a HOSTILE WITNESS but, somehow, the Spirit of God has forced these things into the writings so that Messiah, even by denying - is upheld. And so it's a very powerful thing in seeing how real and true and how legitimate - how totally - the Messiah is Jesus!"
Rabbi Cahn also kept repeating the phrase, "EVEN the rabbis [are testifying]..." in that message - CLEARLY downplaying the rabbinical writings while upholding the Word of God!
Had David James thought to purchase this teaching off of the Beth Israel website in order to understand what was taught in its FULL CONTEXT instead of rushing to judgment & impugning bad motives by saying on his FACT OR FICTION webpage, & I quote, "Fortunately, I downloaded that video before Cahn had it pulled from YouTube", maybe he would have figured out that: #1) - Rabbi Cahn has nothing to hide since this teaching is still available for purchase, & #2) - that he does NOT promote the Zohar or any rabbinic writings, but uses them as hostile witnesses ONLY in order to point people to Christ, just as the apostle Paul had done with a hymn to Zeus! Case closed!
And as far as Jonathan quoting from THE ZOHAR in a positive manner... Why is it that people readily understand & accept the fact that Satan, who can only imitate God, can infiltrate the church but don't believe God can invade rabbinic writings or even the occult for that matter? He is a loving God Who wants people to come to a knowledge of the truth. He reaches people where they are. Jesus was criticized for "eating with tax collectors & sinners" because the Pharisees thought He should not associate with such godless people. All Jonathan was doing was demonstrating God's grace in directing people to Calvary with something as unlikely as THE ZOHAR! It causes me to praise God that He - our sovereign God - would lead people to the TRUTH in the most unlikely place!
I have never seen such sloppy research done as I did when I read Chapter 17 - the "mysticism" chapter. David could only use words like "appears", "apparently", "seems to suggest", "may be", & cites only the "titles and descriptions" of 10 messages Rabbi Cahn gave without viewing them before making such a serious charge. He also accused Jonathan of lifting up Hebrew mystical literature when, in reality, if you read that part of the story IN CONTEXT, it's clear that Rabbi Cahn was DISCREDITING it. No doubt, the apostle Paul would have appeared to David as a Zeus worshiper because the hymn he quoted was ABOUT Zeus when originally written. David also charged Jonathan with promoting himself as a prophet. Not true. He compared himself to Baruch the SCRIBE! Rabbi Cahn is WAY too humble to elevate himself to prophet status. This book TRULY is a train wreck that should have NEVER been written & is a clear demonstration that David's feet are WAY too swift to shed innocent blood.
3. Rabbi Cahn is charged with promoting occultic mysticism. However, Chuck Missler said something very interesting when he, himself, was being charged with mysticism. He challenged his own critics to find an adequate definition of mysticism. It's defined as having a direct experience with God... but trying to seek it outside God's Word is the occult. He then went on to explain that both Paul and John were mystics, CHRISTIAN MYSTICS - their highest dream was to be in Christ and Christ in them. David James said Rabbi Cahn was "apparently" promoting a FORM of mysticism but couldn't identify WHICH form. I think Chuck Missler identified it for him (Christian mysticism) & it's VERY Biblical!
But even Jeremy James concurs regarding this place and the use of the Zohar as an unwitting hostile witness, but his interpretation is erroneous at best, and wrong.
Jeremy James: He argues that the Gulgalta (skull) in the Zohar is a reference, albeit unwitting, to Golgotha (skull), the hill of Calvary where Christ was crucified. However, a plain reading of the text would strongly suggest that such an interpretation is completely unwarranted.
The Gulgalta of the Zohar is the skull or cranial cavity of the Kabbalistic godhead in which thousands of worlds exist and from which emanations project to support a messiah-type figure in the worlds below. Here is the text as quoted on YouTube by Rabbi Cahn (which I transcribed from the audio feed):“In the Gulgalta sit thousands of myriads of worlds. And from the Gulgalta drips dew and the dew fills the world and the dead will awaken in the world to come as the dew comes forth. The dew is the lights of the Ancient One. The light of the Ancient One comes from Gulgalta and as it touches the dead come to life. From Gulgalta is the light of God bringing life from the dead…”As you can see, the differences between the actual Zohar text and the one quoted by the Rabbi are significant. I am not suggesting for one moment that the Rabbi was deliberately misleading his audience in any way, but simply showing that he did not have full regard to what the Zohar was actually saying. In his eagerness to see a connection, he found one – just as he saw a connection between the tragic events of 9/11 and a solitary verse from Isaiah.
This kind of enthusiasm may be understandable in an evangelistic forum, but it should not be accepted as a substitute for sound scholarship and careful exegesis.
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: This is not true. Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira in his seminal work The Return of the Kosher Pig, makes a thorough examination of the rabbinic mystic writings, including the Book of Zohar, the Targums, the Talmud, and other mystic Jewish writings, which he says show that Judaism speaks with many voices regarding the Messiah, but one thing is clear; even these writings bear witness to the most fundamental teachings of Christianity regarding the deity of Christ, because they speak of a divine Messiah. But nowhere in Rabbi Shapira’s book will one find the interpretation that Jeremy James here gives the Kabalistic Sephirot, and then try to apply it to The Harbinger as though it contained any mention to it in its pages. It does not, and as far as The Zohar Speaks, I will repeat, Pastor Cahn’s use of it in this message is purely apologetic. He neither claims it to be divinely inspired, or on par with Scripture, as David James has accused him of doing in his book (The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction?, page 197-200, The Berean Call, Bend, Oregon 2012)
Jeremy James: The So-called Secret Destiny of America
The book has caught the popular imagination, and is fêted by celebrities like Glenn Beck, because it treats America as a nation of Destiny, a nation that has been ordained by God to play a major part in His plan for mankind. Those who hold to this view –which has no scriptural basis – have actually adopted a belief that is central to Freemasonry. Few Americans today, including readers of The Harbinger, seem to realize that their country’s history and future development has long been shaped and planned by the ultra-rich elite who control Congress (which in Masonic symbology is regarded as a Temple), as well as other key institutions in American society. Here’s the proof. Most American Masons will have read, or will at least be familiar with, a work published in 1944 by Manly Palmer Hall. This highly influential scholar is widely revered as one of the greatest authorities on the Craft. His book, The Secret Destiny of America , which is little known outside of Freemasonry, sets out the remarkably ambitious plan that the top Masonic degrees have long been following for the United States. It is worth one’s while to persevere with the following excerpts from Hall’s book since they shed considerable light on what is really happening in America today:
America cannot refuse the challenge of leadership in the postwar world .Mere physical reconstruction of ravaged countries and the reorganization of political, economic, and social systems is the lesser task we will face. The larger problem and the great challenge is in how to set up a new order of world ethics firmly established on a foundation of democratic idealism…I dedicate this book to the proposition that American Democracy is part of a Universal Plan…Thousands of years ago, in Egypt, these mystical orders were aware of the existence of the western hemisphere and the great continent which we call America. The bold resolution was made that this western continent should become the site of the philosophic empire…And so it is from the remote past, from the deep shadows of the medieval world as well as from the early struggles of more modern times, that the power of American democracy has come. But we are only on the threshold of the democratic state.
Not only must we preserve that which we have gained through ages of striving, we must also perfect the plan of the ages, setting up here the machinery for a world brotherhood of nations and races…Greek mythology perpetuates the knowledge of a blessed land beyond the Western Boundaries of Ocean. In this blessed land dwelt the Hesperides, the beautiful daughters of Night, and here also at the end of each day the sun came to rest. In popular mythology the Hesperic Isles were a kind of terrestrial paradise…By the wisdom then of those gods who are eternally vigilant over the needs of man, the blessed lands of the west were set apart, for none of the great civilizations of the past rose in North America to overshadow the continent with the ruins of old tradition, or to set up the corruptions of old administrative policy…The old seer [ Nostradamus ] refers to this country under several names. He calls it the Hisparides, the Blessed Isles of the West. In another place he simply names it America. And his third designation of it is, the Land Which Keeps the Thursday. This last form is the most astonishing. For it refers to the unique American holiday, Thanksgiving, which always falls upon a Thursday. And this the only holiday which depends upon the day alone for its observance…Franklin spoke for the Order of the Quest [ the secret society behind Freemasonry ], and most of the men who worked with him in the early days of the American Revolution were also members. The plan was working out, the New Atlantis was coming into being, in accordance with the program laid down by Francis Bacon a hundred and fifty years earlier. The rise of American democracy was necessary to a world program.- Manly P Hall, The Secret Destiny of America , 1944
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: This is where Jeremy James goes further “off the rails” by that The Harbinger has connections to Mormonism (Glenn Beck) and Freemasonry because of Glenn Beck’s endorsement of it, and because according to Jeremy James in this article, so do Freemasons. Really? Where is the proof for this? And how does he come by this information? What’s more, by this reasoning, we would be compelled to reject our Bibles because so many cults claim it as their holy book and teach from it. You see what where heading here? This is pure sophistry. Jeremy James needs to go back and do his homework and reevaluate what he has written and retract every reference and connection he has made regarding The Harbinger and these aberrant disciplines, philosophies, and crafts. It has nothing to do with them, and they have nothing in common with it. Are we to trash the English Language because it is so misused by so many so often? Of course not.
Additionally, Jeremy James here cites Manly P. Hall as his authority. Does this man know who Manly P. Hall is? Does he know anything about him? Yes. Because he writes, “Most American Masons will have read, or will at least be familiar with, a work published in 1944 by Manly Palmer Hall. This highly influential scholar is widely revered as one of the greatest authorities on the Craft. His book, The Secret Destiny of America , which is little known outside of Freemasonry, sets out the remarkably ambitious plan that the top Masonic degrees have long been following for the United States.” So if he is aware of this, then he is aware of the man’s aberrant and heterodox points of view regarding theology and biblical exegesis
Jeremy James: Curiously, the “field of Sacred Apples” mentioned in the quote from the Zohar is the same as the “Blessed Isles of the West” mentioned by Hall and Nostradamus – where the “Hesperides” serve as guardians of the Sacred Apples. Hall also makes an unsettling reference to Thanksgiving (which falls this year on 11/22). Let’s summarize what Hall is saying here: America was long ago identified by the gods as the country through which a new world order would be established. The secret society system in Europe set it up with a view to covertly bringing the rest of the world into step with its agenda. This plan is not simply man’s plan, but a divine plan – a “Universal Plan” or “plan of the ages” – that is designed to create a “world brotherhood”. Under the benign supervision of “those gods who are eternally vigilant over the needs of man”, the plan is taking shape and the “world program” is coming into being. That’s the Masonic agenda. And since high-level Masons worship Lucifer, the plan is demonic in nature. Here is how Hall himself described Masonry: “Masonry is a university, teaching the liberal arts and sciences of the soul to all who will attend to its words. It is a shadow of the great Atlantean Mystery School, which stood with all its splendor in the Ancient City of the Golden Gates, where now the turbulent Atlantic rolls in unbroken sweep…When the Mason learns that the key to the warrior on the block is the proper application of the dynamo of living power, he has learned the mystery of his Craft. The seething energies of Lucifer are in his hands and before he may step onward and upward, he must prove his ability to properly apply energy.”- Manly P Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry (1923)
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: This inventive conspiracy theory of Manly P. Hall’s which Jeremy James fully endorses here has absolutely nothing in common with The Harbinger or its message. The intellectual gymnastics that Jeremy James resorts to above in equating the writings of Hall, a Pantheist and pagan with those of Jonathan Cahn’s book by inference here just by citing Hall’s Occult contentions, borders on the absurd and is well below what one would expect one Christian Evangelical to be saying about another. He might as well have quoted from the Aquarian Gospels and claimed that The Harbinger prophesies of them! LOL It would have done Jeremy James well (and everyone else) had he truly investigated into these matters as much as he enjoyed reading the heresies of Mr. Hall whom he cites here as his authority. How sad.
Jeremy James: Christianity is seen as the enemy. It got in the way of Lucifer’s plan and forced the secret societies to be even more careful and secretive in pursuing their goals: “The rise of the Christian Church broke up the intellectual pattern of the classical pagan world. By persecution of this pattern’s ideologies it drove the secret societies into greater secrecy; the pagan intellectuals then reclothed their original ideas in a garment of Christian phraseology, but bestowed the keys of the symbolism only upon those duly initiated and bound to secrecy by their vows.”- Manly P Hall, The Secret Destiny of America (1944)
Note that the secret society system adopts a ‘Christian’ face – “a garment of Christian phraseology” – in order to hide itself in plain sight. It also uses severe vows of secrecy to control its members and prevent information from leaking out.
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: It is most unfortunate that Jeremy James resorts to using Manly P. Hall as his source to connect Jonathan Cahn’s teachings and by inference, his New York Times bestseller, The Harbinger; to debunk Pastor Cahn’s teachings and his book on the basis of his use of The Book of Zohar in a teaching about the place where Christ was crucified as an unwitting “hostile witness,” a common practice in Christian Apologetics, especially used by such notable Messianic Jews as Alfred Edersheim, Dr. Sanford C. Mills, Jakob Jocz, Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, and such reputable organizations as Chosen People Ministries, Ariel Ministries, and the Jews for Jesus, and many, many more.
Jeremy James: Misusing Scripture
The Masons use their ‘Christian’ persona to hide the fact that they are steadily undermining traditional Christian values through the judicial system, socialist indoctrination, media propaganda, and in many other ways. They are also striving where possible to appropriate Biblical prophecy for their own purposes. British Israelism is part of this agenda, the belief that the aristocratic and elite bloodlines of both the United Kingdom and the United States are direct descendants of the lost tribes of Israel and thus the ones that will inherit the promises made to Jacob and the Patriarchs in the Old Testament. Interpretations of Biblical prophecy which fit in with this agenda are highly esteemed by the Masonic fraternity. This has the dual advantage of giving a scriptural veneer to their “plan of the ages” while at the same time opposing the LORD’s will for Israel. The 9/11 ‘prophecies’ profess to find a connection between the sycamore tree which was uprooted in Wall Street and its symbolic return some years later in the guise of a garish street sculpture outside Trinity Church. The work, an inverted tree cast in bronze and known popularly as Trinity Root, was officially installed in 2005. It is significant therefore that Manly Hall refers specifically to the occult meaning of the inverted tree: The Mysteries taught that the divine energies from the gods descended upon the top of the Pyramid, which was likened to an inverted tree with its branches below and its roots at the apex. From this inverted tree the divine wisdom is disseminated by streaming down the diverging sides and radiating throughout the world. – Manly P Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928)
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: This is pure sophistry and has absolutely nothing to do with either The Harbinger or its author, or any of his extensive teachings. I know, I have examined many of these for the last ten years. Jeremy James, like other critics of The Harbinger, have never met Jonathan Cahn. He, like they, does not personally know Jonathan Cahn. He has never sat through any of Jonathan Cahn’s sermons. And one has to ask if he’s read The Harbinger at all, or is simply getting his information from its other critics.
Jeremy James: The mediæval Qabbalists represented creation as a tree with its roots in the reality of spirit and its branches in the illusion of tangible existence. The Sephirothic tree of the Qabbalah was therefore inverted, with its roots in heaven and its branches upon the earth. Madam Blavatsky notes that the Great Pyramid was considered to be a symbol of this inverted tree, with its root at the apex of the pyramid and its branches diverging in four streams towards the base. – Manly P Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928)
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: This has nothing to do with either any teachings that Jonathan Cahn has given, or with his book The Harbinger.
Jeremy James: The inverted or Sephirothic Tree has been exalted by magicians and occultists for centuries. For example, the works of Robert Fludd, a magus in the court of Queen Elizabeth I, include a representation of this revered occult symbol – see graphic overleaf.
The Harbinger is thus a very welcome book from the Masonic viewpoint. While I am not suggesting for a moment that its author is familiar with the “plan of the ages” and the goals being pursued by the Masons and the Vatican, his fictional speculation about Biblical prophecy plays right into their hands. It is truly astonishing that so few Americans seem to understand the forces that control their country.
The Kabbalistic inverted Tree of Life or Sephirothic Tree,from Robert Fludd’s Philosophia sacra, 1626
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: Jeremy James makes precisely the same mistakes as David James. He conjures up extremely inventive connections between The Harbinger, its author, and Freemasonry. He did it in his article about the dream sequence in The Harbinger, we have discussed elsewhere on another post; and he does so here in claiming that the teachings of The Harbinger – which he’s connected to Anglo-Israelism and Freemasonry – leaves him astonished “that (according to him) “so few Americans seem to understand the forces that control their country.” This is pure sophistry.
In an article that criticizes Dr. David Reagan, a conservative Evangelical leader; what jumps out at the reader is how David James questions whether Dr. Reagan based his own opinion on second-hand knowledge (inferred by his use of questioning whether or not Dr. Reagan obtained his information on "first-hand knowledge of anyone alleging this" (that Jonathan Cahn promoted Freemasonry in The Harbinger), and uses this line to jettison himself of all responsibility over others writing in his stead - who having read what he infers in chapter 17 of his book - have indeed made this connection.
We see it in an article written by Jeremy James titled, A Prophetic Dream in The Harbinger is suspiciously like a Prophetic Dream acclaimed by American Freemasons, that he wrote in Ireland on June 30th, 2012, where he brings up what in his opinion connects The Harbinger to Free Masonry, a preposterous connection, because Jonathan Cahn is neither a Freemason, and his use of a dream in his book is as a fictional vehicle to present the elements where great men of history connect in the founding of their nations - one in the founding of the united tribes of all Israel where as its King and earthly ruler, Solomon consecrates the nation through his consecration of the temple in Jerusalem, the capital of his kingdom where he and his father built, but which Solomon finished; and the connection with George Washington, who after taking the Oath of Office as the first President of the United States, led a procession of America's first congress and senate and other leaders from what is today Wall Street to St. Paul's Chapel on the corner of what is today Ground Zero, where America's leaders in their first official act, consecrated the new nation to God in prayer for His blessings and protection over the land and its people.
The significance of this, of course, is lost on David James and other critics of The Harbinger, who forget that this prayer of consecration made for God's protection and blessing over the new nation, was and continues to this day, to be this nation's bilateral agreement to live according to the Judeo-Christian precepts of God's Word as a free and independent nation under God and indivisible. Call it what you like, it was made by these men, and there is no other nation under heaven which was founded in such a way.
Jeremy James: To identify Isaiah 9:10 – “The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars” – with the collapse of the Twin Towers is foolishness of a very high order. It hardly seems possible that so many Christian leaders could be taken in by this. Whatever happened to discernment? And without discernment, what hope is there for repentance? The verse in Isaiah that they should be studying is “Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.”- Isaiah 66:5 Only the professing Christians of a truly backslidden, rebellious nation could be moved by the fate of a sycamore tree and yet not be drawn to repentance by the awful realization that – through their indifference and flagrant hypocrisy – they have allowed more than 50 million unborn children to be murdered in their country since 1973.
Jeremy James
Ireland
28 June 2012
REPLY/CLARIFICATION: Jeremy James is correct to write regarding the state of Christian biblical illiteracy in the following manner, and how we should give heed to God’s Word, but he misplaces it when attempting to connect it to The Harbinger. I agree when he writes:
“The verse in Isaiah that they should be studying is “Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.”- Isaiah 66:5 Only the professing Christians of a truly backslidden, rebellious nation could be moved by the fate of a sycamore tree and yet not be drawn to repentance by the awful realization that – through their indifference and flagrant hypocrisy – they have allowed more than 50 million unborn children to be murdered in their country since 1973.
What is truly foolishness in the highest order is for Jeremy James to hide his head in the sand in the face of a tragic event that took place right before his eyes, and deny the prophetic intent of this event by writing, “To identify Isaiah 9:10 – “The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars” – with the collapse of the Twin Towers is foolishness of a very high order. It hardly seems possible that so many Christian leaders could be taken in by this. Whatever happened to discernment? And without discernment, what hope is there for repentance?”; because he simply chooses not to place upon it any significance than some random act of little or no consequence, because it doesn’t fit the rubric of his narrow Cessationist Deistic Theology. This is the same scholastic disbelief Jesus encountered in the leaders of Judaism in His day. Even though He performed great miracles and healings, yes even often in front of their eyes, they willfully chose to recognize them, because of some inconvenient theological difference they had about the Sabbath with Him. This mindset is deadly. It blinds.
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