“Let me cut to the chase. Prophet Rabbi Cahn’s books are not built on a solid biblical foundation. He has a mystical approach to interpreting Scripture. When you do the research you will discover that Jonathan Cahn is a false prophet. People say that about him because none of his prophecies have come to pass. Not one.”
(Marsha West – Christian Research Network) Right Wing Watch (RWW), a blog that is as far left as you can get, exists to attack conservatives which include evangelicals, i.e. right wingers. I do not generally recommend RWW to those who read my posts, but to be fair, some of their reporting is right on target. Such is the case with their article concerning Messianic Jewish pastor Jonathan Cahn which I will comment on later. Cahn is a best-selling author, speaker and “prophet.” He is going to hold a pre-election prayer rally along with other Religious Right leaders on the National Mall this month. This event is billed as a time when “we set forth ten days, known from ancient times as the Days of Awe, of September 18 to September 28, as a special time to intensify our prayers, intercession, repentance, and revival. It all begins on the Feast of Trumpets and concludes on the Day of Atonement, the Day of Return, on Saturday, September 26.” For those who may not have him on their radar, a bit of background is in order.
Prophet Rabbi Cahn wrote a novel entitled The Harbinger (TH) where he “compares the United States and the September 11 attacks to ancient Israel and the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel.” Cahn’s book was an overnight best-seller. Supposedly TH is a “divine warning” to America that God’s judgment is imminent unless the country repents and turns to the God of Scripture. According to Gary Gilley: “It is a quasi-fictional story reminiscent of novels such as The Da Vinci Code or The Shack. Each of these books involves mystery and intrigue, and has a serious message that the authors want to convey.”
Gilley thinks TH would have value if it were simply a novel with a storyline warning the American people to wake up spiritually. However, in the first few pages, Cahn claims that “what is contained within the story is real.” Without getting too far afield, Gilley informs us of Cahn’s claim that “God pronounced exacting judgment on America and that judgment is found in Scripture. … Isaiah 9:10-11 is the specific text of Scripture that frames The Harbinger.”
Let me cut to the chase. Prophet Rabbi Cahn’s books are not built on a solid biblical foundation. He has a mystical approach to interpreting Scripture. (Dave James wrote an in depth essay of the book’s errors here.) When you do the research you will discover that Jonathan Cahn is a false prophet. People say that about him because none of his prophecies have come to pass. Not one.
The Harbinger and another book he wrote The Mystery of the Shemitah (Shemitah is #2 in prophecy, #3 in religion on Amazon) provided him with some credibility in the evangelical community, especially among charismatics. His name recognition is largely due to evangelicals who have a platform and a huge following. A few examples of these heavy weights are Dr. Michael Brown, Pat Robertson, Sid Roth, Jim Bakker, James Dobson, Jan Markel & Eric Barger, David Reagan and Eric Metaxas. Further, it didn’t hurt that Charisma Magazine and American Family Radio promoted and sold his book or that Mormon Glenn Beck invited him onto his show.
According to the Bible, there is a limit to the number of times a “prophet” can be wrong before he is deemed a false prophet. How many times? Once. “When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.” (Deut 18:22)
Cahn predicted that September 25, 2014 to September 13, 2015 would be the Shemitah year. Two days before the year was to end, renowned theologian Dr. Michael Brown was asked where he stood on Shemitah as well as the four blood moons phenomena that was written about by Mark Biltz. (Biltz, who is Hebrew Roots, cunningly empolys esoteric information in his writing that is highly unbiblical.) Dr. Brown replied, “For me, the jury is still out, and we will watch and see what is going to happen in the coming weeks.” The coming weeks came and went – and Cahn’s prophecy was not fulfilled. Following in Biltz’s footsteps, Prophet Pastor John Hagee, who has more baggage than Samsonite, enticed a large number of Christians into believing the blood moons hype by reading his aptly titled book Blood Moons. In 2014 Hagee gave us fair warning: “God is trying to communicate with us in a supernatural way…I believe that in the next two years, we’re going to see something dramatic happen in the Middle East involving Israel that will change the course of history in the Middle East and impact the whole world.”
But this is not about blood moons, so in the interest of keeping this short, following are the names of “The Return” advisors, many of whom you’ll recognize:
Michele Bachmann
Alveda King
Marcus Lamb
“Faith Leaders” include a few familiar names such as Kevin & Sam Sorbo, Pat Boone, LTG (Ret) William G. “Jerry” Boykin, E.W. Jackson and several others.
Check out “The Return” Partners.
What’s important for you to know is that several of those who are taking part in “The Return” are entrenched in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) which means they’re theologically off the reservation. Note the links that I’ve provided for Bereans (Acts 17:11) who wish to discover more about these people, what they believe and why they’re considered false teachers. The bottom line is this: Because they hold to the teaching of the NAR, which is a decidedly heretical movement, although they professes a belief in Jesus Christ (and they do), they’re actually not authentic Christians at all — they’re counterfeit Christians. Fake Christians are not born from above. Anyone who is not regenerate, i.e. born again, cannot possibly be Spirit filled. The reason is that they are dead in their sins. Many Christians seem not to understand that all true prayer is of the leading of the Holy Spirit. Octavius Winslow put it this way:
It must be acknowledged by the spiritual mind that all true prayer is of the leading of the Spirit; that He is the author of all real approach of the soul to God. All true prayer is put into words by the Spirit. He is the Author of prayer in the soul.
In a piece I wrote entitled, “Are You Praying To The Only True God,” I said the following:
The scriptures speak of God the Holy Spirit residing within all who believe in the Son of God. The Spirit guides, instructs and empowers believers. (John 14:16-17) As well, the “Spirit of truth” confirms everything about Jesus. (John 15:26) The unregenerate (unsaved) person is not Spirit filled. God does not hear anyone’s prayer unless it is put into words by the Holy Spirit. So if we want our prayers to be heard and answered we must pray to the right God. “This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).
Jonathan Cahn has invited Christian luminaries to join him in praying for revival. Some of those invited are false teachers. Jesus chided false prophets for lying. He called them “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” So, lying prophets are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Wolves are predators. Wolves eat people. Even though our Lord warned His followers to beware of ravenous wolves (He called them that, too), some professing Christians are not the least bit concerned when a wolf pack arranges an event on the National Mall for the purpose of setting ten days aside to “intensify our prayers, intercession, repentance, and revival.”
Unbelievers are in darkness, brethren. Therefore, believers shouldn’t join with them in any sort of spiritual enterprise, and that includes gathering together to beseech God to bring about revival in America. People who are in darkness, the unregenerate, are lost souls. The task of the born again believer is to share the Gospel of Christ with the lost. (1 Cor. 15:1-11)
With this backdrop in mind, let’s address Peter Montgomery’s piece over at Right Wing Watch. Montgomery first reveals that, “Cahn and other rally promoters have repeatedly described the Sept. 26 event as falling 40 days before the 2020 election and on the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower. Neither is true.”
So, why should we believe a liberal writer who wants us to doubt the veracity of a world renowned professing Christian prophet? Because he questions the numbers. Here’s his complaint:
What about the Mayflower? Cahn made the 400th anniversary claim in his “prophetic announcement” video about “The Return” in March. He repeated it last week in Charisma, writing, “The Return is centered around a major event on Sept. 26 in Washington, D.C.—40 days before the presidential election and on the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower.” This week a press release promoting the event repeated the claim using the same language.
The Mayflower connection is important to Christian nationalists, because they cite the Mayflower Compact signed by the ship’s adult male passengers as the source of a national covenant they claim the United States has with God to promote Christianity. Cahn referred to this connection in the launch video: “This will take place not only 40 days before the presidential election, but also on the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower, in the days of America’s founding and dedication to God.”
In reality, at the time the Mayflower sailed from England, the country was using the Julian calendar, under which the sailing date was Sept. 6. England shifted from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in the 1750s. Under the Gregorian calendar—the same one in use today—the sailing date was Sept. 16, 1620. Under either calendar, this Sept. 26 will not be “the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower,” as Cahn has repeatedly asserted.
Under most circumstances, the exact dates might not matter that much—September is, after all, the month of the Mayflower anniversary. And the election will fall about 40 days after “The Return.” But that’s not what Cahn has said. And exact dates are at the core of Cahn’s numerological shtick. (Source)
A former member of Jonathan Cahn’s church, Beth Israel, addresses some of the issues with the prophet-rabbi’s bizarre highly unbiblical teaching here. He gives us fair warning:
I UNFORTUNATELY DEFECTED FROM HIS CHURCH BECAUSE AFTER MANY YEARS WHILE SITTING UNDER HIS TEACHINGS/SERMONS I REALIZED THERE EXIST SERIOUS ERRONEOUS DOCTRINES REVOLVING AROUND HIS APOLOGETICS. THE BEST WAY I CAN DEFINE HIS APOLOGETICS STYLE IS AS FOLLOWS; MR. CAHN TAKES HISTORICAL OR PROPHETIC EVENTS WHETHER BIBLICAL OR CURRENT, AND BLENDS IT WITH JEWISH MYSTICISM WHILE INTERPRETING IT WITH AN EISEGETICAL APPROACH THAT CORRESPONDS TO HIS OWN VERSION OF HERMENUETICS. THROUGH THIS METHOD, MR. CAHN INTERPRETS HIS ANCIENT MYSTERIES ACCORDING TO HIS OWN IDEAS, BIASES OR THE LIKE RATHER THAN WHAT THE ORIGINAL BIBLICAL AUTHORS INTENDED TO CONVEY TO THEIR AUDIENCE. HIS BOGUS MYSTERIES ARE BASED ON A FALSE BIBLICAL NARRATIVE. THE END RESULT IS A RADICAL DEPARTURE FROM WHAT THE HOLY SCRIPTURES DEFINES AS BIBLICAL MYSTERIES.
Prophet Rabbi Cahn claims to receive “downloads” from God. In other words, God speaks to him personally. Which means that God is responsible for downloading false information into Cahn’s mind.
When asked about Johathan Cahn, former New Ager, author and speaker Marcia Montenegro had this to say:
How far does Cahn have to go before Christians who read and listen to this man see that Cahn is seriously mishandling Scripture?
Yet people are eating this up. So how far will some people go to follow Cahn? They have to set aside the plain meaning of Scripture and set aside reason to believe the tangled teachings of Cahn.
I am grateful that, as far as I know, Cahn still tells people to turn to Jesus Christ. But at the same time, he is besmirching the word of God by mistreating it, and misleading people with false interpretations of scripture. (Facebook 9/5/2020)
In a piece over at Apprising Ministries titled “Jonathan Cahn Harbinger of Discernment Gone Wild?” the late Ken Silva went into great depth to show Jonathan Cahn’s misapplication of Scripture. As well, he let us in on the lengths people will go to defend a false prophet. Ken felt it was his job as a pastor to bring truth to light. (2 Timothy 4:2) In his essay he included an email he sent to Prophet Rabbi Cahn and Cahn’s response to his email.
I’ll close with a quote from The Christian Observer:
It is their favorite way of deceiving us that they lure us and entice us with some truths, sometimes lots of truths, and make us feel superior to others by adding more esoteric knowledge that is not biblical, such as Kabbalistic Hebrew gematria and the Bible Codes, then eventually, lead you astray with complete heresies and lies by twisted and distorted diabolic exegesis of the Scripture. They are extremely skilled and have been trained all their lives to do just that, and delight in it, just as their “father.” Remember his favorite phrase? —“Has God indeed said …?” (Gen 3:1).
Related
False Teacher of the Day: Jonathan Cahn
‘The Return’ — To WHAT? A Bait & Switch Revival?
Commonly Misused Bible Verses: 2 Chronicles 7:14
Copyright by Marsha West, 9/7/2020