The Harbinger: The Ancient Mystery That Holds the Secret of America's Future

A modern day prophet! This book is extremely well written and explains and weaves everything together tying the Message and today together inextricably. So much makes sense to me now! I can see God’s providence in my life and how He has always been there, even when I turned from Him. This has been a wake up call to get serious about seeking “His face”. Lord bless everyone involved in this incredible project, and everyone that reads and heeds the prophecy.

Just finished reading this book. First reaction: this is an important book to read and to pass on to others! This book is written in a fictional story format with multiple supernatural events that would cause someone to perhaps discount the core truths that it contains. Discounting the book main points would be foolish.

If a person actually researches the historical events and documents referenced in the story, one is overcome with the sweep and power of real supernatural forces moving at the national and international level. When I was recruited into Federal service from private industry after 9/11, I saw much of what the book speaks of and was troubled but did not pull the threads together as the book did.

The Harbinger presents a compelling argument based on actual facts of why in almost every area of national power and well-being, the United States is rapidly slipping from a historically unheard of preeminence of power and influence to a position of mediocrity and increasing risk of national collapse. The root cause identified is moral failure directly tied to the breaking of a covenant with God established at the founding of our country. In keeping with the principles outlined in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy, the United States received blessings by establishing and keeping a covenant with the God of the Bible, and we are now receiving curses by rejecting of God’s moral authority, as understood in the Judeo-Christian context, from all elements of our national life (government, arts, education, business, etc.).

The book presents events of 9/11 and its aftermath to posit that the United States was called to repent and rather arrogantly rejected repentance in parallel to how ancient Israel was called to repent and ignored increasingly potent warnings to "go its own way."

The claims the book makes are shocking but are they true?.

How do we evaluate the central claims of the book? Assuming the reader believes in the God described in the Bible, to answer, we need to answer three questions: Was America established with a covenant to be a “Christian” nation? Have we rejected God? and, Are we now suffering the Biblical curses listed in the Old Testament?

If the reader believes that the answer is yes to all three questions, then the most important question is “how do we bring repentance and change in America?”

Was America established with a covenant to be a “Christian” nation?

This is often vigorously denied by people who believe that there is no God or generally believe that the commands of God do not have any moral authority in our lives, perhaps to avoid the implications that we have broken faith with God and thus deserve the punishments that come upon us. There are many organizations and "experts" that can argue either side in detail, but I would say the answer is a definite “YES”! Three example primary historical sources that I would point to that demonstrate that we were established as a covenant nation are the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and George Washington’s farewell address.

1. Mayflower Compact (stating that the colonists made a covenant to form a “civil body politic” to advance the Christian faith), says, “Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic…”

2. Declaration of Independence (stating at the moment of national independence that our rights come from the Creator God) When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…

3. President George Washington’s farewell address (demonstrates the importance of belief in God and Morality the founding fathers had at the time the Constitution was implemented and their belief that it was to be a part of political life). “Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, “Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice?” And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

"It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?”

Have we rejected God as a nation?

To me the answer is a definite “yes”. One can look at a variety of powerful indicators: what is on our mass entertainment, the numbers of people that will watch or attend football games as opposed to those who attend church services, the subject of books bought on Amazon, etc. Prior to the landmark Engel v. Vitale Supreme Court Decision (370 U.S. 421) that determined that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools public schools, it was commonly understood that we were a “Christian nation” At that time the United States was coming to the pinnacle of a long period of national ascension. Following that Supreme Court decision, a long string of court decisions, executive orders, laws, and regulations have continually driven any hint of Christian belief from the public square. The Establishment Clause (Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion), meant to protect religious institutions from the Federal government has been used to restrict them instead. And the “Free Exercise Clause” of the First Amendment is more and more narrowly interpreted. Even Christian Chaplains in the Military Services are now actively discouraged from using the name of Jesus in prayers.

Are we now suffering the Biblical curses for national disobedience listed in the Old Testament?

This is a complex question but I again I believe that the answer is yes. The “curses” of national disobedience are listed in many places in the Old and New Testament and Deuteronomy Chapter 28 is likely one of the most extensive lists. It says to those who reject God commandments “all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.” The list is long and can be read for itself. Interesting that the various Old Testament lists of the effects of disobedience to God cover several things that only have really taken off since the 1962 Engel v. Vitale Supreme Court Decision banning school prayer. For example, the US now leads the world in per capita prison population that is increasingly being used as slave labor; and a diverse set of other negative trends are growing in intensity; “Mad Cow” disease and other diseases such as the “wasting disease” hitting deer populations; school shootings; abortion; drug use and the rapid increase in mental health issues; massive government and personal debt; dangerous, invasive species of animals; rampant Sexually Transmitted Diseases, such as HIV; loss of control of our borders with the mass of illegal aliens, loss of an industrial base, theft of intellectual property, weakening of our military, being hated more and more around the world. On national lists of health and well-being, we are continually slipping in our global ranking. Additionally, a long list of enemies are building up stocks of weapons of mass destruction that could quite possibly shatter our increasingly fragile critical infrastructures. Some of these enemies are publicly stating their intent to destroy us (and often Israel).

What do we do in response to this book?

While a thoughtful person might start working on a plan that would look like something out of the TV show “Doomsday Preppers” and some some preparations to weather on increasing number of national disasters that will visit the United States as a result of the rejection of God’s commands is reasonable, the heart of the problem is the immorality of the nation. The solution is to return to obeying God. The book ends with a call for individual and national repentance.

The best place to start is to look in the mirror, get on our knees, get a Bible, read it, heed it, and trust in God. For myself, I will be ordering a few copies to pass to others.

I'll never forget the months of depression I felt over the attacks on 9/11. I was haunted by a passage in Jeremiah 5:3 which says, "You struck them but they felt no pain; you crushed them but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent."

This is not to suggest that those who were personally effected by 9/11 felt no pain. Quite the contrary. For some, the pain may never heal in this life. No, this passage is not speaking to them individually, but rather, to the nation as a whole and its' response to the attacks.

I remembered reading somewhere that individuals are judged after their life on earth is over, but nations cannot be judged in the hereafter; therefore, nations are judged in this life.

Then I came across Jonathan Cahn's book, "The Harbinger," which revolves around the verse in Isaiah 9:10 - "The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with hewn stone; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will plant cedars in their place" - and it seemed as if everything I had been thinking and feeling since 9/11 were merely discomfiting presentiments of what Mr. Cahn has fleshed out and detailed in his book.

This verse in Isaiah is referring to the attitude of the people of the northern kingdom of Israel the first time they were attacked by the Assyrians. Instead of repenting and returning to God, they were defiant, boasting that they would rebuild better than before. So, the judgment upon their nation proceeded.

The author of "The Harbinger" says that the same thing is happening again.

This defiant vow to rebuild was the response to the first breach of Israel by an enemy, and our (America's) first breach of the homeland by the enemy was, of course, 9/11. The day after 9/11, the Senate Majority Leader (Tom Daschle at the time) presented in Congress a joint resolution of the Senate and the House expressing the government's response to the attacks and then Daschle gave a speech. At the end of his speech he said, "I know that there is only the smallest measure of inspiration that can be taken from this devastation, but there is a passage in the Bible from Isaiah that I think speaks to all of us at times like this... 'The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.'" (Some translations say 'fig tree' but it's a sycamore actually.)

If Daschle had considered the context of that verse, he would not have chosen it as words of comfort!

Then, some time after 9/11, after all the ruins were cleared away, they went up into the mountains of New York and cut out a huge slab of granite and transported it to Ground Zero to be the foundation stone of the new tower that would be built.

Then, it just so happens that there was a sycamore tree growing at the corner of Ground Zero that got blasted and uprooted by the falling debris of the towers. They took the huge root mass of that tree and displayed it as a memorial. Then they replaced the sycamore with, believe it or not, a cedar tree.

The spot where the sycamore was uprooted is the same spot where George Washington consecrated the nation to God on April 30, 1789, the day of his inauguration as the first president of the new country. This inauguration took place at Federal Hall in New York City because, of course, there was no Washington, D.C., at the time. New York was the nation's first capital.

Our founding fathers issued a proclamation concerning that day: "On the morning of the day on which our illustrious President will be invested with his office, the bells will ring at nine o'clock, when the people may go up to the house of God and in a solemn manner commit the new government, with its important train of consequences, to the holy protection and blessing of the Most High. An early hour is prudently fixed for this peculiar act of devotion and is designed wholly for prayer."

During Washington's inaugural address he said, "It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United Sates a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes."

After Washington's inaugural address, he led the members of the Senate and the House on foot to a little stone church for prayers. That little church is still there today. It is St. Paul's Chapel. It is the same place where the sycamore tree was uprooted on 9/11.

The author of the "The Harbinger" points out that the Bible shows that judgment returns to the ground of consecration. The Temple in Jerusalem was the ground of consecration in King Solomon's day and, as the Israelites' apostasy continued and they ignored the many warnings of the prophets to return to God, the Temple was eventually destroyed and the nation went into captivity. So, as St. Paul's Chapel is still standing, I guess one could say that America is now somewhere between the first breach by the Assyrians in 732 B.C. and the destruction of the Temple and the ruination of the nation itself by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. During those 146 years things just got worse and worse, with maybe one bright spot during Josiah King of Judah's reign where he tried to rid the land of the altars to foreign gods and get the people back to worshiping and obeying the one true God.

This is not to say that America ought to be a theocracy as ancient Israel was. We never have been a theocracy and we never should be. However, it is hard to deny that, at our founding, whatever our other faults may have been, we and our leaders were for the most part a God-fearing and Bible-respecting people whose beliefs and faith afforded the country a hedge of protection - a hedge of protection that Jonathan Cahn proposes is in the process of being withdrawn. Indeed, today we have a president who brags that we are not a Christian nation.

There are many other details in the book that I've not touched upon here, but I believe this is a brief gist of the main message. It's hard to ignore the rather startling parallels, but I guess we Americans have gotten pretty good at ignoring or discounting such things.

The subject matter of this book is fascinating! And it contains a dire prophetic warning to the people of the U.S.

This alone makes this book well worth reading.

So to cut to the chase for those in a hurry...I'M RECOMMENDING IT!

BUT there are some NEGATIVES you may want to know about if you're planning on reading it...so I'll start there.

I have the impression that author Jonathan Cahn was envisioning his book being made into a movie...like the Da Vinci Code...but just doesn't have the writing chops to pull this off.

He's chosen to write The Harbinger as though it is a fictional account in novel form. Sadly, in my opinion, this somewhat obscures its prophetic warning...AND having to sort through a poorly written novel to get to something this important shouldn't be necessary.

Cahn's writing style is often flat and not very engaging or descriptive. For example: Cahn never gives more that vague descriptions of characters; We don't learn the color of their eyes or hair, whether their shoes are scuffed or polished, or if their clothes are rumpled or well pressed or are new or old; Their surroundings aren't alive with colors, sounds, textures or smells etc, so there aren't blue skies or sunsets...leaves crunching under foot...cold, smooth stones...or sunbaked, rough, wooden benches etc.

The dialog is often very stilted and unnatural. In between chapters, I went around entertaining myself by speaking the way the characters in the novel do.

Just for fun...here's a quick sample:

Joe: Do you want some coffee? Karen: Coffee? Joe: Yes, coffee. The hot beverage you drink. Karen: Yes, I would like some coffee, the kind you drink, but will need something to put it in. Joe: I will pour the coffee into a cup for you. Would you like cream or sugar? Karen: Cream or sugar? Joe: Yes, cream or sugar for your coffee. Karen: Yes, I would like both cream and sugar. May I have a spoon? Joe: A spoon? Karen: I will need a spoon to stir the coffee after I put the cream and sugar in it. Joe: Ok. I will give you a cup of coffee, cream and sugar and a spoon to stir it with.

LOL

So enough of the "bad", I'm sure you get the idea.

Now onto the meat and potatoes...the information presented in the book is astounding. Cahn interweaves prophetic scripture regarding Israel and how it applies to the present day U.S. It becomes unmistakable that we are on the same pathway that led to the destruction of Israel.

Cahn takes the reader through U.S. history, and ties that in with recent speeches and proclamations made by our leaders and shows clearly how recent events seamlessly line-up with prophetic scripture.

In the end, there is no mistaking (for the Christian anyway) that we as a country are on very dangerous course.

I wish everyone would (put aside the terrible writing and) read this book...and take to heart its important message.

I also wish a non-fiction version with all the information was available.

Perhaps someday...and since time is of the essence...hopefully soon.........