Jonathan Cahn - The Harbinger Companion with Study Guide

Why would it appear unlikely for the sign of the sycamore to be manifested in, of all places, New York City?

On September 11, 2001, in the wake of the attack, an object was struck down by the falling tower. The object was a tree, the sycamore, the American or western variety of the tree. How many things had to be in exact place for this to happen?

What could such a sign mean for America?

The Erez Tree

The Israelites vow to plant trees in the same place where once stood the sycamores. Why is the planting in the same exact spot significant? And what is it significant of?

The Israelites choose the biblical erez tree to replace the sycamore. The erez tree commonly referred to the cedar, but the word also is used in the Bible to speak of trees in the desert. But the cedar doesn’t grow in the desert. What does that tell us about the word?

Erez refers to a family of trees including the cedar, the spruce, and the fir. These are all evergreens. What significance could that hold for the Israelites choosing this to replace the sycamores?

The word erez comes from araz, which means firm or strong. How is this significant in the context of Isaiah 9:10?

The erez tree grew taller than the sycamore, was more majestic, more valuable, and more highly prized. So by replacing the fallen sycamore with the erez tree, what were the Hebrews saying to God?

Compare the two phrases of the vow: “The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with hewn stone,” and “The sycamores have been cut down, but we will plant cedars in their place.” How many parallels can you find between the two parts of the vow?

The Utterance

The speaking of the vow itself was a sign of defiance. Many may have spoken such words—but what group of people in particular would have had to have uttered such a vow on behalf of the entire nation and to set the nation’s course?

Where did the leaders of Israel’s northern kingdom reside? What was the capital city?

What was wrong with such a vow?

What was it in the historical context, in Israel’s situation at the time, that made the vow an ominous mistake?

How do we know that the utterance was spoken in a wrongful spirit, in arrogance?

How important does God feel this vow was, and what were the consequences of its being made?

On September 11, 2004, an American senator gave a speech in the capital city, Washington DC, and out of his mouth proceeded the ancient vow of defiance and judgment, word for word. How could he have done this? What was he thinking when he proclaimed Isaiah 9:10 to begin his speech?

What was he thinking he was saying? What was he actually saying?

The speech was given in Washington DC, the capital, and on the anniversary of 9/11. Why are both factors significant?

The Prophecy

What is it about the vow that would tell us that it had to have been first said soon after the attack on Israel?

How did the vow become part of the national record?

Once the words are recorded in the Book of Isaiah, how do they take on a double meaning:

• One, the meaning that the leaders who proclaimed it intended it to have

• Two, the meaning they had prophetically, and ironically, as words of self-proclaimed judgment

Beyond the actual stones and trees of the vow, what was the nation vowing to do—and in how many ways do you think Israel sought to fulfill the vow?

Would their efforts be successful? What is it in the scriptural context that tells us that they would fail?

On the day after 9/11, the American Congress gathered on Capitol Hill to issue its response to the attack. Why might this response be especially significant or even prophetic?

The man appointed to give this response and speak for the nation was the Senate majority leader. What is it about that position that is especially representative to allow him to speak on behalf of the entire nation?

The Senate majority leader closed his speech by reciting the ancient vow in Isaiah. What was he intending to do by quoting from Isaiah?

What was significant about the fact that when he spoke that vow, he was referring to an attack on the nation?

At the end of his speech the Senate majority leader said, “That is what we will do.” He was referring to the words of Isaiah 9:10. He was saying that America would do as ancient Israel had done. Why was that an ominous thing to say?

In what ways did America follow the footsteps of ancient Israel after 9/11?

Spiritual Truths

How many ways or means can you think of in which God has spoken to man in the Bible?

How many different ways can you cite in which God warned a nation of judgment?

How many signs can you identify that God gave in the Bible to warn or speak to a nation of judgment?

Mission to Apply This Week

The most important message that God can send to an unbeliever is the message of the gospel, salvation.

Who needs to hear this message in your life? In the space provided, write down a mission for this week concerning those in your life who need to hear the gospel—committing yourself to sharing with them, those you already know and those you may not know but will meet this week.

Take time now to commit this to God and pray for His help and anointing.

Seal this commitment in prayer (individually, in small groups, as a class, or congregationally).

Prepare for next week (groups only): This week read, go over, and explore the next chapter, “The Isaiah 9:10 Effect.”

Write Down

1. Your thoughts, notes, and insights

2. What you believe the Lord is calling you to do

3. Your mission for the days ahead

Chapter 6

The ISAIAH 9:10 EFFECT

The Second Shaking

IN OUR SERIES of studies we have gone through all Nine Harbingers—the Breach, the Terrorist, the Bricks, the Tower, the Gazit Stone, the Sycamore, the Erez Tree, the Utterance, and the Prophecy. We have seen how, twenty-seven centuries after first appearing to Israel’s northern kingdom in its last days as a nation in the face of judgment, they have now reappeared in America, a nation conceived after the pattern of ancient Israel and now following in the same fateful footsteps.

The harbingers appeared in ancient Israel and reappeared in America only after God’s calls to repentance had fallen on deaf ears. The Breach and the Terrorist resulted from God removing His hedge of protection on Israel and later America, allowing a serious attack from an outside enemy, leaving visible but limited damage in its wake. The seven succeeding harbingers involve the response to the attack and the divine warning it communicated. It was a response of defiance, superficially to the attackers but on a deeper level to God.

But what happens when the harbingers aren’t heeded? There then comes a second stage.

In the case of ancient Israel, the Assyrian attack on the land was not the end but the beginning of a progression of national warnings, shakings, and judgments. The commentaries almost universally identify the dynamic: As a nation rejects the warnings of initial shakings, more will come. In fact, it will bring more about. In the next few studies we will explore the underlying biblical dynamics and the ancient mysteries concerning this phenomenon, something that has radically altered the American and global economy: the second shaking.

Isaiah 9:11

Isaiah 9:10 records ancient Israel’s vow of defiance in response to the Assyrian attack through which God was seeking to warn the nation and spur it to repentance. But in the very next verse following the vow is the starting point of something else: