Jonathan Cahn - The Harbinger Companion with Study Guide

• Then pray for America. Intercede for our nation’s sins, cry out for mercy, pray for revival from one coast to the other. Call out states, regions, cities, people groups, leaders, and for anything else you are led to pray for, and pray for God to have His way.

• Close with a time of sealing these commitments to God, asking for His power to fulfill them.

• Finish with a time of worship.

SECTION II

SPECIAL FEATURES

Chapter 14

The HARBINGER:

The STORY and the PEOPLE

AJOURNALIST, NOURIEL KAPLAN, appears in the office of Ana Goren, an executive in media, telling her that he has a mystery to reveal, a mystery that goes back to ancient times and that holds the secret to America’s future.

He reveals to her what appears to be an ancient clay seal and begins to tell his account of his encounters with a mysterious man he simply refers to as “the prophet.” The encounters take place in various places in New York City, Washington DC, and beyond, each encounter unannounced, unplanned for, as if just happening to happen or preordained.

Each encounter centers around a clay seal given to Nouriel by the prophet. There are nine altogether. Each seal contains a mystery that Nouriel must uncover. Each mystery goes back to ancient times and yet reveals exactly what is happening to America.

The mysteries lie behind everything from 9/11 to the collapse of the American economy and what lies ahead in the nation’s future. Each mystery is a puzzle piece in a still larger revelation that links together the Nine Harbingers of judgment that appeared in the last days of ancient Israel before its destruction and that are now reappearing on American soil.

The mystery continues to build until the revealing of the last seal and the final mystery, which brings it all home to The Harbinger end . . . and beginning.

Key People in the Story

Nouriel Kaplan

Nouriel is a writer, a journalist, Jewish American, secular. He lives in New York and is in conflict with his life’s course. He feels as if what he does has little meaning, that there should be more. As a journalist and by nature, he’s skeptical, sometimes irreverent, but when he sees something that defies natural explanation or doesn’t fit into his frame of reference, he is inquisitive to seek it out. When Nouriel receives an unexpected package in the mail, he embarks on a journey that will irreversibly change his course and his life.

Ana Goren

Ana is an executive in media, in the publishing industry, with main offices in midtown New York City; she is intelligent, naturally skeptical, sometimes cynical, jaded, tough, sometimes impatient, and yet caring. Beneath the generally tough exterior she is sincere and open to what she doesn’t know, even seeking. When, one day, a man appears in her office with an ancient object, an unbelievable story, and a mystery he claims holds the secret of America’s future, she is, at first, skeptical and ready to dismiss him. But as he continues to speak, her skepticism begins to make way for a curiosity and an openness that will cause her to set aside everything else to pursue it.

“The prophet”

This is the most mysterious of the characters in The Harbinger . He never gives his name, where he lives, or any means of contact. He is somewhat thin, with dark hair, Mediterranean or Middle Eastern looking, with a closely cropped beard. He never reveals where he comes from or where he’s going. He never calls himself a prophet or gives himself any title. He is both enigmatic and revealing, drawing in and leading Nouriel further along the course of the mystery. There is an otherness, a distinct separateness about him, as if in his circumstances but not fully of them, and yet he is very much aware of his surroundings and the world. Mysterious, the prophet is also compassionate toward Nouriel and often manifests a distinct sense of humor.

Key Biblical Figures in The Harbinger

Isaiah: The prophet behind the harbingers

Hebrew: Yishaiyahu, meaning “God is salvation”

It is Isaiah’s prophecy concerning ancient Israel that forms the backdrop of The Harbinger and the key to the Nine Harbingers reappearing in America.

Isaiah prophesied in the eighth century BC, during the reigns of King Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, who ruled over the southern kingdom of Judah. It was a time of great geopolitical unrest. It was during this time that the shadow of the Assyrian Empire expanded to threaten both the northern kingdom of Samaria and the southern kingdom of Judah. It was against this backdrop that Isaiah gave his prophecy concerning the arrogant defiance of the northern kingdom and its ultimate destruction.

Isaiah is considered to be the greatest of the Hebrew prophets, and the Book of Isaiah, the greatest prophetic book of Hebrew prophecy. The Book of Isaiah includes the prophecy of Messiah’s birth (in the same chapter as Isaiah 9:10), the prophecy of Messiah’s suffering and death (Isaiah 53), and, in the latter chapters, several glimpses into the Messianic kingdom.

Jeremiah: The weeping prophet of judgment

Hebrew: Yirmayahu , meaning “God has raised up”

The Harbinger contains more than one quote from the Book of Jeremiah. Known as “the weeping prophet,” Jeremiah is the epitome of a prophet living in the days of judgment. Near the end of The Harbinger , the examples of Jeremiah and Baruch, the prophet’s scribe, appear as a prototype for the last revelation.

Jeremiah ministered in the last days of the kingdom of Judah. Beginning his ministry in the reign of King Josiah, Jeremiah revealed the sins of his countrymen and warned the nation of coming judgment. For this he was hated, persecuted, plotted against, and thrown into prison.

The warnings of Jeremiah came true in 586 BC when the kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem were destroyed by the armies of Babylon.

Baruch: The scribe

Hebrew: Baruch , meaning “blessed”

Baruch provides a key puzzle piece to the final mystery. He stands as a representative of the scribes of Israel. Baruch was a sofer, one who committed the oral word to parchment, a scribe, particularly, the scribe of the prophet Jeremiah. It was Baruch who first committed Jeremiah’s prophecy to written form, the first version of the Book of Jeremiah.

When, because of King Jehoiakim’s persecution, Jeremiah went into hiding, he instructed Baruch to publicly read his prophecies to warn the people gathered in the Temple courts. At great risk to himself Baruch carried out the prophet’s orders.

Caiaphas: The prophesying anti-prophet

Hebrew: Kayafah , meaning “a depression”

Caiaphas appears in The Harbinger as an example of how one who would not be called a prophet can unwittingly utter a prophetic word. Yosef Bar Kayafah, or Joseph Caiaphas, was high priest of Israel from the years AD 18 to 36, holding the office longer than any other man in New Testament history. Behind Caiaphas’ reign was the figure of Annas, who had his five sons appointed to the same position of high priest at different times. Caiaphas, by marrying Annas’ daughter, was also given the privilege of the position.

Caiaphas is revealed in the New Testament as being unscrupulous, a master of intrigue and conspiracy. Thus he is the one to tell the others that it is expedient that one man should die that the nation not perish. He initiates the murder plot that will lead to the crucifixion. And yet his words were unintentionally prophetic.