• Lead in prayer, consecration, and commitment (based on the life application points).
• If in a class, lead the class in a discussion, exploring from the questions at the end of each chapter.
• Ask everyone to commit to apply the mission points for the coming week.
Important note for all formats
Don’t feel you have to get to all the questions that are at the end of a chapter. Some chapters have more questions (like the ones on the Nine Harbingers) and others have less. Do as much as time will allow, or choose which ones you want to focus on from the start. People can do more at another time, at home, in individual study, and so on.
We pray that this study guide will be an effective tool for equipping you to discover God’s message for America and your part in bringing about repentance, restoration, and revival in our land.
SECTION I
EXPLORING THE HARBINGERS
Chapter 1
The HARBINGER:
An INTRODUCTION
The Ancient Mystery
IS IT POSSIBLE that there exists an ancient mystery that holds the secret of America’s future? The Harbinger is the revealing of a mystery so precise that it contains the words of American leaders before they utter them, shows their actions before they take them, and pinpoints the exact dates—even hours—of the greatest collapses in Wall Street history.
The mystery of The Harbinger begins over twenty-seven hundred years ago in the days of ancient Israel. In the last days of that kingdom, before its judgment, there manifested Nine Harbingers, or signs, of a nation heading to judgment. But the people of Israel disregarded the signs and continued on a path of defiance against God. A number of years were given to them to either turn back to God or enter into judgment. They refused to turn back. And in 722 BC they were destroyed.
What is stunning, eerie, and even downright scary is that those same Nine Harbingers of judgment that appeared in Israel’s last days are now reappearing— on American soil . Some have appeared in New York City. Some have appeared in Washington DC. Some have appeared in the form of objects, others as events, even ceremonies. Some have involved the highest leaders of the land, even the president of the United States.
This ancient mystery holds the key to everything from politics, economics, culture, the course of history, the future of America, the future of every American, and that of the world.
The Word and the Story
From the day of its release The Harbinger has been rapidly spreading across the country. From the week of its release it has topped the Christian and secular charts. In the Christian world it has been praised and hailed by pastors, ministry leaders, and Bible school and seminary professors across denominational lines from Baptist to charismatic. It has been described as “mind-boggling,” “amazing,” and “stunning.” It has led to Bible studies and prayer movements for repentance, salvation, and revival.
Its impact in the non-Christian and secular realms has been no less dramatic. In one state legislature every member was given a copy of the book. It has even reached Capitol Hill and been read by members of Congress.
The Harbinger was written in a period of four months. It happened at a rapid pace as if the book had already been written beforehand and was now only being copied down. The story of its publication was equally unique. (See chapter 24, “The Story Behind the Story.”)
The Harbinger is, in essence, nonfiction. Its message deals with reality, fact, what has happened, what is happening, and what is yet to happen. Yet it is framed in a narrative, the story of a man who encounters a mysterious figure known as “the prophet,” who reveals to him a mystery going back over twenty-five hundred years but in which is contained a secret that touches everything. The prophet gives the man nine clay seals, each seal holding a mystery that has to be deciphered, each mystery a puzzle piece in a still larger and still unfolding revelation.
The narrative is simply a vessel, a delivery system, through which the revelations are given. In the same way, narratives, images, parables, symbols, stories, and allegories are used to communicate spiritual, moral, or prophetic truth throughout the Bible. The narrative is simply the framework around the essence. The essence is the revelation—that which the prophet reveals, the ancient mystery behind what is now taking place in America.
What The Harbinger Is Not
Before we move to what The Harbinger is, it is important to clarify what The Harbinger is not.
Any message or book of this nature and scale is bound to be misunderstood by some and met with confusion by others. Below is a very brief list of what The Harbinger is not. (For more detail on this and other questions, see “Frequently Asked Questions About The Harbinger and Jonathan Cahn.”)
The Harbinger . . .
• Does not say that Isaiah was prophesying of America or that the harbingers are fulfillments of the Scripture but rather that the biblical pattern of judgment revealed in Isaiah is now replaying in America
• Does not say that God made a covenant with America
• Does not in any way affect the interpretation or hermeneutic of Isaiah 9 as speaking of Israel
• Does not advocate Replacement Theology, the teaching that God is finished with Israel; the author firmly advocates the opposite, that God’s promises to Israel will yet be fulfilled
• Does not say that God was on the side of America’s enemies any more than He was on the side of Israel’s enemies; He was against them
• Does not advocate Dominion Theology, the teaching that believers are to have dominion over the world in this age
• Is not , in its essence, fiction. The essence of The Harbinger is the communicating of truth, facts, biblical patterns, connections, mysteries, and what is happening in reality. These things are framed around and communicated in a narrative. Thus, the fictional story is a vessel to deliver truth, as in a parable.
The Impact of The Harbinger: Reasons Why
Perhaps the reason the message is resonating so deeply across America and around the world is because it connects the dots to bring forth a powerful revelation of something most believers have felt in their hearts—that America is on a path to judgment and God has been sending warnings and wake-up calls. The Harbinger reveals that this is not just a feeling but a precise biblical phenomenon that lies behind everything from 9/11 to the collapse of the American economy, taking place literally before our eyes and holding the secret of our nation’s future.
The overwhelming majority of those who have read it believe that The Harbinger has caught on to the degree that it has because its message represents the urgent sounding of an alarm, a biblical revelation, and a prophetic warning that has been appointed to go forth for such a time as this.
What The Harbinger Is
The foundation of The Harbinger , which is very simple and centered in sound scriptural parameters, is this:
1. God is righteous and judges nations.
2. God is merciful and warns of judgment.
3. God acts in a way that is consistent with His nature and His workings as revealed in Scripture. Thus, the pattern, template, and progression of national judgment in ancient times may again be replayed.
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