Jonathan Cahn - The Harbinger Companion with Study Guide

4. God is able to warn a nation of judgment by using the Scriptures.

The Bible reveals that God’s actions concerning Israel as recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures were written for our instruction. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The issue of judgment versus mercy is just as relevant today as it was in ancient times. In God’s dealings with ancient Israel we find templates, blueprints, and patterns of judgment. One of these templates concerns the judgment of the northern kingdom. And one of the key scriptures concerning the judgment of the northern kingdom is Isaiah 9:10.

In fact, one of the most conservative and revered and classic of Bible commentaries speaks of Isaiah 9:10 and the surrounding verses as exactly this, a template and pattern of warning and judgment applicable well beyond the borders and times of ancient Israel:

I. Its common course (of warning and judgment)

1. First comes some serious departure from God or from his service on the part of the nation . . . .

2. Then comes the Divine correction. This may be in the form of prophetic, or parental or pastoral rebuke, or of some serious reverse in temporal affairs. . . . Then comes the resentment and revolt of the human will against the Divine. Instead of hearkening, heeding, and repenting, the nation . . . determines to act in a spirit of defiance. In its own strength, it will rise above its present circumstances . . . it will turn its fallen bricks into massive stones that will not fail; it will exchange its feeble sycamores that are cut down for strong cedars. . . . 1

Israel and America

Why should a biblical template of judgment that manifested in ancient Israel be manifesting again in twenty-first-century America? Israel is Israel. America is America. Neither one replaces the other. One can certainly go on endlessly listing the differences between the two nations. So why would the judgment pattern or warning signs given to one now appear to the other?

Why does it have to be America? It doesn’t. The signs could appear in any nation in danger of judgment because (1) God is consistent and acts in consistency with His Word, and (2) these are signs of national judgment.

While it doesn’t have to be America, there is a rationale for why it takes place here. God warns through calamity, but calamities, as with other circumstances, can be taken in any number of ways. For a calamity and current events to match up with a specific scripture gives clarity and specificity to the message. Thus a clear warning is given.

What nation would be most likely able to discern, understand, or hear such a warning? A nation that rests on a Judeo-Christian or biblical foundation.

Beyond this, America is uniquely paralleled to ancient Israel in many ways. From its very conception it was built upon a biblical foundation and dedicated for God’s purposes, as was Israel. As we will see, it was even formed after the pattern of ancient Israel. Now, as with ancient Israel, it is falling away from that foundation. And so for the ancient pattern of judgment, once manifested in Israel, to manifest again in America, the nation patterned from its conception after that of Israel, has its own logic.

What about other nations? Haven’t some nations sinned as badly as or worse than America? Absolutely. So it was with ancient Israel. But there is a principle in the Bible that says this: to those to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48). Americans have been given much. We have been blessed more than the people of any nation. If we now turn away from the God of our foundation, the God of our blessings, much will be required.

What about the fact that 9/11 was carried out by evil men? The Assyrians who carried out the attack on ancient Israel were also evil men. God was not with them or for them. God was against them. So too God is against the evil of al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. But God allows and uses all things, both good and evil, for the purposes of redemption.

God allowed ancient Israel to be shaken, not for the purpose of destruction, but for redemption, to wake up the nation, to call her back to Himself, to avoid destruction. Israel refused to wake up or to turn back and was destroyed.

America is now witnessing the same pattern of judgment, the same signs, the same progression. Will America turn back? Will there be judgment or redemption? The Harbinger is a wake-up call, the sounding of an alarm for the purpose of redemption, salvation, repentance, revival, and restoration. So too is the purpose of what you are about to read.

WEEK 1 EXPLORE and APPLY

Read chapters 1–2 of The Harbinger .

Read Jeremiah 33:3 and Isaiah 55:6–11.

Explore

God is love, and God must bring judgment against evil. How can both of these propositions be true (even at the same time)?

Israel is the only nation spoken of in the Bible with which God entered into a covenant. But would you say America is a special nation? If so, explain why.

What is the connection between America and Israel that goes back to America’s own conception?

God is consistent in His ways. What does that mean concerning national judgment?

The Bible gives a record of God’s dealings in history. Is what happened with God and Israel in ancient times relevant to us today? Are there principles or patterns that hold true now?

In 586 BC judgment and destruction came to the nation of Judah. Were only the wicked affected? Explain.

Does God promise believers that they won’t have problems in this world? If not, then what does He promise His people?

Does God use trouble or calamity as warnings or wake-up calls to nations? How so?

What positive or redemptive purposes can come about through calamity?

Why must God judge?

Even before you knew about The Harbinger , did you feel that America was in danger of judgment? Why?

What do you sense is happening to America?

Do you remember a different time in America when things that are taking place now concerning morality would have been unthinkable? What about things that took place then that would now be unthinkable?

What specific things do you remember about America in the past? If you remember such things as these below, ponder or share.

There was prayer in schools.

Sermons on television and sermonettes closed virtually every station and broadcast day.

There were Christmas songs or plays in school and Christmas and Easter recesses.

Business and commerce closed down on Sunday because it was “the Lord’s day.”

The name of Jesus was spoken in public gatherings.

All men and women living together on television were married.

Pornography was something relegated to seedy places, and not easily accessible.

Living together was considered a sin.

The killing of the unborn was universally seen as immoral.

Divorce was uncommon.

The idea that marriage could be redefined was unthinkable.

The idea that images of God and Jesus could be used in comedy and mockery was unthinkable.

America was the number one creditor nation in the world, and there was little thought of a day when its global preeminence could come to an end.

Isaiah 9 is written to and about Israel. But does God use His Word, and words given to Israel in ancient times, to speak to us beyond ancient times and beyond the borders of Israel? Explain.

Does God send warnings before He judges?

What patterns of national judgment can you identify from the Bible?

Can you cite places in the Bible where He does this very thing?

What different ways does God communicate to His people or to a nation today?

In what direction do you feel America is heading? Why is this significant?