"The Harbinger" explains EVERYTHING! Everything that has happened in the past 11 years, from September 11 to now, to what will happen in the future if our nation does not repent and turn to God! It is an alarm, a warning, a "harbinger".
The book is told in the form of a narrative. The main character, Nouriel, keeps meeting up with this mysterious man, who turns out to be a prophet. Each time he meets up with him, he gives him a new seal. Each seal has a symbol on it and each symbol is a harbinger.
"The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild them with hewn stones. The sycamores are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars."It all started in 732 b.c. in ancient Israel. Most of the Bible comes from this era anyway. Isaiah 9:10 is called a.,....
"statement of defiance"...this is key! REMEMBER THIS!
This "statement of defiance" was Israel's response to the first invasion of their land, two thousand and a half years before the invasion of our land on 9/11/0, without our knowledge. It's quite eerie, actually.
Now I've always known that God's timing is perfect. It's actually impeccable. But never have I ever believed that more than after reading this book. God did not write this book. But I believe he truly appointed Cahn to. This message couldn't have come at a better time! Our country is in trouble. We are coming upon a very important election, and I feel like we are focusing on all the wrong things. We are looking for the candidate that will bring us out of the horrible economy we're in, when we really should be focusing on the candidate with the better morals. Who is going to bring God back in? God controls everything! It is because we have turned from him that our country is the way it is.
Two thousand and a half years ago, Ancient Israel was virtually that time's America. They had everything. They had no idea what was about to happen. They thought their world would turn as it always had. But, like America, there would come a day when everything they had ever known would just disappear. Why? Because they lost sight of their foundation. They had been called to do God's will. Instead, they were worshipping idols, committing sexual sins, pretty much doing everything opposite of what they were meant to do. Much like America. Our founding fathers meant for our nation to be God centered. George Washington in his Inaugural address said:
"...His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes."In other words, it is by God's works, God's grace, that we have freedom and happiness, and by HIM ONLY!
But I'm getting ahead of myself. I know that a lot of you will not go out and buy this book, though I hope most of you will. But if you won't I will explain the whole thing in this entry. Trust me, you want to read this!
The book talks about 9 Harbingers:
The first Harbinger is The Breach: A breach is a gap, or an opening, in the wall, allowing the enemy to enter in. In 732 b.c., Israel's security was breached. On September 11, 2001, our security was breached. It was a warning. The enemy didn't come in and stay, he came and left, pretty quickly. In our case, he actually came and died on our land. Quick. Excerpt from the book: "It's a foreshadowing of something much greater and much more severe...a harbinger of a future judgement so great that if it ever came to pass, the nation would never recover." It was supposed to be our wake-up call, and for many it was. But for most, it was not. What we didn't realize was that no government force could fix what was broken, only a return to God. One interesting face is that on 9/11, people kept asking "Where is God in all of this?" That's actually kinda funny. We drove him away! We took him out of our schools, out of our government, out of the media, the culture, everything! So funny how we only turn to God when something goes wrong. How when things go wrong, we blame God. "If there was a God this never would have happened." No. It happened because there IS a God. It's supposed to WAKE US UP! God didn't MAKE 9/11 happen. He allowed it to happen though. He was there with the innocent ones who died. He was with their families. He was with the heroes of that day. He WAS there...
Here is the scary part:
"In the months and years after 9/11, it appeared...as if things had returned to some state of normalcy. As time passed, as the initial shock wore off and the trauma lessened, there was a growing temptation to go on almost as if it had never happened, as if the nation were still somehow immune to destruction. So it was in the last days of ancient Israel. But it was all an illusion....it was all a FATAL illusion. So then...what of America?The Terrorist is the second harbinger. Assyria: The Assyrians were ancient Israel's terrorists. They had the largest army around at that time. They were one of the most brutal people to ever walk the earth. They made TERROR a science. They were the ones who invaded Israel in 732 b.c.
"Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger and the staff in whose hand is My indignation. I will send him against an ungodly nation. Yet he does not mean so, nor does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and cut off not a few nations." Isaiah 10:5-7
God is against evil, and the Assyrians were evil.
"I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of this haughty looks....therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts will send leanness among his fat one; and under his glory He will kindle a burning like the burning of a fire." Isaiah 10:12-16
So what does this have to do with 9/11?
"The Assyrians are the fathers of terrorism, and those who mercilessly plotted out the calamity on 9/11 were their spiritual children...remember the prophecy against Assyria: 'It is in his heart to destroy'...Osama bin Laden"
The Assyrians are also the children of the Middle East. The Assyrians' language was called "Akkadian". Modern day "Akkadian" is...Arabic. Arabic is the language of al Qaeda and the 9/11 terrorists. But it doesn't stop there. The land of Assyria is now the land...of Iraq. So not only are our enemies the spiritual children of the Assyrians but they are also the flesh-and-blood descendants.
Let me stop here and just tell you about an interesting analogy the book keeps going back to. What sometimes happens when you silence an alarm in the morning when you wake up? You go back to sleep. The same thing happened in both Israel and America. We made a vow to silence the alarm, to keep sleeping. Instead of pausing for a second and saying "Hey, maybe we should think about stuff. Maybe we need to reexamine our ways." we said "We will not be humbled. We will rebuild! We will come back bigger and better than ever before! This will just make us stronger!" So what happens when you ignore a warning? The danger becomes even more dangerous because you no longer have a warning.
Harbinger number three: The Fallen Bricks.
In two words: Ground Zero. But this was more than just physical. It wasn't just the fall of a building. It was the fall of a civilization. Some may argue that the World Trade Center was not made of bricks. That's correct. It wasn't. But it was the same effect. Besides, there were bricks in the rubble at Ground Zero.
"The bricks have fallen: it's not just about destruction. It's about a nations response to destruction, its vow of defiance." -ExcerptFor a moment after 9/11, America did turn to God. We sang and said "God Bless America" all the time. We sang the National Anthem as if it were a top 40 hit. We said the pledge of Allegiance. God was there. But it was all an illusion. It only lasted a short time. It wasn't real because we didn't really change for good. After a year or two, everything went back to normal.
The fourth harbinger: The Tower
"The bricks have fallen, BUT WE WILL REBUILD WITH HEWN STONE."
The Twin Towers may have fallen, but we were going to rebuild them bigger and better than before. We weren't going to bow our heads, we were going to raise our fists.
*On 9/11/01, the mayor of New York City, Giulani said "We will rebuild. We are going to come out of this stronger than before...."
*In a press release on 9/14/01, the state's senior senator, Charles Schumer said "We will rebuild..."
*Governor Pataki, NY State, 8/8/06, "We will rebuild..."
*Senator Hilary Clinton, 9/12/01 "We will rebuild..."
*01/02/02 Mayor Speech, NY Times at the time of rebuilding, "We will rebuild, renew, and remain the capital of the free world."
*President George W Bush, "We will rebuild New York City" 9/20/01
On a sign at Ground Zero: "A new icon will soon rise above the Lower Manhattan skyline...The Freedom Tower."
On September 12, 2001, Senator John Kerry said the following:
"I believe one of the first things we should commit to--with federal help that underscores our nation's purpose--is to rebuild the towers of the World Trade Center and show the world we are not afraid--WE ARE DEFIANT!"How you like them apples?
Excerpt from the book:
"Centuries before the writing of the New Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek. The result was a Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures called the Septuagint. The Septuagint version of Isaiah 9:10 renders the rebuilding project in even more specific terms. It says this: 'The bricks are fallen down...but come....let us build for ourselves a TOWER."
It's so amazing how this all comes together....but it gets better!
The fifth harbinger is the Gazit Stone:
The Hebrew word for stone is gazit. It's a smooth stone, carved stone, or QUARRIED stone. After being quarried, it would be shaped and smoothed into a building block.
"The bricks have fallen...but we will rebuild with hewn stone."
There was a gathering at Ground Zero on August 4, 2004. Government officials and other people involved in the rebuilding were there. They laid a 20 ton rectangular block of "quarried stone" on Ground Zero. They called it the Freedom Stone. The stone would "forever remain a symbolic cornerstone for the rebuilding of New York and the nation."
The Governor of New York stated at the gathering the following:
"By laying this magnificent cornerstone of hope, we are sending a [message of defiance] around the world...Today, we, the heirs of that revolutionary spirit of defiance, lay this cornerstone."
Interestingly enough, the rebuilding of Ground Zero became so entangled in controversy and confusing and difficulties that they halted the construction and removed the stone altogether. Because we were defiant, God shut down the plan.
Harbinger number six: The Sycamore
"...but we will rebuild with hewn stone. The sycamores have been cut down..."
In the last few moments of the fall of the North Tower, tons of debris were being thrown toward this plot of land at the border of Ground Zero. It wasn't covered with cement and block like most of the surrounding areas, but of soil and grass. The wreckage struck a tree. A sycamore tree.
Pause. Do you know where Sycamores are native? The Middle East and Africa. Not America. Just a thought. Continuing...
An interesting point the book makes:
"If a tree falls to the ground, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? In the case of this sycamore it makes two: for those who hear it, the sound of warning and redemption. For those who don't, judgement."In other words, September 11 was a time of judgement for America because we didn't heed the warning. We just kept on sleeping. Just like Israel two thousand and a half years ago.
The seventh harbinger: The Erez Tree
"The sycamores have been cut down, but we will plant cedars in its place"
The goal of rebuilding Ground Zero was defiance, not just restoration. We replaced the sycamore tree with a cedar tree. Cedar is most often used to translate Erez in Hebrew. It was planted in the exact same spot where the sycamore was in November 2003. A cedar is stronger than a sycamore tree. Another act of defiance. These words were spoken during that ceremony:
"The Tree of Hope is planted in the very spot where a 60 year old sycamore stood the morning of September 11, 2001."
The sycamore was removed. This is the root system of that sycamore. It sits in front of Trinity Church in NYC.
The eighth harbinger: The Utterance
In Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, he said the following:
"The Almighty has His own purposes...Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, that the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether,"In other words, "In God We Trust" pretty much. He was referring to the Civil War. Yes, they were praying that it would end soon. But, Gods will be done.
On September 11, 2004, John Edwards spoke the following:
"Good morning. Today, on this day of remembrance and mourning, we have the Lord's word to get us through: 'The bricks have fallen but we will build with dressed stones. The sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place."Many people may think "So, he was quoting scripture. Whats so wrong with that?" Well, here's the thing. That scripture is so unknown, that even the person who reads the bible every day probably doesn't realize it's even there. It's just not a verse that is used a lot. AND it's not even a verse of INSPIRATION. It's a verse of judgment. It's a message of defiance. It is what Israel did, and now, what America is doing. So why, in all the verses he could have chosen, did he choose THAT ONE?
His entire speech pretty much revolved around Isaiah 9:10. In his speech he said:
"Let me show you how we are building and putting cedars in those three hallowed places."then:
"And in a place where smoke once rose, you and I, we will see the cedar rising.and then:
"You will see that while those bricks fell and the sycamores cut down, our people are making those cedars rise."
And finally:
"The cedars will rise, the stones will go up, and this season of hope will endure."
What he doesn't realize, is not of this is symbolic of hope at all, but of judgment. None of this is going to make America better...it's only going to make it worse. The verse was a prophecy. And it was fulfilled. So without realizing it, this American leader was pronouncing judgement on the land. It all happens according to ancient prophecy.
The last harbinger: The Prophecy
On the morning after 9/11, the Senate majority leader on Capitol Hill said the following,
"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 a time 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."The ancient vow had actually been proclaimed from Capitol Hill. Once again, judgement was being pronounced on America. He spoke of this being an inspiring verse, but it was everything but. Isaiah 9:10 was being transformed into national policy.
In the bible it says this:
"One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses, the matter shall be established."The day after 9/11, the senate majority leader was the first witness.
The second witness was the Vice Presidential Candidate three years later.
Excerpt from the book: "If America is following the same pattern as ancient Israel, witnessing the same signs, uttering the same words, reenacting the same acts, responding with the same response....how can it escape from suffering the same fate? And if the proclaiming of the vow was just the first stage of judgement for Israel, and not the last, then what about America? What does the future hold?"
"There Comes a Second"
There was a second shaking of America. So the WTC was a symbol of America's global financial and economic power. So the collapse of that foreshadowed the collapse of what?
The Great Recession.
Isaiah 9:11:
"Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and spur his enemies on."
Because the nation did not wake up from the first shaking, it required a second shaking. Isaiah 9:10 is a "vow of defiance". Isaiah 9:11 is a "prophecy of future calamity". It's ALLL connected. You see, America's problem has absolutely nothing to do with economics. Our problem is that God is not in America anymore. Everything else is just a side effect.
"If our nation's underlying problem is spiritual, then all the political, economic, or military solutions will do nothing to remove it. Such things can only treat symptoms--the bricks and the sycamores. A spiritual problem can only be solved by a spiritual solution. Apart from that, every solution will end up producing another crisis." -Excerpt from book
So here is where it gets interesting:
Seven years after 9/11...the economy collapsed. How?
"The campaign to strengthen America's national security and defenses would require massive expenditures. The War on Terror, the military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, would add multiplied billions of dollars to the federal budget. Funds and resources that otherwise would have been used to strengthen the American economy were now diverted and drained away from investment. The war in Iraq would impel a surging of oil prices, further draining the nation's gross domestic product. The massive amount of governmental spending in support of the nation's War on Terror would lead to the skyrocketing of the national debt, further draining its economy. And beyond the financial consequences, what America began in the wake of 9/11 would end up further dividing the nation." -Excerpt from book.
The biggest mistake Wall Street made was shutting down the day of 9/11. When it opened back up 6 days later, it suffered the largest point drop in history. Over the next few years, America's economy became a virtual "house of cards":
"The extreme and prolonged lowering of interest rates would sow the seeds of future disaster. The explosion in credit would lead to a massive explosion in debt. The increased liquidity would mask a multitude of economic dangers. The standard cautions and restraints involved in borrowing and loading would be thrown away. Banks would make loans they never otherwise would have made, consumers would spend money on houses they never otherwise could have afforded. Personal debt, government debt, and corporate debt all mushroomed. And with increased pressure to produce ever greater profits, investment and banking firms would become involved with increasingly risky transactions and practice."Yea. All that.
In September 2008, it all came down.
In the 17th century, there was a wall in what we now call NYC. The wall was there to protect the first settlers from Indians, Pirates, and other dangers. Along that wall, merchants opened up stores to trade goods. Eventually, that wall became the "center point" of the island's trade and commerce. Later on, the Dutch would lose the land to the British and the British would tear the wall down. But, the area which the wall stood would still bear the name WALL STREET.
(Just a tid bit of history I thought was interesting)
But it was from that street that our financial power would form. In the 20th century, America was the world's financial capital.
In March of 1792, there was a meeting at a Manhattan hotel involving 24 of the city's leading merchants. They had the meeting to bring order to all the trading. The document they signed was called the "Buttonwood Agreement". This agreement would soon be known as the Buttonwood Association, then as the New York Stock and Exchange Board, and finally as the New York Stock Exchange. The reason they called it the Buttonwood Agreement is because they used to meet under a Buttonwood Tree to carry on transactions. Now, a BUTTONWOOD is a kind of tree. A SYCAMORE tree. So, if you really wanna get technical, the BUTTONWOOD AGREEMENT was really the SYCAMORE AGREEMENT.
"So all the consequences of American financial power--all of the world-changing repercussions--it all began under the branches of a sycamore tree."
Completely mind-blowing.
So when the sycamore tree was struck down, it was a biblical sign of judgement. When it was uprooted, however, THAT was a symbol of the uprooting of America's power, both financially and economically.
Jeremiah 45:4 says:
"Behold what I have built I will break down. And what I have planted, I will pluck up.
God allowed the power of America to be planted there, to take root and grow and to then branch out all over the world. We would rise to the highest point of power, but when we rejected God, he gave us a warning. If we STILL refused to turn back to Him, then all of our blessings would be taken away.
Not sure if any of you know this...if you are a farmer or are familiar with farming, you probably do. But every seven years, you are supposed to let your land rest. For six years, you sow and plant, but on the "sabbath year", you let the land rest.
Also, at the end of every seven years, you are supposed to let go of all debt.
This 7th year is biblically called "Shemitah". From September 13, 2007-September 29, 2008, is a Shemitah year.
In September of 2008, both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae corporations were put under government control, and the Lehman Brothers corporation fell as well. This all took place the week of the 7th anniversary of 9/11. This is how it specifically played out:
"The collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac happened on 9/7. The collapse of Lehman Brothers began two days later on September 9 when it lost 45 percent of its value. It was on September 10 that it announced its loss of almost 4 billion dollars. The following day its stock took a second precipitous plunge....September 11."- Excerpt
The time between the two disasters, the collapse of the actual WTC and the collapse of the economy was 7 years.
When the Lehman Brothers fell, the stock market would plunge more than 499 points. In response to that, the US Government worked together to come up with a bailout to reverse everything. It was the largest bailout in American history. That bill was defeated. On the morning of 9/29, the last day of the Shemitah year, when the NY Stock exchange met up, the opening bell wouldn't sound. Many saw that as an omen. That day, Wall Street collapsed more than 700 points. That day was recorded as the worst day in the history of Wall Street.
As the sun went down that day, it was the beginning of Tishri, which is the 7th month of the Hebrew year. The trigger to the crash was the rejection of the bailout, which was a sum of 7 hundred billion dollars. 7% of the market was wiped away. That amounted to 777 points on the final day of the 7th year.
Yea.
Do you have any idea how amazing that is? The only person who could have any control in all of that is
GOD!
If anyone recalls,
"One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses, the matter shall be established."
On February 24, 2009, on Capitol Hill (once again), Obama came into office. In his Inaugural Address, he says the following:
"But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken; though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this--WE WILL REBUILD! "Once again, the vow of Isaiah 9:10 is spoken...by the third witness. The President of the United States. The same vow that was declared the wake of 9/11.
"tonight I want every American to know....
Isaiah 9:9: "All the people will know...."
In Isaiah 9:10, Israel was proclaiming that fallen bricks would not determine their nations destiny. THEY WOULD. In Obama's Inaugural address he says
"The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation."
And one more thing:
"We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before"It's Isaiah 9:10 in modern form.
In George Washington's Inauguration Address on April 30, 1789, he said:
"No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency...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 States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes."In other words..."This nation can not have blessings and happiness without God."
So after his address, the President lead the Senate and the HOR on foot to a little stone church to gather for prayer. America committed themselves to God from day one. Guess where America's capital was in 1789? New York City. Washington DC did not exist yet. George Washington was sworn in as President in New York City. The little stone church where they met was St Paul's Chapel. St Paul's Chapel is located on the rear corner of Ground Zero. America was committed to God on the corner of Ground Zero, or, America's grounds of consecration, is Ground Zero. But what else was on the corner of Ground Zero?
The Sycamore Tree
If it weren't for the sycamore tree, St Paul's chapel would have gone down with the WTC.
America was dedicated to God at St. Paul's chapel. But we became a nation in Federal Hall. These two places were joined together on April 30, 1789 and they were joined together again on September 11, 2001. When the towers fell, the shock was so great, it opened up cracks in the foundation of Federal Hall. Now how weird is that? It opened up cracks in the foundation of the place America was founded...
THE EVENTS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, OPENED UP CRACKS IN THE FOUNDATION OF AMERICA.
This entry is getting kind of long now, and I'm starting to realize I've pretty much just paraphrased the entire book.
To summarize this entire book up in one scripture:
2 Chronicles 7:14:
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."If we as a nation don't come back to God, nothing will get better. We were committed to God from the very beginning and we didn't live up to that commitment, which is why our nation is in shambles. If we go back to God, our country will become the country it was meant to be.
The key word?
If.
Read the book. Get inspired. Person by person, family by family, church by church, community by community, state by state, we can come back to God.
The Cross at Ground Zero. And God wasn't there?
