The Harbinger, page 25
“Still, I don’t feel adequate, not remotely adequate for anything like this.”
“How do you think Moses felt when he was called, or Jeremiah . . . or Mary . . . or Peter? Do you think any of them felt remotely adequate? It wasn’t about them. And it’s not about you. It’s about Him. All you have to do is go where He sends you.” Then he reached into his coat and took out a little horn . . . a little ram’s horn. “Close your eyes, Nouriel,” he said, lifting the horn above my head.
So I did. I soon felt a thick liquid rolling down my forehead.
• • •
“It was oil?” she asked.
“Yes, I think olive oil.”
“A horn of oil.”
“The oil of anointing. It was when I felt it running down my cheeks that the prophet began to pray.”
• • •
“You,” he said, “who are above all that is spoken and all that is named . . .
“I commit into Your hands Your servant. In his weakness, be to him a strength. In his not knowing, be to him his assurance. Cause him to walk in the footsteps You’ve prepared beforehand. Pour out upon him the spirit of Your anointing that he might fulfill Your charge. Guide him. Protect him. Prepare his hands for battle. Bless and keep him. Cause the light of Your countenance to shine upon him. Spread over his life the tabernacle of Your glory, and shelter him in the covering of Your grace, in the name of the Anointed One, the Glory of Israel, the Light of the World.”
I opened my eyes. The horn was gone. Looking into my eyes with what seemed to be a deep compassion tempered with what I took to be a sadness over our parting, he said, “God be with you, Baruch Nouriel.”
“And God be with you,” I replied.
And with that, he left. This time I stayed where I was.
“And I still didn’t get your name,” I shouted as he walked away.
“That’s because I never gave it to you,” he replied. Then he stopped walking and turned around. “You’re still concerned,” he said, in a gentle voice.
“The message,” I said. “It’s not exactly the kind that wins popularity contests, is it?”
“That would be a safe assumption.”
“They’ll do everything they can to attack and discredit it.”
“Of course they will,” he said. “Otherwise they’d have to accept it.”
“But not only the message.”
“No, the messenger as well.”
“They’ll do everything they can to attack and discredit the one who bears the message.”
“Yes,” said the prophet. “The messenger will be opposed, vilified and hated, mocked and slandered. It has to be that way, just as it was for Jeremiah and Baruch.”
“And why was I so blessed to be chosen?” I asked.
“Why were any of us so blessed?”
With that, he approached me once more. It would be the last time.
“Had we lived in ancient times,” he said, “and had we come to such a city as this, we would find it encircled by walls of stone, massive towering walls of stone for defense and security, its protection against the day of attack and calamity. All along the walls, inside its watchtowers, and above its gates stood those who kept guard . . . the watchmen. It was their charge to protect the city, to keep vigilant, to stay awake as the people slept, to watch, to gaze into the distance for the first sign of danger . . . an impending invasion. And if a watchman were to see such a sign, he would reach down to his side, pull out a ram’s horn, his trumpet, set it to his mouth, and, with all his breath, sound the alarm. How do you think the watchman’s alarm sounded to those inside the city?”
“Jarring, disturbing, ominous.”
“Exactly. . . . As it had to be. If not, then those asleep would remain sleeping and those awake would never know what was coming until it was too late. Only a sound as jarring as that could save them.”
He paused before continuing. “So, Nouriel, a question: Should the watchman refrain from reaching for his trumpet because the people will find it disturbing and would rather hear a pleasant sound? Or should he refuse to blow it because they’ll oppose and slander him or because they’ll even hate him?”
“No,” I replied.
“If the watchman should see the signs of calamity appearing in the distance and fail to blow the trumpet to warn his people, what then would he become?”
“Guilty.”
“Of what?”
“Of their destruction.”
“Correct. He had the chance to save them but didn’t. In his hand was their only hope to be saved.”
“So he has no choice,” I said, “but to sound it.”
“And who are you, Nouriel?”
“Who am I?”
“Who are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re a watchman on the wall.”
“A watchman on the wall . . . ”
“A watchman on the wall who has seen the signs. . . . And the city sleeps . . . the people have no idea what’s coming. . . . And to you is entrusted the sound of their awakening . . . and their redemption.”
Once more the prophet was silent. And then, with the wind gusting increasingly wild and rapid, the harbinger of a coming storm, he looked intently into my eyes and began speaking the words of his final charge:
“So, then, take up your trumpet, Nouriel,
Set it to your mouth and blow,
Let the sound of the watchman be heard in the city,
Let the call of redemption cover the land,
Let the word go forth and have its way,
And let those who have ears to hear it . . .
Let them hear it,
And be saved.”
For More Information . . .
To find out more on what you’ve read in The Harbinger, for related teachings or messages, for other teachings and insight from Jonathan Cahn, or for more about salvation or how to be part of God’s work and End Time purposes, write to:
Hope of the World
Box 1111
Lodi, NJ 07644
USA
You can also visit his website and get in touch online at: www.hopeoftheworld.org or www.jonathancahn.com.
Jonathan is the leader of the Jerusalem Center/Beth Israel, a worship center made up of Jews and Gentile, people of all backgrounds, located in Wayne, New Jersey, just outside New York City.
Notes
Chapter 5—The Second Harbinger: The Terrorist
1. Isaiah 10:5–7.
2. Isaiah 10:12–16.
Chapter 6—The Oracle
1. Isaiah 9:10, translation mine. Since the original Hebrew of Isaiah 9:10 contains greater meaning than any single translation can render, throughout The Harbinger the words of this particular verse are translated and expounded upon directly from the original Hebrew. One standard Bible translation, the New King James Version, renders Isaiah 9:10 in this way: “The bricks have fallen down, / But we will rebuild with hewn stones; / The sycamores are cut down, / But we will replace them with cedars.”
Chapter 7—The Third Harbinger: The Fallen Bricks
1. John D. W. Watts, Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 24 (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1985), 143, s.v. “Isaiah 9:7–10:4.”
2. D. L. Cooper, “The Book of Immanuel: Chapters 7–12,” D. L. Cooper Commentary on Isaiah, Biblical Research Monthly, December 1943, http://biblicalresearch.info/page128.html (accessed June 17, 2011).
Chapter 8—The Fourth Harbinger: The Tower
1. Mayor Rudy Giuliani, September 11, 2011, quoted in “A Plan to Save the World Trade Center,” TwinTowersAlliance.com, http://www.twintowersalliance.com/petition/save-the-wtc/ (accessed June 17, 2011).
2. Charles Schumer, press release, September 14, 2001.
3. Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, “Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki Announce Plans to Commemorate Fifth Anniversary of the September 11th Attack,” press release, August 8, 2006, http://www.renewnyc.com/displaynews.aspx?newsid=43aefabe-5e5b-409a-98c6-0777598873b4 (accessed June 17, 2011).
4. Sweetness-Light.com, “Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Statement on the Floor of the United States Senate in Response to the World Trade Center and Pentagon Attacks,” September 12, 2001, http://sweetness-light
.com/archive/hillary-clintons-response-to-the-911-attacks (accessed June 17, 2011).
5. New York Times, “Mayor’s Speech: ‘Rebuild, Renew and Remain the Capital of the Free World,’” January 2, 2002, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/02/nyregion/mayoral-transition-mayor-s-speech-rebuild-renew-remain-capital-free-world.html (accessed June 17, 2011).
6. From President George W. Bush’s speech to a joint session of Congress, September 20, 2001.
7. This statement is taken from the inscription on the actual sign at Ground Zero.
8. The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 5 (New York: Abingdon Press, 1956), 235.
9. H. D. M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, eds., The Pulpit Commentary, vol. 10, Isaiah (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1985), 178.
10. From the author’s notes on an Expository Sermon 9, “Judgment and Grace,” Isaiah 9:9–10:34, available at http://www.cliftonhillpres.pcvic.org.au/espository_sermon_9_Isaiah.
11. TheModernTribune.com, “Kerry: ‘We Must Build a New World Trade Center—and Build American Resolve for a New War on Terrorism,’” speech delivered on the floor of the US Senate, September 12, 2001, as quoted in The Modern Tribune Online, http://www.themoderntribune.com/john_kerry_speech_after_9_11_-_rebuild_america_and_the_world_trade_center.htm (accessed June 17, 2011).
12. Nathan Thornburgh, “The Mess at Ground Zero,” Time, July 1, 2008, http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1819433,00.html (accessed June 17, 2011).
13. The Interpreter’s Bible, 235.
14. Marcus Warren, “Ground Zero Is Reborn on the Fourth of July,” Telegraph, July 5, 2004, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1466250/Ground-Zero-is-reborn-on-the-Fourth-ofs-July.html (accessed June 17, 2011).
15. Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett F. Harrison, eds., The Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), 620.
16. Giuliani, quoted in “A Plan to Save the World Trade Center.”
17. Cooper, “The Book of Immanuel: Chapters 7–12.”
18. MSNBC.com, “Trump Calls Freedom Tower ‘Disgusting’ and a ‘Pile of Junk,’” transcript of Hardball With Chris Matthews, May 13, 2005, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7832944/ns/msnbc_tv-hardball_with_chris_matthews/t/trump-calls-freedom-tower-disgusting-pile-junk (accessed June 17, 2011).
19. BibleStudyTools.com, “Isaiah 9,” Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible, http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/isaiah/9.html?p=4 (accessed June 17, 2011).
20. MSNBC.com, “Trump Calls Freedom Tower ‘Disgusting’ and a ‘Pile of Junk.’”
21. Donald F. Ritsman, “Isaiah 9:8–10:4, Exploring the Passage,” http://biblestudycourses.org/isaiah-bible-study-courses-section-1/isaiah-9-8-10-4-exploring-the-passage/ (accessed June 17, 2011).
22. Crispen Sartwell, “World Trade Center as Symbol,” http://www.crispinsartwell.com/wtc2.htm (accessed June 17, 2011).
23. Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton, The Septuagint Version: Greek and English (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1983), 844.
Chapter 9—The Fifth Harbinger: The Gazit Stone
1. StoneWorld.com, “New York Granite Is Donated for Freedom Tower,” August 4, 2004, http://www.stoneworld.com/articles/new-york-granite-is-donated-for-freedom-tower (accessed June 17, 2011).
2. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, “1,776-Foot Freedom Tower Will Be World’s Tallest Building, Reclaim New York’s Skyline,” press release, July 4, 2004, http://www.panynj.gov/press-room/press-item.cfm?headLine_id=489 (accessed June 17, 2011).
3. Ritsman, “Isaiah 9:8–10:4, Exploring the Passage.”
4. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, “1,776-Foot Freedom Tower Will Be World’s Tallest Building, Reclaim New York’s Skyline.”
5. Spence and Exell, eds., The Pulpit Commentary, vol. 10, 178.
6. Ibid.
7. “Remarks: Governor George E. Pataki, Laying of the Cornerstone for Freedom Tower, July 4, 2004," http://www.renewnyc.com/content/speeches/Gov_speech_Freedom_Tower.pdf (accessed June 21, 2011).
8. Spence and Exell, eds., The Pulpit Commentary, vol. 10, 178.
9. Ibid.
Chapter 11—The Seventh Harbinger: The Erez Tree
1. Spence and Exell, eds., The Pulpit Commentary, vol. 10, 178.
2. The Revell Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell, 1990), 198.
3. The Reverend Dr. Daniel Matthews, rector, at the dedication for the Tree of Hope at St. Paul’s Chapel.
4. Ibid.
5. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, vol. 4, Isaiah to Malachi (Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell, n.d.), 61.
Chapter 12—The Eighth Harbinger: The Utterance
1. Isaiah 9:8–10.
2. Kenneth L. Barker and John Kohlenberger III, consulting editors, The NIV Bible Commentary, volume 1, Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 1,060.
3. Avalon Project at Yale Law School, “Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln, Saturday, March 4, 1865,” http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/lincoln2.asp (accessed June 21, 2011).
4. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project (online), “John Edwards: Remarks to the Congressional Black Caucus Prayer Breakfast, September 11, 2004,” http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=84922#axzz1M02bgo9D (accessed June 22, 2011).
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
Chapter 13—The Ninth Harbinger: The Prophecy
1. Library of Congress, “Bill Summary and Status, 107th Congress (2001–2002), S.J.RES.22,” http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:s.j.res.00022: (accessed June 22, 2011).
2. Washington File, “Senate Majority Leader Daschle Expresses Sorrow, Resolve,” September 12, 2001, http://wfile.ait.org.tw/wf-archive/2001/010913/epf407.htm (accessed June 22, 2011).
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Deuteronomy 19:15.
Chapter 14—There Comes a Second
1. Spence and Exell, eds., The Pulpit Commentary, vol. 10, 183.
2. Gary V. Smith, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2007), 247–248, s.v. “Isaiah 1:39.”
3. Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 7, Isaiah (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1983), 258.
Chapter 15—The Isaiah 9:10 Effect
1. Isaiah 9:10, translation mine.
2. Isaiah 9:11.
3. StoneWorld.com, “New York Granite Is Donated for Freedom Tower.”
4. PBS.org, “New York Stock Exchange Reopens to Sharp Losses,” September 17, 2001, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/september01/stock_exchange_9-17b.html (accessed June 22, 2011).
5. Gail Makinen, “The Economic Effects of 9/11: A Retrospective Assessment,” Report for Congress, received through CRS Web, September 27, 2002, http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL31617.pdf (accessed June 22, 2011).
6. DesignFluids.com, “9/11: ‘The Root’ of the Financial Crisis,” October 28, 2008, http://www.designfluids.com/news/911-the-root-of-the-financial-crisis-18845940 (accessed June 22, 2011).
7. CNBC.com, “House of Cards: Origins of the Financial Crisis ‘Then and Now,’” slideshow, http://www.cnbc.com/id/28993790/Origins_of_the_Financial_Crisis_Then_and_Now_Slideshow (accessed June 22, 2011).
Chapter 16—The Uprooted
1. Ezekiel 13:14.
2. Jeremiah 45:4.
3. Jeremiah 45:4.
Chapter 17—The Mystery of the Shemitah
1. Leviticus 25:2–4.
2. Leviticus 25:5.
3. Exodus 23:10–11.
4. Deuteronomy 15:1–2.
5. Leviticus 26:33–35.
6. Newsweek.com, “Did Lehman’s Fall Matter?,” May 18, 2009, http://www.newsweek.com/2009/05/17/did-lehman-s-fall-matter.html (accessed June 23, 2011).
7. Alexandra Twin, “Stocks Crushed,” CNNMoney.com, September 29, 2008, http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/29/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm (accessed June 23, 2011).
8. Ibid.
Chapter 18—The Third Witness
1. Deuteronomy 19:15.
2. 2 Corinthians 13:1.
3. WhiteHouse.gov, “Remarks of President Barack Obama—as Prepared for Delivery, Address to Joint Session of Congress, Tuesday, February 24, 2009,” http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-of-President-Barack-Obama-Address-to-Joint-Session-of-Congress/ (accessed June 23, 2011).
4. Ibid., emphasis added.
5. Ibid., emphasis added.
6. Isaiah 9:9, translation mine.
7. WhiteHouse.gov, “Remarks of President Barack Obama—as Prepared for Delivery, Address to Joint Session of Congress, Tuesday, February 24, 2009.”
8. Washington File, “Senate Majority Leader Daschle Expresses Sorrow, Resolve.”
9. Smith, The New American Commentary, 246, s.v. “Isaiah 1:39.”
10. WhiteHouse.gov, “Remarks of President Barack Obama—as Prepared for Delivery, Address to Joint Session of Congress, Tuesday, February 24, 2009,” emphasis added.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid., emphasis added.
13. Teed Commentaries, “Isaiah Chapter 10: God’s Judgment on Assyria,” http://teed.biblecommenter.com/isaiah/10.htm (accessed June 23, 2011).
14. WhiteHouse.gov, “Remarks of President Barack Obama—as Prepared for Delivery, Address to Joint Session of Congress, Tuesday, February 24, 2009,” emphasis added.
15. Teed Commentaries, “Isaiah Chapter 10: God’s Judgment on Assyria.”
16. WhiteHouse.gov, “Remarks of President Barack Obama—as Prepared for Delivery, Address to Joint Session of Congress, Tuesday, February 24, 2009,” emphasis added.
Chapter 19—The Mystery Ground
1. Washington File, “Senate Majority Leader Daschle Expresses Sorrow, Resolve.”
