Jonathan Cahn

Jonathan Cahn is a Messianic rabbi and biblical scholar best known for his best selling novel The Harbinger, in which he compares the United States and the September 11 attacks to ancient Israel and the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel. In particular, he sees Isaiah 9:10 as a prophetic warning to the United States. It was followed with The Harbinger Companion: With Study Guide.^[1]

Personal life

Born in New York State, Cahn was raised in a reform Jewish home and attended the synagogue frequently. He became an atheist when he was eight years old but a few years later he began to question atheism. By the time he was 20 years old he had become a Messianic Jew, accepting Jesus as the Messiah after almost being killed in two separate accidents, the first being when he was driving on the road when he narrowly avoided a collision and the second at a railway crossing when he escaped from his car before it was crushed by an oncoming train.^[2] He went to Purchase University and studied history. In the mid 1980's he worked with a homeless outreach charity that provided food and counseling for people living on the streets of New York City.^[3] In 1989, Cahn started "Hope of the World Ministries" (HOW), an outreach of the Gospel and compassion projects for the needy and currently is the president of the organization and further publishes Sapphires Magazine and ministers on radio, television, and internet.

Credentials

The New Jersey Jewish Standard, in an article that mentioned Cahn, said he "claims to have Orthodox smicha from a rabbi who had joined the messianic movement".^[4]

Beth Israel worship center

Cahn is the head of the Beth Israel worship center (a messianic congregation) whose "liturgy focuses on Jesus as savior." The group had been located in Garfield, New Jersey throughout the 1990s but moved to Wayne, New Jersey in 2008. Their arrival in Wayne was viewed with suspicion by local leaders of Judaism as "Messianism has been condemned by Jewish clergy and leaders as a cloak for Christian missionizing." With the arrival of Cahn's group the YM-YWHA of North Jersey held a counter-missionary event with a member of Jews for Judaism. Cahn told reporters that "the congregation has no intention of 'targeting' the Jewish community. However, anybody is welcome at the center."^[4]

Books and videos

Books

1. The Harbinger (2012)
2. The Harbinger Companion: With Study Guide (2013)
3. The Mystery of the Shemitah (2014)
4. The Book of Mysteries (2016)

Videos

1. The Harbinger (2012)
2. The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment: Is There an Ancient Mystery that Foretells America's Future? (2012)
3. The Masada Mystery (2012)
4. The Sanhedrin Secret (2012)
5. The Harbinger Decoded (2013)
6. Jonathan Cahn's Biblical Teachings, Volume 1 (2013)
7. The Mystery of the Shemitah Unlocked (2015)

References