The Harbinger and the Shemitah

As Jonathan Cahn's The Harbinger continues on and is now followed by The Mystery of the Shemitah, coupled with recent books on blood moons and the like, Christians should wonder about the recent spate of books covering supposed mysteries of the end-times.

The question that believers need to ask is whether we should read the Bible like unbelievers read Nostradamus - searching for words or phrases that seem similar to current events.  For instance, a tetrad of lunar eclipses appearing reddish in hue may remind us of verses like Joel 2:31 and Acts 2:20, but simple context reveals that this astronomical event is not what these verses refer to (has the sun also darkened?).

Similarly, looking to Isaiah 9:10 for similarities to the terror attacks on September 11, 2001 is a fruitless endeavor unless something in Isaiah 9 indicates that God meant for countries around the world to take this prophecy as a warning to them.  Does God call countries everywhere to repent?  Yes, but the prophecies He gives are addressed to specific peoples at specific times for specific reasons.

Nor should we assume some pattern of Scripture is meant to be repeated unless God clearly says so.  Israel was commanded to let the land lie fallow in seventh years, Sabbath years.  Does that mean that traders should leave Wall Street on the sevens, or that prisons should be emptied in light of the shemitah?

God does call us to repentance.  One of the sins we need to repent of is forcing the Bible to say things it never said by importing our imaginations on the text.  We need to repent of adding to Scripture.

Dave James provides an excellent, extensive review of The Harbinger that I recommend to you.

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