The Harbinger

This book, The Harbinger, by Jonathan Cahn, was quite a disappointment. It has some fascinating connections between today’s world and biblical passages. But I could not get away from the perception that the author could’ve done so much more with the material.

The story centres around an Old Testament verse from Isaiah:

The bricks have fallen,

But we will rebuild with hewn stone;

The sycamores have been cut down,

But we will plant cedars in their place.

Isaiah 9.10

The author presents his premise in the form of a conversation between Nouriel, a reporter, Ana, an executive in the publishing world, and The Prophet, a mysterious figure who shows up as Nouriel tries to unravel the mystery.

The verse from Isaiah has been quoted several times by American government figures in the wake of 9/11. This book attempts to make connections between this biblical prophecy and what is happening in the USA today.

My disappointment revolves around the fact that I believe there is considerable evidence that 9/11 was not simply the work of “terrorists”, at least not Arab terrorists. And I believe that the turning which the author calls for, the turning back to God, is much deeper than the same old conservative, evangelical perspective we hear so much of from strident preachers. There are levels contained here which the author does not explore.

As I said above, the author, in my opinion, could’ve done so much more with this material than he did. It’s like he began tiptoeing into the water, got frightened of the implications (and possible reaction from certain sectors of society), and turned back.

Oh well, it was a somewhat entertaining read. Not super well-written, but good enough to help me through to the end.