I have been blessed
by the service
provided by various
discernment
ministries such as
that of T.A.
McMahon.
But in reading
McMahon’s: The
Harbinger-A Matter
of Critical
Discernment, I am
reminded of the
downside – the
dangers that such
ministries easily
fall into:
namely, the tendency
to attack that which
is of the Lord just
as readily and just
as erroneously as
others accept that
which is not, the
tendency to come
against anything
that appears to be
outside one’s
theological box, and
the error of
thinking that one is
doing God and His
kingdom a favor by
enthusiastically
firing rounds of
ammunition at His
own troops.
Beside the Point, But…
I’m glad T.A.
McMahon finds
The Harbinger to be a “clarion call”
“sincere” and “one
with which all
Christians might
agree.”
As for the comments
regarding style,
dialogue, wanting
more development of
characters, more
drama, etc., I guess
I should feel
honored to get an
artistic review from
him, but the purpose
of
The Harbinger is not entertainment, but
to give warning.
Nor does it strive
after any genre but
has been generally
seen as being of its
own unique nature.
As narratives are
used throughout the
Bible to convey
truth,
The Harbinger’s
narrative is
similarly and
simply, a vessel to
convey the mysteries
and the warning.
McMahon is entitled
to his preferences
in style, but one
only has to look at
Amazon.com and
beyond to see that
most readers in
America strongly
disagree and
describe
The Harbinger
in such terms as
“riveting,”
“spellbinding,” and
have been unable to
put it down, many,
and in many reviews,
have called it the
best book they ever
read outside of the
Bible.
As far as its story
or narrative part is
concerned, hardly a
week has gone by
where I haven’t
received an offer
that it be made into
a motion picture.
But all this, of
course, is very much
beside the point and
the message which
will now be
addressed.
The Larger Picture
What would be missed
if one only read
McMahon’s article is
that
The Harbinger
has not only become
a national
bestseller, it has
also been endorsed,
praised, and hailed
by born again
believers across
America, from every
background from
Evangelical,
Baptist,
Charismatic, etc.
including pastors,
Bible teachers,
seminary professors,
Bible scholars,
experts in biblical
hermeneutics.
If
The Harbinger
were really as
McMahon believes, it
would not be so
strongly endorsed
and hailed by so
many solid Bible
expositors with
expertise in
biblical
hermeneutics, which
has to be admitted,
is much greater and
deeper than his own.
His objections, I
would suggest, arise
out of a very major
fundamental error,
misperception, and
confusion about what
The Harbinger
is actually saying.
Central Confusion #1: What
The Harbinger
Does and Does Not
Say
The central
criticisms in the
review is that
1)The
Harbinger
presents as
definitive fact that
the United States as
a nation in covenant
with God and 2) That
everything else in
the book depends on
this assertion.
The short and simple
answer is:
The Harbinger
never
declares that
America is in
covenant with God
It does note that
America’s founders
did
believe
this, did consecrate
it to God, and did
establish
the nation after the
pattern of ancient
Israel.
This becomes of note
in view of America’s
following in the
same pattern of
Israel’s apostasy
and, now, in the
appearing of the
signs and warnings
of its judgment as
revealed in
The Harbinger
– Thus God can use
that pattern to
speak to such a
nation.
But even if
The Harbinger had asserted the idea as
fact, which it does
not, none of the
mysteries or
revelations within
the book are
dependent on any
such premise.
Thus this central
charge is
groundless.
Central Confusion #2:
What
The Harbinger
Explicitly Does Say
The review’s other
criticisms concern
the Scriptures and
biblical signs of
judgment revealed in
the book.
The one set of
criticisms argues
that things like
Isaiah 9:10 and the
Shemitah were about
and for ancient
Israel and not
America.
The problem is this:
The Harbinger
says the very
same
thing.
This is one of the
review’s fundamental
misunderstandings.
The
Harbinger
never says that
Isaiah was
prophesying of
America, or that the
Shemitah was for
America, etc. etc.
What it does say is
very different –
namely that this
ancient pattern of
judgment is now
recurring in
America, and in a
stunningly precise
way – and that God
is able to use such
patterns and signs
to warn America, a
nation in rapid
moral spiritual
apostasy and in
danger of judgment.
In fact the
distinction is very
clearly stated in
the book in the very
same chapter (The Oracle) wherein the Scripture first
appears:
“So what does all
this have to do with
America?”
“The prophecy, in
its context,
concerned ancient
Israel.
But now, as a sign,
it concerns
America.”
This is light years
removed from the
first assertion.
And all its
resulting and
dependent arguments
(Isaiah is not
speaking of America,
the Shemitah applies
to Israel, etc)
entirely miss the
point.
Thus, this second
fundamental
assertion is as
groundless as the
first.
Ancient Assyrians in Lower Manhattan
The article’s other
set of criticisms
falls along the
lines of taking
issue with the
harbingers or
warning signs,
themselves, on the
basis that there are
differences with
their manifestation
and the original
text.
By such logic, taken
to its conclusion,
one could only
accept the validity
of the connections
revealed in
The Harbinger
if, on 9/11, America
were attacked by
ancient Assyrians,
if the Twin Towers
were made Middle
Eastern clay brick,
and if American
leaders responded to
the attack speaking
perfect ancient
Hebrew.
The problem here
follows the previous
confusion –
The Harbinger
is not presenting
these signs as being
the
contextual
fulfillments
of prophecy, but as
signs
of warning and
judgment.
The hermeneutics of
Isaiah in context to
ancient Israel are
consistently upheld.
Thus the issues
raised and measures
employed in
McMahon’s article
are, in the first
case, misunderstood,
and in the second,
misapplied.
The question is not
whether what is
happening in America
comprises the
contextual
fulfillment of
prophecy, but rather
whether God can use
and is, in fact,
using the same
biblical patterns
and progressions of
judgment and the
same biblical signs
of warning as given
to ancient Israel to
now warn America.
If one wants to
attempt to dissect
or deconstruct them,
just as
anti-missionaries do
with the claims of
Jesus as Messiah,
and as critics of
the Bible do with
Scripture, one may
attempt to do so as
McMahon attempts to
do with
The Harbinger
(i.e. 9/11 wasn’t as
bad as the first
Assyrian attack,
should it be
singular or plural,
etc.) - my job
though is to sound
the warning.
But while it’s been
brought – some
clarifications: The
figure of the tower
is neither essential
nor required by the
message, but simply
stands as a symbol
for the nation’s
campaign to rebuild
stronger than before
the attack (a
reality not in
dispute and which
matches the ancient
case).
And, yes, the tree
that was planted at
the corner of Ground
Zero
does actually and
absolutely
constitute a Hebrew
Erez,
and it’s the exact
same word used in
the ancient
scripture.
It should also be
noted that the
message doesn’t
depend on any one
manifestation of
signs.
It is rather that
all the harbingers
cited, and the
progression, have in
one form or another
manifested.
Even the article,
with all its
criticism, concedes,
by default, that the
similarities exist.
Washington, Solomon, & Caiaphas
McMahon charges that
to see a connection
between Washington
and Solomon and to
speak of the prayers
offered up on
America’s inaugural
day as a
consecration is near
blasphemy on the
grounds of
Washington’s
non-Christian
connections.
This again misses
the point.
When the Gospel
records that a
prophetic word came
through the mouth of
Caiaphas, it wasn’t
about Caiaphas, but
about the word
spoken.
Neither is it about
Washington - but
about what took
place on America’s
seminal day.
The fact remains
that on America’s
first day as a
fully-formed nation,
its first government
gathered in prayer
to consecrate its
future to God – and
did so on a most
significant ground
of earth.
Attacking The Publisher
As to the criticisms
of the book’s
publisher
(Frontline,
CharismaMedia), I
don’t believe this
has any place, much
less, significance
in such a review –
except to illustrate
one of the dangers
present in some
discernment
ministries, namely
that of
guilt by association
combined with
broad-stroke
deligitimization.
The fact is,
The Harbinger could have been published
by any number of
publishers, and most
publishers put out a
wide variety of
books which some or
many will find
objectionable.
But it was the Lord
who brought
The Harbinger
to Frontline of
CharismaMedia.
What is disparaged
in a few strokes of
the computer keys is
a Christian
publishing house
made up of men and
women who though, no
more perfect than
the critic, love the
Lord and seek to
fulfill His purposes
with sincerity of
heart.
(The
Harbinger
was actually brought
to Frontline in an
extremely dramatic,
far more than
natural, and “out of
the box” way -
something I’d be
more than happy to
share at any time).
What Did
Not
Appear In McMahon’s
Article
Arguments may often
obscure more than
they reveal.
Not that a reviewer
can cover
everything, but the
reader of such a
review would have
little or no idea of
the central facts
contained in
The Harbinger.
These include the
fact that the very
Scripture that binds
together all these
harbingers, the
verse that
foreshadows national
judgment, and the
vow that was
proclaimed by Israel
after its first
warning of judgment
was actually
proclaimed in
America on the very
day after 9/11, by
the Senate Majority
leader on Capitol
Hill – word for word.
Nor would the reader
begin to have an
idea of the
magnitude of what’s
involved in The
Mystery of the
Shemitah.
I do appreciate that
McMahon notes:
“Granted, the author
does raise an
intriguing date
phenomenon” – But
the reality behind
this allusion is far
greater than what is
suggested –
including the fact
that the greatest
financial collapse
in American history
happened to take
place on the one day
given in the Bible
on which a nation’s
financial accounts
were wiped away –
not just
once
– but
twice
– and seven Hebrew
years apart, the
exact time period
ordained in the
Bible for this to
transpire –
down to the exact
biblical day.
The work of one
analyst who did a
statistical study of
the chances of just
these two
occurrences, and
using the most
conservative of
criteria, it to come
out to, at the very
least,
one in a million,
three hundred and
sixty one thousand,
eight hundred and
eighty-nine.
These, of course,
are only examples
and a small part of
the revelations
contained within
The Harbinger,
more than enough to
warrant any reader’s
attention.
What
The Harbinger
presents are of the
most critical nature
concerning a nation
and those within
that nation - that
the reader would a
great disservice to
himself or herself
to depend on what
people say about it
but must read and
decide for him or
herself.
The Final Question
McMahon is certainly
entitled to his
opinions, but I
believe his approach
and stance with
regard to
The Harbinger
represents a low
point in his
ministry, and will
only have the effect
of sowing confusion,
misperceptions, and
division in the body
with regard to the
sounding of a
critical alarm.
At the same time, I
have no doubt that
the message of
The Harbinger
will continue to go
forth and continue
to produce what is
now, in fact,
actually bringing
forth - repentance,
salvation, and
revival.
Thus a final
question:
What if God were to
sound warning to
America of judgment?
What might such a
warning sound like?
Believers, pastors,
ministers, Bible
expositors, and
Christian leaders
across this land
believe it would
sound identical to
The Harbinger –
and that the warning
is, in fact,
is sounding.
Let the one who has
ears to hear - hear.