Hey friends, I need to write today to bring awareness and discernment about two Christian events that are happening in Washington DC this Saturday, September 26th. One I am mostly fine with, but the other I am quite concerned about. The first is Franklin Graham’s “Prayer March 2020,” which is a prayer gathering at the National Mall. I don’t have any major problems with this event and think that– all else being equal– more people praying is always a good thing. (I do have some significant disagreements with the ways that Franklin Graham has become blatantly partisan in his approach to faith and religion, in contrast to his father Billy Graham, but that’s a topic for another day).
However, the second event happening this weekend, which is being organized separately but has been approved of by Franklin Graham, is an event called “The Return” led by a pastor called Jonathan Cahn. “The Return” will be held both in person and simulcast to tens of thousands of homes and churches in the US. I am sure that many parts of this event will be fine, but I have major problems with Cahn’s leadership of this event. A Jewish convert to Christianity who often is given the title “Rabbi,” Jonathan Cahn has made numerous false prophecies over the past years, even one of which should be enough to permanently disqualify him from future leadership in Christian circles (see Deut. 18:20-22). Despite that, like many others before him, he has simply moved on and continued to publish NYT-bestselling books with new prophecies when the old ones didn’t come true. The question one must ask is: does the truth matter? If it does, then we must be very wary about trusting someone like Jonathan Cahn, who has promoted and written many, many untruths.
What are these false prophecies?
I’ll attempt to list some of the major untruths that Jonathan Cahn has promoted. To start with, Cahn claims that the United States has a unique covenantal relationship with Yahweh in the exact same way that ancient Israel had 3000 years ago. Building upon that false premise, Cahn claims that many hidden prophecies that he discovered in the Bible about ancient Israel are also true about the United States. Thus in 2015, Cahn became well-known in evangelical circles for proclaiming both in his books as well as on national TV programs that God was about to unleash a series of fierce judgments upon America as part of a 7-year cycle of judgment. Cahn proclaimed that September 2015 was the month of “the Blood Moon,” and it was supposed to be a time of major economic and geological catastrophe for the United States. Cahn also pointed to the birth of a couple of cows that had “7” birthmarks as further evidence of his claim that the judgment was nigh. At the time, right-wing Christian leaders such as Pat Robertson, Glenn Beck, Jim Bakker, John Hagee, Rick Wiles, Eric Metaxas, Sid Roth, James Dobson, Michelle Bachman and many others were swept into Cahn’s apocalyptic message and excitedly promoted his books and talks on their platforms. Most frustratingly for me was seeing a number of Christians I knew personally fall under Cahn’s spell; I even heard of one person who panicked upon hearing Cahn’s teachings and sold a bunch of investments in the stock market, fearing that the end was nigh.
Of course, when nothing major happened in September 2015 (the stock market actually went up, and there were no other catastrophic events), Cahn “insisted that the August 18 [2015] stock market selloff came close enough, and that a minor earthquake off the Mexican coast was also a sign that God is punishing the U.S…Cahn then claimed that if something — anything — bad happens between now and September of next year [2016], that will prove that his prophecy was right all along!” [Source] Of course, nothing majorly disastrous happened in that time period.
In addition to these predictions, Cahn also claimed that Trump’s election, September 11, the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the killing of Osama Bin Laden, and Hurricane Harvey were ALL foretold in the Bible. (They weren’t). Further false predictions include his prophecy that a hurricane would hit Washington DC as part of “God’s judgment” for the legalization of gay marriage. (It didn’t).
Cahn’s errors aren’t just in biblical analysis and prophecy. He also makes basic errors about dates and facts. For example, he claims that his September 26 event “The Return,” is occurring 40 days before the November 3rd election. As anyone with a calendar knows, that’s only 38 days before the November 3rd election. Moreover, his claim that his event will happen 400 years after the sailing of the Mayflower, is only correct if one uses the old-fashioned Julian calendar, instead of our modern-day Gregorian calendar. [Source]. Clearly, Cahn is just fishing for any “proof” he can find to support his prophecies and ministry, no matter how tenuous or fake.
One could go on and on and on about all the false prophecies and bad theology that Jonathan Cahn puts forth, as this person and this person both do, but I want to reiterate: even just ONE major false prophecy should be a huge red flag that casts doubt on Cahn’s leadership, ministry, pastoring, and platform (Deut 18:20-22). Moreover, to my knowledge Cahn has never once repented or apologized for his public errors, and instead has sent cease-and-desist letters to people who challenge his work! Cahn’s teachings are reminiscent of the 1st and 2nd Century Gnostic heretics, who claimed that there was some “secret” knowledge that God was only revealing to a few people. Cahn claims to be the recipient of divine “downloads” that allow him to mysteriously cherry-pick random verses from the Bible and connect them to current events that he happens to have strong opinions about. In his American-centric, eisegetical approach to Scripture, Cahn is essentially playing the role of a fortune teller, making a number of fairly vague prophecies, some of which can be proven false, but others of which he can reinterpret as having came true in order to keep the money rolling in from events and book sales.
All that said, why does it matter if a man who’s made numerous false prophecies is organizing a national event this weekend? Here are a few dangers:
First, in many ways, Jonathan Cahn’s work is like the Qanon cult, which I have written about previously in this post and this post. Like Qanon (but as of now, unrelated to it), Cahn has slowly been gathering a large number of followers, donors, and partners around him to promote his particular notion of apocalyptic Christian nationalism. And also like Qanon promoters, Cahn and his fellow believers are skilled in utilizing new platforms such as Youtube to attract new followers by making more and more prophecies while retroactively “proving” past prophecies–it is likely that many people who will attend “The Return” this weekend have never read one of Cahn’s books, but instead encountered him through TV, online, or through a friend. In the same ways that Qanon has been splitting churches, families, and friendships, I have personally witnessed Jonathan Cahn’s teachings spark divisions in at least two churches so far. I have hesitated to speak out, not knowing if it was a big enough deal. I now see that it is.
Secondly, a large number of “mainstream” evangelical Christian politicians, ministries, and organizations will be present for “The Return” this weekend. The most prominent ones I see are Ben Carson, James Dobson, Michelle Bachman, Tony Perkins, and Pat Robertson, but there will be many, many others (you can see a list of “The Return’s” speakers and sponsors here and here). If these people are completely unaware of Jonathan Cahn’s inaccurate prophecies, then we should really question their ability to discern truth from lies–in what other ways have they been deceived? Should we still trust their guidance on other political, cultural, and religious issues? But on the flip side, if these people and groups are aware of Cahn’s false prophecies, then it means that either they’ve decided the personal and financial gain is worth partnering with a false teacher, OR they actually agree with his lies. I’m not sure which of these scenarios is worse.
Third, it’s clear that, unlike Franklin Graham’s ostensibly non-partisan prayer march this weekend (which explicitly forbids political signs on its website), “The Return” will be explicitly partisan and all about getting more Christians to vote for “God’s candidate”- Donald Trump, who they believe is the only human being keeping America from falling into God’s judgment. Frank Amedia, one of the speakers at “The Return”, prophesied that Saturday’s event would be “a pivot point for this election.” Harry Jackson had a similar message, saying, “We either make this turn all the way fully into the purposes of God, or the whirlwind takes us out.” As important as the 2020 election may be, all of these messages are about promoting fear, trying to scare Christians into voting for Donald Trump lest America be destroyed by God’s anger. The truth is: God is neither Democrat nor Republican, and he’s not even an American for that matter! God is not going to send fiery brimstone if we don’t elect the right person to be our savior.
Lastly, and perhaps most worryingly, events like “The Return” continue to promote the idea that Christian revival comes through the election of political leaders, not through the power of the Holy Spirit. Mark Gonzales, a Republican political operative and featured speaker at “The Return”, had a very bold statement regarding the outcome of the Nov. 3 election. He explicitly said: “Revival is NOT coming through the prayer closet; revival’s coming through the ballot box!” [emphasis added.] I won’t mince words: this statement feels very close to blasphemy, and would be utterly inappropriate regardless of which side of the political spectrum it comes from. Revival comes from God alone, and while we can and should be active in political affairs, there is very little connection between a nation’s political direction and whether or not revival happens. If you doubt me, then just look at nations like China, Iran, or Nigeria, where Christianity is absolutely exploding right now despite facing heavy persecution.
Conclusion- how then shall we live?
The widespread fear that losing an election will somehow will usher in the End Times and spell the death knell of Christianity in America illustrates once again just how incredibly impoverished many Christians’ theological and biblical understanding of politics is. The solution to theological and biblical impoverishment, of course, is good theology and good biblical study. I am very blessed to have learned from many wise books, mentors, and teachers over the years, and I can share a few book recommendations below, but the truth about a Christian approach to politics is very simple if you read the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John) and Acts with a simple, plain view of Scripture in mind. In summary:
Jesus’ Kingdom is “not of this world,” and is radically different than any worldly kingdom- including America! Jesus demands His followers forsake violence, greed, grudges, self-interest, and power and instead seek to uplift the poor, the downtrodden, the marginalized, and the least of these, boldly carrying the good news of the Gospel to the ends of the earth no matter what persecution may come. In the early Church we see gender and racial equality start to flourish, while poverty is (temporarily) abolished: all because followers of Jesus loved each other enough to sacrifice the things they held dearest, and to enact communal rhythms and policies that promoted God’s justice instead of human self-interest.
Thus for a Christian, politics (meaning the way a “polis“, or city-state, is organized) matters a lot! But NOT for the reasons that Jonathan Cahn thinks it does. Politics matters not to forestall some whacky prophecy of doom, but instead because it is one of the key ways that God’s love and justice can be promoted in the world. If cities and nations are organized by God’s values of love, justice, and righteousness, then the shalom /flourishing of that place will expand (Jer. 29). But if cities and nations are instead organized by values of bitterness, fear, anger, oppression, and violence, then the shalom of that place will shrink.
I know which place I want to live in. How about you?
PS: Below are just a few of the books that most impacted me as I learned about a Jesus-centered approach to Politics. In addition, stay posted to this blog as I share more about Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s approach to politics, particularly in the context of a fascist state. You can read parts 1 and 2 by clicking on “September”.
