What Are We to Think of the Prophets and Apostles that Exist Today? Part 3

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

It is very important that readers understanding something. I am not naming names because I enjoy it. The only reason I am naming names at all is because it is easier to discuss what that particular individual believes and espouses. Otherwise, the generalities can become way too confusing.

That said, I must insist that people realize I am referring to a person’s theology; what they espouse even though the focus might seem to be on the individual. There are all sorts of teachers within Christendom today and all of them (including me), need to come under the microscope for what they teach and that can only be done when we do what the Bereans of Acts 17 did. There, we see that they examined the Scriptures, comparing the truth of God’s Word with what Paul was teaching. He took no umbrage at it but encouraged it (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Everyone who teaches anything to do with God needs to be willing to submit to this simple yet extremely important test. The test is not a feelings-based. The results of this test are made clear by God’s Word alone. That is the standard.

In other words, it is the theology that a person teaches that either aligns with God’s Word or not. If their teaching is in opposition to God’s Word, then no matter how much of a “prophetic word” their teaching appears to be, it must be rejected. If what they teach is confirmed by God’s Word, then regardless of how it makes us feel, it must be accepted. This is the gold standard and it has gone by the wayside today because people are too busy chasing after things that “warm” their hearts and make them believe they have uncovered some deep mystery that has escaped notice of most.

Christians too often judge a teaching by how it makes them feel. This is proof positive that emotional virtue (aka political correctness, aka Cultural Marxism) has made its way into the church. Feelings and emotions are often used as arbiters of truth in today’s world and without even realizing it most of the time, Christians have succumbed to the same thing. Emotional virtue has supplanted God’s Word. The adage, “if it feels right, it is right” is the guiding light to many with Christendom and because of it, so many aberrant theologies have gained momentum. They need to be purged but before that can happen, people must be willing to acknowledge that they are doing things incorrectly when it comes to defining God’s truth.

As you read through this current series (or any other article I post that may seem to focus on a person), try to remember that my naming them is actually secondary. The primary reason for naming them has to do with what they teach and whether or not it lines up with God’s Word.

Recently, during the National Day of Prayer program, Jonathan Cahn stated in part the following:

“The founding vision of America was based on the ancient template of Israel, but in the days of her blessing, Israel turned away from God and His blessings, drove Him out of its government, out of its culture out of its national life. It celebrated the ways of godlessness and lifted up its children on the altars of Baal and Molech, and it called what was evil good and good evil. So too America in her blessings has turned from the God of her blessings.”

Of course, for those who highly esteem Jonathan Cahn, my words will seem as though I’m condemning the man. It will appear to them that I am castigating the man himself. They will fail to see that I am simply disagreeing with his theology, such as it is. This is the problem with “naming names” because people have their favorites and no one likes to see their favorite being denigrated. It is better to simply talk about aberrant theology, but that is difficult to do without naming names.

I’ve written about Jonathan Cahn and what I consider to be his very questionable theological positions previously. If you click this link, a page will come up with a number of articles that detail what I consider to be Cahn’s incorrect theological positions. In my view, due to the questionable exegesis of people like Jonathan Cahn, the words of the apostle Paul have never been more true, from 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (ESV)

In my opinion, this is exactly where we are today with too many people chasing this sign or that wonder or that aberrant theological position and that is what I’m trying to point out – erroneous theology. Even though the Bible itself is the epitome of “sound teaching,” fewer and fewer people today seem to want what the truth the Bible offers. Instead, they prefer to chase after signs, wonders, words of knowledge and prophecies because it makes God seem more alive. My goodness, if God “speaks” directly to people and wants them to pass on that “word,” then why even bother with the Bible at all, except as a backdrop to be used to verify the “word” given? Paul anticipated this when he wrote to Timothy and said what he said as a warning to people who come to prefer signs and wonders, words of knowledge or prophecy and ecstatic experiences in general as opposed to the age-old absolute truth of God’s written Word.

But let’s consider Cahn’s words as quoted above in our opening paragraph. He makes some interesting statements.

• America is likened to Israel
• As Israel turned away from God, so has America
• As Israel lost her way and blessings, so has America

Cahn’s first statement is 100% false. He offers nothing to prove that America was founded (or created) based on the same “ancient template of Israel” and he can’t because there is nothing. Aside from deferring to David Barton, Cahn and others are left to allegorizing Scripture. It has been shown repeatedly by various people that Barton’s books are filled with historical revisions and he has even gone so far as to change text of some of America’s founding fathers to make it appear as though they are saying one thing when in point of fact, they are saying something else altogether. Maybe we’ll deal separately with Barton in an upcoming article.

But regarding Jonathan Cahn, it is important to understand that from Cahn’s own books, it is very clear that he takes one or two obscure Old Testament passages and from those, builds a huge house (on sand) through allegory that is supposed to confirm and convince that America is so much like Israel.

I’ve noticed that many other individuals within the “signs and wonders” movement are doing the exact same thing as Cahn, Biltz, and others. They liken America to Israel and say that if America will simply “repent,” then all would be well. What they conveniently forget is that Israel was essentially a monarchy, eventually headed up by one human ruler under God. First it was King Saul who, though originally chosen by God, was ultimately rejected, to be followed by King David. There were a succession of human kings who were abysmal until eventually God allowed Israel (and Judah) to be overthrown by neighboring enemy nations.

Another thing people like Jonathan Cahn are not getting correct (often through omission), is that Israel had a very specific purpose for being created. That purpose had to do with God’s plan of redemption and Cahn and others seem to gloss over this (if they mention it at all) in their convoluted efforts to prove that America’s purposes (as a nation they say founded by God) are similar in nature to Israel’s. To people like Cahn, Israel was to be a “light” as America (he says) was “created” to be a “light.” That seems to be as far as he goes, completely ignoring the things that separate Israel unto herself.

Israel was specifically created by God for a number of purposes.

1. to create a special and peculiar people so that they would be a light in a dark world (Luke 11)
2. to bring forth the Messiah of Israel and Savior for the Gentile nations (Genesis 12:1-3; see also Revelation 12)

Beginning with Genesis 12 through the remainder of Genesis (chapter 50) and taking into account all the other books in the Old Testament and numerous books in the New Testament (written specifically to or about Jewish believers and especially references in Revelation 12, etc.), much of the Bible deals with Israel, the Jews, and God’s plan of redemption through that nation for the world. The most clear account of this plan of redemption is found in Genesis 12:1-3 and reiterated in numerous places elsewhere.

God’s plan through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the 12 sons of Jacob (who became the patriarchs of Israel) was to establish a nation from which the light of salvation truth would go to the rest of the world. The Mosaic Law, which included the ceremonial, legal, and sacrificial practices of Israel provided evidence that God wanted to restore salvation with all those who would come to Him, embracing the salvation He provided, ultimately through God the Son. None of any of this has anything to do with America. Not one thing, with the exception of people in America being on the receiving end of this same salvation. Israel is the only nation that God deliberately created and specifically for the purpose of unfolding His plan of redemption.

But this type of thinking taught by Cahn and others is also typical for those who believe that the Church has replaced Israel. The only way to arrive to that conclusion is also through the use of allegory. Reformed, Covenant, Preterist positions all generally reflect the thinking that Israel was fully rejected and the Church has taken up her position.

In Cahn’s case, though he might not state that, he certainly does believe that in many ways, America was “created” by God for many of the same purposes for which God created Israel. This sounds so patriotic, so romantic, and even spiritual. However, what we are required to do is to take Jonathan Cahn’s teachings and compare them with the Bible, point by point. If they come up wanting, we must reject them. If they align with His Word, we must accept them.

After reading three of Jonathan Cahn’s books and comparing his teachings to Scripture, I can honestly say that I do not see where Jonathan Cahn’s theology aligns with God’s Word. In that case, I have an obligation to reject what Cahn teaches.

Israel is Israel. It was deliberately created directly by God. No other nation in the world including America can say that, in spite of what Jonathan Cahn would have us believe. Are there some similarities? Yes, but there are some of these same similarities in other nations as well. None of this proves that God directly created America for purposes like those of Israel’s purposes. In fact, it doesn’t prove that God created America at all, but merely allowed it to come into existence.

Today’s political movement within Christendom is deceptive because people are now running around claiming that God has “anointed” this person or that one to be the next president. Others said this about Barack Obama too. Whether I like or agree with President Obama’s policies or not does not change the fact that God certainly allowed him to be elected twice.

The Church needs to be about the Master’s business and that business is found in Matthew 28 with the Great Commission. Folks, that alone is enough for our plate.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective