I recently received an email and an excited phone message from a Christian brother asking me to view a couple of YouTube videos and then to give him my thoughts about their content.

The videos were interviews with author and pastor Jonathan Cahn from several popular Christian talk shows. He was talking about his latest book, The Mystery of the Shemitah, and his theories regarding the connection of the Year of Jubilee to recent American history, and to our near future.

It seems that this author and subject are making the rounds on all the Christian TV and talk show circuits. It is a topic which has become quite popular, with Mr. Cahn selling millions of copies of his books.

Here are the links for you to look at a couple of these interviews.

Prepare-We are at the Verge of Collapse Says Jonathan Cahn Author of Mystery of the Shemitah
Shemitah, Seventh Sabbatical Year Jonathan Kahn Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatual!
100 % Certainty US WORLD ECONOMY WILL COLLAPSE within MONTHS

Here is my response to my brother:

Dear Brother ******,

It is good to hear from you. I trust our Lord is blessing you and your family. I will be brief and blunt with my remarks as my time to respond is limited.

Let me begin with a quote from Sid Roth when he introduced Mr. Cahn on his show:

“Jonathan called me the other day and he said, “Sid, God has given me a revelation. I call it the Mystery of the Shemitah and it’s so big that it affects everything we as a people are personally doing and will affect the rise and fall of the United States of America.”” (www.sidroth.org/television/tv-archives/jonathan-cahn)

Any time I hear this kind of hyperbole I must admit that I become concerned. Let me explain why.

In the Sid Roth video, the video link you sent, and in both of Cahn’s books he uses language like:

  • “ancient mystery hidden for thousands of years……but now revealed”
  • a “mystery” that holds a “secret” to our future
  • “clues” needed to “unlock” a mystery
  • “messages” that need to be “unveiled”

This is the language of a Gnostic.

You will recall that Gnosticism is a pernicious heresy which church has battled since the time of the Apostles. The word ‘Gnosticism’ comes from the Greek word ‘gnosis,’ which means ‘knowledge.’

Gnosticism is based on two premises. First, it has a dualistic view of reality which separates the spiritual from the material. The Gnostic views matter as inherently evil and the spiritual as inherently good.

Because of this dualistic view the Gnostics focus only on the spiritual. They believe that what is done in the material, even the grossest sins, are inconsequential because they happen only in the material realm.

The second premise of Gnosticism is that they believe that salvation is achieved through special knowledge, and this special knowledge usually deals with the individual’s relationship with the transcendent being.

Gnostics teach that they posses the secret knowledge, or higher truth that saves men. They see themselves, thus, as privileged, as above those without this higher knowledge. After all, they must be ‘more spiritual,’ closer to God, or smarter because they posses the higher, deeper knowledge of God.

This is its hook, its appeal.

We all want to know the ‘secret’ stuff. We all want to be in the special group, the group with the inside information. We all want to appear to be smarter, or wiser then everybody else.

This desire is a reflection of our sin nature and our desire to be like God, knowing everything by getting a glimpse behind the curtain of God. (Gen. 3:1-7)

Satan keeps using this approach because it works so well to distract and entrap unwary believers.

Let me point out one specific tactic used by Mr. Cahn that illustrates his Gnostic tendencies.

On page 42 of his book, The Mystery of the Shemitah Mr. Cahn writes, “Could the mystery of the Shemitah still be at work- moving, impacting, and altering the course of world history- even to the modern world, even in our day?”

Notice what he is doing here. He is making a claim, but making that claim in the form of a question. Aside from giving him plausible deniability if his prophecies don’t come to pass, this method of presenting ideas has a specific purpose and result.

“The Shemitah (Jewish Sabbath year) was an obligation given specifically and exclusively to the nation of Israel, and there is no biblical support for the idea that God would either require any other nation to observe the Shemitah year or that He would impose a Shemitah-type judgment according to a seven-year cycle on any nation, including Israel itself.” David James

By asking such questions Mr. Cahn leads our thinking down a specific channel he desires; to make us think about his subject in a certain way. In this specific case his desire is to have us see the Shemitah as something that is still active in our day; as something that is secretly influencing events from behind the scenes.

If this premise were true, what else would have to be true?

There would have to be an iron clad link between this Old Testament law given to ancient Israel, and us here in America in the 21st century. Mr. Cahn’s link is his oft repeated statement that America is a Christian nation. The unstated conclusion he draws is that because we are a Christian nation we are bound by this ancient law, and subject to its penalties and proscriptions.

What is implied by this statement?

He is implying that we have the same relationship with God that ancient Israel had. He is implying that we are just as subject to the ancient laws given to Israel by God, through Moses as was Israel.

He offers no Biblical or historical facts or evidence for these connections. We are left to take them on his word.

He makes a of the motivation of the founding groups- the Pilgrims, Puritans, and those who settled in Virginia; how they came to this continent to propagate their faith to unbelievers, and to establish a distinctly Christian nation and culture.

Mr. Cahn points out repeatedly in his lectures, sermons, and writings that this was unique in all of history. If the foundation and purpose of this nation is so unique, why then are we bound by Old Testament law that was intended to govern and regulate the ancient nation of Israel? How do the noble ambitions of these men result in America being in a covenant relationship with God in the same way as ancient Israel?

He never says.

Mr. Cahn may or may not be a Gnostic. At the very least he is using a gnostic approach to sell his ideas and his books, and it is working very well if face time on the TV, and numbers of books sold is any measure of success.

My concern here is that we remember that our enemy wants to divert us, to distract us from God’s truth regarding what we need to know. He will do everything in his power to get us to waste our time on things other than the Word of God for our growth in sanctification.

We must remember that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness in His Word (2Pet. 1:3). We don’t need some new secret information. We don’t need to unravel some secret code, decipher hidden clues, or unveil secret messages. God has not hidden anything from us that we need to live, to work, to worship, and to obey Him.

We certainly don’t need sensational prophecies laced with logical fallacies, half truths, and leading questions.

All that we need, all that God wants us to know, is contained in His Word. Any further searching quickly becomes idolatrous and a trap for us.

God does this to protect us from man made wisdom and from our own pride. He even warns us repeatedly about going after false teachings and false teachers (2Pet. 2:1).

Paul gives us warnings and specific instructions regarding men who claim secret knowledge. In Col. 2:8ff Paul warns us against this man made knowledge, calling us back to the very basics of the Gospel and our faith. That should be enough for us.

Let us heed these words from Paul. Let us put our faith in God and His Word alone. Don’t be tempted by the siren call of ‘secret’ knowledge. Down that path lies sin, idolatry, and a trap.

Links & References for Further Study:

www.biblicalintegrity.org/2014/09/19/mystery-of-the-shemitah
www.challies.com/book-reviews/the-ancient-mystery-that-holds-the-secret-of-americas-future
www.theaquilareport.com/misunderstanding-israel-and-america
www.cicministry.org/commentary/issue129.htm