The Harbinger II

by Jonathan Cahn

  “In the form of images on the walls.”

  “So too did the sign of the gods manifest in America, as an image on the wall.”

  “On what wall?”

  “On the outer wall of a building in this city.”

  “A pagan temple.”

  “Not exactly.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “It was projected onto the building at night, the image of a god, the definition of an idol.”

  “Of what god?”

  “The goddess Kali.”

  “From India?”

  “Yes, India. The images that appeared in the last days of ancient Israel were of gods worshipped in other nations. So too was the god who appeared in New York City.”

  “Does Kali have more than one set of arms?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then she was the one I saw in my dream. And in her hand, in one of her many hands, was a sword.”

  “That would be her.”

  “So the image of Kali appeared in New York City on the wall of one of its buildings.”

  “Yes,” said the prophet, “the face of Kali. The representation was so colossal that her face alone was hundreds of feet high. It had to have been the most colossal image of a god on earth.”

  “So, in a sense, the entire building became an idol. Which building?”

  “You’re standing on it,” said the prophet. “You’re standing on the most colossal of idols.”

  “The Empire State Building.”

  “Yes.”

  “The Empire State Building was lit up with the image of a god?”

  “It was,” he replied. “The building that for so many years represented the height and glory of American civilization was converted into an idol, into a false god.”

  “I’m trying to picture it.”

  “You already did. The idol’s headdress . . . it matched the top of this building not just so you would be led to come here but because that’s how it looked when the image appeared. The top of the building formed her headdress, or crown. In fact, we’re standing on the crown right now.”

  “The Empire State Building . . . an idol,” I said, “a strange combination.”

  “Not really,” he replied. “Both are symbols, embodiments of spirits. Now what was it that you saw on the seal?”

  “An idol in a temple on a mountaintop.”

  “It was a high place. The high places were especially dedicated to the gods, to their temples and shrines, to their rites and worship, and to the displaying of their idols. Thus the gods would loom over their surroundings. The Empire State Building is a high place of modern America. And that’s where the god was displayed.”

  “So it loomed over New York City.”

  “Yes, the face of Kali towered over the cityscape.”

  “I imagine it was ominous.”

  “Do you want to see it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Take out your cell phone.” So I did.

  “Now go to the web and type in the words Kali and Empire State Building.”

  “You use a cell phone?” I asked.

  “Would it surprise you if I did?”

  “I guess I just never pictured it.”

  I pressed the search button. And then I saw it. It was chilling, demonic, something from a nightmare. The face had three eyes, one of which was in the center of its forehead, turned vertically. Above her head was the top of the Empire State Building lit up golden-red to form her crown, or headdress. Her face was pitch-black, and her tongue was sticking out and downward, blood red.

  “It’s monstrous,” I said. “Why would anyone put that up?”

  “The reason they did it or the reason it was done?”

  “What was their reason for doing it?”

  “It was supposed to be a display of endangered animals. And for some reason they crowned it all with the image of the dark goddess.”

  “And the reason that it was done?”

  “The mystery ordained it,” he replied. “As with ancient Israel, the nation that turns from God will always turn to the gods, to idols. The images of the gods will appear in the land. It was not that they were worshipping the image. It was that the image was a manifestation, the sign of a nation that had turned away from God and was now serving the gods, the names of which it would never utter. Do you know what day the image appeared?”

  “No.”

  “It was a Saturday.”

  “And?”

  “The biblical Sabbath.”

  “So there was an appointed word.”

  “Yes, a word appointed for the day of the image.”

  “And was it significant?”

  “I would say so.”

  “What was it?”

  “It was a warning,” he said, “a warning given to the nation of Israel:

  Take careful heed to yourselves . . . so you do not corrupt yourselves and make an idol in the image of any figure, the representation of male or female, the representation of any animal on the earth.6

  “It was the warning of God against idols, against the worship of false gods, and the making of their images.”

  “And it was appointed for that very day of the image.”

  “Yes. And it goes on to warn of the judgment that would come upon the nation because of its idols and images. The appointed portion even contained the reiteration of the Ten Commandments:

  You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself any idols, or any image of anything in heaven above or in the earth below. . . . You shall not reverence them or serve them.”7

  “The Ten Commandments,” I said, “prohibit the images of the gods. A strange thing—the Ten Commandments were taken down from America’s walls . . . and now the image of a god appears on its walls instead.”

  “Not so strange,” said the prophet. “The one follows the other. The same thing happened in ancient Israel. The Word of God was removed from the culture, and the gods were brought in.”

  “So the scripture prohibiting the worship of false gods and the making of their images was appointed for the same day that the image of the colossal god went up over New York City.”

  “And that appointed scripture just happened to be the Bible’s central warning against making idols and the images of gods.”

  “So then all over New York City . . . ”

  “Yes, all over New York City, in all its synagogues from Brooklyn to Manhattan, they opened up the scrolls and began chanting the ancient words of warning against the gods and their images . . . as the image of the god was being readied to manifest over the city.”

  “In my dream, the idol walked over to the city and stood by its towers. It was all about what happened here.”

  “Yes.”

  “Why was her face pitch-black?”

  “Kali is called the Dark One. She’s the goddess of darkness.”

  “So they used all those lights on the Empire State Building to create the god of darkness.”

  “Yes,” said the prophet, “they put light for darkness and darkness for light. Remember the scripture of a fallen nation:

  Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness.”8

  “In my dream, the idol lifted a sword over the city.”

  “So Kali wields a sword . . . and her tongue drips with blood.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she’s the goddess of destruction . . . she’s the destroyer.”

  I turned away from the prophet and gazed out at the immense panorama beneath us.

  “So looming over this city was the goddess of destruction?”

  “Yes, the goddess of death.”

  “The goddess of death over New York City.”

  “The goddess of darkness, destruction, and death.”

  “A dark harbinger.”

  “Yes, and so too were the gods whose images appeared in the land of Israel in that nation’s last days. . . . So too were they dark harbinger
s of coming judgment . . . of death and destruction.”

  I didn’t say anything but just stared into the vast cityscape. I couldn’t stop thinking about the image and its ramifications. Finally, I spoke.

  The words came out almost without my intending them to.

  “But if our hearts shall turn away,” I said, “so that we will not obey but shall be seduced and worship other gods . . . ”

  “Yes, if our hearts shall turn away,” he repeated.

  We were both silent then, staring out over the city as the wind gusted over the deck.

  “Amazing,” said Ana. “And I had no idea that anything like that had ever happened.”

  “Neither did I,” said Nouriel. “But it was the same way when he first revealed the nine harbingers. I had no idea. And most of these things manifested without the world knowing they ever did or what they meant. But I imagine it’s that way with many things, many of the most critical things.”

  “It must have been a bit chilling to be on top of the Empire State Building when he told you what happened there.”

  “It was.”

  “So what happened next?”

  “I gave him the seal, and he handed me another.”

  “And the next mystery was . . . ”

  “You’ve heard the expression ‘the handwriting on the wall’?”

  “I have.”

  “It’s not just an expression. In the next mystery, I would be shown the handwriting on the wall . . . with regard to America.”

  Chapter 23

  The Handwriting on the Wall

  SO WHAT WAS on the seal?”

  “What appeared to be an ancient building with columns and capitals.”

  “Like the Supreme Court.”

  “But unlike the Supreme Court, in the center of its front wall was a triangular-shaped roof, under which were four columns. On the building’s walls to the right and left of the four columns were what appeared to be words of a foreign script, four words, two on the right side and two on the left.”

  “Were you able to make any sense of it?”

  “No.”

  “But then you had a dream?”

  “Yes. It was night. I was walking up a set of white marble steps to the top, a large white marble platform. Upon reaching the top, I saw what looked like a giant white marble goblet or bowl on a pedestal. It was covered with engravings, designs, symbols, and words. I sensed it was some sort of ceremonial vessel. Beyond the giant vessel was a colossal wall, also of white marble. I couldn’t tell if the wall was part of the building or a freestanding wall.

  “Then cracks began appearing in the vessel. Through the cracks emanated light, colored light. And then the light began pouring out through the cracks as if liquid, a cascade of liquid light of every color. Soon the white marble floor of the platform was covered with colored light, which then began spreading to the wall and then up the wall. It wasn’t long before the wall was saturated with colored light. Then letters began forming on the wall as if an invisible hand was inscribing them.”

  “How could you see the letters in the midst of all the colors?”

  “They were written in an almost blinding white light. I approached the wall to see if I could read what was written. But I couldn’t. The words were of a foreign script. I turned back to look at the vessel from which the colored light had poured out, but there was now nothing left of it but broken pieces. And the dream ended.”

  “So what were you able to make of it?”

  “At first, not a lot. But the handwriting on the wall—I knew that it came from the Bible. So I found the account and read it.”

  “From where in the Bible?”

  “From the Book of Daniel. It came from an event that took place in the palace of the Babylonian king Belshazzar. The king threw a great feast for his noblemen. During the feast, he commanded that the sacred vessels plundered from the Temple of God in Jerusalem be brought out to the celebration. So they brought them out, filled them with wine, and began drinking from them as they offered up praises to the gods of Babylon.

  “It was then that the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and began writing words on the palace wall. No one knew what the words meant. They called in the prophet Daniel, who revealed to them the meaning of the words. It was an omen, a sign, a warning of things to come.1 It was from this that we get the expression ‘the handwriting on the wall.’”

  “And how did that help you?”

  “The ancient account began with vessels or goblets. So did my dream—the giant vessel. It ended with handwriting on a wall. So did my dream. The two were connected. I began searching for any rendering I could find of what the handwriting on the palace wall would have looked like. I compared what I found to the letters on the seal. They matched. But I still couldn’t tell what this had to do with anything else. And then I went to the supermarket. And that’s where the breakthrough came.”

  “In the supermarket . . . ”

  “I was at the checkout. The cashier handed me my change. And that’s when it came to me, on a twenty-dollar bill.”

  “The revelation came to you on a twenty-dollar bill. . .”

  “On the back side of the bill was the building on the seal. The building with the triangular roof and the four columns. . . . It was the White House.”

  “The White House . . . But what would that have to do with your dream and the Book of Daniel?”

  “I had no idea. But now I had something to go on. So that’s where I went.”

  “To the White House?”

  “To the front of the White House, to a park across from the north lawn called Lafayette Square. I arrived there at midday. In the center of the park was a statue of Andrew Jackson in battle on horseback. I went over to it.”

  “For any reason?”

  “The twenty-dollar bill,” he said, “on the back of it was the White House, but on the front was Andrew Jackson. It was just a hunch. But I had nothing to lose. And as I made my way to the other side of the pedestal, the side facing the White House, there he was.”

  “The prophet.”

  “He asked me to tell him what I had found so far. So I told of the connections I had made between the dream, the seal, and the Book of Daniel.”

  “Very good, Nouriel,” he said. “Now tell me, in the Book of Daniel, what was it that caused the handwriting to appear on the wall?”

  “The vessels,” I replied, “the taking of the Temple vessels and using them in the king’s celebration.”

  “And what principle does that represent?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “The principle of desacralization.”

  “Desacralization? I’ve never heard of it.”

  “To take something sacred and use it for non-sacred purposes. The vessels of the Temple were sacred. They were made and consecrated for the purposes of God. But now the Babylonians were using them against the purpose for which they had been made and consecrated, as instruments of revelry and pagan worship.”

  “Could that also be called desecration?”

  “It was an act of desecration as well,” he said. “And because of the desecration, the handwriting appeared. The handwriting on the wall follows the act of desecration.

  “The principle isn’t limited to Babylon; it happened in Israel as well. When the people of Israel turned away from God, they began performing acts of desacralization and desecration. They took what had been consecrated to God and used it against His purposes. They took the Temple and used it to perform pagan rites to foreign gods and idols. And then judgment came.”

  “But what does this have to do with America?”

  “When a nation that has known the ways of God falls away, it will take the things of God and use them against His purposes. It will take that which is holy and consecrated to the purposes of God and use it for what is not of God or holy. And as it nears the days of its judgment, its acts of desecration will increase in number and frequency.”

  “But America . . .”

&nb
sp; “In America’s fall from God, it has, as well, performed the ancient act.”

  “Taking the sacred and using it for what is not?”

  “Yes. We’ve already spoken of such an act and the mystery of its timing. Now we must open the mystery of its nature.

  “The account of Daniel begins with the taking out of the sacred vessels of God’s Temple. But the most important and sacred of God’s vessels are not made of silver or gold or fashioned by craftsmen. The most sacred of God’s vessels were fashioned by God’s hand in the act of creation. One of those sacred vessels is marriage. Marriage was created and consecrated for the purposes of God, a sacred vessel. It has been a foundation stone of civilization since the beginning of recorded history. On June 26, 2015, America broke the sacred vessel.”

  “The breaking of the vessel in my dream . . .”

  “It was the ancient act, the taking of that which was consecrated to God’s purposes and turning it away from the purposes for which it was created . . . as with the vessels of God at the feast of Babylon.”

  “So the vessel in my dream was a representation of marriage.”

  “And more than that. The ultimate issue is beyond that of any law, person, people, or act.”

  “Then what?”

  “Existence,” said the prophet. “To take the sacred vessels of God, as did the Babylonians, and use them for drinking in a celebration of the gods is to proclaim that those vessels have had no real or intrinsic meaning, purpose, value, or sanctity. If you can take a vessel and use it however you please, if you can do with it whatever you want, then what you’re saying is that the vessel has no true value or absolute purpose. And this is the issue that manifests in a fallen civilization. It is the same issue, whether it applies to marriage, human life, or existence itself. To fall away from God is to fall away from purpose and, ultimately, from life itself. So the end of such things is destruction. What happened on that day in June concerned far more than marriage. It was a civilization divorcing the sacred vessels from their ordained purposes . . . the sacred vessels of man and woman . . . the divorce of man from manhood and woman from womanhood, the turning of each away from the other. The ramifications of that act would not manifest all at once but would begin pouring into every fabric of the nation’s culture.”