About Jesus  -  Steve Sweetman

Paradigm
by Jonathan Cahn

I listened to Jonathan Cahn's book entitled "The Harbinger" on audio cd and was quite impressed.  I listened to his book entitled "The Mystery of the Shemitah" on my Kindle reader which I thought was interesting.  I've just finished listening to his book entitled "Paradigm."

The best part of "Paradigm" is the last 2 chapters where he writes about the church needing to be a prophetic voice in western culture, something I've been saying for a while now.  Beyond that, there is one important thing you need to know about this book and the "Harbinger" as well, and that both books are based on a premise that is, at least I think, hermeneutically suspect. 

In Cahn's books to date he is taking an Old Testament historic event and turning into a prophecy of the future that is directed to America.  We need to realize this is not traditionally thought of as good hermeneutics.  Cahn, in my opinion, goes beyond the traditional thinking of types and shadows in his book, and in the Paradigm, I think he stretches things too much to fit into his prophetic scenario.  For example, he says that Jezebel of the Old Testament is prophetic of Hillary Clinton in our generation.  One proof he gives for this is that Jezebel's importance on the national scene was 22 years.  He says this matches Clinton 's 22 years of national importance that began when Bill Clinton became governor of Arkansas .  I do not think being first lady of a state put Hillary into national prominence, and that being the case, Hillary was not on the nation scene like Jezebel for 22 years. 

My concern about this book and others like it is that for most Christians today who I think are Biblical illiterate, they will learn the wrong approach to the Bible.  In our day of Biblical mysteries, hidden codes, and secrets, I think that is problematic.  I think the present fad towards such mysticism is not good.  I would prefer to take the clear word of Scripture and study it.  Trying to figure out hidden messages and codes that may or may not be found in the Bible could be better spent becoming the Biblically literate Christian you are meant to be.

America could learn much about its present culture and its fall from its once Biblical influenced culture. There is no doubt about that.  I just would have approached the subject from a different angle.