Jonathan David Cahn (born 1959) is an American Messianic Jewish pastor, author, and novelist known for his debut novel The Harbinger. He is the founder and leader of the Beth Israel Worship Center in Wayne, New Jersey.
Born in New York State, Cahn was raised in a Jewish family, the son of a Holocaust refugee, and attended the synagogue frequently. Aged 20, after a near-death experience, he converted to Messianic Judaism.[1] He graduated from the State University of New York at Purchase.[2] Cahn started "Hope of the World Ministries", an international outreach of evangelism and compassion projects for the needy and currently is the president of the organization.[3] He is married to Brazilian Renata and they have three children.[1]
Cahn is the head of the Beth Israel Worship Center congregation whose "liturgy focuses on Jesus as savior." The group had been located in Garfield, New Jersey throughout the 1990s but moved to Wayne, New Jersey in 2008. Their arrival in Wayne was viewed with suspicion by local leaders of Judaism as "Messianism has been condemned by Jewish clergy and leaders as a cloak for Christian missionizing." With the arrival of Cahn's group, the YM-YWHA of North Jersey held a counter-missionary event with a member of Jews for Judaism. Cahn told reporters that "the congregation has no intention of 'targeting' the Jewish community. However, anybody is welcome at the center."[4]
Focused on end times prophecy, Cahn has said that the United States is "on the wrong path" due to the prevalence of abortion, the pursuit of gay rights, and the perceived decline in the public role of religion.[1] He has cast President Donald Trump as a heroic and biblical figure, and has attended Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort with other activists.[1] Later, he has claimed that President Joe Biden has put the United States under "demonic possession" for lighting up the White House in LGBTQ Pride rainbow colors.[5] He also claims that the Stonewall riots opened a portal to another realm, allowing ancient deities to come back to earth, and that these include Ishtar, a Mesopotamian fertility goddess, who is resentful at Christianity for marginalizing her.[6]
Cahn signing The Josiah Manifesto at Beth Israel Worship Center in Wayne, New Jersey
Cahn's 2011 debut novel, The Harbinger, compares the United States and the September 11 attackstoancient Israel and the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel.[1] Cahn has followed The Harbinger with seven other books: The Mystery of the Shemitah, The Book of Mysteries, The Paradigm, The Oracle, The Harbinger II: The Return, The Return of the Gods, and The Josiah Manifesto. The Paradigm debuted at #5 on The New York Times Best Seller list.[1] In 2019, The Oracle: Jubilean Mysteries Unveiled, was published,[7] which became #1 on Publishers Weekly and Amazon, and made The New York Times Best Seller list in two categories.[3]
The Harbinger Decoded is a documentary film based on the book, featuring Jonathan Cahn.[8][9]
The Harbingers of Things to Come is a film calling for the people of the United States to repent and return to God and predicting America's destruction if they do not.[10][11]
