The Oracle of Cahn

THE MYSTICAL NUMBERS OF RABBI CAHN 
A Review of The Oracle: The Jubilean Mysteries Unveiled

What you are about to read is presented in the form of a narrative, but what is contained in the story, all that the Oracle reveals, is absolutely real.
~Jonathan Cahn – Author of The Oracle[2]

Exhibit: Number mysticism[3]

oracle 
1 in ancient Greece 
a: a person (such as a priestess) through whom a god was believed to speak;
consulting an oracle 
b: the place (such as a shrine) where people went to ask questions of an oracle 
c: an answer or message given by an oracle[4]

AN IMAGINARY TALE STEEPED IN MYSTERY 
Jonathan Cahn’s current number one best-selling book,[6] The Oracle: The Jubilean Mysteries Unveiled, begins with a chapter entitled “The Mystery.” Indeed, the word mystery or mysteries is a key repeated word in this book, perhaps only second to the word “vision.” The author speaks of many ancient and modern “mysteries” surrounding the Jewish nation and the land of Israel—that purportedly are all mystically linked to the “Jubilean mystery” (mentioned in the subtitle of the book)—which Cahn “unveils” through The Oracle as he connects all of these so-called mysteries together with world history, Hebraic gematria, cherry-picked Scriptures, imaginary visions, and fantasy storytelling.

The book is written in a fictional format, giving the author great license to conjure up fake visions with made-up interpretations, and then connect them to carefully selected and isolated Bible verses, in order to make it all appear valid and truthful to the unsuspecting reader. This pattern becomes a troubling mixture that will soon become apparent. The following Scripture comes to mind immediately:

The narrative opens with a dialogue between an unnamed man (who has had previous encounters with the Oracle) and an unnamed traveler who have a chance meeting on a desert mountain.

[Ed. Note: At times the dialogue becomes confusing to follow, because the two characters who converse with each other at the beginning and ending of the book are unnamed, and because the story is told by the one unnamed man in a prolonged flashback detailing his spiritual journey with the Oracle. For clarity, the unnamed storyteller will be referred to as ‘the seeker’ in this review.]

The first paragraph of TheOracle opens provocatively with a loaded question from the seeker to the unnamed traveler:

What if I told you of a mystery so vast that it spans the world and the ages, from ancient times to this very moment… 

a mystery that moves behind and through all human events, directs and turns the paths of leaders, determines the future of nations and empires… 

and of the world itself… to bring all things to their appointed end?[7]

Instead of running for his spiritual life, the unnamed traveler gets sucked into the seeker’s intriguing mystical web and the indoctrination begins anew.

Question: What kind of a ‘mystery’ could be so “vast” that it

• ‘moves behind and through human events’ 
• ‘directs and turns the path of world leaders’ 
• ‘and determines the future of nations and empires—to bring all things to their appointed end?’

Answer: A false mystery; a blasphemous lie. All of these things belong to the Lord God almighty, Whose Word is recorded in Scripture, “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Isa. 46:10). It is the Lord who writes history in advance (genuine prophecy), not some nebulous impersonal force, nor law that connects the past with the future, which is occult mysticism.

When the unnamed traveler responds in disbelief, the seeker replies that he wouldn’t have believed it either if, “I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”[8] But contrary to his supposed visible proofs of authenticity (experiential) the Bible says, “for we walk by faith, not by sight” (2. Cor. 5:7). And “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).

Jonathan Cahn

THE ORACLE SAGE 
Unfortunately, Cahn draws his readers through a murky, fictitious mixture that relegates God’s Word to nothing more than a deceptive prop to help shore up his own seductive mysteries and false visions. Instead of searching through the Scriptures, the seeker (who reveals what he learned about these so-called mysteries to the unnamed traveler), says that truth was supernaturally revealed to him through a series of visions that the Oracle, a mysterious mountaintop dweller, interprets for him with extrabiblical revelation and knowledge.

In the early chapters of the book, the unnamed traveler and the seeker consider the meaning of an oracle. In one exchange, the seeker informs his companion that the ancient world was filled with pagan oracles who “claimed the powers of revelation and prophecy, each claiming to speak from God or the gods.”[9] (See the dictionary definition of “oracle” featured at the top of this post.)

The seeker then contrasts the pagan oracles with the biblical oracles. He begins with the oracle at Delphi, where “seekers would journey to the Temple of Apollo to receive the oracle’s revelations,” then pivots to God’s “oracles,” the “prophets, seers, priests, messengers of God, those chosen vessels of divine revelation.”

He gives two examples from the Scripture; one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. The first, “It is written that the counsel given by a man named Ahithophel ‘was as if one had inquired at the oracle of God.’” The partial verse quoted here is footnoted, requiring the reader to search for the Bible reference in the back of the book. The reference is from 2 Samuel 16:23, but the context of the verse is put into proper perspective by reading chapters 15-17 of 2 Samuel. The truth about Ahithophel is not a positive one. He had been one of King David’s closest advisors, but then switched his allegiance to Absalom—whom he counseled to kill his own father. David was God’s chosen one. In the end, Ahithophel’s advice was not taken and he hanged himself in disgrace (2 Sam. 17:23). The unnamed traveler should have ‘been a Berean’ “in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).

The seeker cites Romans 3:2 in the New Testament example of God’s oracles, “So the apostle Paul wrote that the nation of Israel was entrusted with the ‘oracles of God.’” Again, the verse is footnoted. What Paul is actually saying in this verse, is that God had entrusted the Jewish people with the “very words”[10] of God—His Word—the Scriptures. The ‘oracles of God’ are ‘God-breathed’ words (2 Tim. 3:16). They are not the mystical hocus pocus Cahn’s ‘Oracle’ reveals. Rather, this enigmatic man operates like the ancient pagan Oracle at Delphi.

Exhibit: Depiction of the Oracle at Delphi[11]

SEARCHING FOR TRUTH IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES 
The saga begins in the seeker’s living room when he experiences a troubling vision at three separate times. The vision directs the seeker to find someone named “the Oracle.” Unbelievably, the seeker then begins his search on the Internet! Undeterred, he also scours libraries, history books, periodicals, and religious books, ultimately finding a reference to the Oracle in an obscure article preserved on microfilm. Then begins his long and arduous journey to a faraway desert mountain. Note that the seeker doesn’t start by searching the Scriptures (Acts 17:10-11).

Reading about the seeker’s pilgrimage to locate the elusive Oracle immediately reminded me of the young Jedi, Luke Skywalker, seeking out the murky planet Dagobah (from the Star Wars universe) in order to find the enlightened grandmaster Yoda, so that he could begin his training in the Force. The seeker, like Skywalker, was on a spiritual quest to find a guru of ancient mysteries that was revealed to him in a vision (in Luke’s case, it was the ghost of Obi Wan).

Before each encounter with the Oracle (and there were several), the seeker would have to find him first, guided each time by an unnamed, shadowy little boy who appeared at all the right moments and always seemed to know the seeker’s whereabouts, as well as the Oracle’s. Between visits, the Oracle instructed the seeker to wait in his tent until the specified number of visions manifested, which the Oracle would later decipher. The seeker was given the umbrella ‘vision of seven doors’, which consisted of multiple visions behind each successive ‘door’ that required a special ‘key’ from the Oracle to open. If I counted accurately, there were a total of 42 imaginary visions unveiled in the Oracle (not including the one the seeker had in his living room)—each one creatively devised by Rabbi Cahn.

The seeker should have instead sought out the true Door, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 10:9).

GOD’S PROPHET DANIEL 
Prophets in the Bible who had prophetic visions didn’t have to make holy expeditions into the wilderness in order to receive a vision from God. Every single prophet was directed by God Himself, and many like Daniel, received a visit from His angelic messengers. Each vision had a distinct purpose, time, and chosen human vessel—and each one was recorded in God’s Word as He alone directed. The Lord orchestrated every move.

The prophet Daniel was taken into captivity by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar in 605 B.C., in the first siege of Judah.[12] God would prepare and use Daniel to record the most incredible prophecies given by God beginning from his time all the way to the end times—all relating to the Jewish people. The Book of Revelation would pick up where Daniel ended, but this time the prophecies would be recorded by the Apostle John on the isle of Patmos during his exile (Rev. 1:1,9). Both of God’s servants, separated by centuries, obeyed the Lord’s call and recorded what they saw.

Following Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue in Daniel Chapter 2, only Daniel was given the correct interpretation—by the Lord. Note how Daniel acknowledged God for revealing the king’s dream:

Exhibit: A depiction of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream[13]

In Chapter 22 of The Oracle, titled “The Number of the End,” Cahn relies on a single verse in Daniel’s prophetic book as a proof text to support his strange teaching that “1,335 is the number signifying the end of the occupation of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount” (pg. 86). The verse was taken from Dan. 12:12:

The problem is that Cahn fails to put this verse in its proper context. In addition, the reader is forced again to search for the Bible reference cited in the chapter notes at the back of the book. Here are verses 11 and 12 together:

Prophetically, the timing of these verses take place AFTER the Antichrist desecrates the Jewish temple in Jerusalem (when “the abomination of desolation is set up”)! The timing of this terrible event is during the Tribulation—Daniel’s 70th Week (a 7-year time period). Dan. 11:36 through Dan. 12:12 puts everything into context. These verses take place during the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” (Jer. 30:7), an unparalleled time of distress and persecution for the Jewish people (Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21-22). Antichrist will already be on the scene, and the end-time Jewish temple will already be standing in the Holy City.

“From the time of the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation set up (see Dan. 9:27; 12:1; 2 Thess. 2:3-4; Matt. 24:15-22), there will be 1,290 days” (7 years, plus 30 days). “Blessed is he who awaits and reaches the end of the 1,335 days” (7 years, plus 75 days). Verse 13 closes Daniel’s prophetic book, “But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” 

Daniel would be with the Lord before these prophecies would take place, but these verses serve to warn and encourage his people, the Jews, who would live through the most difficult time the world has ever seen, a distinct period in history that God revealed to him and He recorded.

Sadly, none of these truths are mentioned in The Oracle. This is a curious omission considering how much Jewish history is covered in the book. Instead, Cahn devotes a chapter of his book, using Dan. 12:12, to prove that the number 1,335 is a magic number—‘a biblical template’ “given to the Jewish people to speak of the end of foreigners occupying the land, inhabiting the holy places, the end of the obstruction of God’s purposes (pg. 87).” Here are a few so-called signs that Cahn cites in this chapter to bolster his teaching focusing on a single number:

• The number 1,335 began manifesting on Egyptian coins at the end of the Ottoman occupation of Jerusalem in 1917—a Jubilee year (pg. 87) 
• The Islamic calendar year in 1917 was 1,335 
• It would be 8 Jubilees (periods of 50 years) from the rise of Mohammad in 1,335 until the end of the Ottoman Empire with the Balfour Declaration in 1917 (pg. 88) 

Rabbi Cahn dedicated a lot ink in his book to elevate this particular mystical number—at the expense of the astounding truths that God had already communicated to Daniel. To make his mystical case Cahn goes back, not to the covenant God made with Abraham, but rather to the Mosaic covenant concept of the year of Jubilee.

THE LAW OF JUBILEES 
According to the Law of Moses, the Jubilee was seven sabbaths of years. The last year of the seven-year cycle was called a Shemitah, or “releasing.”[14] The 50th year, the Jubilee, was consecrated to the Lord. Debts were forgiven, slaves were freed, and property was returned to its original owner. The ordinance is recorded in Leviticus:

The Jubilee becomes central to Cahn’s teaching in The Oracle. He links a series of 50-year cycles to the return of the Jews to their land which he refers to as, “the Jubilean mysteries.”[15] Yet Scripture is plain on its face that the promises of the land to the Jewish people hearken back to the covenant God made with Abraham.

So the first question that arises is how could this law of Moses still be in effect after the birth, death, and resurrection of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ? Cahn never explains it. Neither does he explain how he can precisely pinpoint each so-called Jubilean mystery when the Jewish rabbis say that the modern Hebrew calendar and the one established in Moses day are out of synch. Dave James, in an article review of Cahn’s 2014 book, The Mystery of the Shemitah, outlines the difficulties with accurately dating not only the Shemitah, but the Jubilean cycles:

Even less certain [than the timing of Shemitah] is the timing of the Jubilee year, which was a special Shemitah year that occurred after seven of the seven-year Sabbath cycles, i.e., in the 50th year. Furthermore, there is no consensus among the rabbis as to whether the Jubilee year was concurrent with the 49th year or whether it was after the 49th year and concurrent with the first year of the next seven-year cycle. 

To complicate things further, some have suggested that the Jubilee was an intercalary year (a year that is inserted into the calendar), such that the Jubilee cycles were 50 years each. If this is true, which the Jewish Encyclopedia indicates is the majority view among the rabbis, then the seven-year cycle would move later by one year for every 50 years. And besides all this, there are questions concerning exactly when the Jubilee year was suspended (as it is no longer observed). 

Taken together, this means that it is virtually impossible to know for certain if the Shemitah years are being reckoned according to God’s calendar. Yet, despite all of these difficulties which should be known by a Jewish rabbi, and after acknowledging that no one knows when the Jubilee years are on the Hebrew calendar, Cahn apparently brushes these problems aside and begins discussing the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the Six-Day War in 1967, claiming that these amount to Jubilee years for the nation of Israel, whether or not they are legitimate Jubilee years in the eyes of God.[16][bold added] 

In The Oracle, Cahn again mystically links ‘the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the Six-Day War in 1967’—among a litany of other important Jewish dates and figures—regardless of “whether or not they are legitimate Jubilee years in the eyes of God.” Yet these dates… and other specific numbers become the foundation of the entire book.

Cahn’s 2014 book cover

‘THE MATRIX OF YEARS’
The best synopsis of Cahn’s Jubilean mysteries is found in chapter 55, “The Matrix of Years,” but it does not cover all of them. The other ‘mysteries’ of dates, numbers, events, and important figures are tricky to ferret out due to the manifold visions and subsequent dialogue the reader must slog through to understand the next revealed ‘mystery’. The significance, from Cahn’s perspective, of repeating dates and numbers in the Jubilean years from this chapter are bulleted below, along with added quotes and insights gathered from elsewhere in the book:

AD 67 AND THE NUMBER 17 

• “So with the exception of the political Jubilee, which began in the fiftieth year of Zionism, every Jubilean event manifests in a year ending with the number 17 or the number 67: 1867, 1917, 1967, and 2017… the timing of each one determined by the [Roman] invasion of AD 67, the year in which the destruction began.” (pg. 240) [bold added] 
• It begins in Galilee – the first Israeli ancestral possession to be lost beginning in AD 67 by Roman General Vespasian.
  
  – This “loss determined everything that followed.”
  
  – “It was that event in AD 67 that would determine the timing of everything else.” (pg. 239) [bold added] 
• The Jubilee (50 years) after AD 67 = 117.
  
  – “…The timing of the Roman invasion plus the fifty-year cycle of the Jubilean mystery will determine that the years of restoration will end in then number 17.” [bold added]
  
  – The land of Israel transferred for the last time before the restoration to the Ottoman Empire in 1517— “a year ending in the number 17—the twenty-ninth Jubilee from the year of Vespasian’s invasion.” (pg. 240) 
• General Allenby drove the Ottoman Empire out of the land and liberated Jerusalem in 1917.
  
  – “Another year ending in 17—the thirty-seventh Jubilee from the year of the invasion.” (pg. 240)
  
  – The Balfour Declaration established a homeland for the Jewish people following WWI in 1917. (pp. 70-74) 
• America recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capitol in 2017.
  
  – “Another year ending in 17—the thirty-ninth Jubilee from the ancient invasion.” (pg. 240) 

The Jewish Virtual Library states that the Roman siege which culminated in the destruction of the Jewish Temple took place from “66-70 CE.” It appears that Cahn selectively chose 67AD because this number fits his mysterious template. Secondly, how on earth could the timing of this event determine each of the other dates in Jewish history ending in the numbers 17 or 67? This is absurd. If this so-called foundational date is wrong (or fudged), then all the dates that follow it fail as well.

Also note that none of this numerology is essential to understanding the basic biblical prophetical significance of the Jewish return to their homeland after millennia in exile.

AD 67, THE NUMBER 67

• “In 1867 the release of the land began. In 1917 the release came to its fulfillment. In the first Jubilee the land was measured. In the second it was transferred.” (pg. 73) 
• Mark Twain—the prophesied ‘stranger’ of Deut. 29:22-23—came to the Holy Land in 1867.
  
  – “the words of Moses from the mouth of Mark Twain in the form of prophecy…” (pg. 38)
  
  – “A year ending in 67—the thirty-sixth Jubilee from the first loss of the ancestral land.” (pg. 240) 
• British Military officer Charles Warren was commissioned to survey and map out the Holy Land in 1867. (pp. 40-42)
  
  – He excavated Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, discovering an ancient shaft that year which foreshadowed the restoration of Jerusalem. (pp. 47-49) 
• The Ottoman Empire began releasing the land of Israel in 1867 following the Crimean War foreshadowing the Jubilee of Israel’s return to the land. (pp. 50-53)
  
  – “… the mystery applies to the entire world, to believer and unbeliever alike. The mystery causes all things, all events even the rise and fall of kingdoms, to move in the course that will fulfill the appointed purpose…” (pg. 50) [bold added]
  
  – “… in the Jubilee, those who occupy the land must release it…they must relinquish it. The land must return to its original owner. And so it would all happen as it was prophesied…the prophecy could not be stopped. The release of the land would continue nonetheless and would prepare the way for the return of the exiles…” (pg. 51) 
• Jewish soldiers entered in through the gates of Jerusalem in 1967 during the 6-Day War.
  
  – “Another year ending in 67—the thirty-eighth Jubilee from when it all began.” (pg. 240) 
• There would be 7 Jubilees from the transference of the Holy Land to the Ottomans in 1517 to the release in 1967. (pp. 54-56) 

Equally disturbing to the magical number game, Cahn’s erroneous contention that “the mystery causes all things, all events even the rise and fall of kingdoms, to move in the course that will fulfill the appointed purpose…” usurps the sovereignty of the Lord! “The mystery” is not a person, so it must be an impersonal, mystical force (think Star Wars).  This is a New Age belief that is completely opposed to Christianity. As above, so below.

Have you noticed Cahn’s fascination with so-called prophetic numbers and dates—that are correlated to Israel’s history? The Oracle betrays Cahn’s substantial reliance on gematria—Jewish mysticism—to connect these so-called ‘Jubilean mysteries’ together. Gematria is explained below by a Jewish website:

Gematria is a numerological system by which Hebrew letters correspond to numbers. This system, developed by practitioners of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), derived from Greek influence and became a tool for interpreting biblical texts. 

In gematria, each Hebrew letter is represented by a number (for example, aleph = 1, bet = 2, etc.). One can then calculate the numerical value of a word by adding together the values of each letter in it. In the realm of biblical interpretation, commentators base an argument on numerological equivalence of words. If a word’s numerical value equals that of another word, a commentator might draw a connection between these two words and the verses in which they appear and use this to prove larger conceptual conclusions.[17][bold added] 

Gematria is the mystical glue that holds everything together in The Oracle. Below is an overt example of this taken from a chapter called, “The Jubilean Code.” It is a narrative taking place between the Oracle and the seeker. The Oracle is interpreting the seeker’s vision of “the four jeweled keys”:

[The Oracle]: Now we can open up the mystery. In the Jubilean ordinance in Leviticus 25 it is written: “You shall return, each one to his own family”. Three verses later it is written, “you shall return, each one to his possession, his ancestral land.” The words you shall return are the translation of just one Hebrew word: tashuvu. 

The verse the Oracle quoted, “you shall return, each one to his possession, his ancestral land,” was taken from Lev. 25:13. I looked at 28 Bible translations[18] of that verse; 13 of them translated the verse, “… each to his possession,” omitting the phrase “his ancestral land.” 11 of them translated it, “… to its original owner,” again omitting the phrase, “his ancestral land.” One translated it, “his own land that he has inherited,” again omitting the phrase, “his ancestral land.” There was only ONE of the 28 Bible translations that translated the verse, “the land that belonged to your ancestors”—the New Living Translation. When I checked which Bible Cahn used in the footnotes it read: “author’s translation.” How convenient. The fact is that a search of the term “the land” in the written Word reveals that God plainly and openly (not secretly) spoke to the Jewish people about the significance of their land ancestrally, economically and prophetically (Genesis 13:15; 13:17; 17:8, etc.). 

Tashuvu is the Jubilean command contained in one word. Hidden in that one word is a secret that spans the ages, a mystery of four Hebrew letters. 

[The seeker]: Four Hebrew letters… [t]hey were the four keys, the four symbols in my vision. The four keys were the letters of tashuvu… [bold added]

The Jubilee passage cited in Leviticus (v. 8-17) is 10 verses long. How is it that Rabbi Cahn chose the single word “return” from dozens of other words in that section? Did he have special knowledge… or did he arbitrarily select it as he did his Bible translation?

[The Oracle]: The four Hebrew letters of tashuvu are the letter tav, the letter shin, the letter beit, and the letter vav. And remember, each letter is also a number. Tav is the Hebrew number for 400. Shin is the Hebrew number 300. Beit is the Hebrew number 2. And vav is the Hebrew number 6. 400, 300, 2, and 6. What number does the word tashuvu come out to? 

Since we know that Kabbalists came up with these esoteric numerical values for the Hebrew alphabet, why would we trust such occult methods over a proper hermeneutic of the plain words of Scriptures?

[The seeker]: 708. 

[The Oracle]: 708. That’s correct. Now tell me… what year do those Hebrew letters and that word pinpoint on the Western calendar? 

[The seeker]: If the Hebrew letter for 660 stands for 1900… then 708 is… 48 years later. So the Hebrew letters stand for… the year… 1948! 

[The Oracle]: Yes… the word tashuvu pinpoints the year 1948. 

[The seeker]: 1948! The year Israel came back into the world. 

[The Oracle]: The year of the return. 

[The seeker]: Amazing! And so the Hebrew word that means you shall return contains the secret of the time when the nation of Israel would return! The ancient Jubilean ordinance actually identifies the year of Israel’s return![19][bold added] 

Cahn’s entire “secret of time” scenario is based entirely on a boatload of arbitrary and cherry-picked data that he fed into his gematria calculator with the desired outcome established beforehand. Each of his newly ‘revealed secrets’ moves the reader farther and farther from the truth and away from sound Bible exegesis.

NUMBER MYSTICISM
It is apparent that the source of the Oracle’s knowledge (and Cahn’s) is not based upon the actual written Word of God, using the plain meaning of the language, rational thought, and the Holy Spirit to understand what the Lord is communicating. But rather, this is a form of occult mysticism born out of the Kabbalah. Note this familiar theme denoted by a sampling of chapters from The Oracle listed below. These occult-sounding chapter titles do not honor Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and the simplicity of His Gospel of salvation:

• The Mystery 
• The Vision 
• The Sultan’s Code 
• The Number of the End 
• The Jubilean Code 
• The Babylonian Code 
• The Masada Algorithm 
• The Seven-Year Mystery 
• The Matrix of Year 
• The Final Mystery 

Cahn relies heavily on gematria, which is a form of divination related to numerology. In 2012, we published an article called, “The Enigma Bible,” which was the third part of an article series exposing the mysticism of the Postmodern Prophecy Paradigm (PPP) teachers, including the late Chuck Missler, titled “Cosms, Codes, and Cryptologies.” Note the similarity of numerology to gematria:

The Book of Divination names one of these scientific methods “numerology,” or “number mysticism.” It was discovered by the 6th century Greek mathematician Pythagoras, who believed that “[t]he numeral relations among things was… the motive force of the universe.” Numerology is a form of divination used widely in the occult world. It is often connected with astrology (birth dates, e.g.) and it is used “to discover the secret passageways that connect all things,” i.e., to divine esoteric knowledge by mystical means using numbers.[20][bold added] 

In that same article, it was noted that there is a legitimate place for examining numbers and patterns found in Scripture, but not as Cahn does:

Although numerology is clearly a form of occult divination, there is a legitimate study of numbers as it relates to the Bible. John Weldon informs us that: 

“The Bible clearly uses numbers in a conventional and rhetorical sense, and as far as these are concerned, the study of biblical numerology is legitimate. We also occasionally find numbers used symbolically—such as the number 7 in Revelation 3:185—but we never find numbers used mystically—that is, with hidden meanings that can illuminate the text or reveal the future.” [bold added] 

In a legitimate study of numbers in the Bible “we never find numbers used mystically—that is, with hidden meanings that can illuminate the text or reveal the future.” But this is exactly what Cahn does. His book premise falls apart without it.

Exhibit: A depiction of King Cyrus[21]

THE RETURN OF THE PERSIAN—
THE ‘TEMPLATE OF CYRUS’
Over a century before he was born, Isaiah prophesied that Cyrus, God’s “shepherd” would rebuild Jerusalem and God’s temple (Isa. 44:28). Daniel the prophet would not only see the kingdom the Medes and the Persians conquer the Babylonian empire through the dream of the statute, (“his breast and his arms of silver,” Dan. 2:31, 39) and the dream of the four beasts, the second (“like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side,” Dan. 7:5), he would be alive when King Cyrus came to power. “So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian” (Dan. 6:28).

Ezra records that Cyrus had been chosen by God to rebuild His temple in Jerusalem:

Note that God ordained each of these details—and much more “… that the Word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled….” God “stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia.” The Lord had called another prophet named Jeremiah to record key prophecies related to Judah’s seventy years of Babylonian captivity and the promise that the nation would return to their land (Jer. 25:12; 27:22: 29:10). To understand these prophecies, their fulfillment, and purpose, we did not have to resort to number mysticism, seek out visions, or consult a spiritual guru. The Lord has told us what He wants us to know from Genesis to Revelation. We dare not venture beyond the Scriptures.

New Apostolic Reformation founder C. Peter Wagner’s citation of the so-called “Cyrus anointing” in his 2008 book Dominion!*

Unfortunately for his readers, Cahn has drifted well away from the Word of God into the forbidden mystical (occult) realm. He appears to be following in the footsteps of other leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) with whom he has associated over recent years. Cahn devoted five entire chapters of his book to prove that “the Jubilean mysteries determined” the election of two modern U.S. presidents— “in the template of Cyrus.” Bulleted below are selected tenets and quotes from chapters 29, and 48-51:

• “[President] Truman, the one who would follow the template of Cyrus, had to become president at the exact time, at the moment of Israel’s resurrection, at the Cyrus moment. So the Jubilean mysteries determined who would become president of the United States.” (pg. 122) [bold, underscore added]

Again, Cahn parallels “the Jubilean mysteries” as an unseen force that has the uncanny ability to “determine” American presidents. As we saw in Dan. 2:21, “… [God] removeth kings, and setteth up kings…,” not Cahn’s Jubilean force. 

• Cyrus’ time in government spanned thirty years, and so did Truman’s. “Most scholars place Cyrus’ birth between 600 and 599 BC. That would mean that when he ascended to the pinnacle of world power, he would have been around sixty years of age. The seminal moment in Truman’s rise to world power came in the spring of 1945 when he assumed the office of the presidency… [w]hen he came to that position of world power, he was… sixty years old…” (pp. 118-119) 

Cahn admits here to fudging the facts about Cyrus’ age when he rose to power. He says “Most scholars place Cyrus’ birth between 600 and 599 BC… he would have been around sixty years of age…” This is hardly a “template” if he isn’t even sure the exact year of Cyrus’ birth. Cahn then devolves into the following mystical sequence:

• Thus all of world history there are two leaders associated with a declaration of universal human rights and specifically the right to return to one’s homeland: King Cyrus and President Truman.” Cyrus gave his ancient declaration in 539 BC; Truman in 1948. 
• Truman urged the British to release one hundred thousand Jewish Holocaust refugees and allow them to return to Palestine. Truman’s “pressure of the return of the Jewish exiles to the land would ultimately lead the British Empire to end its occupation of the land which would in turn lead to the nation’s rebirth. Cyrus had bought about the end of a seventy-year exile; Truman would ultimately bring about the end of a two-thousand-year-old exile…” (pp. 120-121) 
• President Donald Trump would become “a second American Cyrus, one who would replay the mystery and who would begin where the first had left off.” (pp. 205-206) 
• President Trump issued a statement from the White House in 2017 that quoted King Cyrus. “It was not only that the president had issued a public statement in which he spoke of Cyrus but that he spoke words attributed to the ancient king. In other words, he wasn’t only speaking of Cyrus; he was now speaking as Cyrus. The president and the king were joined together.” (pg. 206) [bold added] 
• “So Trump was appointed Cyrus for America.” (pg. 207) [bold added] 

(Source)**

“Trump was appointed Cyrus for America,” but it was by Rabbi Cahn and his NAR cohorts, not by God. The ludicrous idea that by merely quoting King Cyrus, President Trump would not only be speaking of Cyrus, but also “be speaking as Cyrus” is utterly foolish and illogical. The president simply quoted him. Cahn continues with his mystical sequence:

• Jeremiah said that the Babylonian captivity would end when seventy years was completed—then Cyrus would rule. “The key is seventy years… Cyrus is connected to and interval of seventy years… [Trump] ascended to world power after seventy years and that rise began… in the start of his seventieth year.” (pg. 208) 
• Going back seventy years from Trump’s proclamation concerning Cyrus leads to “1947. The year that Israel was voted into existence at the United Nations. So the seventy years began with Israel’s conception. In the ancient case it was at the end of a critical seventy-year period in Israel’s history that Cyrus ascended to world power. So the template would reveal that after a critical seventy-year period in Israel’s history we would see the rise of a world leader who would issue a proclamation concerning Israel. So the modern seventy-year period ended in the year 2017, the very year that a new Cyrus, Donald Trump, rose to world power…” (pg. 209) [bold, underscore added] 
• “The two presidents [Truman and Trump] who walk in the template of Cyrus are connected not only to a critical seventy-year period in Israel’s history but a seventy-year period with regard to each other. The two presidencies take place seventy years apart from the other. Trump leads America seventy years after Truman led America. And as the reign of Cyrus framed the seventy-year period, so each of the two American presidents frame the modern seventy-year period… And the seventy-year period they frame has to do with Israel’s restoration.” (pg. 209) [bold, underscore added] 

Exhibit: Cyrus anointing and Trump****

Cahn has ravaged the significance of the seventy-year time frame from Scripture in order to promulgate his “template of Cyrus” mystery. In truth, Daniel learned from reading Jeremiah that the desolation of Jerusalem was going to last seventy years (Dan. 9:2; Jer. 25:8-10). Chronicles 36:21 records that God judged Judah for disobeying the Sabbath rest of the land for seventy years (Lev. 25:4).

• “So the central figure in the Jubilee of 2017 was Trump, which means he who sounds the trumpet… Trump means trumpet.” (pg. 212) 
• In 2017, a Jubilee year, President Trump formally recognized Jerusalem at the capitol of Israel and placed the U.S. embassy there—the first time in modern history. (pp. 201-204) 
• “As in the proclamation of the ancient king, the president’s declaration ultimately focused on a house. An embassy is not a temple, but it is nevertheless a house, a building. And likewise the president specifically directed that the house would stand in Jerusalem. The house that Cyrus decreed was specifically linked to the return of the Jewish people to the city—so too would be the house that the president decreed….” (pg. 221) 

Cahn exhausts the reader with such endless dubious linkages—all based upon his unbiblical number mysticism. The bulleted portion above is a wee sampling of these templates and patterns permeating the pages of The Oracle.

Did you catch the inconsistencies in that last bullet point? They may have been missed in the mystical weeds of repeating dates and numbers swirling about the text in an ever-turning kaleidoscope of new-found revelation. Isaiah and Ezra both record that God charged King Cyrus to rebuild Jerusalem—and His temple (house) within the Holy City. Neither President Truman nor President Trump did anything like that. While Truman was beneficent to the Jewish people, he never ordered the construction of a Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Neither has Trump. While he has also been a friend of Israel and to its current prime minister, President Trump did not commission the building of a Jewish temple in 2017—the supposed Jubilee year. There has been no Jewish temple in the Holy City since AD 70 when it was sacked by the Romans. Cahn may do gymnastics with the word “house,” passing it off as “an American embassy” in a crafty sleight of hand, but the trickery fails after examining Isaiah 44:38 and Ezra 1:1-2. Truman nor Trump remotely compare to what Cyrus did—by the Lord’s instruction. There is no “template of Cyrus.” Yet Rabbi Cahn is just one of many PPP leaders peddling this deception concerning Cyrus.[22]
 

One origination of the Cyrus anointing heresy in the NAR***

Here is the plain scriptural truth of the matter:

 

Dave James 2015 book

THE TRUTH: 

In the fall of 2015, we published a review of David James’ 2015 e-book, Biblical Guide to the Shemitah and the Blood Moons, which critiqued Rabbi Cahn’s book as well as his teachings (and a few of his contemporaries) on the Blood Moon prophecies. Here is an excerpt of that review:

The book, The Mystery of The Shemitah, by Jonathan Cahn—a runaway sequel to his bestselling book, The Harbinger—has nearly rivaled the success of its predecessor—and has proponents of these ancient mysteries eagerly anticipating the economic destruction of the United States this September (when the “Shemitah” cycles end), in fulfillment of the apocalyptic and calamitous judgments, predicted in the so-called hidden end-time Jewish prophecies, Sabbaths (Shemitahs, pronounced sh’mee’-tah), and current Blood Moon Tetrad (aligned with Jewish feast days), detailed in Cahn’s books. 

There is extraordinary publicity ramping up over the dire events that are predicted to happen the last few weeks in September this year, 2015. Charisma, for example, just ran an article titled “10 Things That Are Going to Happen Within 15 Days of the End of the Shemitah,” which attempts to prophetically connect the Jade Helm military exercises, selected United Nations conferences, and even the Pope’s upcoming visit to America events [due] to the Blood Moons prophecies that have been popularized by men such as Jonathan Cahn, Mark Biltz and John Hagee.[23]

The reader may recall the media bombardment of that time, a veritable cacophony of so-called religious experts, Christian pundits, and news outlets broadcasting the looming dire consequences of the “Shemitah” judgments on America and the ominous synchronization of the Blood Moon Tetrad. Rabbi Jonathan Cahn was the main prophecy monger of the hour. Do you remember what happened? Absolutely nothing! Not one of Cahn’s predictions came true.[24] But his book was a runaway best seller. Knowing these things, how is it then that his latest sensation, The Oracle: the Jubilean Mysteries Unveiled, is now also a number one best seller? The Apostle Paul warned of this time when he said,  

In the final chapters of The Oracle, on pages 274-277, Cahn finally mentions salvation in Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah through the narrative between the Oracle and the seeker. Here is part of what is spoken on these pages:

“So it was foretold in the Hebrew prophecies that Messiah, through his death, would make atonement for our sins and cleanse us from iniquity. If you make and end of sin, then you end the separation… then the exile is over… then our exile is over.” 

“There was only one day in the Hebrew year on which the Jubilee could come—on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. That was the day that the sacrifice was offered up to atone for sin, to end the separation between man and God. It’s the sacrifice that… ushers in the Jubilee. Messiah is the sacrifice. So from him comes the Jubilee and the power of restoration.” 

“All restoration… Resurrection… is the ultimate restoration.” 

“… salvation is also a Jubilean mystery.” 

Note that last sentence. Is he seriously teaching this?! During the dialogue, the seeker asks the Oracle how one “returns to God.” He responds:

“It’s all in the mystery… In Hebrew to return is to repent, and to repent is to return. So how do you return? You repent. You turn to God. You come back. You open your heart to His love and His forgiveness, and you come home… It can begin with a simple prayer. You ask for mercy, for cleansing and forgiveness, for redemption and restoration. And you find it in the love, the hope, the sacrifice, and the name of Messiah… Messiah is the Jubilee.”
Then the Oracle shares the mystery of the “final Jubilee”, a “return to Paradise,” concluding that Heaven is “the ultimate land of the Jubilee” and that Jerusalem is a “shadow of Heaven.” 

While Jesus is mentioned here, this is troubling at many levels. The main problem is his confession of SIN. Simply praying to the Lord ‘forgive me’ doesn’t cut it. We must acknowledge what we did, what we said, or even things we thought about that ‘missed the mark’ in God’s eyes. Naming the sin and having true remorse for it are all part of confessing sin. Jesus Christ went to the Cross because of our sin. The Apostle John exhorts believers saying, that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9). Confession of sin is the beginning of repentance and cleansing.

Romans says “that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom.10:9-10). And in Acts, “And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31).

Believers also confess that Jesus is Lord… and that He is raised from the dead. He is not simply the familiar “Jesus,” but the Lord Jesus Christ. The Greek word for “Lord” used in both verses above is kuros, or “supreme in authority,” “Master.“[25] There is a heart-ward submission to His sovereignty over all things—especially our lives. But Rabbi Cahn does not refer to the Lord Jesus this way in The Oracle. He is called Messiah (Christ) or Yeshua (Jesus), but He is never called Lord.

But in The Oracle, Jesus is simply a means to an end. Yeshua’s Jewish-Christian reputation was needed to stamp the ‘Jubilean Mysteries’ with a divine imprimatur.

Finally, it should be noted that there are major historical events surrounding God’s blessings toward the Jewish people that are celebrated in The Oracle. But even the bits of truth that are found in it are hopelessly overwhelmed by Cahn’s captivating visions, spell-binding mysteries, beguiling number mysticism… and other seductive teachings not clearly found in Scripture. A mixture of truth and error is error. Readers shelling out $20 to buy Cahn’s book don’t seem to want to be convicted of sin, brought to repentance, nor told that the Lord Jesus Christ reigns over their lives. Rather, they are choosing bewitchment. They apparently prefer the latest untold secret, unlocked mystery, or revealed hidden prophecy. Many are flocking to religious hucksters—supposed experts with the hidden knowledge—whom they believe have the special Gnostic keys to reveal ancient mysteries and to unlock prophetic doors. Such thrill seekers will only drift away from the “King of kings and Lord of lords“ (Rev. 19:6)—the Word (Jn. 1:1) and—the Truth (Jn. 14:6).

(Jeremiah 23:26 NASB)

Endnotes:
1. the oracle,
הַמַּשָּׂ֗א (ham·maś·śā)
Article, Noun – masculine singular,
Strong’s Hebrew 4853: A burden, tribute, porterage, an utterance, chiefly a, doom, singing, mental, desire
Bible lexicon; Biblehub.com: https://biblehub.com/jeremiah/23-36.htm. 
2. Jonathan Cahn, The Oracle: The Jubilean Mysteries Unveiled, FrontLine Charisma Media/Charisma House, Lake Mary, FL, 2019, beginning pages. 
3. Graphic exhibit from an astrology website; astrocentro.com: https://www.astrocentro.com.br/blog/numerologia/numerologia-dos-orixas/attachment/numerologia-dos-orixas/. 
4. Merriam Webster Learners Dictionary online; http://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/oracle. 
5. The Oracle, pg. 225. 
6. Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15 in Books (See Top 100 in Books): #1 in Christian Prophecies; #1 in Christian Literature & Fiction; #1 in Christian Prophecy (Books)
https://www.amazon.com/Oracle-Jubilean-Mysteries-Unveiled/dp/1629996297/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=77859277641274&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=the+oracle+by+jonathan+cahn&qid=1568863086&sr=8-1. Accessed from the Amazon website Sept. 18, 2019. 
7. The Oracle, pg. 3. 
8. The Oracle, pg. 3. 
9. The Oracle, pg. 7. 
10. very words
λόγια (logia),
Noun – Accusative Neuter Plural,
Strong’s Greek 3051: Plur: oracles, divine responses or utterances (it can include the entire Old Testament). Neuter of logios; an utterance. [bold added]
Bible lexicon, Biblehub.com: https://biblehub.com/romans/3-2.htm. 
11. Graphic exhibit from the Ancient-Origins website: https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/pythia-oracle-delphi-001641. 
12. See: Dan. 1:1; “History of the World from a Biblical Perspective, BibleWorldHistory.com:
http://bibleworldhistory.com/70Years.htm. 
13. Graphic exhibit from Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/557250153866616682/
14. David Mescheloff, Ph.D. mathematics, Ph.D. Talmud, Orthodox community rabbi and organizer of rabbis, “What is ‘Shemitah’”, Quora website: https://www.quora.com/What-is-Shemitah. 
15. The Oracle, pg. 33-34, pp. 24-28. 
16. David James, “The Mystery of the Shemitah: Is it real?”; The Alliance of Biblical Integrity website: https://www.biblicalintegrity.org/2014/09/19/mystery-of-the-shemitah/. See Pastor Larry DeBruyn’s review of Jonathan Cahn’s book The Harbinger, Herescope, June 10, 2012, https://herescope.net/2012/06/harbinger.html
17. Hila Ratzabi, “What Is Gematria? Hebrew numerology, and the secrets of the Torah”; MyJewishLearning.com: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/gematria/. See Gaylene Goodroad, “Quantum Geomancy and Cryptic Mystic Mat: COSMS, CODES, AND CRYPTOLOGIES, Part 6,” Herescope, may 26, 2012, https://herescope.net/2012/05/quantum-geomancy-and-cryptic-mystic.html
18. See Biblehub.com: https://biblehub.com/leviticus/25-13.htm. 
19. The Oracle, pp. 134-135. 
20. Gaylene Goodroad, “The Emerging ENIGMA Bible: COSMS, CODES, AND CRYPTOLOGIES, Part 3,” Herescope, May 17, 2012; https://herescope.net/2012/05/emerging-enigma-bible.html. 
21. Graphic exhibit from the Iran Territory blog: https://iranterritory.wordpress.com/2015/10/29/happy-cyrus-day-the-king-of-persia/. 
22. This is a small listing of ministries and websites promoting the Trump-Cyrus myth; Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Trump-Prophecies-Astonishing-Tomorrow-EXPANDED-ebook/dp/B07PP4JVZ9/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Trump+Prophecies+Astonishing+Tomorrow&qid=1569116926&s=digital-text&sr=1-1; the Jim Bakker Show: https://store.jimbakkershow.com/product/cyrus-trump-bundle-new/; Tom Horn’s Sky Watch TV: https://www.skywatchtv.com/tag/cyrus/; and Charisma News: https://www.charismanews.com/politics/primaries/56703-donald-trump-is-a-central-figure-in-this-prophecy. It was eventually the New Apostolic Reformation, via its late leader C. Peter Wagner, who first popularized this in Wagner’s book Dominion! (Chosen, 2008) on page 193 (see graphic exhibit). See the Herescope article “7 Mountain Politics and Theology,“ February 24, 2016, https://herescope.net/2016/02/7-mountain-politics-and-theology.html. For additional study, also the following links which contains articles both pro and con about this purported Trump Cyrus anointing: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/donald-trump-s-amen-corner-prosperity-preachers-and-dominionists; http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/seven-mountains-advocate-declares-god-has-given-donald-trump-anointing-mantle-government; https://m.facebook.com/logged_out/watch/?video_id=10153729859919936&refsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2Fstory.php&_rdr; http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/c-peter-wagner-dominion-means-ruling-kings; and http://elijahlist.com/words/display_word.html?ID=17003.
23. Gaylene Goodroad, “Blood Moons: Demystifying the Popular Prophecies About Jewish Sabbaths and Blood Moons—A book review of Dave James’ book, Biblical Guide to the Shemitah and the Blood Moons: Discerning Popular ‘Prophecies’ in the Light of God’s Word,” August 27, 2015, Herescope: https://herescope.net/2015/08/blood-moons.html. 
24. Listed are a few of the articles we’ve published examining false date setting derived from false prophecies and various unbiblical divining methods: Gaylene Goodroad, “DOOMSDAY DATESETTERS 2012, June 10, 2011, Herescope: https://herescope.net/2011/06/doomsday-datesetters-2012.html, Gaylene Goodroad, “Quantum Prophecy: COSMS, CODES, AND CRYPTOLOGIES, Part 7; May 30, 2012, Herescope: https://herescope.net/2012/05,“The Rise of Apocalyptic Paganism in the Church: Bible Prophecy in Crisis,” March 07, 2013; Herescope: https://herescope.net/2013/03/the-rise-of-apocalyptic-paganism-in.html, “12-12-12: NAR DATE SETTING,” November 19, 2012; Herescope: https://herescope.net/2012/11/12-12-12.html.
25. [is] Lord,”
Κύριον (Kyrion),
Noun – Accusative Masculine Singular,
Strong’s Greek 2962: Lord, master, sir; the Lord. From kuros; supreme in authority, i.e. controller; by implication, Master.
Bible Lexicon; BibleHub.com: https://biblehub.com/romans/10-9.htm. 

Additional Exhibits:
*The Cyrus anointing idea pre-dates Trump. It is a clear mixture of Church with State, concocting a “prophecy” for a “king” for a “kingdom” that Dominionists have been attempting to build on earth. See footnote 22. This exhibit from the the late New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) leader, C. Peter Wagner, who first popularized this idea in his book significantly titled Dominion! (Chosen, 2008) on page 193. See the Herescope article “7 Mountain Politics and Theology,“ February 24, 2016, https://herescope.net/2016/02/7-mountain-politics-and-theology.html.  
**Exhibit from the Hormoz Shariat website, “Is Trump the Next Cyrus,” March 30, 2018, https://hormozshariat.com/2018/03/30/trump-the-next-cyrus/ 
***Archived  August 11, 2011 (again, pre-dating Trump) this exhibit is a screenshot of a website “Cyrus Books and Ministries,” Dr. Randall and Rev. Kathryn Sprague, http://cyrusbooksministries.com/default.aspx. Red highlighting added.  
****This exhibit was depicted in a New York Times article titled “Why Trump Reigns as King Cyrus,” about a film titled The Trump Prophecy. The article was by Katherine Stewart, Dec. 31, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/31/opinion/trump-evangelicals-cyrus-king.html. She wrote: “As Lance Wallnau, an evangelical author and speaker who appears in the film, once said, ‘I believe the 45th president is meant to be an Isaiah 45 Cyrus,’who will ‘restore the crumbling walls that separate us from cultural collapse.’” There are numerous articles on the Herescope blog over the years describing Lance Wallnau and his virulent form of Dominionism. See a compilation of articles cited here: https://herescope.net/2016/02/7-mountain-politics-and-theology.html. 

Ed. Note: The Discernment Research Group has written exhaustively on the topic of the Postmodern Prophecy Paradigm (PPP) teachers. Unfortunately Cahn has fit comfortably within their ranks. Readers can request a compendium of these articles from herescope@gmail.com.