Transcript - Presidential Inaugural Prayer
Breakfast address by Jonathan Cahn
This speech looks good at first sight; but it is based on two dangerous
and utterly false assumptions. One is that the United States of America
was founded as a theocracy in parallel with ancient Israel. The other is
that theocratic government is best for a nation, which with the
exception of the Israelites who were a people specifically chosen by God
for direct governance by Him, is disproven by both history and current
events.
Transcript
Members
of the Presidential Inaugural Breakfast Committee and members of
Congress who are here. Senators, Representatives, Ambassadors and
Delegates from other nations who are here. Ministers and People of God,
Friends and Media…
We
are gathered here in Washington DC, America’s capital city, on January
21st 2013, the morning of the Presidential Inauguration, with
one agenda and one purpose: To come before the Lord and in His presence
to seek His face and pray for His blessings, His will and His purposes
for its president, its government, its nation and its people. It
is fitting that we do it this day, which more than any other, represents
the future of America.
We
are here to inaugurate God’s own purposes.
We
have come here from every part of this land and every background and
persuasion, to stand before the Almighty, who transcends politics,
movements and men, and before whom kings and kingdoms rise and fall.
Presidents
change, political parties come and go, nations ascend and descend before
Him who changes not. But He remains the same, yesterday, today and
forever.
We
come before Him, before whom men and women, kings and prophets, people
and nations have come from ages past - come before Him to seek His face
in troubled times. We come to pray for America. But how do we do that?
How do we pray for this nation?
Do
we pray for riches, for power for the success of national agendas?
The
scriptures tell us that God hears the prayers of His people. But we must
pray according to His will. If a man has a terminal disease, we don’t
pray for an increase in wealth, we pray for healing. If a city
lies in danger of destruction, we don’t pray with flowery words, we
sound the alarm. We pray for blessing. But true blessing only comes in
the will of God.
So,
the truth must be spoken as well. We must pray according to the Truth
and we must not be afraid to speak the truth. We must give voice to what
must be spoken. We must sound the alarm that must be sounded. We must
address what must be addressed and so the message now will not be
politically correct. Nor will it be political.
It will be biblical, it will be true, and wherever it falls, let it
fall. I will not hold back and if I offend you I apologise but I cannot
apologise for offending you. Without truth, there is no love.
On a day that so embodies the future course of this nation, it’s
critical that we both pray and speak the truth.
In
ancient times, there was a nation known as the Kingdom of Israel that
had been founded on God’s Word, dedicated to His will, consecrated to
His purposes. And God blessed it with prosperity, power, security, peace
and a place at the head of nations. But the people of Israel made a
fatal mistake: In the midst of their blessings, they turned away from
their God.
They began to remove Him from their lives. Step by step, they ruled Him
out of their culture, out of their government, out of the economy, out
of their public square, out of the instruction and lives of their
children. They ruled Him out of the kingdom.
They
would still at times invoke His name but increasingly it rang hollow and
meaningless. They had made themselves strangers to the God of their
fathers and their foundation. And as God was driven from their lives,
they brought in foreign gods and idols to replace Him - gods of
sensuality, materialism, violence – idols of wealth, carnality and
sexual promiscuity. They abandoned the ways of God, the laws, the
standards of God, for immorality.
As
the prophets called out to them, they now called evil good, and good
evil. What they once knew to be immoral they now celebrated, what they
once knew to be right, they now warred against. It was a culture turned
in upon itself – a civilization at war against the very foundation on
which it had been established.
And
the righteous, who simply remained true to what they had always known to
be true, were now vilified, mocked, marginalized, labelled as
intolerant, increasingly banned from the public square and ultimately,
persecuted. The nation’s culture grew increasingly vulgar, Godless and
darkened. They now ridiculed, mocked and blasphemed the name of God.
It’s
as if a spiritual amnesia had overtaken the kingdom, as if they had
never known God or His ways. And they descended into the darkest of sin
of the nations that surrounded them. They offered up their children as
sacrifices to the gods on the altars and fires of Bel and Molech. And
they now stood under the shadow of judgment and in danger of
destruction.
And
God called out to them to return - come back - be saved from
destruction. He sent to them seers and prophets to wake them up,
call them back – but they would not listen. They mocked the prophets,
they persecuted them and they hardened their hearts. Finally, something
happened that brought them into the first stage of judgment…
But
there was another nation, or another civilization that was likewise
founded on God’s Word, dedicated to His will, and consecrated to His
purposes from its very inception – America.
Those
who came to these shores centuries ago to found a new civilization, did
so by dedicating it to God, committing it His purposes and glory from
the beginning. America was to be a city on a hill – a civilization to
which others would look. It was to be a holy commonwealth. And so they
modelled it after Israel from the Bible.
They
brought forth its first government in the name of Jesus and for the
glory of God. They established its first school system for the purpose
and teaching of the Word of God. They foretold that in as much as
America would follow the ways of God, God would bless it – in fact, that
it would become the most powerful, the most prosperous, the most blessed
nation on earth, the head of nations, and it would all come true.
America
would become the most blessed nation on earth – a refuge for the world’s
exiled – a light for the world’s oppressed – a beacon against the dark
forces of tyranny that threatened to engulf the world. America was
blessed with prosperity, peace, power, security and a place at the head
of nations.
America
has been blessed as no nation in the history of this planet has ever
been blessed.
But
something happened to the city on the hill.
As
the people of ancient Israel, in the midst of their blessings committed
a fatal error, so have we. We too, as a nation, have turned from God. We
too, as a nation, have removed Him from our lives. Step by step, we too
have ruled Him out of our culture, out of our government, out of our
economy. We too have ruled Him out of the instruction and lives of our
children, and we too have made God a stranger,
And
though we still at times invoke His name as a nation, it becomes
increasingly hollow and meaningless. We have made ourselves strangers to
God, and as we have driven God from our national life, we have brought
in other gods and idols to replace Him – gods of sensuality, violence,
wealth, carnality and sexual promiscuity. And as did Israel, so too we
have abandoned the ways of God and the laws of God.
The
nation that was established to bring the Word and Light of God to the
world, now fills the earth with pornography. We too now call evil good,
and good evil. And what we once knew to be immoral, we now celebrate.
What we once knew to be light, we now war against.
American
culture has become a culture turned in upon itself - a civilization at
war against its own foundations. And those who remain simply true to
what has always known to be true are now vilified, mocked, labelled
intolerant, increasingly banned from the public square, and ultimately
persecuted.
We
have now reached the point, this day, when a minister was driven out of
the public square, banned from praying at the Inaugural for the simple
reason that years ago he had preached a sermon simply saying what the
Bible clearly has always said is sin.
It
is a new America in which one can be banned from the public square
simply for believing the Bible - where profanity is treated a holy and
the holy is profaned – a new American where the Bible is treated a
contraband and nativity scenes are seen as dangerous.
Our
culture has grown increasingly Godless, vulgar, darkened. We now too,
ridicule, mock and blaspheme the name of God. It wasn’t that long ago
that American television closed its broadcasting day with sermons about
the Lord. Now our television and computer screens are filled with words
and images once unimaginable. And God and Jesus have now become objects
of comedy and mockery.
It’s
as if a spiritual amnesia has overtaken America. And the Lord asked
Israel, “Can a nation forget its God?” And yet Israel forgot… and now we
too have forgotten, America has forgotten her God. And we too, as a
nation, have partaken in the darkest of sins.
Tomorrow
is also a milestone of history. Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of
the day that America legalized the killing of its unborn children –
forty years tomorrow.
Israel
offered up thousands of its children. America has offered up millions.
Fifty
million souls are not here today. Fifty million people will not be
here watching or cheering at the Inauguration – they are silent - for
their lives were legislated out of existence – even from this city.
And
in order to hide the magnitude of our moral descent, we re-define words
and change their meanings on this and other sins. And yet a thousand
apostate ministers, swearing on a thousand Bibles, will not change a jot
or tittle of the Word of God.
Though
silent, they cry out in bearing witness to the darkest of our sins and
God hears them. And as He spoke through the ancient prophets to Israel,
so His words now echo down to us:
“When
you lift up your hands to Me in prayer, I will not listen, for your
hands are covered with blood.”
The
city on the hill has grown darkened; its lamp has grown dim; its glory
is fading - for God is not mocked. No nation can war against the very
source of its blessings and expect its blessings to remain. And as it
was with ancient Israel, the city on the hill now stands under the
shadow of judgment.
How
does judgment come to a nation?
After
defying all of God’s calls and warnings, the nation of Israel would
experience something unprecedented. It was the opening stage of national
judgment. God would remove one of Israel’s blessings.
Years
before the nation’s destruction, He allowed its hedge of protection to
be lifted up. He allowed an enemy to make a strike on the land. It was a
wake up call to avert national destruction to wake them up. Nothing else
would reach them.
The
strike was limited and temporary. The nation was now given a period of
time to turn back to God or enter into judgment. The first opening
biblical sign of national judgement is this – the initial removal of the
nation’s hedge of protection.
So,
it comes to pass in America on September 11, 2001: Its hedge of
protection was lifted.
An
enemy was allowed to make a strike on the land. It was temporary and
contained. It was a wake up call. We all sensed it even if we did not
say it. And for a short time it looked as if America would wake up – as
if we were on the verge of a national revival. People flocked to
churches and spoke of God. And then, a few weeks later, it was all over.
There
was no revival. There was no change of course, because without
repentance there is no revival. America continued down its spiritual
descent, but now it did so with even more fervour. Eleven years now
after 911, the nation stands not closer to God but much farther away.
As
I saw the smoke rising from New York City on that day, and then I stood
at the corner of Ground Zero, a revelation began coming to me. The
revelation would take the form of a book called The Harbinger.
The Harbinger was released last year. And from the first week it
became a best seller, spreading across the nation, and now even it’s
reaching into Capitol Hill.
The revelation of The Harbinger is this:
There exists an ancient mystery that lies behind everything from 911 to
the collapse of the American economy – a mystery so precise that it
actually reveals the actions of American leaders before they take them,
the exact words of American leaders before they speak them – a mystery
so exact that it gives the actual dates, even the hours of some of the
most dramatic days in recent history.
In
the last days of ancient Israel, before its destruction, nine harbingers
- nine prophetic signs of national judgment - appeared in the land.
Those same nine harbingers are now re-appearing on American soil. Some
of them appeared in New York City, some of them appeared here in
Washington DC. Some of them involve the highest leaders in the land –
even the President.
They
have touched every realm – political, economic, cultural, spiritual,
affecting every American and every American’s future.
The
harbingers are revealed through an ancient scripture – the vow that
Israel made after that first strike of warning. It appears in
Isaiah 9:10.
Instead
of repentance, they responded to God’s warning with defiance.
They
said this:
“The
bricks are fallen down but we will rebuild with hewn stone. The
sycamores have been cut down but we will plant cedars in their place.”
What
they were saying was this:
“God,
you won’t humble us. You won’t cause us to return. We are going to
continue down our course. We will continue to abandon Your ways. We will
defy You even more than before. We will do so by our own efforts. We
will rebuild and come back stronger than before.”
This
vow of defiance would seal their fate – usher in their destruction. And
it’s the key to the nine harbingers. We don’t have time to even begin to
open up the mysteries of the harbingers, except to say that they are all
manifesting to America, and just to touch quickly on a few.
The
fifth harbinger in the book is The Stone of Judgment. For this to
manifest, a particular type of stone must be chiselled out of mountain
rock and placed on the ground of destruction where the strike occurred.
Three years after 911, this stone of judgment appeared and was lowered
on the pavement of Ground Zero. A ceremony took place around it
and American leaders proclaimed vows of defiance over the stone.
The sixth harbinger – The Sign of the Sycamore – is a biblical warning of national judgment. For this to manifest, a sycamore must be struck down in the ground of destruction. In the last moments of 911, the last tower came crashing down and it sent forth a shock wave and a [steel] beam. And it struck an object. The object was a tree. The tree was the sycamore – the biblical sign of national judgment. The sycamore is fallen.
The seventh harbinger in Hebrew is called the Erez, the sign of
judgment. This one appeared in the sky [on a crane] at the corner of
Ground Zero two years after the calamity.
The
ninth harbinger is the vow of judgment - the vow of bricks and sycamore
(Isaiah 9:10). The very utterance in the last days of ancient Israel
would lead to the nation’s destruction.
For this harbinger to manifest, an American leader would have to
proclaim a vow of judgment from the Capital City and it would have to be
linked to 911.
If
you see this happen, know that it is stunningly clear that your nation
is in danger of judgment.
On
the day after 911, the United States Congress gathered at Capital Hill
not far from here. And they gathered there – the place where the
inauguration will happen today – to give America’s response to the
calamity, just as ancient Israel had presented its response to the
calamity in Isaiah 9:10.
The
man appointed to speak for the nation was the Senate Majority Leader,
Tom Daschle.
He
makes his way to the podium and presents the nation’s response. At the
end of his speech, the ancient vow that brings national judgment came
forth out of his mouth. He says this:
“There
is a passage from the Bible from Isaiah that speaks to all of us at
times like this.” He says, “The bricks have fallen down but we will
rebuild with dressed stone.” Then he speaks of the tree that is struck
down. He speaks without even realizing there is an actual tree at Ground
Zero that’s been discovered that day. He speaks of the stone of judgment
that will go up. It will come to pass three years later. He has no idea
what he is doing when the vow of judgment is pronounced. Israel’s fatal
vow becomes America’s and is recorded in the annals of Congress.
It
is ominous. It will set the nation’s course. It will lead to the next
national shaking that will not involve buildings but will be the
implosion of the American economy itself – the collapse of the American
economy that still affects everyone to this day. In The Harbinger,
it is called The Second Shaking, and behind this second shaking – this
economic implosion – lies a stream of ancient biblical mysteries.
We
don’t have time to speak of these now except to mention one
mind-boggling reality. There was a day given in the Bible called, on the
Hebrew calendar, the 29th day of Elul. Once, every seven years, on that
date, the nation’s financial accounts were wiped away – all accounts of
credit and debt – wiped away.
It
was originally meant to be a blessing, but as the nation had driven God
out of it’s life and pursued idols and wealth, it became a sign that was
condemning their rejection of God and that struck the financial realm.
The peak of the collapse of the American economy took place at the end
of September 2008. On that day the stock market crashed 777 points - the
greatest crash in Wall Street and American history.
When
did it happen?
The
greatest collapse in Wall Street history took place on the 29th day of
Elul, the exact day given in the Bible to strike a nation’s financial
realm that has driven God out of its life. And the same exact day, the
same exact hours. But Elul 29 put a spot on a seven-year mystery.
What happens if we go back seven years in American history?
It
takes us to September 2001, the month of 911. But something else
happened that month – the other greatest stock market crash in American
history to that date. When did that take place?
The
other greatest stock market crash in America took place on the exact
same biblical day appointed to strike a nation’s financial realm that is
under judgment.
The
two greatest collapses in American history up to those days, both
happened on the same biblical day and exactly seven years apart to the
biblical day and hour.
And
there is a prophetic mystery here – behind everything that we are
seeing, God is alive. There is a prophetic warning in this and that is:
If America does not return to God, we will see the end of the prosperity
and the end of the American age as we know it.
Since
The Harbinger was released, that which was foreshadowed in its
pages is actually coming true. The harbingers and the mysteries
have not stopped. They are continuing to manifest.
In
fact, one of them that took place this year at Ground Zero involved the
President who is about to be inaugurated. And one of the mysteries of
The Harbinger is something called The Mystery Ground. It actually
involves this day – the inauguration - or rather the first inauguration
of which this day is the continuation. It was the day that America, as
we know it, came into existence.
April
30th 1789 was the day the nation’s first president was sworn into office
- the inauguration of George Washington. Washington placed his hand on
the Bible and then he gave the first ever Presidential Address. And in
that speech, on America’s first day as a fully formed nation, is
imbedded a prophetic warning to the nation. Washington said this:
“The
propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that
disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which heaven itself has
ordained.”
What
was he saying?
He
was saying that America’s blessings are based on its relationship with
God. If America ever disregards or forgets, or turns away from the
eternal rules of order and right - the laws, the precepts, the
standards, the ways of God - if America ever departs from these – then
the blessings of God will be withdrawn from the land. This is the
prophetic warning embedded in our national foundation and it is coming
true in our day.
We
are now witnessing America increasingly disregarding the eternal rules
of order and right, which God has ordained. And the warning is, that if
we do so, the “smiles of heaven” - the blessings of God – will be
withdrawn. When judgment came to Israel, the destruction returned to the
same ground where the nation had been dedicated to God – the Temple
Mount.
The
calamity returns to the nation’s ground of consecration and dedication.
After
Washington gave that prophetic warning, he and the nation’s first Senate
and House of Representatives, all proceeded on foot from Federal Hall,
the place of inauguration, to a site especially chosen for the nation’s
first government to pray and dedicate America’s future to God.
And
that’s what they did on that first inauguration on America’s fist day as
a formed nation. They prayed and committed the nation’s future to God.
That was the nation’s consecration to God.
If
we can find out where that ground is we will have a mystery.
Where
did it take place?
It
happened in the nation’s capital. But the capital then was not
Washington DC – it was New York City.
Where?
The
place where they dedicated America to God on its first day as a nation,
America’s consecration ground, is Ground Zero.
America
was dedicated to God at Ground Zero.
The
ancient mystery – the calamity – returns to the nation’s ground of
consecration. It was on that ground that the harbingers appeared. It was
in the soil of America’s consecration where that sycamore grew and was
struck down. It was there that it all happened.
And
on 911, a shock wave went forth from Ground Zero and struck an object.
It struck Federal Hall - the very place where Washington was sworn in
and where he gave that prophetic warning of what would happen if America
ever turned away from God. And it struck the foundation of America and
put a crack in the very foundation of Federal Hall.
But
all around Ground Zero, every building was ruined or destroyed except
one. Which one?
It was the little stone chapel inside of which they dedicated America’s
future to God. And why was it protected?
It
was protected because there was an object outside the chapel, which
absorbed the full force of the calamity. The object was the harbinger –
the sycamore. You see, the purpose of the harbinger is not to consign a
nation to judgment, but to awaken it to redemption. It’s a message of
return.
The
voice of God is calling this nation to return, in prayer and humility,
in repentance and in hope. And here we stand today, on 21st day of
January 2013, in the capital city on the same day – the continuation of
that first inaugural day. And on that first inaugural day, they gathered
together in prayer and consecrated America’s vision to God.
And
here we now are, who are of that future for which they prayed, and we
are now gathered together in the prayer gathering of that day before the
Almighty. And we stand here, centuries later, in witness to God’s hand
of faithfulness and blessing on this land.
But
we stand here also in witness to the fact that America has done exactly
that of which we were warned that first day by Washington never to do.
We bear witness that we have turned from His eternal ways and the order
of right. We have turned and are rapidly turning as a nation away from
His face. We all know it.
And
that is why it is so crucial that we have gathered here today in this
place and on this day. For very shortly the President will place his
hand on an object. He will place his hand on the Bible. And we say and
we appeal. We say:
“Mr
President, we have come here to pray for America, for its government,
for you, its leader and for its future. We pray for your blessing and
for your prosperity in the will of God, because only in the will of God
can we ever know true blessing.”
“The
answer is not found in the agendas of man or political parties. But the
answer is found in that object upon which your hand will rest – upon the
Word of God. For everything else will pass away, but the Word of God
will abide forever.”
So,
it must be asked, in respect:
“Can you lay your left hand upon His word – the Word of God – and then
with your right hand enact any law that would go against it? Can you
invoke the name of God to assume the presidency and then, in any way,
endorse anything, which clearly wars against the ways of God, that you
invoke?”
“Can
you stand in the city named after our first President and perform the
act that he first performed on that first day, and ignore the warning he
gave that day to this nation? Can you do all that and disregard
the eternal rules of order and right which heaven itself has ordained?”
“Can
you utter the words, ‘So help me God,’ if you should, in any way, take
part in leading a nation farther from God that you invoke to help?”
We
pray for your blessing in the will of God. For if the nation that once
knew the Almighty is called to return to Him, then so too must the one
who leads it. You will hold in your hand the Bible of Abraham Lincoln.
But do you not know what Lincoln said and did?
In
the midst of the darkness that engulfed this land once before – the
darkness he saw as the righteous judgment of God – Lincoln issued a call
to the nation. He said this:
“It
is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to owe their dependence on
the overruling power of God – to confess their sins and transgressions
in humble sorrow, yet with the assured hope that genuine repentance will
lead to mercy and pardon. And to recognize the sublime truth announced
in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations
only are blessed whose God is the Lord.
“And
in so much as we know that by His divine law, nations, like individuals,
are subjected to punishment and chastisement in this world, may we not
justly fear that this awful calamity of civil war which now desolates
the land, may be but punishment inflicted upon us by for our own
presumptuous sins to the needful end of our national reformation as a
whole people?
“But
we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand, which
preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us…
“It
behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to
confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”
So
Lincoln sent forth this call to America to repent, to turn to God and to
seek His mercy. And soon after that call went forth, the tide of war
began to turn and would ultimately lead to national healing. The words
of Abraham Lincoln ring out to us today – that those nations are only
blessed whose God is the Lord. Has this nation grown so far from God
that we cannot even imagine a President doing so today?
Mr
President, if you seek - if you will look to Lincoln as your model –
then dare to follow him in his actions. For all the politics and all the
parties and all the inaugural balls and all the voices of political
correctness and all the sounds of applause will grow silent and still.
And we will be left, each of us, to stand before the Almighty. And it
will not matter then how many votes we won or how much praise we
garnered – only that we were faithful to Him and faithful to His word.
The
voice of Lincoln now cries out to us and pleads with us. Let us humble
ourselves, confess our national sins and pray for forgiveness. As it is
written and promised in the Word of God:
“If
my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray,
and seek my face and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from
heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land.”
We
have come here, on the 21st day of January 2013 – to the capital city on
the day of the presidential inauguration for that purpose - to humble
ourselves and pray and to seek His face and to turn from our evil ways.
The time is late. The hour is critical. A great nation perceived in
rapid spiritual descent and these - the signs of judgment and warning -
are manifesting in this land.
The
shadow of judgment is upon us. And for those who would ask, “How, in the
light of judgment, can one be saved? We give the answer: The word for
safety and salvation in Hebrew is Yeshua. Yeshua is the name which we
know in English as Jesus.
Outside
of Him there is no safety. But inside of Him there is no fear. It was
for Him and in His name that this nation, this civilization, this city
on the hill, named America, came into existence. And it is only in Him
and in His name that its problems can ultimately be answered. He remains
the answer, the light in the darkness, the hope when all other hopes are
faded and gone. And to all who come, He will receive, and He calls out
“Come.”
For
all you who hear this message, and who dwell in darkness, it’s time to
come and you will not be turned away. And for all you who know Him –
you, His people – it’s time to put aside any shade of darkness and
compromise and take up the mantle of your calling.
It’s
time to be “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” you are
called to be – in truth, in power, in love. It’s time to light up the
darkness. It’s time to be strong, it’s time to be bold. It’s time to be
radical.
The
Watchman is crying out. The trumpets are sounding. The voice of the Lord
is calling to this nation saying return, return. Let the Word go forth.
Let the power of God be seen in this land. Let revival burst forth like
a mighty river.
The
voice is calling:
“Prepare
the way of the Lord. Make straight His paths. Let every mountain and
hill be cast down and every valley be lifted up. May the crooked way
become straight and the rough place become smooth. The glory of the Lord
shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of
the Lord has spoken.”
“Arise
and shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen on
you” in the name above every name – Yeshua Hamashiach – Jesus the
Messiah, the King of Kings, the Light of the world, the hope of America,
the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the glory of His people, Israel.
Amen
and Amen. To Him be the glory.