Every now and again, I decide that I will visit the ECPA list of bestselling Christian books and read the number one bestseller, no matter what it is. It is a decision I often regret. I wish the books that rose to the top were the best of the best, but, sadly, they are often the worst of the worst.
When I looked a few days ago, the top book was The Avatar by Jonathan Cahn. I had run into Cahn once before when I read his first megaseller, The Harbinger, which has now sold more than two million copies. I knew roughly what to expect then, especially when I noticed that the two subtitles are quite similar: The Return of the Ancients and the Future of America and The Ancient Mystery that Holds the Secret to America’s Future. Though fourteen years have elapsed between the two books, the theme has remained consistent.
Yet one big thing has changed between The Harbinger and The Avatar, and it’s the rise of Donald Trump. More specifically, it’s his victory, his loss, and his second victory. And just as The Harbinger is framed around the events of 9/11, The Avatar is framed around the events of Trump’s time in the national spotlight. Cahn draws a very tight connection between the historic Northern Kingdom of Israel and the contemporary United States of America. He believes that just as Israel was created by God and dedicated to him, so was America. America is, in a sense, the new Israel and therefore has a similar covenantal relationship with God. If America stays true to God, it will enjoy his blessings, but if America drifts from God, it will suffer his disfavor.
So what’s The Avatar all about? Cahn believes that the ancient gods who were so often worshipped in Israel in place of the one true God have now manifested in America. Just as the avatars, or manifestations of these deities, may have once been Baal or Molech, today they manifest as Clintons, Obamas, Bidens, and Harrises—mostly Kamala Harris, for whom he has an especially deep antipathy.
Cahn begins with tales of his journeys around the world and his unprecedented success in evangelism. He describes preaching and blowing his shofar in places as far afield as India, Cuba, and Nigeria, but always with the same effect—mass revivals in which millions came to Christ. Yet in these journeys, he became aware of common gods who were present in the lands. He realized that all these gods are mere avatars for common deities who manifest in different forms in different times and places. And, of course, in America, they manifest as Democrats.
The bulk of the book is page after page that show supposed similarities between biblical characters and events and their analogs in contemporary America. So, for example:
The acts of Donald Trump have continually mystified friends and foes alike. But in order to understand them, one must understand the calling of Jehu. The American Jehu would take up the same mission, to break down, tear down, and dismantle the American house of Ahab, the American Temple of Baal—its establishments, its systems, its cults, its conventions, its ideologies, and its institutions. So upon his return to the presidency, Trump especially set out to dismantle the establishments and ideologies of the radical left and the institutions and houses of the woke that had taken over much of American society.
If you think that connection is tenuous, how about this?
After coming into the world, Harris spent the first and, then, later years of her childhood in Berkeley, California, not far from Oakland. Berkeley also lies on the waters of the San Francisco Bay. On the San Francisco Bay one can find shells. Among them is the scallop shell. Shells, and particularly the scallop shell, are especially associated with the goddess Lakshmi.
The myth of the goddess’s birth involves the churning of the ocean froth and foam from which she emerged and by which she was first lifted up on her lotus throne. So the waters of the San Francisco Bay, by which Kamala Harris first appeared and then grew up, are likewise known for the froth and foam they churn up.
And then there is this about Donald Trump’s near assassination, for which it is difficult to tell whether it’s more absurd than blasphemous or more blasphemous than absurd.
To serve the purposes of God, the priest’s ear has to be open to hear His voice, His word, His will, and His counsel. The ear of the priest had to be consecrated to God and so was anointed with blood.
The bullet intended to take Donald Trump’s life, instead drew blood from his ear, which then began streaming down his face. In the ancient anointing, the blood had to touch the ear of the candidate for the priesthood. On the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, the blood now touched the ear of the candidate for the presidency. More specifically, the blood had to touch the priest’s right ear. So the blood touched Trump’s right ear. More specifically, the blood had to touch the tip of the right ear of the priestly candidate. And so, more specifically, the blood now touched the tip of the right ear of Donald Trump.
Of course, it was his own blood, and it was an assassination attempt. Nevertheless, it would follow the pattern of the priestly anointing.
In case you’re wondering, the blood also made its way to Trump’s right thumb and the big toe of his right foot, completing the pattern.
As in the ancient anointing, so in Butler, Pennsylvania, it began with blood on the tip of the right ear, then descended to the thumb of the right hand, and then to the shoeless feet of the one to be consecrated. In the days ahead many would become convinced that Kamala Harris would win the presidential election. But in the mystery of the anointing, it was all sealed that day in Butler. For the anointing was for the office. And it was ordained that the one who received the anointing would be the one who would likewise receive the office—in this case, the presidency.
But wait! Did you know that the word butler, as in Butler, Pennsylvania, derives from the French boutellier, which is French for cupbearer? And in the Old Testament, a cupbearer played an important role in guarding the royal court, and especially guarding against an assassination attempt. “The assassination attempt on Trump’s life happened in the place called Butler, a word having to do with an assassination attempt against a ruler. More specifically, the word spoke of the one in charge of making sure the assassination attempt would be thwarted and the ruler’s life saved. In the case of Butler, that would happen by a fraction of an inch and a fraction of a second. It can be taken then that the ‘Butler,’ the one who saved the ruler’s life, was not of flesh and blood.”
Now imagine reading nearly 300 pages of this! No possible connection, no matter how obscure, opaque, or impossible, is too minor for him to count it one of the mysteries that he is responsible for unveiling to the world. Of course, he can only see these mysteries or omens in hindsight, so he has blessedly little to say about the future other than that it will be dire if America sweeps the ancient gods back into power in their Democrat avatars.1 The solution he holds forth is a national revival. “Revival is not optional; it is the only thing. Without revival, America as we have known it will have been lost. Without revival, America will, in the end, proceed to judgment or, worse, be consigned to an irreversible state of darkness and to the possession of the gods.” And while I agree that revival would be a tremendous blessing from God, I’m certain he and I mean very different things by the word. Again, he says he led millions to Christ in Nigeria after a single evening of speaking and a single blow of the shofar. “Millions of Nigerians heard the sound of the trumpet that night, and millions prayed with me to dedicate their lives to God. There was revival in the land.” That would be incredible if true, but I rather doubt it is.
The Avatar is one of the most frustrating books I’ve read in recent memory and it was a relief to finally be finished with it. It reflects a woeful understanding of Scriptural events, biblical interpretation, and contemporary times alike. There is nothing Christian about it and no good reason to read it. It is complete junk and worth neither a penny of your wealth nor a moment of your time.
- Many people undoubtedly believe the situation may prove dire if the Democrats come to power, but one can come to that conclusion in ways that do not play fast and loose with Scripture. Similarly, one could approve of Donald Trump without agreeing with Cahn’s interpretation of God’s Word. ↩︎
