Spirit of Baal 'manifesting' now in America

Author and Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn.

It's the No. 1 prophecy book at Amazon.com and hit No. 5 on the New York Times bestseller list in its first week.

And it reveals the return of an ancient evil.

Messianic rabbi Jonathan Cahn, the New York Times bestselling author of "The Harbinger," has produced his most ambitious and comprehensive work yet, "The Paradigm."

On a recent appearance on SkyWatch TV, the man known as "America's Prophet" detailed the implications of his newest biblical discovery.

"It [the paradigm] gives the modern leaders the amount of time they have to be on the national stage before they leave," marveled Cahn. "I mean, it's specific. … God uses everything, God weaves in everything. The paradigm is this master blueprint, from the Bible, that deals with a nation or a civilization that is heading away from God.

"Israel is the example, ancient Israel, when they turned away from God, what happened? 'The Harbinger' speaks of the signs of judgment, this ['The Paradigm'] speaks of everything that's happening. So everything we've experienced in our lifetime is all part of this paradigm and it takes us up to everything that's happening right now. And then where do we go from here?"

One of the most consistent signs in a nation’s fall into apostasy is the reemergence of a certain spirit – the spirit of Baal. The rabbi detailed the highly important role of this false god during the apostasy of ancient Israel.

"Ba'al means lord, or master, or owner," Cahn said. Switching to the more common pronunciation of "Baal," Cahn explained how the pagan god has a symbolic meaning that goes far behind his actual historical importance.

"Baal's importance, or his dynamic, is that when a nation has known God, as Israel knew God, and then they turned away from God, they turned to Baal," he said. "Baal is the anti-God. Baal is the substitute god. Baal is the god of apostasy, of the turning away from God."

Cahn linked Baal with the practice of idolatry, or the way humans can create their own god.

"Once you create your own god, you can create your own truth," he said. "Once you create your own truth, you can overrule everything, call good evil and evil good. … Idolatry is linked to relativism, because you’re creating truths. Once you change your gods, everything else changes. It starts with that."

Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, the messianic rabbi and prophetic teacher reveals a pattern which explains world history, in "The Paradigm." Makes an incredible gift! Available now at the WND Superstore.

Cahn explained how the worship of Baal was not just the worship of a false god, but was the precursor to the degeneration of an entire culture.

"It's a move toward carnality," he said of the change. "It's a move toward materialism, but it was also a god of debasement, because you had sexual immorality. In the cult of Baal, you had 'sacred prostitutes.' You took sexuality out of marriage and put it into the public culture. So you have that going on. You had male prostitutes, now you have homosexuality.

"Then one more step, you have the offering up of children. You have this big statue of Baal, with bronze arms and bull head and they would place their baby on those arms and have it rolled into the fire. This is what happened in ancient Israel. This was a long-term apostasy."

The messianic rabbi compared the situation of ancient Israel during its fall away from God to what is happening in America today.

"It's a dangerous period," he intoned. "It's a period of apostasy, acceleration of apostasy. The same events that happened there, we're replaying it now. It's all affected our lives."

He claimed both America and the West at large are turning away from their biblical foundations, with catastrophic consequences.

"We're going to repeat those things!" he exclaimed. "You're going to have the spirit of Baal manifesting. In the 20th century, you see this turning, the driving out of God. We begin to start going to other gods, but we don't call them other gods, but we start going to it. We start going to 'materialism,' we start going to 'prosperity,' we start relativizing truth, we start driving God out. At first it's subtle. But then the apostasy gets more and more blatant."

Indeed, the "harbinger" of Baal has already manifested, as the reconstruction of a triumphal arch for the Temple of Baal in Palmyra has been constructed outside a number of global summits and in important world cities such as New York and London.

As Cahn pointed out, even the supposedly secular libertine movements of today have deep spiritual overtones. The pastor described how sexuality has been taken out of the marriage bed and put in the public square, how homosexuality has been normalized and how gender has been deconstructed. Most importantly, he said, is how child sacrifice is now standard in the America of today, with millions of babies being aborted.

"In fact, when you read some books of radical feminism, they will speak about abortion as a sacrament, they will speak about offering it up to the mother goddess," said Cahn. "The big picture is being replayed."

While the moral decline of Israel was long-term, according to Cahn, there came a point where there was a sudden acceleration and pagan morality overtook biblical morality and was endorsed from the centers of power.

America, he suggested, is going through that very point in the paradigm.

"You always had sinners, but you knew they were sinners," observed the pastor. "Now, you're changing the very standards. Has that happened in America? Yes, it has."

Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, the messianic rabbi and prophetic teacher reveals a pattern which explains world history, in "The Paradigm." Makes an incredible gift! Available now at the WND Superstore.