Published:
By William Brunhofer
Former Assistant Professor, Unification Theological Seminary
The Return of the Gods by Jonathan Cahn, was completed in 2022, the year Roe vs Wade was overturned by the US Supreme Court, and, two years after the 50th anniversary of the decision granting unlimited abortion on demand in the state of New York. For perspective, he says, in the Bible a 50th anniversary is also called a Jubilee year and stands for a “year of restoration, restitution, redemption, release, freedom, reversing and undoing,” which according to tradition, comes 50 years from some major event or misdeed igniting tragedy. Thus, the prophet Jeremiah warned his nation that the shedding of children’s blood would lead to judgment, and death to a future generation within the nation that murdered them in the form of a plague, or other calamity. Then, he surmises that “restitution” came to the US in the Jubilee year of 2020, when Covid 19 came to America and the world!
The connection between what happened in 2020 and 1970 when American’s began legally embracing abortion, was “stunning and eerie,” writes the author. He continues, “In the year of Jubilee, if you took what did not belong to you, that which you took would be taken from you. America had taken life. Thus, in the year of Jubilee, life would be taken from America.”
Cahn shows that the Bible describes in many places how ancient Israel had frequently turned away from Yahweh, God, and worshipped other gods: what has been called the ‘Dark Trinity’ of Baal, the Possessor; Ishtar, the Enchantress; and Molech, the Destroyer, who was associated with the “darkest of sins – the sacrifice of human beings. And even darker . . . the sacrifice of children by their parents,” described as “the most grievous of ‘abominations’ . . . the sign of a nation that has turned entirely against the ways of God and become lost to Him.”
Could there then be, he asks, this same embodiment of negative spiritual energy at work behind the sign of the rainbow, for example, saturating the halls of our educational institutions, public libraries, museums, and other places within our civic, entertainment, and sports culture today? Indeed, could these invisible spiritual beings be the animating spirit behind the radical changes we see manifested all around us, and altogether, the unseen movers and catalysts of our modern culture? But how is it that this ancient power, which so possessed the ancient world and nations like Israel, Babylon, the Assyria, et al, a graphic part of our historical record, has now suddenly come to possess our own country and the modern world? Here Cahn leads the reader through the Biblical record which finds Molech, the “principality most especially bound to and behind abortion.”
In his quest to uncover the power or forces behind these “other gods,” Cahn identifies that the Bible refers to the “principalities” in both the OT and NT, include Ep 6:2 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Thus, Cahn takes us into the depths of these spiritual forces and their modern-day manifestations in our daily lives and the world around us in order that we might more deeply appreciate that there is a very real spiritual aspect to our lives and human dynamics which is more than meets the eye. “Only by more deeply understanding these principalities and forces and their origin, how they are working in our lives and culture,” he affirms, “can we arm ourselves to unite for good through prayer, repentance, a true turning back, true change, and true spiritual revival.”
During this unveiling chapter by chapter, Cahn confronts what have been hitherto considered sacred cows straightforwardly addressing the “most radical and controversial issues of our time, the front lines of cultural upheaval, the catalytic forces that are now transforming society, civilization, history and life.” All, “illuminated by the light of the ‘mystery’ that goes back ages, to ancient times.”
Then Cahn turns to recognize that the Supreme Court ruling on January 24, 2022 represented a turning back of Molech. It was an act of life against death. It was an act against the gods, the breaking down of their alters,” the author says. “It is a time to be strong and of good courage . . . to be bold . . . let go of all the fear and concern and take a stand against the darkness and for the light . . . for greater, much greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”
So, now in America we are witnessing a beginning of the “removal and breaking of Molech’s modern-day alters.” But whether this is a sign of revival and the beginning of a nation’s return to God, a step toward restoration . . . “or an “anomaly over which the nation will further divide as it continues its fall from God,” is in our hands. Simply put, a blessing or curse is always in our hands to control. The “changing of laws will, in the end fail, if there is not also the changing of hearts. And the changing of hearts comes from God and through revival,” Cahn concludes.
This remarkable book is a reminder that there is something more to our physical reality accessible through our 5 physical senses, a parallel reality, you might say, assessable through our non-physical senses, namely intuition, inspiration, dreams, or as some say, gut feelings about something or a 6th sense. Indeed, Cahn asks the question: “Is it possible that the ancient entities known as the “gods” are more than fiction as many believe (eg, entities referred to by ancient inscriptions found in surviving records of the Middle East life, art and culture),” and possess an independent reality?
Many today are asking, what are the various forces at work within us and the world around us, physical and spiritual? What are the non-visible forces at work which inform and guide our thoughts and feelings, desire and hopes, our faith in the seen and the unseen? And if we concede that there is, indeed, a spiritual aspect to human life and that being human means that we are both an integrated physical and spiritual being, then we are led to appreciate that we are always connected to this spiritual realm of life that transcends the 5 physical senses. And we can also observe that our way of thinking leads us into a constant give and take relationship with others within this realm through our thoughts and emotions, physically and spiritually. Thus, we can appreciate that we empower, through our free will, that which we make our ultimate concern, and those with whom we make relationship. And conversely, our minds and emotions, our worldview and core beliefs are shaped by these relationships.
