The Harbinger (28 page)

“And the president had no idea he was voicing the central declaration of Isaiah 9:10?”

“Did the first and second witnesses have any idea what they were saying?”

“No,” I said, “but they knew they were quoting from Scripture.”

“Still, they had no idea what it meant. In the case of the president, he had no idea he was quoting from anything. And he wasn’t…he was seeking to inspire the nation. Nevertheless, out of his mouth came the central declaration of the ancient vow. That he proclaimed the same words without even having a quote to quote from is all the more striking.”

“It just happened to happen,” I replied, “just like everything else.”

“It happened because it had to…one way or the other. The words had to manifest, one more link in the mystery, bearing witness that what started with 9/11 had not ended but was still in effect…and progressing.”

It was now dark as we spoke on the terrace. The monuments of the Washington Mall were aglow with white, yellow, and orange light, as was the Capitol building itself.

The prophet continued, “The words ‘
we will rebuild
’ had also manifested in the speech that launched the War on Terror, the speech given by the former president. But in that case the phrase was qualified and specific to the rebuilding of New York. But now the words would come forth with nothing to qualify or limit them—simply ‘
WE WILL REBUILD
.’ Now, an American president would proclaim the central declaration of Israel’s fateful vow as the central declaration of his entire address.”

“But with nothing to qualify it,” I asked, “how specifically could three words be linked to Isaiah 9:10?”

“Good question,” he replied. “Imagine this experiment: Before the president’s speech, you type in those three words into almost any major search engine on the Internet…
We will rebuild
…just those three words, and nothing else. What would happen? The search engine would take you to the ancient prophecy. That specific verse would, more than likely, appear in the first pages of results, if not on the very first page. That’s how specifically the three words are joined to the ancient prophecy. But now it’s the night of the speech. You repeat the experiment and type in the same three words, but now, instead of taking you to the ancient vow, it takes you to the words of the American president. As the night advances, you repeat the experiment. Each time you do it, you witness the president’s vow progressively pushing the ancient vow farther and farther away from the top of the list, or, to put it another way, the vow of the American president now takes the place of the ancient vow.”

“So the mystery was now playing out on the World Wide Web.”

“Before a global audience; through television, radio, print, and the Internet; through the president of the United States in the hearing of the nation and much of the world. And just as it was with the first two witnesses, the vow would once more manifest as the climax and pinnacle of the speech in which it appeared.”

“How,” I asked, “without coming at the end of the speech?”

“Where it appeared in the speech was irrelevant. The president’s address was picked up by news services around the world. Each had to choose a phrase to serve as a summation and headline. From the thousands of words contained in that speech, the words most often chosen to encapsulate and represent it were those of the ancient vow:

“From the
New York Times
to
Al Jazeera
,” I said, “they all chose the central declaration of Isaiah 9:10…with no one having any idea.”

“No more than the one who proclaimed it had any idea. The same principle that caused the Harbingers to manifest in the first place was now operating through the global media. And notice something else, Nouriel. The president didn’t just say, ‘
We will rebuild
.’ He prefaced it with this:

“Does it sound familiar?”

“It’s the prophetic address, that which comes before a prophetic utterance, to identify the person or people to whom it’s being sent. So the word was now being sent to
every American
.”

“Correct,” he answered. “The ancient prophecy was addressed to the people of Israel:

“So now, the president of the United States is
readdressing
it. It is now given for
every American to know
. And as with the other witnesses, he too clearly identifies who the ‘
we’
is of
we will rebuild
. The president is reciting the vow on behalf of
every American
.”

“And by doing that, the president is, in effect, identifying America as a nation estranged from God, in defiance of His will, and heading toward judgment.”

“Yes,” said the prophet, “just as did the first two witnesses. In order for a truth or a judgment to be established, there must be two or three witnesses, and the testimony of each must be consistent with that of the others. To that end, the president added a second line to his vow:

“Why does it sound familiar?” I asked.

“On the day after 9/11, when the ancient vow was first proclaimed from Capitol Hill, the Senate majority leader sealed the vow and his address with these words:

“So the president was repeating the words spoken on Capitol Hill,” I said, “the day after 9/11. But he couldn’t have done it purposely.”

“No,” said the prophet, “not purposely…but unknowingly, as with everything else. And notice…when the Senate majority leader proclaimed those two declarations, the words were not only being joined to the attack but clearly to Isaiah 9:10. And now the president utters the same words but now to speak of the economic collapse. So, the same declaration spoken over the first shaking is now spoken over the second. The two events are again joined together, and it’s all joined together by Isaiah 9:10.”

“And they both made their proclamations in the same place.”

“Yes,” he said, “the witnesses are joined together not only by their testimony but also by the place in which they give their testimony. Each of the three witnesses proclaims the vow in the capital city. The first and third witness proclaim the vow not only in the same city but also on the exact same hill.”

“In the exact same building.”

“And a building divided in two…into two wings…two chambers…the Senate and the House, the nation’s two highest legislative assemblies…each of which must confirm a law or proclamation in order for it to be passed…as with two witnesses. And so the ancient vow is proclaimed, first from the floor of the Senate on the day after 9/11, and then from the floor of the House of Representatives…first from the northern wing and then from the southern, once in each wing…once in each chamber…two witnesses.”

“And did the president say anything else that linked up with Isaiah 9:10?”

“Yes, with Isaiah 9:10 and with the commentaries. When the leaders of ancient Israel declared, ‘
The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild
,’ what were they saying?”

“Tell me.”

“They were saying that fallen bricks would not decide their future, the crisis would not determine their nation’s destiny—
they themselves
would. From the commentaries:

“So after declaring, ‘
We will rebuild
,’ the president gave voice to another declaration:

“It’s
the bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild
, translated into modern political terminology.”

“And what did he say
would
determine the nation’s destiny?” I asked.

“America would be its own answer:

“In other words, ‘
We will emerge from this crisis by relying on the greatness of our powers and resources…
’”

“
We will rebuild…with quarried stones
,” I said, “
and cedar trees
.”

“Exactly,” he replied. “
We will determine our own destiny
. And yet the ancient vow boasted of more than that…more than rebuilding and more than recovering.”

“It was about coming out of the crisis stronger than before.”

“Exactly. And so the president would add one more declaration to his vow. Listen to the words:

“A perfect summation of the ancient prophecy. Now look what happens if you take the words of the president and hold them up against the words of a commentary on Isaiah 9:10:

• “From the commentary: ‘They boasted that they would rebuild their devastated country.’
13

• “From the president: ‘
We will rebuild, we will recover
.’
14

• “The commentary: ‘…and make it stronger and more glorious than ever before.’
15

• “The president: ‘And the United States of America
will emerge stronger than before
.’”
16

“It’s scary,” I said, “how closely it matches.”

“Much scarier,” said the prophet, “is what it all led to…in the ancient case.”

“And in the modern case?” I asked.

“The answer to the nation’s problems,” he said, “lies
not
in its powers but in a Power much higher than these. And until—and unless—that answer and hope are found, every other answer and hope must fail in the end, and the prophecy must continue in effect, along with the progression of judgment.”

“The progression of judgment…So things only get worse?”

“In the realm of appearance, not always. What followed 9/11 appeared to be an era of economic resurgence and expansion. But in reality it was a house of cards. A very different dynamic was at work beneath the surface…and progressing…until the cards collapsed.”

“The Isaiah 9:10 Effect.”

“The progression of judgment advances in times of calamity and crisis, but equally in times of apparent recovery, apparent normalcy, and even apparent resurgence, booming economies, and prosperity. None of it hinders or ends the progression. Whether above the surface or beneath it, the progression continues.”

“Then what ends the progression?” I asked.

“Either judgment…or the answer.”

“And it’s heading to which?”

“To which end do you think, Nouriel?”

“It’s heading away from God.”

“The progression of judgment is only a reaction to the progression of a nation’s apostasy, its progressive severing of its connection to God and to the biblical foundation on which it was established. If the first progression doesn’t end, then neither can the second.”

“So the answer is…”

“The seal,” he replied.

“The answer is the seal?”

“May I have the seal?” he asked. So I gave it to him as he placed another in my right hand.

“This,” he said, “is what I gave you at the beginning, the seal of the First Harbinger. We now leave the mysteries of the second shaking and move to the answer. And as this was the seal that opened up the first mysteries of the Harbingers, so too it will open up the last…and the answer.”

“And this one is like all the other revelations…or not?”

“This one,” he said, “is
unlike
all the other revelations…and yet all of them are joined to it.”

“And where does one go to find its meaning?” I asked.

“Its meaning lies hidden…in the foundation.”

“The foundation of what?”

“America.”

“Where?”

“In the mystery ground.”

Chapter 19

The Mystery Ground