Jonathan Cahn

Born in New York State, Cahn was raised in a Jewish family, the son of a Holocaust refugee, and attended the synagogue frequently. Aged 20, after a near-death experience, he converted to Christianity.[1] He attended SUNY Purchase and studied history. In 1989, Cahn started "Hope of the World Ministries" (HOW), an outreach of the Gospel and compassion projects for the needy and currently is the president of the organization and further publishes Sapphires Magazine and ministers on radio, television, and internet.

Cahn is the head of the Beth Israel Worship Center congregation whose "liturgy focuses on Jesus as savior." The group had been located in Garfield, New Jersey throughout the 1990s but moved to Wayne, New Jersey in 2008. Their arrival in Wayne was viewed with suspicion by local leaders of Judaism as "Messianism has been condemned by Jewish clergy and leaders as a cloak for Christian missionizing." With the arrival of Cahn's group, the YM-YWHA of North Jersey held a counter-missionary event with a member of Jews for Judaism. Cahn told reporters that "the congregation has no intention of 'targeting' the Jewish community. However, anybody is welcome at the center."[4]

The New York Times reported in 2019 that Cahn believes President Donald Trump's rise to power was prophesized in the Bible. In The Paradigm: The Ancient Blueprint That Holds the Mystery of Our Times, he compares Trump to King Jehu who led ancient Israel away from idolatry.[1] Abortion, the pursuit of gay rights and the perceived decline in the public role of religion were all signals for Cahn that the United States was taking the wrong path.[1]