Jonathan Cahn warned that darkness does not surrender without a fight. Now, after being physically attacked at 30,000 feet, those words carry an entirely different weight.
Cahn’s newest book, The Altar of Pergamon, has landed at No. 11 on The New York Times Hardcover Fiction bestseller list, No. 26 on USA TODAY’s Best-selling Booklist and, at the time of publication, No. 2 on Amazon’s Books Best Sellers list.
For believers, the remarkable rise of a book that confronts spiritual darkness, after everything Cahn has endured, brings to mind the declaration of Genesis 50:20: What the enemy meant for evil, God meant for good.
Just two days after the book’s Sept. 1 release, Cahn found himself at the center of the viral American Airlines Flight 618 incident. According to Cahn, what began as a friendly, hours-long conversation with the passenger beside him suddenly changed after the discussion turned more deeply toward the gospel, Jesus and the reality of God’s power.
Cahn says the man began blaspheming God, eventually threatened his “Jewish face,” struck him and attempted to wrestle away his laptop—the same computer containing his work connected to The Altar of Pergamon. Cahn also reinjured his previously hurt arm during the struggle before other passengers intervened and the man was restrained with duct tape.
Yet before any of this happened, Cahn sat down with Charisma and sounded an eerily relevant warning.
“The darkness does not go down without a fight,” Cahn said.
The Battle Is Spiritual
Cahn’s warning was not ultimately about flesh and blood. He described what he believes is a spiritual battle unfolding beneath cultural events.
“It’s a spiritual war,” Cahn said.
To order Jonathan Cahn’s new bestselling book, The Altar of Pergamon, visit Amazon.com.
Cahn argued that when darkness loses territory, believers should not assume the battle is finished. Instead, resistance can intensify.
“But in rolling it back you’d expect there’d be a counterattack,” he said.
For Cahn, that principle reaches beyond any single cultural or political moment. He pointed to the biblical warning Jesus gave in Matthew 12 about an unclean spirit leaving a house only to return later and find it empty.
That, Cahn warned, is the danger believers cannot ignore.
“If that house doesn’t get filled up with God’s presence, what was cast out is coming back in. And worse.”
Those words take on striking significance following Flight 618.
Cahn says the passenger beside him had been friendly for hours. But after Cahn began sharing the gospel and describing what he saw as evidence of God’s power and faithfulness, the man’s demeanor changed almost instantly.
Cahn has since described the encounter through a spiritual lens, while continuing to pray for the man who attacked him. The incident ultimately escalated into an emergency diversion and the passenger being restrained aboard the aircraft.
But Cahn’s earlier warning goes beyond one airplane.
Revival Must Fill the House
If spiritual darkness fights to reclaim lost ground, Cahn believes Christians cannot simply celebrate when evil retreats. Something must take its place.
And for Cahn, there is only one answer: revival.
“The only thing that can save America is revival,” he said. “You can do the outside things, but … if that house doesn’t get filled up with God’s presence, what was cast out is coming back in.”
That means revival cannot remain something Christians merely discuss, pray about or wait to see happen somewhere else.
“We can’t just pray for revival. We have to actually choose to live in revival,” Cahn said.
His instruction to believers was equally straightforward: pray, boldly advance the gospel and fill the void with God’s presence.
“You want revival, spread the gospel.”
That message may be even more significant following Flight 618. Cahn warned that darkness would fight back. His answer was never to fear that resistance, but to advance.
And now, after an attack that could have become merely another disturbing viral headline, The Altar of Pergamon is reaching readers across the country.
The attack did not silence the message.
If anything, more people are hearing it.
What the enemy intends to intimidate, disrupt or destroy does not have to achieve its intended purpose. Scripture repeatedly shows God turning moments of opposition into opportunities for His purposes to advance.
Cahn’s charge to believers therefore remains the same one he gave before Flight 618 ever took off:
“This is a critical moment and we have to rise to it.”
Abby Trivett is a writer and editor for Charisma Media and has a passion for sharing the gospel through the written word. She holds two degrees from Regent University, a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Journalism and a Master of Arts in Journalism. She is the author of the newly released book, The Power of Suddenly: Discover How God Can Change Everything in a Moment. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
