Latest Charismaniacal attempt to make Dominionism sound biblical...

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Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." - Genesis 1:26 (ESV)

Charisma Magazine

One of the hallmarks of New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) teaching is dominionism. Many who openly reject the NAR cannot see how they too have fallen for the near cult-like obsession with everything America. This is not be confused with patriotism, which is separate from the church. Dominionism on the other hand mixes the holy with the profane. It takes one of the carnal, evil political parties (or candidates) and confers righteousness upon them as "God's choice." By default, anything against this position is deemed as evil. The dominionist fails to see the inherent evil in all things of this world. They believe that Christians, or the church, are to literally take dominion of the world in advance of Christ's second coming. Many actually believe Christ cannot return until we do so. This is obvious heresy and glorifies the creation, this earth, over the Creator, God. They believe that the dominion of this world is accomplished by conquering seven cultural mountains that they have created, the most prominent of these being government. Hence the unbiblical fixation with politics. The above link is from a recent story by Barry Maracle, a Charismatic personality and outlines the absolutely bonkers theology from this group. Let us discern and learn, reasoning through this screed.

"We have been redeemed, and our dominion over all of creation has been redeemed as well. "Redeemed" means "to purchase back under threat." From the very beginning, God told us to take dominion (see Gen. 1:26). He never rescinded that command. God wants His family to become more fruitful, outweigh the enemy and go forth and take dominion. Biblical dominion doesn't refer to domination of people. Biblical dominion has to do with the liberation of people.

Jesus taught us to pray in Luke 11:2, where He said, "When you pray, say: Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." Dominion looks like the manifestation of the kingdom of God on the earth. The kingdom of God is made up of righteousness, peace, joy, grace and truth, solidly founded on faith, hope and love.' - Barry Maracle

I have included the entire referenced verse from Genesis as the key verse because it is vital to understand how this group goes so wrong from their fundamental beliefs onward. Our redemption has to do with our state as sinners before a holy God. It has absolutely nothing to do with Genesis 1:26 but even still they fail to grasp what that verse even means. We see from the key verses that God gives dominion to man over the fish of the sea, birds of the heavens, livestock, over all the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. That is the order. The dominionist plucks out the sole verse fragment that says "over all the earth" and ignores the surrounding context to make it sound as if God wants the believer to subdue modern culture instead of spreading the Gospel to the lost. Genesis 1:26 is also not a command. Read the key verse again. God is stating fact, not uttering command. The liberation of the lost is the result of the Gospel, not taking dominion. We see here the influence of Bethel that routinely preaches the nonsense about bringing the kingdom to earth as the mandate for Christians. The Lord's prayer is our prayer to Him. That we revere His name. That we seek to do His will on earth just as if we were in heaven. It is not a prayer for dominion over the earth; not even close. The object is to preach the Gospel, through which one is saved out from this world.

"The Lord laid it on my heart in late February of 2020 that His ekklesia is about to awaken, arise, advance and abound. According to Matthew 16:18, Jesus says that He is going to build His church--His family, the ekklesia--and the gates of hell will not overcome it. The word ekklesia is the Greek word that means "to be called out to rule and reign." We are to take dominion over our own promised lands, and God is giving us a spirit of dominion this year.

So it's time for you, the ekklesia, to awaken, arise, advance and abound." - Barry Maracle

Perhaps the second greatest recurring false theology for dominionists, after not understanding Genesis, is not understanding what ekklesia means. While ekklesia does mean on some level a called-out group, there is nothing in the definition to support the notion of ruling and reigning. This is straight up NAR dominionism. I like the summary of this issue from the popular Got Questions website:

It is important that the church today understand the definition of ekklesia. The church needs to see itself as being "called out" by God. If the church wants to make a difference in the world, it must be different from the world. Salt is different from the food it flavors. God has called the church to be separate from sin (1Peter 1:16), to embrace fellowship with other believers (Acts 2:42), and to be a light to the world (Matthew 5:14). God has graciously called us unto Himself: "'Come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord. 'Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you'" (2Corinthians 6:17). - Got Questions?

Yes! Salt is different from the food it flavors! The separating out has nothing to do with ruling the world. The Lord laid no such thing on this man's wickedly deceitful heart. This mish-mashing of cobbled together scriptures is also indicative of the false theology of dominionism. Yes it is true that the gates of hell will not prevail. Yes we are to be called out, sanctified by God for His service. Maracle mixes these with two distinctly unbiblical notions however. We are most certainly not being given a spirit of dominion. More importantly, the covenant of the Promised Land for the nation of Israel is not being given to us individually so we might take dominion. What is staggering is the seeming obliviousness to how the Promised Land story ends. As if the Israelites did not fail miserably at being able to solely worship God and the Lord did not have Israel's enemies take over the Promised Land, which He promised He would do way back in Deuteronomy 28. This is why we needed Jesus to begin with! How scripturally myopic to focus so singularly on this country as to not even see the true foundations for the very need for the Gospel.

"How We Take Dominion Is Just as Important as Taking Dominion. "Now you are ready, my bride, to come with me as we climb the highest peaks together. Come with me through the archway of trust. We will look down from the crest of the glistening mounts and from the summit of our sublime sanctuary. Together we will wage war in the lion's den and the leopard's lair as they watch nightly for their prey" (Song 4:8, TPT). What we have all been going through, especially over the last 10 months, has prepared us to be able to handle the harvests that He has prepared for us--the harvests of souls, healings, signs, wonders, finances, lands, buildings and more." - Barry Maracle

Sigh, nothing like mixing in a little Song of Solomon to show how biblically illiterate you are. This verse of course has nothing to do with taking dominion. I was not going to get into this sideshow but it is important to push back against the usage of the Passion paraphrase, which is utterly heretical and never to be used. Song of Solomon 4:8 actually reads:

Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards. - Song of Solomon 4:8 (ESV)

No mentioning of waging war in the dens of lions. All this verse means is a plea to his love to come with him to safer venues. Read the commentaries. Maracle then conflates a sacred term, harvest, with a Charismaniacal wish list. Biblically, the term harvest refers to souls. It refers to spreading the Gospel so that some might be saved. It has nothing to do with healings or signs and wonders. It is sacrilegious to trivialize it with finances, buildings, or lands.

Many of us do not feel ready, but know this: You are ready because He says you are. A level of intimacy has been developed in us, and we are beginning to understand Whose we are. We are beginning to trust the Lord and walk with Him. I love where it says in Song of Songs 4:8 that we will climb the highest peaks together, walking through the archway of trust together and looking down from the glistening mount and our sublime sanctuary. Together, we will wage war in the lion's den and the leopard's lair as they watch nightly for their prey. What God is saying is as we have our focus on Him and not on the enemy, we will walk arm in arm right into the enemy's camp, unannounced, because the enemy is so caught up in his own diabolical schemes that he won't even see us coming. We will then crush the enemy under our feet. The key here is that we are like the calves released from the stall: "But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. You will go out and grow up like calves from the stall. And you will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I do this, says the Lord of Hosts." (Mal. 4:2-3, MEV). "Your obedience has become known to all men. Therefore I am glad on your behalf. Yet I want you to be wise to that which is good, and innocent to that which is evil" (Rom. 16:19-20, MEV).

Beloved this is spiritually criminal and very dangerous. Songs of Songs 4:8 says nothing of the kind. The Passion is not a translation, it is a paraphrase and a bad one at that. SOS 4:8 does not say that we will walk through the archway of trust together. The phrase archway of trust is not even in the text! Neither is the notion of waging war in the lion's den or the leopard's lair. The bible simply does not say these things! Thus, God never said these things! Yet Barry Maracle declares we should march in the camp of the devil based upon the very lies the devil has spun in his heart. Not a good battle plan. To further confuse things, he then mixes in completely unrelated verses from Malachi! The key here is not that we are like calves released from a stall but rather that we have feared the name of the Lord. Because we do, we realize that Malachi 4 is speaking about the second coming of the Lord not something we must do in order for the second coming to be realized. Once again, Maracle's theology is badly askew. The bible is not a salad bar where we take what we want and mix it all on the same plate. Realize that Maracle just mixed a self-contained verse from Song of Solomon that has nothing to do with two verses from Malachi about the second coming and topped it off with equally unrelated verses from Romans which ironically are surrounded in context by not listening to false teachers and the reality that Jesus will crush Satan under our feet, having nothing to do with our own selves or efforts.

The enemy is trying to get us to pay attention and face him. You cannot face an enemy who is under your feet. Do not allow yourself to be an expert on the enemy. He does not deserve that kind of attention. On the contrary, be excellent at what is good. It's when we are excellent at what is good and innocent at what is evil that we crush the enemy--once again, not because we are so wise, but because our God is so good! "Look, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you" (Luke 10:19). "Yes, feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm" (Col. 3:2, TPT). This war we are in is for the soul of North America and the world. Whoever runs the soul on the earth runs the show on the earth.

Yeah, no. If we are to be expert at what is good then we should be expert at His word and His word says to not be ignorant of the schemes of the enemy. The referenced verse from Luke is given to the 72 sent out by Jesus. The text gives zero indication that this now applies to us. Now we come to the crescendo of this article. As a rabid dominionist this has always been about this world and this country and here Maracle gives up the coy religious disguises. This is not about Song of Solomon and scriptural accuracy. It is about an imaginary war for the soul of North America and yes even the world. He firmly believes that if we control the soul of the earth, whatever that is supposed to mean, then we will run the show. Except that notion is not found anywhere in the bible. He just got done citing scripture about the need to be focused on the things of the kingdom rather than this earth and then he reveals his goals are actually the opposite. Sad.

"God and the enemy are after our minds. Whoever controls the thoughts fortifies the will and transforms the emotions. The war is for our attention; the enemy is trying to get our attention. He is trying to push every button to get our focus off of the Lord to keep us from filling our thoughts with heavenly realities. The enemy cannot be our focus; God must be our focus. Obedience is our greatest weapon. As we are simply walking in obedience to God, we will walk right into the enemy's camp and begin to crush him under our feet. Once again, the enemy is not our focus; the fact is, he is without intentionality, and he is inconsequential in our decision-making. So as the Elohim is a family in heaven, so shall we be a fruitful, dominion-taking family here on the earth. One Final Point. I urge you to please pray in the Holy Ghost more than ever. Give God something to work with. There are at least 80 different things that happen when you pray in your heavenly language. One amazing benefit is your immune system is boosted. Once again, Happy New Year! I am calling forth a blessing on you all to become His family, be fruitful and take your promised lands." - Barry Maracle

Putting aside the Charismaniacal misunderstanding of praying in the Holy Ghost we conclude by noting that it seems as if the enemy himself wrote this article. Who wants us to pay no attention whatsoever to the schemes of the devil? That's right, the devil. The bible says to resist the enemy. How can we do so if we are paying no attention to him? I am not saying be focused or overly concerned because greater is He that is in me but to simply put the enemy on the pay no mind list is unbiblical as well. What a fitting way for Maracle to end his wildly unbiblical article. Beloved the bible say that we are pilgrims and sojourners through this land. It says our true citizenship is in heaven and despite what dominionists think, God does not allow dual citizenship. There are no seven cultural mountains to conquer and no political party cares about the cause of Jesus Christ. Do not mix the holy with the profane. This world is passing asway. Get back to the only thing that can save someone from it. The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Reverend Anthony Wade - January 4, 2020

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.