Hi all,
Last
week I outlined the basic beliefs of Dominion Theology, also called
Kingdom Now, and this week I want to outline some basic differences by
looking at the Word.
First
a review - Dominion Theology (DT) or Kingdom Now (KN) as it is also
called, believes God lost control of the earth when Adam sinned, but now
through Christ we are called to take dominion over the earth by
infiltrating 7 areas of influence, called the '7 mountains'. This is led
by 'apostles' in the 7 areas, and those submitted to them are
'overcomers', and having taken dominion in these areas, will present the
earth to the Lord upon His return. Those 7 mountains are: Government,
education, business, media, arts & entertainment, church and family.
While
there are variations under the umbrella of Dominion Theology, I've
found many who identify themselves with DT or KN don't know what they
believe - many are just wrapped up in the prophecies of a new age of
prosperity for themselves and the nation and world and that's all they
know.
There are some variations, but generally here are a few key beliefs:
1)
The Tribulation is not taught as a time when anti-Christ will rule and
persecute Israel and believers in Jesus, but rather a time of God's
judgement on earth brought through His people. Many therefore believe
then that anti-Christ isn't a person, but a system, using I John 4:3 to
ground their belief, which mentions the spirit of anti-Christ which
denies Jesus, is already in the world. Therefore anti-Christ isn't a
person, but merely a spirit governing ungodly governments, business,
education, media, arts & entertainment, church, and family.
2)
The church has failed in the last 2,000 years. Jesus came to do the
work of the cross, then left the church to take dominion over the
earth's 7 mountains listed above. But now we've come to understand the
gospel correctly. Jesus told us to be witnesses, demonstrating the
kingdom to the world, which means take over the 7 systems of the world
to bring His kingdom to fruition as part of our witness.
They
often use I Corinthians 15:25-26: "He must reign until He has put all
enemies under His feet..." From there they say we are the body of
Christ, and even His feet rule over His enemies, therefore as His
body we must take dominion over the earth.
In
order for this to happen we must have the proper church government,
which is overcomers submitted to apostolic leaders in the 7 mountains.
Once God's government is set, helped along by prayer warriors pulling
down strongholds to make the way, then Christians can move into position
to take over those 7 areas.
3) No rapture. This is explained as a rapturous feeling of joy upon Christ' return.
4)
The church is Israel. Most would agree the church is spiritual Israel,
but Dominion Theology does away with the importance of the nation of
Israel altogether, appropriating Old Testament and New Testament verses
to mean the body of Christ.
5)
Emphasis on our prayer to pull down strongholds, and teamwork with
angels and those in Christ who have died and are now in heaven in order
to usher in heaven on earth. In early stages I saw this thinking in
conventions where they said if they just get enough people together to
pray, just yell and shout loud enough, God will hear and send revival.
Along the way some of it has morphed into making God our adversary, One
who must be convinced to send revival, and impressed by numbers of
people all praying the same thing.
Does the Bible prophesy Christians will dominate the 7 mountains?
Jesus
said in Matthew 24:37 the earth will be as in the days of Noah at His
return. You may recall Noah wasn't dominating the earth at that point,
but was dominated by the ungodly around him. In fact only his
family survived the flood.
Israel is the point, not the USA
It is clear throughout the whole Bible that Israel is the point, not any other nation including the USA. Jesus said in Luke 21:24
when prophesying of the 70 AD destruction of the temple, that
"Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles until the time of the
Gentiles is fulfilled." Israel took control of the city in 1967, marking
the start of the end of the time of the Gentiles. It could be argued
Israel doesn't directly control east Jerusalem and that Jesus' prophecy
has only been partially fulfilled, but either way, it is about literal
Israel.
Paul
said in Romans 11:25-26, "I don't want you to be ignorant nor conceited
so I tell you this mystery, that blindness in part has happened to
Israel until the full number of Gentiles (non Jews) is fulfilled, then
the remnant (of Israel) will be saved." So God is waiting for the
maximum number of Gentiles to be saved as possible, and then the end of
the focus on Gentiles will come, and His attention will shift to Israel.
That isn't spiritual Israel for the sentence wouldn't make sense.
Literal Israel is important.
The
2 who spoke to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration of His upcoming
death* were Moses and Elijah, representing the law and the prophets.
When Jesus was resurrected He spoke to the 2 on the road to Emmaus* out
of Moses (the law) and the prophets. *Luke 9:30-31 and 24:27, 44-45
The
2 witnesses in Revelation 11:4-6 are Moses (law) and Elijah (prophets),
who have 1) the power to hit the earth with plagues and turn water to
blood, and 2) stop the rain from falling. (Which explains why Jude
v9 tells us Michael, the Archangel in charge of Israel* took possession
of the body of Moses after the Lord Himself buried him** rather than let
it decay. *Daniel 12:1 **Deuteronomy 34:5-7
In
Zechariah 12:10-11 and 13:6 it is prophesied when Messiah returns to
the nation of Israel (not a spiritual Israel) they will ask how He got
those wounds in His hands and He will tell them 'in the house of my
friends'. and they will grieve as one mourns the death of an only child
and the death of the firstborn child. There is no way to spiritualize
those verses to make them mean 'the church'.
Personally speaking
I
find it a daily challenge just to walk in the Spirit* in love, joy,
peace, gentleness, long suffering, goodness, meekness, faithfulness,
self-control, and adding to my faith** virtue, knowledge, patience,
godliness, brotherly love, and unconditional love so that I walk in the
Spirit and abound in the faith. *Galatians 5:22-25, **II Peter 1:5-8
I
take my hat off to those who have mastered walking in these things and
have time to get caught up in each new 'move of God'. Looking back at 4
decades of 'moves of God' like the charismatic renewal with accompanying
goofy personal prophecy, shepherding movement, Word of Faith,
prosperity, apostolic, prayer warriors, messianic to the exclusion of
New Testament truths, open heaven and go to heaven at will errors, and
so many more, that I marvel these people have evidently mastered walking
in the Spirit and are now able to move on from walking in the Spirit to
pursue such peripheral teachings. I still have my hands full and it
takes my full attention just walking with the Father and Lord daily,
applause to those who have mastered that and have the luxury of pursuing
other teachings.
What are we called to?
We
are called to be saints, ever-learners (disciples) of Jesus Christ,
pursuing only those things and those people that move us deeper into
Him. We are also called according to HIS purpose (not ours), called into
the fellowship of Jesus Christ, called to the liberty not of the flesh,
but called to the liberty of loving one another in Christ, called to
fight the fight of faith while laying hold of eternal life, called to be
holy, and called out of darkness into the light. (Quoting Romans 1:7, 8:28, I Corinthians 1:9, Galatians 5:13, I Timothy 6:12, II Timothy 1:9, I Peter 2:9)
Don't
we have our hands full just learning to walk with God through our day?
Haven't you noticed all these 'moves of God' and 'fad teachings', rise
up quickly and die down just as quickly? Haven't we noticed that just as
the hyper-grace teaching fades which took the place of the blood moon
craze, and people come back to balance, the Dominion Theology rises to
take its place? The Lord allows some immaturity in His body as we do
with our own immature children, but eventually every good parent brings
the kids back to the path. Concentrate on walking with the Lord, not
putting attention to anything which distracts us from our Prime
Directive.
New 'random thought' next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
New CD/MP3 Series
David;
King in Exile, is the 3rd of a 3 part series looking at the Psalms
David wrote at various events in his life. In this series we see the
anguish of a father whose son turns against him, and the Psalms where he
wrestled with wanting to see justice yet wanting his son saved. We see
the intrigue of David's family life and Bathsheba's grandfather, David's
closest advisor, and we see victorious David reclaiming his kingdom and
purchasing the hill top that would become the Temple Mount, the place
of Solomon's temple. And finally, at the end of his life David's Psalms
are reflective, looking to God as the Creator to whom he will soon go,
and the recounting of God's faithfulness to him down through the years.
For anyone who loves someone who isn't walking with the Lord, to one
reflecting on God's faithfulness, this series will inspire you!
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