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STRANGE SPIRITUAL WARFARE
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June 30, 2000 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) -- The "Spiritual Warfare" movement, which is intertwining itself throughout Charismatic and Evangelical circles is getting stranger all of the time. The movement is led by people such as Cindy Jacobs (Generals of Intercession), Francis Frangipane, Esther Ilnisky (Esther Network International), Larry Lea, Tom White (Frontline Ministries), Gwen Shaw, Dick Eastman, and Fuller Seminary professor C. Peter Wagner. A Spiritual Warfare Network was set up several years ago and is an important part of the United Prayer Track of the A.D. 2000 Movement.
BINDING TERRITORIAL SPIRITS
One of the objects of the current spiritual warfare movement is to identify and bind demonic powers over territories, though the New Testament nowhere instructs believers to attempt such a thing. While the Bible does indicate that there are demonic powers involved with the nations (Daniel 10:12-14) and that there are wars that go on between the fallen angels and the elect angels, this is something the Word of God does not reveal clearly. We have only this brief glimpse, and it is plain that Daniel himself was not exercising spiritual warfare through his prayers. The warfare was going on in the angelic realm quite independent of his prayers. The spiritual warfare proponents twist this and other passages out of context and add all sorts of imaginative teachings about territorial spirits, based not upon the Scriptures but upon supposed prophecies, angelic visitations, even conversations with demons. God has told us in the Scriptures what He wants us know about these things, and we are not to go beyond that which is written. "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deut. 29:29).
The devil can be resisted (James 4:7), but he cannot be bound today (1 Thess. 2:18). Far from being bound, the devil is "walking about seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pet. 5:8). He will not be bound until he is cast into the Bottomless Pit when Jesus Christ returns to earth (Revelation 20). Ephesians 6 describes the whole armor of God against the devil, and absolutely nothing is said about binding the devil or identifying territorial spirits or any of the other practices in today’s spiritual warfare movement. The root error of this movement is that it is not built upon the plain teaching of the Scriptures, but upon alleged prophetic revelations. Every movement since the first century which has believed in continued revelation has gone into deep error. The Charismatic movement is not different. And we must hasten to warn that many Charismatics today do not call themselves that. C. Peter Wagner, for example, does not claim to be a Charismatic. Neither did the late John Wimber, head of the Vineyard movement. In reality, though, these men have done much to popularize unscriptural Charismatic doctrines and practices in Evangelical circles.
An example of the warfare against territorial spirits was seen last October, when Wagner’s ministry, Global Harvest, sponsored a warfare event in Ephesus, Turkey, called "Operation Queen’s Palace." The goal was to break the power of "the Queen of Heaven," which Wagner described as "the strongest ruling demonic spirit" blocking the spread of the gospel. How do they know that there is a demonic power called "the Queen of Heaven"? How do they know that this is the strongest demonic spirit in the world today? They think that they know these things by the power of continuing revelation, but in reality they are deluded by their own doctrinal error and by their unwillingness to be content with the Bible. There was an idol in the Old Testament times named the queen of heaven (Jer. 7:18; 44:17-25), and the Roman Catholic Church also has an idol which it calls the queen of heaven. The Bible nowhere says, though, that there is an actual demonic power called the queen of heaven that has power over a large part of this world. Such an idea is vain and dangerous speculation.
LAUGHTER
In her book Possessing the Gates of the Enemy, Charismatic "prophetess" Cindy Jacobs claims that "the weapon of laughter is extremely powerful and even necessary as an intercessory manifestation. . . . It breaks Satan’s power to depress you and oppress you in the midst of battle. . . . Laughter also can be a form of direct warfare against Satan and his forces because it mocks the enemy" (Cindy Jacobs, "Tearing Down Strong Holds Through Praise," Charisma, August 1993, adapted from Possessing the Gates of the Enemy).
The uncontrollable "holy laughter" associated in recent years with the ministries of John Arnott (pastor of the Toronto Airport Church), Evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne, Kenneth Hagin, and others, is supposed to be a form of spiritual warfare. (See my book The Laughing Revival: From Azusa to Pensacola, available from Way of Life Literature.)
Where in the New Testament do we see the Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostles laughing at the devil or laughing in order to war against the devil? Where do we see them being overcome by a spirit of laughter, falling to the floor and rolling around, laughing uncontrollably even during preaching, etc.? I have witnessed all of these things, though, at Charismatic meetings.
MARCHING
Another practice which has been popularized by the spiritual warfare movement is marching around a building or a city, etc., to claim authority over it. The March for Jesus events, which have spread throughout the world, were originally established in England by Charismatics for the purpose of spiritual warfare against territorial spirits. The March for Jesus book, written in 1992 by Graham Kendrick (influential Contemporary Christian musician) and Roger Forster (plus two others) states: "Our objectives were first and foremost spiritual. We wanted to see a change in the spiritual atmosphere over our country." As their authority they cite Joshua’s march around Jericho, Daniel’s experience, and similar things. The March for Jesus events, therefore, have sought to exercise spiritual warfare by marching, praying, and Christian unity.
Cindy Jacobs says:
"The march that Joshua and his troops made around Jericho was a type of intercession. . . . This type of marching produces deliverance today just as it did for the Israelites. A man named Rick went to a prayer meeting that Joy Towe was holding in Dallas, Texas. Rick was a television producer with a big problem. He had a job lined up and no television equipment, and none he could rent. Joy put Rick in the middle of their circle, and they marched around him after seeking the Lord in prayer. In Rick's words, ‘We pursued aggressively with warfare--we were militant!’ After Rick left the meeting, he ran into someone from a TV production company who was looking for a manager. They had the equipment and the offices he needed. He ended up making money for them as well as meeting his own need" (Ibid.).
The practice of spiritual warfare marching is supposed to be based on Joshua’s march around Jericho, but there is not a hint in the New Testament that Christians are to practice such a thing. The Bible does not tell us that Joshua’s march around Jericho was a form of intercession. Cindy Jacobs goes far beyond the Bible in her teaching. Further, Joshua’s march was commanded by God for that one unique occasion; and like many other things in the Bible, it was never repeated. Those who lead the spiritual warfare movement create great confusion by pulling passages out of context and failing to rightly divide the Word of God. Note that Jacobs tries to prove the truth of her doctrine by the experience of the man who got the television equipment he needed. Doctrine is not proved by experience. The devil can give experiences and feelings to delude people (Matt. 24:24; 2 Cor. 11:13,14; 2 Thess. 2:9-11; Rev. 13:14). The only proof that a doctrine or practice is true is whether or not it is based properly upon the Bible.
THE SETTLER’S STAKE
Another strange thing coming out of the spiritual warfare movement is the "settler’s stake." This began in San Francisco a few years ago and spread to St. Louis, Missouri, last year. Small groups of Charismatics, under cover of darkness, have visited key sites in the city, such as government buildings, financial and educational institutions, to perform the following ceremony: They dig a hole, bury a Bible, then drive a foot-long stake into the ground (with "Jesus is Lord" written on the top and Bible verses inscribed on the sides) over the spot, anoint the area with oil, and then take communion and pray. Bill Malone, director of Pray USA, claims this is "a prophetic act" by which the participants are "making a statement to God and to Satan that this land belongs to Jesus Christ and we are taking it back and kicking the squatters out" (Charisma News Service, Dec. 7, 1999). This practice is complete nonsense, of course, with absolutely no authority in the Scriptures. It is more akin to pagan practices than to New Testament Christianity.
My friends, we need to put on the whole armor of God, submit ourselves unto God and resist the Devil today; but we also need to beware of the current spiritual warfare movement. It is the blind leading the blind, and it’s ecumenical zeal is helping build the one-world apostate end-times "church."