Halloween from a Biblical Perspective

Introduction

Given that Halloween is just around the corner, I would be derelict in my duty if I did not cover this topic with you. The reason is that I don’t believe this holiday to be just a innocent time of dress up & candy - I believe it to be a Spiritual interaction that goes a long way to introducing children to ungodly things.

And I know what some might say to that statement right there: “Well, it may be wicked & spiritual to OTHER people, but to me and my family we just dress up & go trick or treating...”

This is like saying ‘Sodomy may be wrong in your eyes, but not in mine’. You see, we don’t get to pick & choose our ‘own truth’, there’s just truth.

Yesterday at the Creation Museum, they had a talk on Halloween and whether a Christians should participate in it. And a lot of what they gave was really good information.

He started out speaking about who loves Halloween:

Children & Stores (10+billion spent on it; 1/4 of all candy purchased for it)

Then those who don’t

Insurance companies

Crime spikes during Halloween (go figure)

And while it was long on information, it was short on conclusions, and shaky on taking a stand.

This is understandable This is a very popular holiday & you end up turning away patrons when you make them mad.

But I don’t have that worry. So today we’re going to speak about this topic of Halloween. And where they fell short in drawing conclusions, I will not.

Church - let me give you a word of caution: Just because you live in a ‘Pleasant County’, don’t think that witchcraft & the occult is out of reach here.

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Introduction - 10/29/23

Today we’re going to do something a little different in that I plan to teach a Biblical Perspective on Halloween.

Before I begin, I want to take a moment and set some things in order:

Whenever I speak on a topic such as this somethings happen. The first of which is:

A Reaction is Provoked

For many that celebrate this holiday the moment it’s brought up there is an immediate reaction. They will oftentimes become defensive and shut down without ever giving consideration to a different viewpoint.

This is often brought about by:

Tradition

Memories

Personal Feelings

Now if you’re a Christian, I caution you against this mindset - and guard against it. The reason I do, is because IF you’re a Christian, what God says about a matter should trump our feelings or any tradition that we may hold.

Tradition was a big problem for the Pharisees, to which Jesus rebuked them saying: Mark 7:13 “Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.”

So before we begin, I ask you that for the next little bit, set your feelings & love of tradition aside and simply consider the message.

A Recognition is Necessary

There are a few things that we must recognize to be true. To the which, I believe that any & all true Christians can agree.

Spiritual Warfare is Real

Read Eph. 6:10-18

According to Paul there’s a few things for us to understand:

We’re in a Spiritual Battle (v12)

We must be well prepared for it (v14-18)

The Occult is not New nor Harmless

Occult (def) supernatural, mystical, or magical beliefs, practices, or phenomena

What I mean by that is that the occult is a perverted view and glorification of the Spiritual realm & demonic activity.

Church - demons are real. If you don’t believe that, then you don’t believe the Bible. We see demons & demonic activity all throughout Scripture:

Read about how the evil spirits tormented Saul in 1Samuel 16; 18; 19 & how he consulted a witch from Endor in 1Sam. 28

Many times Jesus encountered people with unclean or demonic spirits:

Read of the Demoniac in the country of the Gadarenes in Mark 5.

And even after Jesus, we see them in Act. 5:16; 8:7; etc...

If you are walking the 2nd Mile with me, they you see even in today’s Scripture, the occult practices of 4,000 years ago: Moses & Aaron before Pharaoh: Exodus 7:10–12 “And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.”

In this we see that it’s not new - but we also see that it’s not harmless. It DIVERTS and MIMICS the things of God to where it excuses the truth and men then believe a lie!

We must recognize these truths. Now if you do, then we can take the subject matter today seriously instead of passing it off as foolishness.

A Reasoning is Required

Isaiah 1:18a begins as “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:...”

What I’m asking of you is this:

Recognize & set aside any bias’ or preconceived notions on the subject

Realize that Spiritual Warfare & the Occult is real, and

Reason what you should do as a Christian

As we consider Halloween:

There are some who love it

Children & Stores (10+billion spent on it; 1/4 of all candy purchased for it)

Then those who don’t

Insurance companies

Crime spikes during Halloween (go figure)

On average, CPI Security’s Central Station sees a 21% increase in break-ins during the month of October.

Traveler’s Insurance reported a 68% increase in vandalism claims on Halloween compared to the other 364 days of the year.

Whether you love it or hate it, I intend today to examine this holiday in light of Scripture to determine if a Christian should participate in it.

The first thing that we need to look at is The History

I. The History

The Roots of Halloween

The roots of Halloween are actually two-fold.

Those which are Pagan

Samhain (Sow-ween)

The actual origin of Halloween and many of its customs derive from the Celtic Druids in Britain, Ireland and other parts of Europe.

The Druids were a religious group who according to Greco-Roman accounts held various rituals which included human sacrifice.

They as well believed in reincarnation and held a high position in Gaulish society.

Samhain was one of the four main festivals of the Gaelic calendar and was held on October 31 – November 1, and is named after Samhain, Lord of the Dead.

It was during this time that the Celtic culture believed the "door to the other world was opened" and dead spirits could dwell, communicate and/or haunt the living.

Almost all – if not all – customs that are celebrated today at Halloween such as jack-o'-lanterns, trick-or-treating, wearing costumes, etc. – are derived directly from this pagan Druid festival. (Look up Samhain on Wikipedia to find out more - not a Christians website at all)

These are the pagan roots of what is presently known as ‘Halloween’ - but as Paul Harvey would say ‘Now’s time for the rest of the story..’

Those which “Catholic”

Catholic Holidays of All Hallows Eve; All Saints Day & All Souls Day

I placed the word on your sheets in parenthesis because though they are not Christian, they identify as such. Hopefully you’ll understand shortly what I mean.

November 1st in the Catholic Church is known as "All Saints Day" - It’s the celebration & idolization of Christians and others dead & gone, November 2nd is known as "All Souls Day" - (from Wikipedia) “Through prayer, intercessions, alms and visits to cemeteries, people commemorate the poor souls in purgatory and gain them indulgences.” The evening before November 1st is known as "All Hallows Eve" - which combined with Samhain over the years became Halloween.

In 835, the Pope moved ‘martyrs day’ (later known as All Saints Day) from May 13th to Nov. 1st in order to ‘Christianize’ this pagan holiday… What resulted was essentially the Catholic Church putting their stamp of approval on it, and therefore making it more palatable and acceptable to the unlearned masses (If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em)

Might I say that this is the same tactic that many Christians take today in regards to Rock & Pop music. (AND TRUNK OR TREAT). They are taking something ungodly, then putting a ‘Christian twist’ to it to try to make it acceptable. Guess what - it’s NOT. Not in God’s sight anyways...

Notice the History. Next the Holiday

Those which are American

If you study out the history of Halloween in America, you’d find a few things:

It wasn’t celebrated in this land at all from the 1600’s thru around 1800’s save in a couple heavily Catholic-centric places.

In the later half of the 19th century driven largely by the Irish Potato Famine, there was a great influx of Catholic immigrants come to this country. Then in the 1920’s Halloween began to catch on a has grown in popularity ever since.

Now I have a question for you: What direction Spiritually has America trended over the last 100 years? Do we think this is coincidence?

I think it’s indicative of the Spiritual decline. As America continues waxing worse & worse, the Worldly & Satanic grow more and more prevalent.

We see the History

We see the History, now let’s look at The Holiday

II. The Holiday

Holiday is short for “Holy-day”

This is not simply a time of fun & games for many people - it’s a holy-day.

One site read this way: Celtic legends taught that fairies cast spells and the dead walked among the living during Samhain. On October 31, these ancient Northern Europeans believed they could visit the dead and discover their future from immortal spirits. The Celts were highly superstitious and thought these evil spirits could damage crops, possess the living, and spread incurable sickness. That’s why they dressed up in scary costumes and animal hides while hovering in fear around bonfires.

Another said this: As Halloween approaches, many of you will be grabbing your costumes, and perhaps you’re going for the classic witch look. At present, it’s easy to procure not only a “costume,” but a whole witchy wardrobe. Alternative clothing companies make it easy to wear witchcraft literally on your sleeve with endless designs and occult slogans. Even Sephora tried to sell witchcraft in the form of a horribly-thought-out “starter kit,” which has since been pulled from shelves. The positive mainstream attention on witchcraft and the curiosity surrounding it seems to be unprecedented at the moment. So, we decided to talk to those who practice it for some advice and clarification on what really goes on during the spookiest time of the year.

Describing what one witch does on Halloween: Of the many practitioners we spoke to, several had the following advice to give to those who want to dabble in witchcraft on Halloween: Don’t mess with Ouija boards. When you call on spirits, it might not be grandma who answers, but something dangerous. Whitney Woods identifies as a white witch. Her practice involves positive and well-intended magic through candle spells, rune and tarot-readings and imbuing crystals with positive intent. “A lot of the magic that interests people around Halloween is darker thanks to the horror genre, and, in general, not the kind a person ought to be playing with,” she says. “I personally won’t even touch a Hasbro Toys Ouija board, since I believe intention is a large portion of what it takes to do something like communicate with a spirit, and not all spirits are good.

This is a Holy-day for some - and many ignorant Christians celebrate it right along with them.

We see the History, The Holiday, next let’s Compare it with Holiness

III. A Comparison with Holiness

How does the Word of God line up with the principles of Halloween?

God Speaks Directly Against it

Consider De. 18:9-14 “When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.”

God is speaking of the very thing that Halloween is: He also mentions that he drives them out because of it. In other words, He did not want His people and those people intermingling with one another. Do you think that He’s changed His mind?

The Separation Principle

The Bible instructs us Christians to be different. We are supposed to be a ‘new creature’. We’re supposed to be separate from the Heathen, Heathen things & ways & Christians who act like Heathens.

2Cor. 6:14-18 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

1Jo. 2:15-17 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

Eph. 5:9-11 “(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”

We Christians are to be different. This would certainly speak against the mimicking of it with practices such as ‘Trunk or Treat’.

Satan’s Subtlety to Consider

Gen. 3:1 “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

Satan wants you to think that it’s ‘no big deal’. He wants you to excuse this little folly in your life. He wants you to think of it as harmless fun… because the more things & ways he can gain a toehold into our lives, he will take it.

But rest assured, Satan will not stop a the toehold. He will do what he can to climb right into your life!

(Ill.) Church let me ask you this: Is the Devil real? Is he someone to be celebrated? Then why do we tolerate celebrating him in this community? Do you know why? Because people say ‘Oh, it’s just a mascot, no big deal’ all the while wearing clothes with his name blazed across our chests. He has subtly gotten people all over the USA chanting his name.

(Ill.) Let me ask you this: Would you give the same honor to Hitler? Why not? Oh, he’s real & Satan’s not? He did worse than Satan DOES?

We must consider Satan’s Subtly

Are we Superseding God’s Command?

Ex. 20:3 “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

The first commandment.

You will say ‘How is celebrating Halloween placing a god before God?’ Glad you asked. A few different ways in fact:

1 - You’re taking part in a celebration of a Holy-day. You can consider it Samhain (the Pagan version) or ‘All Souls Day’ (The Catholic Version) Either way, you’re participating in a pagan holiday

2 - If you are adamant that you’re not and that doesn’t apply to you, then consider this: You’re still placing something before God - your own desires. You are a god unto yourself. Because you KNOW what the Bible says about it, but yet you’re going to overrule God with your own human reasoning as to why Halloween is ok.

Paul said: 1Cor 10:20-22 “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?”

So we Compare the Holy book to the holy-day

We see the History, The Holiday, we’ve Compared it with Holiness, next I simply ask you to Judge Honestly

IV. Judge Honestly

Why Should You Celebrate Halloween?

Several arguments for it:

“It’s all in good fun”

it was for me - at first.. then it developed into other things as I grew older. (Egging, Ouija board, 2 finger lift, etc..)

The reason was it was a natural progression. I was in essence desensitized to it, therefore my ‘warning’ light was not as effective as it should have been.

“There’s really no harm in it”

Yep, I bet that’s what Eve thought in the garden as well..

“I don’t want to deprive my child”

Let me let you in on a secret. There are some things that I experienced as a child that I would have been better off if I never experienced it. We ought to be depriving our children of some things.

If you don’t want your children involved in the occult, why would you introduce them to it. Why would you let them dabble in it?

If you don’t want your children having premarital sex, you don’t show them pornography.

If you don’t want your children strung out on meth, you don’t give them a taste of marijuana.

God has placed us parents in charge of protecting our children! If we don’t, who will?

Judge honestly. What are the great benefits of celebrating this holiday?

Why Shouldn’t You Celebrate It?

God Speaks against it in His Word

God calls us to be Separate

The best way to avoid great sin is to abstain, not dabble in small sins

We must Judge Righteously - and Honestly. Not what we desire it to be

We see the History, The Holiday, we’ve Compared it with Holiness, Know that we should Judge Honestly. Lastly, we should Consider Our Heritage

V. Consider Our Heritage

We are Forming the Next Generation

Whether it’s our own children or others. Our actions have impact. It’s high time that we Christians walk the walk of Christ. If the next generation strays, let it be that they do it in spite of us, not because of us.

Conclusion

I think the conclusion is clear. We should abstain from this holiday. We shouldn’t take part nor mimic it. 1Th. 5:21-22 “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.”