 What Do You Really Know About HALLOWEEN? by Joe Mucciolo, Sr.
He caused his children to pass through the
fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used
enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with
wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to
anger. 2 Chronicles 33:6 To get a basic understanding of
Halloween, we"ll need to look at several time periods in history, including the
commonly known aspects of Druidic and Celtic rituals. But what many people may not realize is
that these pagan worship practices date back much further than the Druids and
Celts. The origins of these
practices can be traced back to the worship practices of the Syrians and
Phoenicians in their ceremonies to honor the false god known as "Baal" (also
known as Molech or Bel). From these
false religions the practice of human sacrifice and even cannibalism were
born. These practices were handed
down to new generations of Baal worshipers including the Druids, whose May
1st feast, "Beltane" is
entitled after Baal (or "Bel").
The Druids themselves were pagan
priests that practiced ritualistic religion of sorcery and demonism that
culminated in their main celebration, Samhain, named for their god of the dead,
which eventually became known as the Grim Reaper, synonymous with Satan. This feast of the winter solstice, known
as the day of death, usually took place on November 1st, and involved
attempts at "divining" the harvest by watching the way their sacrifices writhed
in the throws of death.
Eventually the Roman Catholic
Church attempted to "Christianize" this feast by mixing Druidic paganism with
worship of "Saints" (special martyrs chosen by the Roman Catholic
hierarchy). This mix was dubbed
"All Saints Day" or "All Hallow"s Day" (for veneration of the "Holy Ones"), All
Hallow"s Eve, and eventually Hallowe"en, because All Hallow"s Eve is a
"hallowed" evening. Many Druids were ordained into the Catholic priesthood at
this time.
One thing remains consistent
following the history of Halloween to this day: it is a time to celebrate and glorify
death, and pagans, witches and other occultists the world over have always
gravitated to it.
In modern times people have
shrugged off the evils of Halloween and taken the occultism lightly, dressing
their children up as murderers, witches, demons and sorcerers, with the costumes
getting more and more graphic and even promiscuous all the time. But shrugging at evil has never made it
OK, especially where our children are concerned.
The Bible has much to say about the
occult, sorcery, witchcraft, Satanism, and false religion.
In the Old Testament, it was a
capitol crime to practice witchcraft in Israel. Exodus 22:18 says, "Thou shalt not
suffer a witch to live" , and Micah
5:12 "I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no
more soothsayers". Also Leviticus 20:27 "A man also or woman
that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death:
they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them" and 2 Kings 23:24 "Moreover the workers
with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all
the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did
Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written
in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD".
Witchcraft from outside the
nation of Israel was also condemned (Leviticus 19:31 Regard not them that
have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am
the LORD your God).
Other references to the evils of
witchcraft, sorcery and occultism can be found throughout the Old Testament:
Deuteronomy 18:10-11, Joshua 13:22,
1 Samuel 15:23, 1 Samuel 28:3, 1 Samuel 28:6-7, 1 Chronicle 10:13, 2 Chronicles
33:6, Isaiah 2:6, and Isaiah 8:19, to name a few.
But the admonition to flee from
the evils glorified on Halloween are not only to be found in the Old
Testament. The New Testament is
replete with warnings that underscore the seriousness of these offenses.
Galatians 5:19-21 lists the rotten
fruits of the flesh, as opposed to the Fruits of the Spirit, and names
witchcraft among them: "Now the works of
the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and
such like". The gravity of the
situation hits home with the last statement from this passage: "of the which I tell you before, as I have
also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God".
In 1 Corinthians 10:20 and 21, we are told "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".
In Revelation 21:7 and 8 we read, "He that overcometh shall
inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the
fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers,
and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.".
And the final verse I have to add
to all these is the verse that just seems to climch it for me: Ephesians 5:11 "And have no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them".
Halloween glorifies the
unfruitful works of darkness, and participating in a celebration of occultism
and death would seem to indicate fellowship. Where do you stand on Halloween? There could be eternal consequences!
|
