Halloween. Is it OK for believers to participate?

Halloween is normally seen as a harmless night of letting kids of all ages dress up as ghouls, monsters, demons and even as terrorists or victims of chain saw massacres. Of course some children and adults dress up as kings or queens or the key players in “Frozen” – or whatever – but mostly we see the most ungodly and horrendous costumes possible. And in the last two weeks leading up to Halloween, what movies are showing? Only the most gruesome, sadistic, gory, bloody, demonic and hair-raising scary movies ever made.

Should you and I - believers in Yeshua (Jesus) -- watch that kind of ungodly trash? Should you and I participate or get involved with Halloween in any way? I know many of you who come to this site already have nothing to do with Halloween. My blog is aimed at believers who still do dress up for Halloween and think it’s just a load of harmless fun.

Frankly, my most despised evening of the year, every year, is Halloween night. God’s spirit in me can feel the increased activity on this evening of the spirit of this world and of the fallen cherub who leads this age. He is now known as Satan (Adversary).

2 Corinthians 6:14-18

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them and walk among them.

I will be their God, and they shall be My people."

17 Therefore, "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.

Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you."

18 'I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters’, says the Lord Almighty."

Halloween is Oct 31. Much of the rest of the world may be more familiar with the next day’s events – November 1^st --known as All Souls Day or All Saints Day. So the night before “all saints” day -- is All Hallow’s evening – eventually shortened to Halloween. Pope Gregory III made November 1 a day to honor all saints and martyrs. But then why would the Pope incorporate and include so many of the pagan details from the Celtic “Samhain” day?

Instead of condemning and throwing out the pagan celebration, the Roman church adopted much of it. They decided to legitimize it by putting a new label on things – just as they did for Christmas and Easter.

I have a full-length 41 minute sermon on this website from October 15, 2007 – “Halloween and God’s Children” that explains all this in detail. It might be a good review for anyone wanting more. Just find the Search bar feature on the top left side of the home page – type in “Halloween” – and that sermon will pop up.

Either way, it’s not a biblical day to be kept and in fact, our heavenly Father tells us to have nothing to do with the pagan customs of the world around us. Read that for yourself in Deuteronomy 12:29-32. We are to come OUT of this world’s ways (Revelation 18:4) and have nothing to do with celebrations rooted in paganism and demonism.

I just read an article asking if Christians can participate in Halloween. Their answer: “Yes and no.” In other words, the author said, if our children don’t dress up as monsters or demons or the like, and if we just make it a harmless and fun costume party where we hand out candy – what’s wrong with that, he reasons. HE says Christians should have confidence that it is OK if we do a little Halloween without demons and goblins.

Well, Yeshua taught as one having authority. He didn’t give weasel answers. When it comes to Halloween, neither will I mince words about believers getting involved: No! Clearly, no. Don’t participate. Don’t get involved in it. Don’t get near it. Don’t watch the ungodly movies. Don’t buy the monster outfits. Don’t go trick-or-treating.

Can you see Christ watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Can you envision Messiah dressed up with a hatchet through his bleeding skull? Or can you really in your heart “see” him condoning Halloween by dressing more harmlessly while he dishes out treats to the revelers coming to his door? NO WAY! We are to follow HIM and HIS example. He obviously would have nothing to do with Halloween.

If you explain things to your children calmly but firmly – and show them Deut 12:29-32 and the other scriptures in this blog and in my Oct 2007 sermon, most children will agree to have nothing to do with it. Explain to them how we want to be pleasing to our Creator and to obey what He says. Explain how we don't dabble - - not even a little bit – into demonism and witchcraft or anything that smacks of those evils.

Don’t be a part of it in any way. We can’t choose a little Halloween – just a little – and think this is pleasing to Yah. It isn’t. Satan’s attitudes and spirit fills the air on this night.

1 Corinthians 10:21

“You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons.”

Many church groups and websites have dedicated much time and research to prove the pagan and dark origins of this Satan-inspired holiday. I suggest you poke around on search engines on the internet and read up on this subject for yourself, as well as checking out my sermon in October 2007.

You can even read up from a secular source – the History Channel -- to learn more about the history of Halloween. Check this out:

http://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween

So what do WE do on Halloween night?

At our home, we either leave home entirely – or most of the time we just stay home, lock the doors, turn out the lights and don’t answer the door. We do not buy any treats and we certainly never give out treats. We do not participate in Halloween’s evil decorations of witches and goblins and everything scary and evil. We do not. Believers in the Messiah should not participate in Halloween. Surely we don’t need a long hour long explanation of the roots and history of this evil day. Surely it’s obvious on its face that this is the very polar opposite to what God would have his children be involved in.

God and his Way are associated with LIGHT. WE are children of light. Christ came as the Light of the world. The first thing we see that Yahweh brought to a dark planet was light. Remember Genesis 1:1-4? How darkness was over the planet – but then God commanded, “Let there be LIGHT” – and there was light. Nobody associates Halloween with light and righteousness.   Do you remember what the first verses in Scripture tell us? “…and God divided the light from the darkness” (verse 4).  

God has always made a separation between light and darkness, between his children and the children of the Adversary. In fact we are called “Children of light”. We are to “COME OUT of her, my people” – Revelation 18:4. That language there is very suggestive of coming out of spiritual adultery with the ways of the world.

We CANNOT serve God and demons. We want to walk in the light of God’s word and follow Yeshua’s (Jesus) perfect example. We will not give any time or glory to the Devil. We will not participate even for just a little bit of Halloween – which is associated with so much darkness and gory death. Let’s conclude with some scriptures about recognizing we are part of the light – not the darkness that so characterizes Halloween.

Matthew 5:14

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

John 1:3-5

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Colossians 1:12-14

“….giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Romans 13:12

“The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”

Ephesians 5:8-13

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.”

1 Thessalonians 5:5

“You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.”

I hope this year, that you and your family will have nothing to with the darkened celebration of a very dark and evil night – Halloween.

Again, for more details, look up my sermon in October 2007.