Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

“Awake, sleeper,

And arise from the dead,

And Christ will shine on you.”

Ephesians 5:14 NASB

Driving through the neighborhood, orange lights shimmer after dark, outlining houses. Snarling ghosts, the size of giants, stand illumined and poised with hands raised and ready to pounce. Thick spider webs shimmer around bare branches of trees, and several black spiders hang in every direction. Illumined Halloween blow-ups of witches and goblins rock in the wind. Carved pumpkins are on every doorstep.

stock-photo-47819144-halloween-cutie

On Halloween night, children will fill the sidewalks, costumed, masked, and carrying open bags, ringing doorbells, shouting “Trick of Treat!” The tiny ones, precious in their princess or bunny costumes, will be led by their parents who prompt them in what to say. The older kids will be dressed in scarier costumes, some too tall or too old to be trick-or-treating. (Have you noticed how truly evil some of those costumes look?) Even some adults will be dressed up too, perhaps as witches with broomsticks, seated at their doorsteps as they hand out candy. It’s all in good fun.

Or is it?

At home, parents sift through their kids’ bags, making sure all the candy is wrapped. Anything look suspicious? Remember not long ago when razor blades were hidden inside those delicious-looking treats? Sounds like the evil queen in Snow White may be lurking behind some of those decorated doors. But surely not in 2022.

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Our children are our most precious possessions and can never be replaced. Should they be taught to dress up like devils and witches? To believe that fear is fun? I hope we can remember the origins of this festival and what the Bible says about this issue.

As Christians, let’s think twice about participating in this holiday glorifying Satan and his world of evil.

Here is an interesting perspective in the article below, written by a former witch high priest.

Should Christians celebrate Halloween?

by William J. Schnoebelen

“An old proverb says, “When you sup with the devil, use a long spoon.” Presumably, NO genuine Christian would want to sup with the devil at all and yet many may be doing so in ignorance.

As a former witch high priest now saved by Jesus, I was astonished by how many Christians let their kids celebrate Halloween. Some churches even sponsor “haunted houses” and similar events on what is the Number One satanic “helliday” of the year. Halloween used to be called Samhain, and is still celebrated as an ancient pagan festival of the dead by witches all over the world. Unfortunately, just giving the date a “holy” name like All Hallows’ Eve or All Saints’ Eve cannot change its grisly character. Halloween is an occasion when the ancient gods (actually demons) are worshiped with human sacrifice. The apostle Paul warns us: “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” (1 Cor. 10:20).

If you are a Christian parent, God has given you a precious responsibility in your children. Remember, their ability to resist spiritual wickedness is much less than yours. If you allow your children to participate in Halloween (Trick or Treating, costume parties, etc.) you are allowing them to play on “the devil’s turf,” and Satan will definitely press his home court advantage. You are opening up doorways into their young lives for evil by bringing them into a kind of “fellowship” with these ancient “gods.”

We are commanded not to become involved with the unfruitful works of darkness (Eph. 5:11). Both from my experience as a witch, and since getting saved, as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I have seen far too many examples of how breaking this command works out in lives. Remember, while we have God’s promise of protection for ourselves and our children, that promise may not hold if we allow our children to celebrate this dark holiday. Case after case has come to us of children in rebellion. In many of these families, the problem can be traced back to the children being exposed to Halloween at a young age. It is hard enough to raise children these days in a Godly way without exposing them to Satan’s realm.”

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but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father; and subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.

Ephesians 5:18b-21 NASB

Dear Father in heaven, may we wisely guide our innocent children away from Satan’s evil influence. Thank you for defeating the devil at the cross. We come against the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

Should Christians Celebrate Halloween? by Karen Jurgens copyright 2015 and 2022, All rights reserved.

How to Get Rid of Stains

This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father … to keep oneself unstained by the world .”

James 1:27 NASB

Do you like organic beets? Those deep-red purplish ones. Occasionally, I used to bring some home to cook, but I had to bribe my daughters to eat them. As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention.

Why the need for culinary creativity? When the girls were small, vegetables weren’t on their menu, unless French fries counted. Cait, the younger one, had taste buds that could laser-out any veggie, no matter how cleverly I tried to disguise it.

One evening my mother joined us for dinner, and I served a new creation: beets in a lovely orange sauce. After one bite, Cait screwed up her mouth as though she had just tasted poison and refused to eat it. Meg wasn’t sure about the new combination, but my mother adored it. Having already cautioned them not to splash beets on their clothes, I turned to admire Mother’s appreciation for all my careful work. To my dismay, a big red spot glared at me from her white, dry clean-only blouse.

No, that red circle would not come out completely, even after the cleaners had tried every available remedy. The shirt was ruined.

Have you ever had a stain that refused to wash out? In the Word, sin is also described as a stain. Try as we might, this kind can’t be washed out with worldly products. We might think that attending church, doing good deeds, and volunteering, for example, can remove those stains, but instead, they set more deeply. We don blinders and refuse to look, convincing ourselves that we are clean and white. Although invisible on the outside, how do our hearts appear in God’s eyes? He alone can see into the depths of our souls, and try as we might, we can’t hide from His scrutiny.

Have you ever accidentally fallen or cut yourself? Whenever I’m injured, I can never look. I grasp the wound and squeeze while I grimace and look away. The sight of blood nauseates me and makes my ears buzz. But when I finally get enough courage to peek and am convinced that I won’t die, then I can deal with cleaning and bandaging it. (No, I could never have become a nurse. Obviously.)

But, can we take off our blinders and examine our souls? We can cover up our sins with all kinds of excuses and home-remedies, but we have to open our wounds to God’s scrutiny. He is the One who cleans, sterilizes, and bandages so it can heal. He cleans out all the sin from our hearts and makes us whole, erasing the stain so completely that it is as though we had never sinned.

King David cried out to God when confronted by Nathan the prophet regarding his sin with Bathsheba:

Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And cleanse me from my sin.
Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.

Psalm 51:1-2, 7, 9, NASB

We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but the Good News is that our sins can be washed away in the blood of the Lamb. May our salvation give us joy and be a testimony to bring others to the cross of Christ.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,

And sinners will be converted to You.

Psalm 51:10-13, NASB

Dear Father, cleanse our hearts and make them new by the power of Your blood. Erase the stain of sin, and make us whiter than snow. Use us to witness to the lost and bring them into Your kingdom. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

How to Get Rid of Stains by Karen Jurgens copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved.

Feast of Tabernacles

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites: “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days.”‘” 

Leviticus 23:33-34 NIV

Welcome to the celebration of Sukkot, the Hebrew name for the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. As the last of the fall feasts, this time climaxes into a joyous celebration of giving thanks to God for His provision. This feast lasts for seven days, beginning on sunset on October 9th, 2022, and concluding on October 16th. It’s one of three times a year when God commanded Israel to go to Jerusalem to worship Him and present an offering of thanksgiving.

Building a Sukkah

On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.

Leviticus 23:40 NIV

A sukkah is a tabernacle or booth made out of a natural substance and decorated with tree branches, flowers, leaves, fruits, and vegetables. People live in it as a temporary structure for seven days as a reminder of the their forefathers’ 40-year journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land. It celebrates their complete dependence on God and His provision. God provided manna in the mornings, water out of a rock, and clothes and shoes that never wore out.

Waving of the Lulav

This Jewish tradition symbolizes God’s beauty and bounty. It’s made up of a palm branch, a myrtle bough, a willow branch, and citron fruit. These are waved before the Lord in all directions to declare that He is omnipresent and that all good gifts come from Him.

Set Apart from the Rest

When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, ‘He is good;
    his love endures forever.

2 Chronicles 7:3 NIV

The first Temple celebrated its dedication during the Feast of Tabernacles (Read more HERE). The glory of the Lord fell with such power that the priests weren’t able to stand. As they bowed and worshipped then, so we are reminded that the glory of the Lord is still with us today in the same way.

The Testing of Trials

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

Deuteronomy 8:2 NIV

Just as these trials in the wilderness tested the Israelites, they also prepared them to receive the blessings God had prepared for them. The same is true for us today. We must walk through the valleys of trials before we can rejoice with the Lord on the mountaintops.

Feast of Tabernacles and Christianity

Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. 

Zechariah 14:16 NIV

Zechariah tells of a time during the Millennium when all people celebrate Sukkot with Jesus in Jerusalem. This festival will be an everlasting reminder of how the Lord tabernacled with His people in the wilderness with a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. It relates to us today through Yeshua’s promise: ‘And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’ (Matthew 28:20 NIV).

The Ultimate Fulfillment

‘For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.

Isaiah 65:17 NKJV

The ultimate fulfillment of this feast will be after the thousand year reign of Christ. God will create a new heaven and a new earth where God will tabernacle with us, His people, for eternity.

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Revelation 21:3-4 NKJV

Dear Lord, we rejoice in Your divine provision for us in the past, present, and future. We bow before You and worship You, for You alone are worthy. May we rejoice in this season of thanksgiving along with all of Israel as they celebrate Sukkot. We pray for the salvation of Your people. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

The Feast of Tabernacles by Karen Jurgens Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved

Celebrating the Day of Atonement

“‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’”

Leviticus 17:11 NKJV

Welcome to the second Fall Feast, also known as Yom Kippur, which is celebrated on October 4th beginning at sunset through October 5th. It falls at the end of the 10 days of Awe–a time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Yom means “day,” and Kippur means “covering,” so this feast means “the day of covering.” As the holiest day of the year in Judaism, people celebrate with fasting, prayer, and repentance.

Atonement in the Old Testament

‘Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’

Leviticus 23:27 NKJV

God can be in covenant with humanity only through a blood atonement. Each and every year, an atonement had to be made for the sins of the people, which required animal blood. On this most holy day, the high priest would take the blood of both a bull and a goat and enter through the veil into the Holy of Holies. Then he would pour out the blood on top of the Ark of the Covenant in which the Ten Commandments laid. When God saw the sacrifice, He would forgive the people’s sins for one year.

Fulfillment of Atonement in the New Testament

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,

Matthew 27:51 NKJV

The animal sacrifice was simply a harbinger of the permanent sacrifice to come through Yeshua’s crucifixion. As Jesus shed His sinless blood on the cross, the veil in the Temple was ripped in two. No longer will mankind be separated from God. The blood of the Lamb of God paid the price for the sins of every person on earth. Now we can have fellowship with God and know Him personally through the blood of Jesus Christ.

He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. 

Hebrews 9:26b-28a NKJV

The Meaning of Yom Kippur for Christians

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

Ephesians 1:7 NKJV

For Christians, Yom Kippur means a time to give special thanks and praise to our Lord Jesus Christ. We remember His sacrifice on the cross, His suffering in our place, and His forgiveness of our sins. We rejoice in His precious blood covering that delivers us from sin, hell, and the grave.

A Joyous Prophecy for Israel

‘And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.’

Zechariah 12:10 NKJV

This prophetic aspect of Yom Kippur has yet to be fulfilled. What a glorious day it will be when the Jewish people will understand and know that Jesus was always their awaited Messiah. The veil covering their eyes of understanding will be lifted, and they will have a glorious and emotional reunion with the Lord.

The Book of Revelation also describes this future event prophesied by Zechariah:

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

Revelation 1:7 NKJV

Paul also predicts this future event:

And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

Romans 11:26 NKJV

On that future day–not too far away–God will cover His Jewish people and bring His kingdom to earth where all believers will dwell forever with our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus.

Dear Lord, we rejoice in Your sacrifice of sinless blood so we can be saved. Thank you for fulfilling Yom Kippur and being our permanent atonement for forgiveness of sins. We anxiously look for Your return and for the salvation of Israel. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

Celebrating the Day of Atonement by Karen Jurgens Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved.

Referenced from Discovering the Jewish Jesus by Rabbi Schneider, September 2022 Special Edition