Every year, when October rolls around, and long before, the signs of the approaching day of Halloween become obvious everywhere. Stores begin to carry Halloween candy, Halloween costumes, Halloween party favors, Halloween greeting cards, Halloween decorations, scary soundtracks and lighting effects, ghoulish make-up, pumpkins, bundled corn stalks and other paraphernalia.
One sees advertisements for “haunted houses,” “haunted hayrides,” and other “haunted attractions published in newspapers,” posted in store windows, and plastered on signposts at major intersections. Businesses and homeowners begin to decorate for the holiday with skeletons, ghosts and witches, black cats, bats, fake spider webs, grave-markers, and jack o' lanterns.
On October 31st, millions of children and adults don costumes ranging from the frightening to the fanciful. Some take to the streets, and more recently, go to a mall or some other “safe” place to go “Trick or treating.” Others go to parties celebrating the occasion. In some areas of the country, October 30th is included in the festival as “Mischief Night.”
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, who quotes Ad Age, this Halloween will account for $350 million in advertising for products as diverse as McDonald’s, Coors, FTD, Oreos, greeting cards, make-up, costumes, masks and decorations. It's one of the three or four biggest snack food days of the year with product manufacturers packaging special versions of their products [like orange filled Oreos] specifically for Halloween.
Halloween is the third biggest party day of the year, preceded only by Super Bowl Sunday, and New Year’s Day. Approximately 21 million dollars worth of candy will be purchased this year for Halloween. It's the single biggest day for costume sales, the 2nd biggest for party paper goods and plastic accessories and for home decorating.
The magazine, Selling Halloween, boasts marketing has, “taken a season that really didn’t have a lot of product, and creating lines of product that will get the consumer into the store.” Halloween has become big business and will continue to be promoted without any moral considerations for as long as consumers will buy.
Ultimately, Halloween remains popular because of only one reason. It is the date when Satan receives glory from a vast horde of mankind, knowingly or unknowingly.
America loves a holiday. Today, they celebrate holidays with more enthusiasm than ever before. Probably, no holiday has gained as much in popularity in the last 20 years as Halloween has. Once, a children's night out in costume, Halloween has become a million dollar industry, and a day of numerous opportunities for entertainment. The news media sensationalizes and elevates Halloween to the maximum.
Take note, as true believers, we do not, we repeat, do not condone Halloween. It began, and REMAINS, a pagan holiday! All Hallows Eve [Halloween] is the time for sorcery and communing with the dead, to be practiced; a time for evil, ghosts, ghouls and witches to be praised and venerated. The “religious” crowd thought it good and followed suite making their own “Day of the Dead” to venerate and commune with their own dead. Thus, All Saints Day was born. The ancient Catholic holiday of All Saints Day is, November 1st, the day following Halloween. It is the appointed day for the long-dead “saints” of the Catholic church to be praised, venerated and prayed to.
The tradition continues to this day. TV networks run horror flicks. Business offices have Halloween parties where workers dress in costume. Spook houses and haunted trails dot the roadside where folks pay to be frightened by costumed creatures.
With all the “so called frightening fun” of the day, a major thought has been lost. Is this just mere harmless fun, or are there serious consequences? What can we possibly say to address this celebration? Does the Bible have an answer? What is God's message, to this world in the midst of this yearly celebration of evil and death? Read on, here is a bit of wisdom:
| Deuteronomy 18: |
10: 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, 11: Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12: 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. 13: Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. |
Most of us, at one time or another, has participated in what seemed as harmless fun. But now, we know that is not the case. It is time to set things right with God.
| Acts 17: | 32: And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: |
Repentance is a forgotten doctrine in pulpits today. Even in Bible-believing churches, the concept of real true repentance is not explained fully and taught completely.
We propose, we examine the doctrine of repentance in it's entirety. What is it? What does it mean to us? How do we repent? Must we repent to be saved? This is where wisdom comes in and exposes Satan and his evil metropolis. Let us now begin our journey on wisdom.
Biblical objectives are seldom discussed nor are they most people's aim. If they are mentioned, they are usually sneered at or ignored as irrelevant, for our day and age. Yet, biblical objectives are by far the most important and most valuable of all.
This Sabbath, we will consider the biblical objective of wisdom and how it relates to the pagan festival of Halloween. Afterwards, you can make up your own mind. The choices are; ask for and obtain wisdom from God or go along with the devil, and paint the town orange on the pagan festival of Halloween. The choice really is yours to make!
King Solomon, one of the wisest, richest and most famous men who ever lived, said these words:
| Proverbs 4: |
7: Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom ...
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| Proverbs 8: |
11: For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be
desired are not to be compared to it.
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| Proverbs 16: |
16: How much better is it to get wisdom than gold!
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Proverbs 19: | 8: He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: |
| Job 28: |
28: And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom;
and to depart from evil is understanding.
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| Psalm 111: |
10: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good
understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth
for ever.
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Proverbs 9: | 10: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. |
To ‘fear the LORD’ means to:
Joseph
| Genesis 41: | 39: And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art. |
Bezaleel / Aholiab
| Exodos 35: |
30: And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called
by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of
Judah; 31: And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; 32: And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, 33: And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work. 34: And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35: Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work. |
Women
| Exodus 35: |
25: And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their
hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple,
and of scarlet, and of fine linen. 26: And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats' hair. |
Solomon
| 2 Chronicles 1: | 11: And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king: |
Yeshua [Jesus Christ] at 12 Years
| Luke 2: |
40: And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with
wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. 52: And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. |
| Deuteronomy 4: |
6: Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your
understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all
these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise
and understanding people.
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| Ezra 7: | 25: And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not. |
| Proverbs 11: |
2: When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is
wisdom.
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| Jeremiah 9: |
23: Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither
let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his
riches: 24: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. |
When he was first created, Lucifer was a being of great beauty and wisdom. But, Lucifer became proud and fell. His fall corrupted his wisdom and he became Satan the Devil.
| Ezekiel 28: | 17: Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. |
| Jeremiah 17: | 9: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? |
In order to reach and save the wicked human mind, the Almighty made available the Gospel of Salvation, which is to be preached in all the world. To most people, the Gospel of Salvation comes across as a farce; as a discourse of pure foolishness. But to some, to those who are called and believe, it is the “power of God unto salvation”! From the following texts, you can easily assess yourself and see in which camp you lie; with the foolish or with the wise.
| 1 Corinthians 1: |
18: For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but
unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 23: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24: But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
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| Romans 1: | 16: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. |
| 1 Chronicles 22: |
11: Now, my son, [king David speaking to his son Solomon] the LORD be with
thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he
hath said of thee. 12: Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God.
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| Proverbs 2: |
6: For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and
understanding.
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| Daniel 2: | 23: I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter. |
| Luke 11: |
11: If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give
him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a
serpent? 12: Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13: If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
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| James 1: | 5: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. |
| Proverbs 3: |
13: Happy is the man that findeth wisdom ...
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| Psalm 90: | 12: So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. |
Observing the pagan festival of Halloween does not enhance our relationship with God. It will entangle us into sorcery and witchcraft. Bear that fact in mind. Even if there was no basis for saying Halloween is pagan, the principles of Philippians 4 preclude our participation of such. Paul wrote:
| Philippians 4: |
8: Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things
are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things
are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things
are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any
praise, think on these things. 9: Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. |
Make wisdom a prime objective in life.
This means, having a holy, respect and reverence for the Almighty, His Son, His Word and His law.
Think of Bezaleel / Aholiab / The Wise Women of Israel / Daniel / Ezra and Jesus.
Yahweh's laws are the spiritual specifications for wisdom. Obey them! When corrupted, wisdom turns to foolishness. It even denies the existence of God. ‘The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.’
He is the source of wisdom, the fountainhead. To obtain wisdom, one must ask Him for it. You cannot buy wisdom. It is priceless. That is why Jehovah gives it on request - ‘free of charge!’
Wisdom brings life, happiness and blessing. It is by far one of Yahweh's greatest gifts. Make sure you avail yourself of this priceless possession. Remember, wisdom is available free of charge! All you have to do to receive it, is ‘Ask.’
That leads to celebrating the pagan festivals of Halloween, Christmas, etc. It’s either one or the other.
The prophet Elijah said:
| 1 Kings 18: | 21: And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him: But if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. |
It calls people to obey the commandments of Yahweh the Almighty God of Israel: Those commandments concern the celebration of pagan festivals like Halloween.
What is noble about going door to door begging for candy? What is praiseworthy about masquerading as ghosts, goblins, witches or even innocuous fantasy figures? As we said earlier, “How does Halloween reflect what is true, admirable or excellent?”
