God wants to have fellowship with us. He has always wanted this. Many people are under the impression that God is a tyrant who sets down rules and forbids fun. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. The rules God sets down are for our protection. A good parent sets down rules for their children in order to protect them from trouble…even death. Human parents love their children, and that’s why we teach them not to take candy from strangers.
When people ignore God’s rules, trouble begins. Disease is spread, babies are offered as sacrifices to demon gods, and many other bad things happen when God is ignored. We embrace sin, but blame God when our sin brings illness or suffering.
“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
God gave us a remedy for the disease of sin. That remedy is repentance and humbly bowing before Jesus and asking Him to forgive you. Only faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ will bring salvation.
God chose the nation of Israel. It is through this nation that the whole world is blessed. God gave them the Law, which, by following it closely, separated Israel from the pagan culture around them. It was a protection for them. Some of the Laws were directly related to the priesthood, some directly toward men, and others directly toward women. Keeping the Law took study and dedication.
God also directed Israel to keep certain days set apart for feasts, which were all prophetic, but also designed for days of celebration. We all know about Passover and the special foods they were to eat. For Christians, we know that this feast was a “picture” of Jesus, the Lamb of God. We celebrate it every year, but not in a way that honors God. We color eggs, pretend the Easter Bunny brought them, and seldom think of the sacrifice Jesus made in order to take our sin away. We even changed the date to coincide with an ugly pagan festival, yet we call it a Christian holiday.
Shouldn’t it be a day when God is praised? Shouldn’t it be celebrated on the day He very clearly described? It’s not an arbitrary day, but a day chosen by God that would be the day when Jesus’ blood was shed to take our sins away.
“In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S Passover” (Leviticus 23:5).
The first month is Nissan, which is in March and April on our calendar. It’s very disturbing that we can so easily take a pagan holiday, give it a Christian twist, and pretend we are celebrating a very important Christian event. Another one is Christmas. It’s the day we say Jesus was born, but I sincerely doubt it. To think that Caesar Augustus would call for a census requiring every man to return to his own village in the dead of winter is very hard to imagine. They couldn’t get in a car and drive there, but had to walk.
“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary” (Luke 1:26-27).
The sixth month is Elul, which would be in August or September on our calendar. December is not 9 months after September. The day we celebrate was, once again, put on the day of a pagan festival. Why do we honor pagan festivals over God’s celebrations? We don’t know when Jesus was born, but His birth and His resurrection should be celebrated daily. We must always guard our hearts so we aren’t drawn away from God.
There is a day that most people don’t even disguise as a Christian holiday. That day is Halloween. Children are dressed in costumes, many of which are extremely evil, and sent out to beg for candy. We never really know if the candy has been tampered with. Needles and poison are often found in candy bars that our children take from strangers.
As the children grow, the rituals change. Very heinous movies are binge-watched. These movies are filled with blood, murder, satanic rituals, and much more. We may throw a party, and the entertainment might be a Ouija board or a pack of Tarot cards. It’s all in good fun. Right? The fact is, these things are pure evil and can open the way for demons to control you. Halloween is a very important day to Satanists, Wiccans, and all who dabble in the occult. If you think that you don’t have any of these evil cults in your town, you might be surprised to know that you do.
A few months ago, I had a very eye-opening experience. I found a Wiccan shop hidden in a rundown building in my town. Right here in the Bible Belt of America. Then, I also found that a person can buy a license to perform weddings online. These come with prepackaged themes for the wedding, including Wiccan ceremonies and gay weddings. Marriage is between a man and a woman, and is ordained of God. He should be the theme of weddings. Brothers and sisters, we must guard our hearts against all occult practices.
Jesus taught us to pray “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen” (Matthew 6:13).
But on October 31, we embrace evil but still expect God’s protection. We cannot be fully devoted to God if we continue to celebrate pagan days. In my opinion, no Christian should participate in any Halloween tradition. We should never watch movies that glorify evil. Ghosts, witches, goblins, and Freddy Krueger are all evil. How does any of it glorify God? It doesn’t.
We can clearly see in Scripture how God feels about pagan ways. Israel had left the pagan culture of Egypt, and He wanted them not to be influenced by the people living in the land which He had given to Abraham and his descendants forever, which includes today. These usurpers were/are idol-worshipping pagans. The Israelites needed to guard their hearts against the evil, so God told them:
“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” (Deuteronomy 18:9-13).
God wanted the nation of Israel to guard their hearts against evil, and He hasn’t changed His mind. Make no mistake, Satan worship includes shedding innocent blood…a mockery of Jesus’ shed blood to take our sin away.
Children need to be taught to honor God and not follow the ways of the world. If you allow your child to go out trick-or-treating, will they become possessed? Probably not, but it’s important to ground your children in Jesus. That’s true of whatever your children do. Do they go to public school? Ground them in Biblical truth. That’s the only way to equip them to face everything in life. Adults need to continually study Scripture and look to our own hearts and lives to be sure we honor Jesus.
We live in a world that is more accepting of Satanic evil than God’s love. This has always been true. Corinth is an example of a congregation that was surrounded by pagan worship and practices, but they didn’t stand against the evil and were proud of their open-mindedness. Paul had some harsh words to them, but also encouraged them to live among the pagans, but not be a part of the culture.
“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not” (1 Corinthians 10:23).
It might be culturally acceptable to celebrate Halloween, but are you teaching your children to glorify the world or God?
Those of us who have repented of our sins and look to Jesus for salvation should never compromise our Lord. We need to guard our hearts from being pulled away from Him. Instead of allowing the world to tell us what to do and how to act, we need to let Jesus be our guide.
“Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. For the word of God is quick, and powerful and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:11-12).
Study Scripture and draw closer to Jesus each day.
The battle is a spiritual one, and unless we stay near to God, we will be without hope. Guard your heart and honor God always.
God bless you all
Nathele Graham
Recommended prophecy sites:
www.raptureready.com
www.prophecyupdate.com
www.raptureforums.com
All original scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.
If you would like to be on my mailing list to receive the commentaries, just drop me an email and let me know.
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).