There are bible verses that tell us things that God absolutely will not stand for, that are absolutely evil. Witchcraft, divination, enchanter, an observer of the times.
Divination
- The art or act of foretelling future events or revealing occult knowledge by means of augury or an alleged supernatural agency.
- An inspired guess or presentiment.
- Something that has been divined.
Enchanter
- One that delights or fascinates.
- A sorcerer or magician
- one who casts spells or bewitches
Observer of the Times is another form of divination. It is a person who looks at the stars for guidance. (Isaiah 47:12-15, Jeremiah 10:2, Daniel 1:20, 5:7, 11, and 15) We even need to beware of horoscopes , astrology, numerology, palm readers, and other things such as these. They are practiced by people who believe in astrology or stargazing, which the bible says is wrong.
Witch- a person who practices magic, deals with demonic spirits. They practice black or white magic. Both are from Satan
Deuteronomy 18:10 KJV
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.
In Exodus 11:18 it says "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
In Acts 16:16 KJV "And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her master much gain by soothsaying"
The Bible says divination is actually a spirit!
I bring up these verses because the very first celebration of what we now call Halloween, was created by the ancient Druids who were Celtic priests, teachers, diviners, and magicians.
" Originally the holiday was called Samhain (sow-in) Eve. The ancients believed that spirits walked the Earth as they traveled to the afterlife. They also believed that fairies, demons and other creatures were present." They believed that this was a very magical time (the time between seasons) when the dead could walk among the living and veils between past, present and future may be lifted in prophecy and divination. We saw the Bible talked about this in Acts, and Deuteronomy. Both are wrong according to the Bible.
On this night before the Celtic new year, costumes were a part of the celebration. This is where the costume part comes in. They wore costumes to confuse spirits and avoid being possessed. Most often the costumes were animal skins/heads, sometimes they wore masks, and blackened their faces, and even impersonated the dead. They were trying to ward of roaming ghosts. The ancients would also build huge bonfires, and make animal and plant sacrifices to the dead.
In the mid 1800's taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, which eventually turned into today's trick or treat tradition. Young women believed that, on Halloween, they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings, or mirrors. Again, divination.
The traditions of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain time, and frightening. Food often ran low. On Halloween, (Hallow's Even, which came from All Hallow's Eve from the Roman's) to keep ghosts from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.
Many of these things in and of themselves, dressing up in cute costumes, going around and collecting candy don't sound all that bad. However, the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 to "Abstain from all appearance of evil"
The things we do today for Halloween may not seem all that evil, but the origins of them are. Today, still, for those that practice witchcraft and sorcery Halloween is the most evil time of the year, one which the Wiccan believe still is the best time for speaking with the dead. The dead can not be contacted, instead, these people are contacting evil spirits who pretend to be the dead.
So for our family to abstain from ALL appearances of evil, we do not celebrate this holiday that began with demonic origins. I say demonic, because the practices that the Druids and people did, were considered evil and demonic, by God, and still are. His word never changes.
Appearances of evil to us are even businesses nearby that advertise things like Valley Scare and the Trail of scare that are near us. Even the advertisements should be enough to warn you to stay away from these places, and not join in the celebration. However, each of us must make our own choices. I hope that you take this information, and read the Bible, and really ask God if this is for you.
Have we as churches and people become part of the world in this, just so we don't stand out? As churches we have supposed "Harvest Parties" that you come dressed in costumes and collecting candy. Isn't this still a Halloween celebration with a good twist? Yet the Bible says to abstain from ALL appearances of evil. We are just offering them a safe place to celebrate this holiday. Compromising. So we don't stand out. Yet the Bible says to set yourself apart from the world. To be in the world, but not of the world.
We are far from perfect, God is still working on us, until the end of the world. I hope to teach my children, though, to stand up for what they believe, and to abstain from all appearances of evil, to stand out even if they are not liked. Because this is what God has asked of us. To follow Him, not the world.
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