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Published Saturday, October 31, 2009 in Religion

Pastor's Corner: Is Halloween Satanic?

By DANIEL AUSBUN

First Baptist Church, Moreland

daniel@fbcmoreland.org

Today is Halloween -- one of the world's oldest holidays.

America spends 6.9 billion dollars on Halloween, making it the second largest commercial holiday. I remember being at Dollar General on July 31, and employees were putting out their Halloween candy three months in advance.

What can be wrong with dressing up as an Army man and a ladybug and getting candy from your neighbors? Why did people used to travel to Heard County to see fortune-teller Mayhayley Lancaster?

Two thousand years ago during the time of Christ, the Celts lived in an area what is today Ireland. Their calendar year began on Nove. 1 which marked the end of the summer and the harvest and began the cold, dark winter which was often associated with death.

The Celts believed the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On Oct. 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

The Celts believed the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Celtic priests -- of deities -- to make predictions about the future. These prophesies were an important source of comfort and hope during the long, dark winters. To commemorate the event, the priests built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn animals and crops as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

Hundreds of years ago Europeans and Celts believed on Halloween one would encounter ghosts if they left their homes after dark. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks so the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits.

To keep ghosts away from their homes, people would place bowls of food outside to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.

When Saul didn't receive an answer from God, he turned to a medium (I Sam. 28:6-7). When Paul met a sorcerer who was trying to turn people from the faith, he called Elymas, "A child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right" (Acts 13:10). After Jesus was Resurrected, He told His disciples, "Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have" (Luke 24:39).

Christians need to know the occult and paranormal is real. If God is real, His chief adversary is also real.

Halloween is rooted in the communication with the dead. Scripture condemns consulting with the dead (Deut. 18:10-11). The Bible tells us we should expect to see an increase in demonic activity as a sign of the end times (I Tim. 4:1).

There's nothing wrong with dressing up as your favorite action hero and asking for candy. If Halloween is about witchcraft and the supernatural -- you have been sucked into an empty spiritual vacuum. God doesn't want us involved with dead people -- their souls are sealed.

On Easter Sunday, several women went to Jesus' tomb and met two angels who said, "Why do you look for the living among the dead" (Luke 24:5)?

There's interest in the occult because it's mysterious and real. It's the counterfeit of God's power. I once spoke with someone who used to cast spells on people. She said it was frightening how they came true. She shared how spells were powerless against believers.

This Halloween God could be telling you to get out of the graveyard and get on with living. Satan wants to ruin your life and Jesus wants to give you more life (John 10:10).

Does Halloween have satanic origins and practices -- absolutely. Did Jesus drive out demons -- absolutely. Two demon possessed men saw Jesus, at once the demons begged to be sent into pigs so they could die (Matthew 8:28-32).

This Halloween God wants to free you from deception, emptiness and lies. Jesus overcame the grave, so if you're trapped in it, He can pull you out and set you free.