The Hallow in Halloween

The ‘Hallow’ in Halloween

“I am the LORD your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them;
 hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.”   Ezekiel 20:19-20

The word Hallow means to “make or set apart as holy” and to respect or honor greatly; revere.  Jesus himself told the disciples an example of prayer is what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” and he used these words; “hallowed be thy name.”  It is obvious that the word ‘Hallow’ is directly linked to God [our Father which is in heaven].  How did this word change to Halloween and the way it is celebrated today?

Originally this celebration was an unholy ritual used by the Roman’s and the Celtic Druids [you can look this up anywhere on the internet]. During the Middle Ages (about 600 years ago), the Roman Catholic Church at that time, decided to make the change-over from pagan religion to Christianity a bit easier, and therefore they allowed the new converts to maintain some of their pagan feasts. It was agreed, however, that from now on they would be celebrated as "Christian" feasts. So instead of praying to their heathen gods, they would now pray to, and remember the deaths of saints. For this reason the church decided to call November 1 the "Day of All Saints”.  The mass was to be celebrated on that day as "All Hallows Mass." In consequence of this, the evening prior to this day was named, "All Hallows ", which subsequently was abbreviated as "Halloween." In spite of this effort to make October 31 a "holy evening," all the old customs continued to be practiced, and made this evening anything BUT a holy evening!

As we know, Halloween is definitely not celebrated as a Holy Day or Eve.  It tends to be directed toward things of evil which are against Christian beliefs, because of the comparison of a Hallowed God, the Father and the Hallow of evil practices by the cults.  It also brings the danger of young people dabbling in things of evil spirits.

Is there anything wrong in our children dressing up in costumes and going out to gather up candy?  Probably not in itself, because most of these children are not thinking they are doing anything evil; they are just having fun.  Knowing the history of Halloween, it is up to parents to decipher the pros and cons for their children.  The Bible says we should train up our children in the ways of the Lord. If you feel this does not oppose the Word of God, you will probably let your children ‘Trick or Treat’.  However, as time goes on God is being taking out of most holidays, including Christmas.

However we can see how this worldly approach turns Holy things of God into Evil things. We have alternatives to Halloween such as Harvest Parties, Family Get-togethers or School activities.  Kids can dress up like cartoon characters, Bible characters or animals, but dressing up like something dead or evil should not be something you should select for your children.   Some of these things must be so offensive to our heavenly Father, like pregnant angels, or pregnant nuns; cute little devils or ghosts.  How about zombies?  They might sound funny to some, but are against the Word of God. Should we as Christians even consider Halloween, or try to make other things to take its place?  Why would we want to appease our children by doing the same thing the world does, only in different way? Don’t forget who you are dealing with, Satan himself, and he is not without power.  Maybe you should read your Bible.

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” [Hebrews 9:27]  People are not going to wander around half dead and half alive. The Devil isn’t cute!  God’s heavenly creation – angels, are not going to be pregnant for they are neither male nor female.  Let’s be real; there is nothing funny about evil! 

Shall we continue to enjoy what seems to be harmless activities?  When are YOU going to make a stand for God, Our heavenly father?

A word of advice, when you are out trick or treating on Halloween and you get a creepy feeling that someone or something may be watching you, or following you, you are probably right.  Just remember these spirits are not from God, so where do you think they come from? They are not 'hallowed', so they must be 'hollow', which means ‘empty’.

Read what Jesus tells us in Luke 8:26-36.  We’ve made movies about demons; we’ve made jokes about demons; we’ve called our children ‘imps’ which are demons.  We love being scared by demons on Halloween and so Satan has won another round be making people not believe demons are real.  If you like being scared, then believe what the Bible says; Demons are real!  Satan is real!