A BRIDGE TO CROSS
Why would we be talking about coming out of Egypt in modern times? That was ancient biblical history; right? Not really. There are a lot on this subject that pertains to modern-day life. It has much do with some of our activities each Fall.
No one loves the Fall season more than I do.
That is one reason why it is hard for me to even stop and write this series of articles about Halloween. I’ve already crossed that bridge straight over to the joy side. I’d rather not take the time to look back. I love the place where my heart lives now. It is so much better.
I’d rather forget the negative and pagan things of this beautiful season. I want to focus on the positive and sacred things. Sometimes though it helps all of us to stop and remember the things we have learned from studying the Word of God in our past. This can be true even when it comes to looking at the negative side of things.
WE MUST DISCERN THE COUNTERFEIT
If we aren’t cautious enough to be aware of counterfeit things; we might be deceived. We might tarnish or destroy the sacred, real and beautiful things because of unnecessary ignorance.
Education in truth is always beneficial. God desires for His people to live with wisdom and knowledge.
The prophet Hosea speaks of this in Hosea 4:6-7; My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame.”
Do you want God’s rejection to fall on your household?
The way to avoid that is to keep His ways. His ways simply do not include the traditions of Halloween. I could quit writing after that statement; but there is so much more to say on the subject.
A JOURNEY THROUGH THE HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN
With that thought in mind; I have traveled back in time to study the history of Halloween.
I suppose you think I’m going to start out just like everyone else you’ve heard or read lately and go all the way back to Ireland and the time of the Druids; right?
No…..not yet. There was trouble in the thinking of mankind even before that time. Let’s go back even further.
PONDERING THE DAYS OF EGYPT
Let’s go all the way back to the days of Egypt to the time when Moses was a boy growing up inside an Egyptian palace. This is really where I first began to realize that a lot of things in our culture are pagan.
There was Moses; the man who would eventually receive the Ten Commandments from God. For a young Hebrew boy, Moses had a strange start in his life. He was living in Egypt, and growing up in a very pagan culture.
God makes it very plain in the scriptures that the Egyptians took the act of paganism totally to the limits of all cultural expectations. It all started from the top down. Pagan things and foreign gods had quite a hold on all of the rulers of Egypt. Even plagues and death did not seem to make the Pharaoh of Moses’ times want to let God’s people go.
Poor Pharaoh. He was ignorant.
Just like our culture today. I hate to be so blunt with this thought; but we reek of ignorance when it comes to identifying pagan activity.
DEFINITION OF THE WORD PAGAN
Mr. Webster has a definition for the word “pagan.” The dictionary says a “pagan” is a person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions. Synonyms: heathen, infidel, idolater, idolatress. The dictionary even notes that most pagans worshiped the sun.
I would re-word this definition; (and by the way, I got it from Google; not directly from Mr. Webster.) Our definitions today seem to have evolved and changed a bit since Mr. Webster first published the dictionary. I’m not sure all of these evolutions are good and/or healthy; or achieving Mr. Webster’s original intentions in creating the dictionary.
At any rate; I would say a “pagan” is a person holding religious beliefs other than those of the One True God spoken of in the Holy Scriptures of the Bible.
Those synonyms given in the dictionary definition appear to be very accurate though. I especially agree with the use of the words “idolater” and “idolatress.”
WHAT IS AN IDOL?
So if paganism involves idolatry; what is a good definition of an idol?
An idol is something that you value more than God.
Idols definitely fall under the subject of paganism.
So Egypt was pagan in every way during the time when Moses was growing up at the palace of the Pharaoh.
How do I know?
The Holy scriptures tell me; but also archaeologists and historians have also confirmed this fact.
A DEFINITION OF CHRISTIANITY
As long as we have defined the meaning of “pagan” let’s get the other side of it and define the meaning of “Christianity.”
Again; the Goggled definition: The religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus Christ, or its beliefs and practices.
I can buy that one. Still; I want to add to it and say that Christ and all of His teachings come directly from God the Father. The whole mission of Christ on this earth was to show us God The Father.
Before Christ came to earth in the form of Emmanuel (God with us); we knew God through Yahweh; The Great I AM. Yahweh declared in the very first commandment given by Him to mankind; that we are to have no other gods before Him.
Clearly having other gods and teaching the ways of other gods would be a form of paganism. This would also be a form of idol worship.
These things are forbidden in the first commandment.
From this we deduct that worship of any other type of god other than God The Father is a pagan practice and forbidden by the religion of Christianity.
Do you claim to be a follower of Christ?
Then your actions should make a clear statement to the world that He is the One you follow.
Do they?
OUT OF EGYPT AND OUT OF PAGANISM
Unlike us today; it wasn’t really too hard for the Israelites coming out of Egyptian slavery to distinguish pagan things. They had been forced day-by-day to tolerate those types of things while working as slaves. Their culture had taught them otherwise; but they were in bondage and slavery to the Egyptian culture.
Could we say the same today?
Are we finding ourselves in bondage to a pagan culture?
Do you know the secret to getting out of bondage?
Walk away from it.
Go as far as you possibly can and never return. That is exactly what the Israelites did. That is exactly what we should be doing.
A PLURALISTIC SOCIETY
The Egyptians worshiped the sun and also worshiped many other gods. They were a pluralistic society.
The Israelites KNEW that the Egyptians worshiped other gods and goddesses and not God The Father. They did not join in with them when they worshiped (or to put this a different way; the TRUE Israelites didn’t join in.)
Those old Israelites who were true to God and faithful were pretty smart; sometimes.
Can we say the same?
Do Christians today KNOW the difference between the worship of pagan gods and goddesses and the worship of God The Father?
Anyone looking at our current culture might not think so.
EXAMINING THE PRACTICE OF HALLOWEEN
Halloween is the second most popular and vastly commercialized celebration of our culture today. It is out-celebrated only by Christmas.
I’ve read in some very old articles that at least 7 billion dollars worth of candy and costumes are sold by American retail establishments during this time. Could greed for money and profit play into this deception of America’s children?
I wonder?
Those were very OLD and outdated articles I read. I’m sure the figures are much higher today.
HOW DOES HALLOWEEN RELATE TO EGYPT?
Did you know there are Egyptian roots tied to Halloween?
Here are a few of the facts I discovered purely by accident while praying about how far one should go in cooperating with today’s culture at the time of Halloween.
One goddess that Ancient Egypt worshiped was named Isis.
It is said that at the end of summer, the same time of Halloween, Isis would go on a search for her husband Osiris. (Two pagan Egyptian gods.) Isis is searching for her dead husband in this story/popular myth. Many today tie this in with the concept of an old crone (a witch) grabbing her broom and flying over the earth in search for someone. In Egypt during the time that Isis would go searching for Osiris, it was known as the time of acknowledging and celebrating the link between the living and the dead.
What does God have to say about us communicating with the dead? Here is just one passage of scripture among many: Deuteronomy 18:10-13: “Let no one be found among you who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritualist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God.”
Is that plain enough? Yet many still don’t seem to grasp it or understand the truth of it.
ABRAHAM THEN ISRAEL LEFT PAGAN CULTURES
The Israelites left Egypt to avoid having to participate in pagan practices. That is also the reason given in reading the the ancient Jewish stories of why Abraham left the home of his earthly father. He had discovered that paganism and idolatry were terribly wrong and he desired to only follow God.
In those days when God freed Israel they came out of Egypt.
Just how pagan was Egypt? They honored the world of the dead. They even had a book called “The Book of The Dead.”
Quoting a man named Alex Grey; “According to the Egyptian religion, the soul could survive the body, and the body preserved could continue to “house” the soul in the world of the dead. The Egyptian Book of the Dead tells of the soul’s journey to the Otherworld and the precise rituals living relatives were expected to perform in order to assist the deceased in avoiding pitfalls along their way. An Egyptian’s soul, the ka, departing their body seeking a heavenly throne, would stop to have their heart weighed against a feather. If the heart was heavier than a feather, that soul would not be welcome to dwell among the gods”
Does that sound a bit pagan to you?
A NIGHT OF PRACTICING THE OPPOSITE OF LIFE
Notice any opposites to Christianity in these practices?
Did you catch that part about the book of the dead of the Egyptians compared to The Book of Life in Christianity? Did you grasp that people are helping the deceased spirits find the way to heaven compared to God giving His people eternal life in Resurrection?
It is all about death and guess what? Christians KNOW that Christ has overcome death!
Are we living that out through our actions?
How does observing a day of the dead proclaim life?
I could stop here and note the Catholic observance of all soul’s day. I have many wonderful friends that are Catholic. I love them very much. Every year they dress up their kids in costumes. Then they let them buy candy with money that is given to the church on a holy day of obligation during this season. The money is supposedly used to buy the prayers of the faithful for the souls left in purgatory.
ALL SAINTS/ALL SOULS
Can a human expect to pray another human out of the confines of hell though?
Only the salvation of Jesus Christ can accomplish such a thing.
There are actually parts of the Catholic beliefs around All Saints/All Souls that I CAN accept. However; there are also parts of these celebrations that trouble me when I consider how many good intentions and sincere hearts are deceived.
The same people who proclaim life the loudest in their efforts for the unborn will participate in a night for honoring the dead at Halloween. They never even consider the irony of such a celebration.
It was in the land of Egypt and right in the midst of these pagan practices and rituals that God (as recorded in the scriptures) commanded His people to leave. When they had escaped the pagan things; He also commanded them never to practice such pagan rituals. Such things were not to be seen or known among the people of God.
HOW CAN WE “UNLEARN” PAGAN PRACTICES?
Think about this: Had God’s people never fallen into bondage to a pagan country because of their sin; they would never have obtained this pagan knowledge. Thus they would never be in danger of the sin of using any pagan practices themselves.
One thing leads to another. This is life in a world where Satan is still allowed to wander with his demons through a place like earth that isn’t yet perfect.
Humans will be humans. Whenever we are exposed to new things; we tend to remember them and practice them. Forgotten are the facts of whether they are good or evil. We do not always think of the consequences or whether or not our actions are right or wrong. Humans often just act the same as those around them.
It is so much better in the long run to simply NOT BE EXPOSED. To not have to UNLEARN the things the culture has taught in error would be wonderful for all generations.
WHAT WE LEARNED IN EGYPT
Even before the times of the Druids, which we often point at and talk about being so wicked and ungodly at Halloween; the Egyptians were practicing these types of idolatrous things.
People would leave offerings of food and drink for their loved ones. They would set out candles to light their way home. These are some modern-day customs that we still see which are being carried out in our modern times by innocent and ignorant people who simply do not know or understand. Some even do not care if they are pagan practices.
Today we still use jack-o-lanterns. We still give candy offerings to children knocking at our doors.
It is all just in fun and totally harmless; right?
Many of the Egyptians believed in reincarnation. At this time of the year, they saw children beggars as a disguise of their ancestors who were coming to visit them in a new form.
ONE THING THAT OPENED MY EYES
In doing this research about Egyptian roots, I got pretty brave one day (God is bigger than Halloween and He protects me from harm.) I clicked into a “good witch’s website. (I was doing necessary research but I would never recommend this as a common practice.) Why would I do this though? I did this because this person was advertising a trip to Egypt during the Halloween season. I wanted to know why the destination was Egypt.
Now I am talking about something that is current to modern times. Such advertisements are happening RIGHT NOW, and going on right this minute in the heart of our own culture. The practice of witchcraft is now a common religion in the American culture.
I wanted to see how this witch was enticing people to join in with her. She was advertising and promoting celebrating “Hallowmas” and “Diwali”.
She encouraged people to join her in Tori Quisling as she visited in ancient Egypt on a “Spirituality And The City” tour on October 29th where they would discover ancient spiritual teachings and past life wisdom, starting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Does this shock you?
It shouldn’t.
Such gatherings are increasing daily.
DECEPTIVE TO THE YOUNG
It probably doesn’t shock your high-school-aged children. They might even be intrigued to discover such an exciting adventure. I doubt they would bring it up at the dinner table though. Are you teaching your children Deuteronomy 18:10-13?
If you clicked further into this self-proclaimed witch’s agenda for this trip, you would see how her group of other witches plan to explore “the goddess within,” listen to ancestral voices, discover Shamanic Dreaming techniques, channel, awaken their own personal divinity, share their inner journeys through art forms, and drink different types of special tea mixes together. Their main speakers will be two famous mediums.
Got your tickets yet? Still believe that witchcraft is just child’s play and all just part of some imaginary fun?
Does this sound like fun to you?
I’m telling you folks; witchcraft is REAL and happening all around us. You probably have no idea how much and how often your innocent little children are being fed their subtle doctrines every day of the year. This activity is especially busy on Halloween. Why WOULD you notice? It’s just all innocent in fun; right?
WHERE WILL IT END?
It all started WAY back in ancient Egypt. That is if you want to move on and skip that first part of going back to the Garden of Eden and listening to Satan having those little conversations with Eve.
Then came those horrid Druids and all of their paganism!
The Druids were much later on the historical timeline. Most hailed from Ireland, Gaul and Britain. They were Celtic and wild and as pagan as they come. Their pagan practices were widespread in northern Europe during the fifth century.
These same Druids are also still celebrated right in the heart of America with great fanfare and pomp every year that October 31st graces the secular calendars.
I want you to have time to digest the Egyptians before we discuss the Druids any further.
FINAL THOUGHTS TO PONDER
I’ll leave you with those thoughts. Also I’ll remind you to go back and read Exodus. God had a LOT to say about dwelling in paganism, especially to the nation that He was planning to raise up to bring us Messiah and eventually to form His Bride the Church.
As our culture has become more and more steeped in pagan ways, we are having to deal with more and more of the demonic activity that these activities promote.
A good way to educate yourself would be to read the book by Jonathan Cahn called “Return of The Gods.” He does an excellent and very thorough study of demons that have come from Egypt who now inhabit our own cultures.
I’m not a preacher, so you decide for yourself. Do we actually carry on pagan practices at Halloween?
Keep watching for the next part of this series because we just might actually get around to discussing those popularly known Druids after all.
Be safe, be saved; and rest peacefully in the love of God The Father.
There is no other.