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America and other super-power nations have the capability of launching very destructive bombs. Many of the latest military inventions appear to bear resemblance to scriptures given to several Old Testament prophets.

"And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire¡­" MICAH 1:4

"Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand¡­Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt¡­their faces shall be as flames." ISAIAH 13:6-8

"And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord shall smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongues shall consume away in their mouth¡­" ZECHARIAH 14:12

I am not a specialist on military weapons, but I am aware of several different weapons that can actually melt the flesh from the bones of human beings. Could the above scriptures have a reference to these weapons of mass destruction that will be used at Armageddon?

Excited children masquerading as witches, ghosts, goblins, demons and other grotesque characters, skipping through the neighbourhood knocking on doors chanting "Trick or Treat" while holding out a sack in which one is to drop a piece of candy or other goodies...the party at school, or church, or Sunday School where they bob for apples, tell fortunes, or go through haunted houses...decorations of jack-o¡¯-Ianterns, witches on brooms, and black cats with arched backs...it¡¯s "Halloween" - one of the strangest days of the year.

Are Halloween activities really just the simple, innocent holiday fun most people believe them to be? Where did this holiday originate? Why is this holiday celebrated?

History provides the answers. Though it was the Roman Catholic Church which designated the October 31st date as All Hallow¡¯s Eve, or "eve of the holy one¡¯s day," in prelude to their November 1st All Saints¡¯ Day, it was earlier pagan peoples who gave the annual holiday the sinister meaning and traditions it still holds.

The American celebration rests upon Scottish and Irish folk customs which can be traced in a direct line from pre-Christian times. Although Halloween has become a night of rollicking fun, superstitious spells, and eerie games which people take only half seriously, its beginnings were quite otherwise.

"The earliest Halloween celebrations were held by the Druids in honour of Samhain, Lord of the dead, whose festival fell on November 1." (Halloween Through Twenty Centuries Ralph Linton, p. 4).

"It was a Druidic belief that on the eve of this festival, Saman [Samhain], lord of death, called together the wicked souls [spirits]i that within the past 12 months had been condemned to inhabit the bodies of animals." (Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th cx., Vol. 12, pages 857-858).

"The Druids, an order of priests in ancient Gaul and Britain, believed that on Halloween, ghosts, spirits, fairies, witches, and elves came out to harm people. They thought the cat was sacred and believed that cats had once been human beings but were changed as a punishment for evil deeds. From these Druidic beliefs come the present-day use of witches, ghosts and cats in Halloween festivities." (World Book Encyclopedia, 1959 ed. pp.3245-6).

Halloween: "...was the night for the universal walking about of all sorts of spirits, fairies, and ghosts, all of whom had liberty on that night." (Highland Superstitions, by Alexander MacGregor, page 44). 

The pagans believed that on one night of the year the souls of the dead returned to their original homes.

"There was a prevailing belief among all nations that at death the souls of good men were taken possession of by good spirits and cariied to paradise, but the souls of wicked men were left to wander in the space between the earth and moon, or consigned to the unseen world. These wandering spirits were in the habit of haunting the living... But there were means by which these ghosts might be exorcised." (Folklore, by James Napier, page 11).

To exorcise these ghosts, that is, to free yourself from their supposed evil sway, you would have to set out food-give the demons a treat-and provide shelter for them during the night. If they were satisfied with your treat, it was believed they would leave you in peace. If food and shelter were not provided, or if they were not satisfied, these spirits, it was believed, would "trick" you by casting an evil spell on you and causing havoc.

"The modern custom of ¡®Trick-or-Treat¡¯ began in Ireland several hundred years ago. When a group of farmers would go from house to house begging food for the village Halloween festivities in the name of their ancient gods. Good luck was promised to generous donors, and treats were made against those who would not give." (Holidays of Legend, by Mildred Arthur, p. 87).

Thus these ancient pagan traditions continue today as youngsters, masquerading as ghosts, skeletons and demons go "trick-or-treating" - begging in a sense for food while promising to retrain from evil deeds.

"It was the Celts who chose the date of October 31 as their New Year¡¯s Eve and originally intended it as a celebration of everything wicked; evil and dead. Also during their celebration they would gather around a community bonfire and offer as sacrifices their animals, their crops, and sometimes themselves. And wearing costumes made from the heads and skins of other animals, they would also tell one another¡¯s fortunes for the coming year" (World Book Encyclopedia quoted in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. Associated Press October 16, 1977).

"The celebration remained much the same after the Romans conquered the Celts around 43 A.D. The Romans did, however add a ceremony honouring their goddess of fruit and trees and thus the association with apples and the custom of bobbing for them." (ibid)

"The apparently harmless lighted pumpkin face or: "Jack-O¡¯-Lanterns were named for a man called Jack, who could not enter heaven or hell. As a result, he was doomed to wander in darkness with his lantern until Judgement Day." (World Book Encyclopedia, 1977 ed., Vol. 9, pages 24-25).

"Fearful of spooks.....folks began hollowing out turnips and pumpkins and placing lighted candles inside to scare spirits from the house." (The Book of Festival Holidays, by Marqueite Ickis, pages 125-126).

Since Halloween is unmistakably pagan in its origin and practice, how did the professing church come to accept such a day? History provides the answer. Ever since the time of Constantine - who made Catholicism the State Religion - the Roman emperors realised how essential it was to have a unified empire, where as many as possible would be of one mind. The civil and religious leaders saw how important it was for the sake of unity to allow only one religion within the Roman domain.

A stringent state policy was implemented to force non-Christians to accept the state religion. The condition for "conversion" of course, made it easy for the pagan population of Rome and elsewhere to "accept" Christianity.

Since "acceptance" of Christianity was made simple, refusal was made difficult. This plan resulted in large numbers of the heathen population within the empire flocking into the membership of the church. These people brought with them many pagan practices and celebrations, Halloween merely being one ot them How could the church deal with this problem? The church realised that to excommunicate these pagans would only reduce the membership of the church. This they were unwilling to do. The church had also learned in past times it was not possible to force the people into discarding all their heathen practices and adopting Roman ones. So there remained only one other way.

It was reasoned that if a pagan practice of festival could not be forbidden, let it be "Christianised." Let the recently converted pagans keep certain of their heathen festivals, such as Halloween or All Souls¡¯ Day but give these "Christian" labels. Of course they were asked not to pray to their ancient pagan gods on this day. They would now use this day to commemorate the death of "saints."

"In the A.D. 800¡¯s the [Catholic] church established All Saints¡¯ Day on Novembcr 1 so that people could continue a festival they had celebrated before becoming Christians. The mass that was said on this day was called Allhallowmas. The evening before became known as All Hallow e¡¯en or Halloween...It means hallowed or holy evening." (World Book Encyclopedia).

"The celebration of Halloween is a survival of ancient pagan beliefs. When the early [Catholic] church was unable to stop pagan practices, it accepted them and gave them a religious tune." (Holidays of Legend, page 87).

Most of the ancient symbols and traditions of Halloween still exist today. Youngsters still dress in costume and go trick-or-treating: begging in a sense, for food while promising to refrain from evil deeds [tricks]. And, too, they still light their candles, although much smaller than a torch, and place them inside their pumpkins.

"... It is the one night of the year in which a child experiences the emotion of fear, fantasy and mystery" (Holidays of Legend, page 87).

In advising on what to do on Halloween, The Good Housekeeping Book of Entertainment says: "Orange, black and red, the devil's colours, are the colours associated with Halloween, and this scheme should be carried out as far as possible...Have paper streamers and lanterns hanging from the ceiling or if you would like to have something less usual, you could make a giant spider web with black and orange strings, or in narrow strips of crepe paper coming from the four corners of the room, complete with a large spider - one of the devil¡¯s followers." (p. 168).

Bible-believing Christians cringe and shudder at the thought of Satan worship and occult rites. But how many of these same people will dress their children as witches, ghosts, skeletons, or devils and send them out to trick-or-treat?" How many smile approvingly at the church or Sunday School and youth organisations that have Halloween parties and sponsor "haunted house" activities?

Can any Christian give any scriptural - or even logical - reason for participation in, or approval of, that which is unmistakably associated with paganism, devil-worship, and witchcraft? The 18th chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy, (vv. 10-11) very explicitly forbids Christians to have anything to do with witchcraft, spiritualism or the demonic. In verse 10-11 of that chapter we read:

The Scriptures also relate:

Because:

It is obvious that the elements, symbols, and traditions of the Halloween observance with its emphasis upon goblins and demons, witches and skeletons, ghosts and apparitions rising from cemeteries constitute a dabbling with the very things which Scripture forbids to God¡¯s People and are an open invitation to demonic activity. And are a direct slap in the face of God Almighty and the Lord Jesus Christ!

It is at this point that many will say, "But we don¡¯t worship demons on Halloween. It doesn¡¯t mean the same thing today as it did in the past. It's now just a harmless innocent time of fun for the children and the young people."

Yet history clearly shows that Halloween is unmistakably a "religious" [pagan and Roman] holiday. Religion is the adoration, obedience, and service rendered to the object of one¡¯s worship. It presupposes profession, practice, or observance of whatever belief and practice - in this case Halloween - as required by some superior authority. It is indisputably clear that Halloween is not commanded or sanctioned by God or by Jesus Christ - the true Christian's Superior, Authority - in the Scriptures.