Halloween - Halo please!

I’ve never understood how a parent can dress their child up as a devil, and then act surprised when they behave like one. As a Christian parent, Halloween has always been a challenging holiday for us raising our only daughter. With her growing up in Scotland, we never wanted her to feel left out or excluded from the fun of dressing up, the Halloween school parties, or the trick-or-treating around the neighbourhood.

Halloween’s original roots may surprise you. All Saint’s Day on the 1st of November is also called All Hallows Day. It’s a day when many believers around the world thank God for His faithfulness to their loved ones who have died. It’s a celebration that they died in the faith and are resting in the presence of God.

The day before, the 31st of October use to be called ‘All Hallow’s Eve’, which was later shortened to Halloween. Unfortunately, the day’s original reason to celebrate has since been twisted by Satan, where the focus has been moved from celebrating the life of the deceased to death itself. Satanic worshippers have even chosen this night to do their most evil work, which is why many Christians choose to reject participating in Halloween altogether.

However, when you consider the story in 1 Corinthians 8, we see that the Church in Corinth faced a similar dilemma - to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols in the pagan temples. Although not totally the same thing, we can learn from Paul’s advice that it’s a matter of our conscience. If we have doubts that celebrating it will condemn us, then we shouldn’t eat the meat/candy.

Doing anything that does not proceed out of our faith is a sin. Our righteousness is not determined whether we participate in Halloween or not. We are saved by the work of Christ alone (Acts 4:12), not by observing or abstaining from holidays (Colossians 2:16). Christians that take their kids trick-or-treating are still Christians. And Christians that stay home and ignore the doorbell are also Christians. We shouldn’t judge others by the choices they make.

For me, rejecting Halloween altogether is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I believe that with the right discernment and wisdom, this holiday can offer us opportunities to share our faith in a practical way. As long as we can steer our children away from dressing up as zombies, devils, witches, and other evil personas, this part of the holiday can still be fun. I have purposely not included a ghost, because we all grew up with Casper the friendly ghost. One year, a lady from my church added a halo to her daughter’s ghost costume and proudly announced to everyone that she was the Holy Ghost! I am not sure if God would have approved, but it sure did make us laugh!

This photo is of my daughter’s first Halloween outfit as a pumpkin, which makes me so grateful for the inspired Christian pumpkin message. If you’ve never heard it before, it goes like this: - God picks us up from the pumpkin patch, washes off all our dirt, scoops out all our yucky seeds of sin, carves out for us a new smiling face, and puts His light inside of us, to shine out for all the world to see. This story started a fond family Halloween tradition when we use to live in Scotland, where we would carve out a pumpkin with a smiley face and leave it by our front door.

Living back in South Africa, it seems we are fast following the trends of America, the UK, and the rest of the world, by welcoming the hype and consumerism around this spooky holiday. It would therefore be foolish to try to avoid or shield our children from taking part in it altogether. However, we can change our perspective on how we choose to engage with it and thus use every opportunity to our advantage.

For example, we can share the Gospel of faith over fear and try to educate unbelievers about the schemes of the devil and the path it leads to when you choose to focus on death and all things evil. It may seem like just a bit of fun to many, but if they knew the gates they were opening into their soul, they just might think again.

Trick or treating also offers us the opportunity to get to know our neighbours and is a good platform to be friendly. Your selection of treats doesn’t always have to be sweets either but can include fruits or healthier, less sugary sweets, which I’m sure every parent will thank you for.

I am grateful that many Churches choose to offer an alternative party to Halloween, such as using a Superhero theme, where kids can still participate in the full fun of the holiday, but without the reasons that cause many young children to be plagued by nightmares.

So, however, you choose to observe Halloween this year, do it with a clear conscience, knowing that God sees your heart and your motives. Rejecting the evil part, whilst keeping the good can be achieved when we do it from faith. And as we carve out our pumpkins and take photos of our children in their cute costumes, let us also spend time in prayer for the protection of our loved ones, our Churches, our nation, and for every unbeliever’s eyes to be opened to the spiritual realm that they are innocently dabbling in.

The Spiritual Symbolism of Sukkot

The recent week-long Jewish celebration of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, is one of the Bible's most joyful holidays. Besides building temporary huts or booths and feasting together, Sukkot is also an agricultural celebration of God's provision during the harvest season. It's a time to rejoice in His abundance and give thanks for all that He has done. As my Jewish boss aptly shared, sitting inside the sukkah shelter feels like God wrapping His arms around you in a hug after the sombre season of repentance ending with Yom Kippur.

As families gather together to build and live in a temporary, handmade shelter, they remember the 40 years their ancestors spent wandering in the wilderness of the desert on their way to the Promised Land, after escaping slavery in Egypt. The first two days are considered the holiest where work, other than that related to Sukkot, is forbidden.

The word Sukkot or Sukkah means shelter, which is a significant part of the observance of this joyous holiday. You could say it is a visible symbol of God’s presence, protection, and His gracious provision. As they leave the comfort and security of their homes, they place themselves, symbolically, in God's hands.

The building of the Sukkah is a fun family affair where the children will have fun decorating it and where they will gather for the eating of the feast. Some even choose to sleep there under the elements, looking up at the heavens through the gaps in their shelter’s roof. The Feast of Tabernacles was an annual reminder that God chose to ‘tabernacle among them,’ to protect and bless them wherever they wander.

There are specific rules about how this shelter is to be built, and what materials are allowed to be used, but what I find fascinating are the rituals that accompany this holiday, and how they all foreshadow Yeshua (Jesus) in their symbolism.

The first ritual is the drawing and pouring of the water, which can be referenced back to the origins of this practice found in Isaiah 12:3 which says “With joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation”. We know from many verses in the Bible, like John 7:37, that say that Jesus offers us living water, which we can interpret to mean the Holy Spirit.

The second ritual is to illuminate the shelter with the lighting of candles. This glorious blaze of fire is to remember the pillar of fire by day and smoke by night that accompanied their ancestors throughout their wanderings in the wilderness.  Again, we know that in John 8:12, Jesus refers to Himself as the Light of the world.

The third ritual is to eat an olive-sized piece of bread or mezonot (grain-based food) inside the Sukkah on the first two nights.  In John 6:35 Jesus says He is the ‘Bread of Life’; therefore, eating it is just like taking communion. (1 Corinthians 11:24)

The fourth ritual is the waving of branches, typically 4 different species of trees, although, in Israel, many choose 7 to represent all the species of the harvest, with each having a special meaning. Each tree type symbolizes the different personalities of everyone, and how we are all joined together to complement each other’s weaknesses and strengths. A blessing is recited over them and waved in 6 directions, north, south, east, west, up, and down, to emphasize the omnipresence of God.  On the last day of Sukkot, they make a procession around their Synagogue or room seven times whilst waving the branches of Palm leaves, known as the lulav, where they cry out with shouts of praise and beat the bundle on the ground.  This reminds me of how Jesus was welcomed on Palm Sunday with the waving of Palm leaves. Circling around for seven times, also reminds us of the story in Joshua 6, where the Lord gave the people victory over the city of Jericho.  

It seems a fitting end to Sukkot to celebrate with drinking of wine, the fruit of the vine, for in John 15, we are told that Jesus is the true vine, who we are to abide in.

Just like the Sukkah is a temporary dwelling, it should remind us that the Holy Spirit now dwells in us permanently. The Tabernacle where the Holy Priest visited on our behalf, is no longer necessary.  The curtain separating us from God’s Holy presence was torn when Jesus died on the Cross, where we now can enjoy direct and permanent access to dwell with Him.

Below are some Bible verses that refer to this joyous, week-long holiday. As you consider this festival, may it remind you of Jesus and the significance of His message through the traditions of Sukkot.

Genesis 33:17 - And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. Therefore, the name of the place is called Succoth.

Leviticus 23:39-40 - On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you are gathering in your produce of the earth, you shall celebrate a celebration of God for seven days... And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of a beautiful tree (etrog), palm branches, the branch of a thick tree (myrtle, hadas), and brook-willows, and you shall rejoice before God for seven days.

Deuteronomy 16:13-16 - Celebrate the Festival of Sukkot for seven days, when you gather in from the grain and the vine. And you shall rejoice on your festival, you, your son, your daughter, your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and widow who live in your gates... and you shall be only joyful.