| “I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils [demons]” (1 Corinthians 10:20). |
| At least here in North America, tonight is what is called “Hallowe’en night.” Many children go from house to house in the evening, with the customary call, “Trick or treat,” and expect to be given candy or some other gift that they can eat. They are usually dressed up in all sorts of strange costumes, and people often put out carved up pumpkins, ghost-like figures, silhouettes of witches, etc. in front of their homes. It is not done so much today, but in years gone by, young men often used to go out and play tricks on people. They would take a bar of soap and smear it on the windows of houses, or on car windows. Sometimes they would take things such as farm implements from farmers’ property and hide them. Then everyone would have to go out and straighten everything up the next day. |
| The word “hallowe’en” is a shortened version of the phrase “all hallows even (evening),” and has very bad associations. Among the ancient Celts in Scotland and England, it was a time of year when it was believed that the entrance of the spirit world was opened for spirits to pass through and haunt the living. People marked the occasion by lighting bonfires for protection, and dressing up like the spirits and creatures they believed could cross over that night. All this was supposed to keep the spirits from harming them. It was definitely connected with Satan and his demons. |
| It is not a good thing for Christians to be involved in all this, for it is not just something funny and harmless. Satan is real, and wicked spirits are real. The unbelievers who are involved with them never make fun of them; they are afraid of them. We do not need to be afraid of them, for we read in the Bible that “greater is He [the Holy Spirit] that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). However, we should not become part of anything that has to do with them. It is an effort of the devil to get us to think that he is not all that bad, and then we are not on guard for his attacks. As our verse says, let us not have fellowship with demons. |
