Most Bible believers are familiar with the ninth plague that fell on Egypt right before Israel’s exodus. God commanded Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt,” (Exod. 10:21). It happened! The darkness was so intense, the Egyptians never left their homes.
That storyline parallels something similar that happens globally every year: three consecutive days of spiritual darkness and deception that settle over the world disguised as religious holidays (holy days).
HALLOWEEN (OCTOBER 31)
Masquerading in costumes and children “Trick-or-Treating” door-to-door looks innocent, but this day hides a sinister past. Originally, an ancient pagan celebration called Samhain (pronounced sow-in), it was a dreadful night full of occult rituals performed by Druid priests as the darkness of winter approached. It included wearing costumes (often animal skins and heads), not for fun but to ward off evil ghosts. Witches and wiccans to this day believe it is a day when communication with the dead is most advantageous. Supposedly, the “veil” between the natural and spiritual realms is at its thinnest, most penetrable point.
Halloween is the high “unholy” day of Satanism, when the evil side of the spiritual spectrum is celebrated: a time when gruesome images of skeletons, zombies, gravestones, blood, vampires and spider webs abound. Even jack-o-lantern pumpkins on porches have a dark backstory involving a man named Jack who made a pact with the devil for monetary gain. When he died, as the myth goes, God refused him entrance to heaven and Satan refused him entrance into hell, so his ghost was cursed to roam the earth forever. By the way, that light in the pumpkin—it represents a live coal from the fires of hell that Satan threw at Jack.
Most committed Christians recoil from participation in Halloween since evil is so blatantly enshrined. However, few realize the two days that follow it are filled with just as much darkness and deception.
ALL SAINTS DAY (NOVEMBER 1)
The term Halloween evolved from “All Hallows Eve,” a reference to the night before All Saints Day. (The word ‘hallow’ means holy or saint.) What could be bad about a day set aside to celebrate saints? Isn’t that positive progress? Not if you dig deeper into the doctrine behind it. Pope Gregory III (A.D. 731-741) declared Nov. 1 a day to honor all martyrs and saints. As the concept of saints developed in Catholicism, it became a day when praying to the saints was emphasized. Unfortunately, this is merely the forbidden practice of necromancy veiled in biblical terminology.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 commands, “There must not be found among you anyone . . . who uses divination, or uses witchcraft . . . or a spiritualist, or an occultist, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord.” (A necromancer, like a spiritualist, is someone who attempts to contact the dead. The word ‘abomination’ means revolting and detestable.)
God was not denying His people a legitimate spiritual experience; He was protecting them from demonic deception. Yet Catholics insist that appealing to departed saints to intercede and intervene in their behalf is right. This tradition is both theologically and logically erroneous. All Saints Day could be compared to a global séance with millions of participants. Saul went to the witch of Endor hoping to contact the prophet Samuel who had died. That didn’t go so well, did it?
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There are two more reasons this practice is wrong. First, all believers are saints, not just those who have shown exceptional holiness (check out Eph. 1:1; Col. 1:2). Second, logistically, it is impossible. There are approximately 1.3 billion Catholics in the world. Suppose half of them pray to Peter on All Saints Days. That’s about 450 people every minute. Can you imagine trying to intelligently process 450 conversations at once? To handle such a tsunami of requests, Peter would have to be omniscient (all knowing) and omnipresent (existing everywhere), because he would have to be involved in 450 situations and locations at once. Yet these are attributes ascribed only to God. Moreover, there is only “one God and one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,” (1 Tim. 2:5).
ALL SOULS DAY (NOVEMBER 2)
What could be wrong with setting aside a day to remember all souls who have gone beyond the veil of death? Nothing, if it ended there. However, in Catholicism, All Souls Day is especially a time to pray for loved ones in Purgatory. In that imagined realm, Catholics not holy enough to enter heaven at death are purportedly perfected over a period of even thousands of years. Such a doctrine robs the cross of its glory and grace of its power. The go-to Scripture Catholics use to support the idea of Purgatory is 1 Corinthians 3:10-15: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
Clearly, Paul was not talking about a protracted process, but a single day of revelation when Jesus will return “in flaming fire and all His holy angels,” (2 Thess. 1:8). In that blazing moment, the Savior will ascertain whether the works of His people earn an eternal reward or if they were futile, non-scriptural, religious pursuits.
So, there you have it: three days, back-to-back, equally filled with religious darkness and deception. No wonder those who are sensitive spiritually can “feel” this darkness. {eoa}
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Mike Shreve was saved during the Jesus Revolution and has traveled evangelistically over 50 years, with an emphasis on healing and the prophetic. He has written 17 books; three have been Charisma House #1 bestsellers on Amazon. He has two podcasts with Charisma Podcast Network. His comparative religion website (www.thetruelight.net) has received four million hits and seekers from over 100 nations have downloaded the free book on his testimony. Another website (www.toCatholicswithlove.org) is part of an outreach to Catholics based on his new book, The Beliefs of the Catholic Church.
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