The danger of sinful imitation

In Deuteronomy chapter 18, as the law of God is presented to a new generation of Israelites prior to their entrance into Canaan, various instructions are given on how they were to conduct themselves once they came in to that promised land. In verses 9 to 15 they are told that 'when thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations'. Various pagan practices such as divination, witchcraft and necromancy as practiced by the Canaanites are then prohibited. These sinful practices were forbidden to the children of Israel and are described as being an abomination to God, showing them to be loathsome and offensive to his holy name. Indeed it was for the practice of these things that the Lord would drive the Canaanites out of the land (verse 12).

Among these sins here listed there are many practices and which are linked with and familiar to the celebration of Halloween. The satanic practices of sorcery and witchcraft, of human sacrifice and communicating with the dead, condemned by God as being among the vilest of sins, are found at the very root and origin of Halloween. Behind every Halloween custom, when it is traced back far enough, the hand of Satan can be found. Halloween customs such as trick or treat, jack-o-lanterns and bobbing for apples, things which on the surface are fun and harmless, all have their beginnings in ancient pagan druid practices, rituals which can themselves be traced back to Babylonish idolatry and the very things which we find condemned in Deuteronomy 18.

A pivotal verse for a pivotal day

31st October 1517 was a pivotal day in the history of the church of Jesus Christ. The nailing of Martin Luther's 95 Theses to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral has been seen as the spark which lit the fires of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. Whilst earlier men such as Wycliffe and Hus had also rejected the teachings of Rome and sought to turn the church back to the teachings of the bible it has been the actions of Martin Luther which have been traditionally viewed as the start of the Reformation. So significant were his actions on 31st October 1517 that this date has become known as Reformation Day, although sadly that fact has been forgotten by many Protestants. What better verse then to consider on this day but the words with which Luther had struggled, yet were also the means of converting that great Reformer, and bringing him out of the darkness of Romanism into the glorious light of the gospel:

'For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith'. (Romans 1:17)

For a long time Luther had struggled with a sense of guilt of his sin. Although he had lived the life of a monk, and been devout in doing so, he knew that was still unrighteous in the sight of God. The demands of the law were such that all his prayers, penance and pilgrimage had not given him peace, either within himself or with God. When he considered the justice and righteousness of God, he could not understand how a man could possibly be justified in the light of God's holy justice. Luther's own words describe how he felt: