Kathryn A. Frazier
Your Story. Your voice. the best it can be.
Cool Anniversary from the Bible Falls on Halloween
This year, a very cool anniversary from the Bible falls on Halloween, and I think it will make a wonderful alternative celebration.
But first, a bit about Halloween. Feel free to skip this part, if you’re not interested. Some folks consider Halloween a harmless secular celebration, and go all out to enjoy it. Some folks observe the Christian Hallowed Evening before All Saints Day. Some ignore the day, because it doesn’t apply to them. I find most interesting the folks who religiously observe Halloween by trying to scare people into not observing Halloween because it’s against their religion and too scary. They don’t even see the irony.
See also: Halloween, Jack Chick, and Anti-Catholicism
I mostly stay home and give out bags of candy, with puzzle games and coloring pages and a little note that says only, “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die, but will have eternal life.” John 3:16, NIrV.
ALTERNATIVE CELEBRATION IDEA BASED ON THE HEBREW CALENDAR
The Hebrew calendar and the Gregorian calendar (that we use in USA) do not always sync up this way, but on Halloween Day, October 31, 2013, it will be the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan, which is believed to be the anniversary of the day that Noah and his family and all the animals were finally able to leave the ark after the great flood.
When they exited the ark at God’s calling, Noah built an altar to the LORD, and the sacrifice pleased God. God promised to never again destroy the earth by flood, and he gave mankind the rainbow as a sign of his promise.
So, if you don’t celebrate Halloween, or you just want something else to celebrate on this day, celebrate God’s promises! Celebrate his deliverance. Celebrate Noah’s faith. Celebrate the earth and the animals and the people that God preserved for us. You can decorate with rainbows and rainbow-colored streamers and balloons, make a rainbow cake, eat rainbow sherbet and read the account of Noah and the flood from the Bible (Genesis 7:1 through 9:17).
If your celebration includes children, read from a kid-friendly version of the Bible (Try New International Reader’s Version, available online), dress up like animals from the ark, play games, color your best rainbow pictures and eat rainbow-colored candies. It’s all good.
“Noah had faith. So he built an ark to save his family. He built it because of his great respect for God. God had warned him about things that could not yet be seen. Because of his faith he showed the world that it was guilty. Because of his faith he was considered right with God.” –Hebrews 11:7, NIrV
What about you? Do you observe All Saints Day or Halloween or nothing at all? Will you celebrate the anniversary of leaving the ark this year?
2 Comments on “Cool Anniversary from the Bible Falls on Halloween”
Leave a Reply
Leave a Tip
Thank you for your continued support! Every dollar donated helps keep this site ad-free and allows me to spend more time writing, helping other writers, and providing free content.
$1.00
Kathryn A. Frazier 
These are creative ideas for celebrating on October 31! October 31 is also “REFORMATION DAY”, celebrated by the Lutheran and other Reformed Church denominations ( Congregationalist, Presbyterian, Reformed)–it was on October 31, 1517, that Martin Luther posted his famous “95 Theses” on the door of the Wittenburg Church. These were his protests against indulgences and other abuses of the Roman Catholic Church at that time. Other creative activities Christians enjoy include harvest festivals or “harvest parties.” This makes sense in our temperate zone, since the end of the North American agricultural year always falls between September and November.
When I lived in Greene County in Ohio during the 1980’s, I enjoyed watching the huge combines out in the fields, literally harvesting the last feed corn under a full “harvest moon” in the last days of October. Celebration of the harvest is a natural human response to the abundant provision of food our Creator gives to us! Our American culture’s inflation of “Halloween” into a month-long “season” represents the LOSS OF HARVEST CELEBRATION in our society–so Hallowe’en colors, decorations, regalia, etc. is really a pitiful substitute for the God-given instinct to CELEBRATE THE AUTUMNAL HARVEST and the BEAUTY OF THE FALL SEASON. Another alternative celebration for October 31 is the biblical FEAST OF TABERNACLES/SUKKOT. I have enjoyed sponsoring these for churches on October 31 since 1985. Our own American THANKSGIVING–based upon Sukkot– was originally held in early October in 1621, and lasted for three days. We Christians can ALWAYS celebrate the harvest; celebrate Reformation Day; GIVE THANKS TO YAHWEH for the beauty of the fall season and we, too, can “come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves!” (Psalm 126)
Thank you for the great reminder, Charity! Here in Florida, where I live, we don’t see much changing leaves and harvest in the Fall, except as decorations. It can be easy to forget what most of the world sees as a visual aid every year. Happy Harvest!