A teaching by Rev. Barbara Williams, President of the Ministry of the Watchman International
Week of October 27-31, 2025
MONDAY
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
“I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
2 Corinthians 6:16-18
THE ANCIENT WORLD
Halloween, as we know it today, has its origins in the pre-Christian Celtic “Festival for the Dead.” In an attempt to Christianize this pagan event, Pope Gregory III moved “All Saints’ Day” from May to November 1 in A.D. 800 with the intent of honoring the lives of the saints. In addition to this original intent, churches began staging pageants in which people dressed up as saints or demons to scare away the real demons associated with the festival.
Rather than helping Christianize the Celts, Christians were drawn into compromise. Later, October 31 was set aside as a “Holy Evening,” also known as All Hallows Eve, which then became Hallowe’en, in an attempt to give Christians a spiritually edifying alternative that would allow them to proclaim the supremacy of the gospel over pagan superstition.
Unfortunately, these efforts appear to have had little positive effect over the centuries. In the western world, few people are aware of the Holy Evening or recognize All Saints Day, but for retailers the Festival of the Dead is big business. According to a USA Today article, Halloween spending in the United States surpasses $3 billion annually.
If you are in need of healing, there is good news! Proverbs 4:20-22 SAYS:
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
So there is life and health in God’s word. Since God’s word is medicine, we must take it like we would a prescription. I suggest three times a day, like you would your food. Remember, healing is the children’s bread. Consider this your “dose” for today. Remember, read, and meditate three times a day the following:
Rx: 1 John 3:8b ~ For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15
If you’ve never studied the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we invite you to join us as we read through the Bible in a year. Read and meditate on these chapters this week:
October 27: 2 Kings 8, 1 Timothy 5, Daniel 12, Psalms 119:49-72
October 28: 2 Kings 9, 1 Timothy 6, Hosea 1, Psalms 119:73-96
October 29: 2 Kings 10, 2 Timothy 1, Hosea 2, Psalms 119:97-120
October 30: 2 Kings 11-12, 2 Timothy 2, Hosea 3-4, Psalms 119:121-144
October 31: 2 Kings 13, 2 Timothy 3, Hosea 5-6, Psalms 119:145-176
November 1: 2 Kings 14, 2 Timothy 4, Hosea 7, Psalms 120-122
November 2: 2 Kings 15, Titus 1, Hosea 8, Psalms 123-125
TUESDAY
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
“I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
2 Corinthians 6:16-18
The history of Mardi Gras began long before Europeans set foot in the New World. In mid February the ancient Romans celebrated the Lupercalia, a circus like festival not entirely unlike the Mardi Gras we are familiar with today. When Rome embraced Christianity, the early Church fathers decided it was better to incorporate certain aspects of pagan rituals into the new faith rather than attempt to abolish them altogether. Carnival became a period of abandon and merriment that preceded the penance of Lent, thus giving a Christian interpretation to the ancient custom.
WEDNESDAY
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
“I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
2 Corinthians 6:16-18
THE MODERN WORLD
South Louisiana’s first recorded use of the name Mardi Gras was in 1699 when Pierre le Moyne, Sieur D’Iberville, landed at the mouth of a small bayou along the Mississippi River on Tuesday, March 2, and named it Bayou du Mardi Gras. The people of this area have been celebrating Carnival in one manner or another ever since.
The French gradually began celebrating the season and by the Middle Ages it was in full swing. They began masquerading at lavish balls and also introduced the “Bouef Gras,” a huge bull which was paraded through the streets. Their name for Carnival became the official title for the celebration all over the world, “Mardi Gras.” It means Fat Tuesday.
THURSDAY
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
“I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
2 Corinthians 6:16-18
What the church once deplored is now accepted. A blend of pagan rites, animism and church religion exist today. In an attempt to convert the masses the church, the Catholic Church, fixed the celebrated resurrection of Jesus (Easter) around the astrological event that “spring rites” celebrate (the full moon of the spring equinox). The fixing of Easter allows the unscriptural religious celebration of Lent and Ash Wednesday to follow Mardi Gras. Instead of resisting the ways of the pagans, the “church” absorbed many of these festivals in hopes that it would convert the pagans. What we have today is a churchy world and a worldly church!!! In French, Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday. This is a day to gorge and over indulge oneself before the seasonal religious practice of fasting, abstinence and denial. It is not surprising that the symbol for Mardi Gras is the “Bouef Gras” – The fattened bull.
FRIDAY
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
“I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
2 Corinthians 6:16-18
ORIGIN IN EGYPT
Carnival, a festival celebrated in South America and the Caribbean, has its origin on the continent of Africa around 4000 B.C. It was to celebrate the season considered good for planting food: summer. The festival was offered to Apis, the bull worshipped as god by the Egyptians and also to Isis, considered the mother-goddess.
This festival spread around the Mediterranean. Greco-Roman influence included bacchanals (wine festivals dedicated to the god Bacchus) that spread from the vineyards and fields to the streets of the cities. The people were allowed to act out their joy, and frustration. It was a time when a certain degree of lawlessness was tolerated. Rulers thought these practices staved off revolts by the working class.
Later the Catholic Church, considering the festivals immoral, assigned a date close to Easter, with the 40-day penitent period of purification and self-denial before the celebration of the resurrected Christ. The celebrations lasted through the Middle Ages, spread to France, Portugal and South America. In Rio de Janerio this celebration generates 460 million dollars, and creates 300,000 – 500,000 jobs.