Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals:
Wednesday July 2 2025
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1 Corinthians 15:33-Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
Have you ever noticed that in 1 Corinthians 15:33, Paul’s declaration that “evil company corrupts good habits” is in quotation marks? The reason why is because the Apostle is actually quoting from a well known pagan from his time.
“Paul now moves from a biblical text with an anti-Epicurean thrust (vs. 32 b) to a quotation from the third-to-fourth century Athenian dramatist Meander: ‘Do no be misled; bad company corrupts good character.’ …The epigram from Meander’s Thais was a popular one in Paul’s day and would probably have been known to any educated Corinthian.” (Roy E. Ciampa & Brian S. Rosner, The First Letter To The Corinthians: The Pillar New Testament Commentary, 791-792 (Kindle Edition); Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company)
As he (and other Bible writers) often does, Paul quotes from an uninspired saying or writing in order to demonstrate that such a source has a good point to consider. The Bible teaches that there are elements of truth that can be found in things outside the Bible. Such is true with the holiday known as Halloween.
Some years back, I was studying from an uninspired Jewish history book known as Jubilees. It was describing how after the Flood, Noah instituted four holidays for his descendants to observe in honor to God and as a reminder of His grace and of His judgments. The Flood itself began on the date that we know as Halloween. Writing of this, Johnson observes:
“We have seen that after the flood Noah commanded the observance of the equinoxes and solstices to practice repentance, have family fellowship, and study prophecy. See the chapter on Equinoxes and Solstices. The date the Flood came was set aside to remember God will not always tolerate sin and to remember the water and fire judgments predicted to come upon the earth. Genesis records the exact date of the Flood began. “And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.” Genesis 7: 10-12 According to the Dead Sea Scroll calendar, the seventeenth of the second month would be Iyar 17th, which would fall in mid-April to mid-May. If we use the Pharisee calendar, the date of the Flood would be placed in the autumn. It would be Cheshvan 17th, which falls in our mid-October through mid-November. The seventeenth would fall around October 31st. Today, most pagan groups celebrate it on the full moon closest to October 31st. As far back as anyone can remember it was the “day of the dead.” But the pagans turned it into as celebration of idolatry. When you walk into a store in October and see all the Halloween decorations, remember if there was no flood judgment there would be no Halloween. The fact that Halloween exists is a testament to the fact of God’s judgment of sin! Jeroboam After the united kingdom split into Judah and Israel, Jeroboam, the king of the northern kingdom of Israel, did not want his people going to the Temple in the southern kingdom of Judah. Jeroboam said: “If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.” 1 Kings 12: 27 So Jeroboam recreated the calf idols that the Israelites made when they first left Egypt. Jeroboam also recreated the ancient festival of the full moon of the eighth month, (or the full moon of October) called Halloween, to be celebrated in Israel in place of the Feast of Tabernacles. “Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.” 1 Kings 12: 28-33 Notice in verse 30 it says that “this thing became a sin.” Observing the date of the Flood and honoring God with repentance is not a sin, but to turn the observance into paganism with calf idols turns it into a sin.” (Ken Johnson Th.D., Ancient Origins of Modern Holidays, 1246-1281 (Kindle Edition, emphasis added): BibleFacts Ministries)
Halloween was originally intended to be a holiday which people set aside to honor God and give Him thanks for saving humankind through the Flood, but then it was perverted by paganism.
Here are a few thoughts from all this to consider.
First, the Bible encourages us to study things that are outside the Bible to gain better understanding, especially of things that are in the Bible. While elements of truth are found in all religions (cf. Acts 17:26-28), the Bible is the standard by which all things are measured because all truth is found in Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 John 4:6). It is not a betrayal of Christ to acknowledge that there are some things true and good outside of the Bible, since the Bible itself continually affirms this.
Second, there was a time when Halloween was a good and honorable time to celebrate God. Knowing that something can be twisted and perverted does not mean that there was never anything good about it. We must judge righteous judgment of things, not according to the appearance (John 7:24). People have asked me before if it is wrong for a Christian to observe Halloween. Certainly if we are holding any holiday to elevate and honor things which are demonic, we should be as alarmed as Paul when the Galatians did the same (Galatians 4:10-11). At the same time, we must be careful not to condemn the innocent with the guilty. Is it possible that some may observe holidays (even Halloween) to honor God and try to reach the lost (cf. Romans 14:1-5)?
Of course!
Third, as God’s church, there is a sense in which every day is holy (Psalm 118:24: Acts 2:46). But there is another Day that we are blessed to celebrate, and that is the Lord’s Day, or Sunday (Revelation 1:10; Acts 20:7). On this Day, we remember together the Lord’s death and resurrection from the dead on our behalf. Like Noah, we are reminded of His judgement against sin and of His mercy in redeeming us (Acts 2:37-38; Romans 6:3-4). Let us be glad to come together and praise Him and give Him thanks (Colossians 3:16-17; Ephesians 5:18-19)! May we be grateful that we can assemble as His people and encourage each other on that blessed Day (Hebrews 10:24-25)!
Lord, we thank You for saving humanity from the world before the Flood. We cannot even begin to imagine how terrible that world was. Please also accept our thanks for saving us from this present darkness and conveying us into the kingdom of the Son of Your love. Help us to always be mindful of how blessed we are. Lead us today and help us encourage some soul to look to You. Amen.
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