How Man Changed God’s Holy Days into Pagan Holidays
At Divine Defense Co., we believe in being prepared — not only in body, but in spirit. Preparedness is about more than food, water, and security. It’s about standing firm in truth when the world around us twists and distorts it. One of the clearest examples is how man has taken the holy days given by God in Scripture and replaced them with traditions rooted in paganism.
God’s Appointed Times
From the beginning, God gave His people appointed times (Leviticus 23). These weren’t man-made traditions — they were God’s calendar, pointing us to His covenant and ultimately to Jesus Christ.
Passover pointed to the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.
Firstfruits pointed to the resurrection.
Pentecost (Shavuot) pointed to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
These feasts are not outdated rituals — they are the blueprint of God’s plan of salvation.
How Man Changed Them
Passover → Easter
Instead of remembering Jesus as our Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7), traditions were blended with fertility worship. The very word Easter is linked to Ishtar (also spelled Inanna or Astarte), a Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, and war.
Her symbols were:
Eggs – fertility and new life
Rabbits/Hares – reproduction and sexuality
Spring Festivals – celebrating rebirth during the equinox
Rather than removing these pagan customs, Rome blended them with the resurrection, and “Easter” was born.
The Birth of Jesus → Christmas on December 25th
The birth of our Savior was placed on December 25th, the Roman festival of the sun god Sol Invictus. Evergreen trees, yule logs, and mistletoe were taken directly from pagan winter solstice practices.
God’s Warnings
God warned His people: “Do not learn the way of the nations” (Jeremiah 10:2). Yet man chose tradition over obedience, trading God’s appointed times for man-made holidays.
Halloween: The Darkest Substitution
Pagan Roots
Halloween traces back to Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival marking the transition from summer to winter. Pagans believed the veil between the living and the dead was thinnest on this night, so they offered sacrifices, wore disguises to hide from spirits, and lit bonfires to ward off evil.
When the Roman church tried to absorb these customs, they rebranded it as “All Hallows’ Eve” — the night before All Saints’ Day. But the core practices — costumes, fear of spirits, offerings — remained pagan at their root.
Why This Matters Today
Halloween is not a holy day of God. It celebrates death, fear, and darkness — the very things Christ came to overcome. Scripture says, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).
Yet today, many churches embrace “Trunk-or-Treat” as a “safe alternative.” The problem? It’s still Halloween. Dressing it up with candy in a church parking lot doesn’t make it holy. It is heartbreaking to see God’s house accommodating the world instead of standing apart from it.
We are called to “be separate” (2 Corinthians 6:17), not to sanctify pagan customs with a new name. If the world is celebrating death, why should the Church join in at all?
Why This Matters for Us Today
As Christians preparing for the days ahead, we cannot build on a foundation of compromise. If we want our families and communities to stand strong, we need to return to God’s appointed times, not man’s traditions.
Jesus said, “True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:23). That means we need to ask ourselves:
👉 Am I honoring God’s Word, or man’s version of it?
👉 Am I celebrating the days God set apart, or the ones the world mixed with idols?
Stand Firm in Truth
At Divine Defense Co., we prepare for storms, disasters, and conflict — but most importantly, we prepare for eternity. That means guarding not only our homes, but our faith. The world may change God’s story, but we are called to live His truth, not man’s tradition.
✝️ Let’s return to God’s appointed times. Let’s worship in spirit and in truth. ✝️
