By Allen Frederick

This article serves to peel back the layers of spiritual compromise hidden within the modern Christian calendar. It is much like unwrapping a mummy to reveal the skeletons in the closet. With historical and biblical precision, it shows the repackaging of ancient pagan rituals. These rituals have been accepted under the guise of Christian tradition. The purpose is to challenge believers to discern these counterfeit practices. The goal is to call the Church back to God’s original appointed times and faithful worship. This will restore reverence and truth to our sacred calendar.

“Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah… in the month which he had devised in his own heart.” —1 Kings 12:33

In two days, millions of Christians will dress their children as demons. They will decorate their sanctuaries with skeletons. They will call it “outreach.” They’ll defend this spiritual masquerade with theological gymnastics, claiming they’ve “redeemed” a pagan death festival for Christ.

They haven’t. They’ve become the Church of Jeroboam.

The Pattern of Apostasy

Jeroboam faced a significant political problem. It arose when he became king of Israel’s northern tribes after the kingdom split (1 Kings 12:20). If his people kept traveling to Jerusalem for God’s appointed feasts, they might defect back to Judah. His solution? Create counterfeit worship that felt familiar but kept people under his control.

His innovations were damning:

• Golden calves in Bethel and Dan—“It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel” (1 Kings 12:28)
• Non-Levite priests—“He made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi” (1 Kings 12:31)
• A new feast day on the 15th of the 8th month—“like the feast that was in Judah” (1 Kings 12:32)
• Alternative worship centers—“He offered sacrifices on the altar which he had made in Bethel” (1 Kings 12:33)

Sound familiar? It should. The modern Church has perfected Jeroboam’s playbook.

Jeroboam, Thy Name Is Pope Gregory

The Celtic festival of Samhain never died. When Rome suppressed Druidism around 60 CE, the practices went underground but lived on in rural communities. When Christianity arrived, it found these death rituals still thriving.

Enter Pope Gregory I (590-604), who pioneered “interpretatio Christiana”—the strategy of absorbing pagan practices rather than destroying them. His successor, Pope Gregory III (731-741), moved All Saints’ Day to November 1st, directly overlaying Samhain.

Jeroboam created alternative feast days to keep political power. Pope Gregory created alternative holy days to gain religious control. Both compromised God’s truth for human convenience. Both made unauthorized additions to God’s calendar. Both led God’s people into generational apostasy.

The Druids dressed in animal skins to hide from spirits. We dress in polyester to mock them. The ritual remains—only the rationale has changed.

Halloween: The Gateway Drug

Walk through any Spirit Halloween store (prophetic name, isn’t it?) and witness the fruit:

• Ouija boards marketed to children
• Demon costumes labeled “fun”
• Witchcraft normalized as entertainment
• Death glorified as decoration

We didn’t defeat paganism—we legitimized it. We gave darkness a Christian name and watched it devour our children.

Scripture warns: “Do not learn the way of the nations” (Jeremiah 10:2). Yet we’ve done more than learn—we’ve mastered their ways.

The Reformation That Wasn’t

Here’s the ultimate irony. Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg door on October 31, 1517. He did this not to mock Satan. He chose this date because crowds would gather for All Saints’ Day. He used a compromised holiday to protest compromise.

But the Protestant Reformation reformed theology while keeping Rome’s calendar. We protested the papacy but preserved their parties. We rejected transubstantiation but kept Saturnalia. We abandoned purgatory but clung to Easter eggs.

The Reformers broke from Rome’s doctrine but remained shackled to Gregory’s calendar. They changed the management but kept Jeroboam’s system intact. We became protesters who still party on pagan holidays.

The Trinity of Compromise

Halloween isn’t alone. It’s part of an unholy trinity:

Christmas – Rome’s Saturnalia rebranded. We celebrate Christ’s birth on a date He wasn’t born, using symbols He never sanctioned.

Easter – Ishtar’s fertility festival baptized. We celebrate resurrection with pagan eggs and rabbits while ignoring Passover, which actually points to the Lamb.

These aren’t cultural accommodations. They’re high places we refuse to tear down. Sacred cows we defend more fiercely than God’s actual appointed times:

• Passover (Leviticus 23:5)
• Pentecost/Shavuot (Leviticus 23:16)
• Tabernacles/Sukkot (Leviticus 23:34)
• Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur (Leviticus 23:27)

The Cost of Compromise

Scripture mentions “the sin of Jeroboam” twenty-one times. Every king was judged by whether they “walked in the ways of Jeroboam” (1 Kings 15:34). His compromise became generational apostasy.

The pattern persists:

• Jeroboam: “Worship Yahweh, but my way”
• Pope Gregory: “Come to Christ, but keep your festivals”
• Protestant Church: “Sola Scriptura, but not for holidays”
• Modern Church: “Reach the lost by joining their parties”

A Prophetic Call

God didn’t whisper when He judged Jeroboam. He shouldn’t whisper now.

To Pastors: Stop defending what God never ordained. Your theological degrees don’t authorize you to rewrite God’s calendar. “Come out from among them and be separate” (2 Corinthians 6:17).

To Parents: Every costume is a catechism. What are you teaching? “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness” (Ephesians 5:11).

To the Remnant: Yes, you’ll be hated. Yes, you’ll be called legalistic. Stand anyway. “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too” (1 Corinthians 10:21).

The Bottom Line

The Church didn’t redeem Samhain. It resurrected it. We gave paganism a priestly robe and wondered why our children can’t discern darkness from light.

Jeroboam’s epitaph was simple: “He made Israel to sin” (1 Kings 14:16). Gregory’s legacy is identical. The Reformation’s failure is the same. If we continue in their footsteps, our epitaph will match theirs.

This Halloween, while others party with darkness, may a faithful remnant rise. They will declare: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). This commitment will be on His terms, in His time, by His Word alone.

The high places must fall. The sacred cows must die. The calendar must return to its Creator.

It’s time to stop being the Church of Jeroboam.

This has been a “View From the Nest.” And that is the way I see it. What say you?