YEA Lesson Library
Your Shining Armor
About This Lesson
This lesson teaches that we should have nothing to do with Halloween. Rather than putting on costumes to celebrate Halloween, we should always put on the full armor of God.
Scriptures
Leviticus 18:3-5
Deuteronomy 8:11
Deuteronomy 12:29-32
Deuteronomy 18:10-12
2 Kings 17:15-18
Matthew 22:31-32
Acts 20:32-35
2 Corinthians 4:1-4
Ephesians 6:11
Ephesians 6:11-17
Philippians 4:8
1 John 3:1-5
Words to Know
EXTINGUISH - to put out a fire or cause to stop burning
DETESTABLE - abominable, hateful
ADOPTING - to choose or take to use as one’s own
The Lesson
Long ago, Halloween started as a celebration of cold, darkness, and death—as pagan worship to another god. People celebrated this day thinking that the spirits of dead people returned to their homes on this evening. They made huge bonfires, burned animals, crops, and sometimes people. Sacrifices were offered to make other gods happy.
Halloween hasn’t changed from being evil. Although people don’t burn other people in a bonfire any more, they do play pranks, tricks, and cruel jokes on each other. These are not godly things to do. Some people dress up as evil, detestable creatures. Even pretending to be an evil person or creature is wrong.
Since God created us, He is the One who decides how we are to worship Him. Our worship of God must please Him. We can’t decide that a celebration like Halloween is a good way to worship God. “You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things that the Lord hates” (Deuteronomy 12:2, 31-32 NIV).
“Here are things you must not do. Don’t sacrifice your children in the fire to other gods. Don’t practice any kind of evil magic at all. Don’t use magic to try to explain the meaning of warnings in the sky or of any other signs. Don’t take part in worshiping evil powers. Don’t put a spell on any- one. Don’t get messages from those who have died. Don’t talk to the spirits of the dead. Don’t get advice from the dead. The LORD your God hates it when anyone does those things. . .” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). Some people try to make contact with the spirit world or a dead person. God says these things are wrong and He hates them. We certainly don’t want to do anything God hates.
During this celebration, people wore costumes of animal skins and heads. Gradually, the Catholic Church adopted Halloween as the night before All Saints’ Day. This is the day they celebrate to all of the good people (saints) who have died. Adopting a pagan day to celebrate all the good people who have died may sound good on the surface. But this was a day to worship a false god. Remember the Second Commandment says, “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Dressing up in costumes may seem like fun. God wants us to dress up, and even gives us all the things we should put on. But He doesn’t want you putting on a Halloween costume. The costume you put on must be the right one. God wants us to wear it all the time. It is the armor of God.
We are His soldiers and He has an armor He wants every Christian to put on for protection from evil. “Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:13-17 NIV). Let’s look at each piece of the armor that God wants you to put on:
1) The belt of truth—you must always tell the truth. It may be hard, but it is the right thing to do. God’s Word is truth.
2) The next piece is the breastplate of righteousness. God’s commandments are righteous. They are for your good. And they should be in your heart to protect you from evil. The breastplate is a suit of armor that protects your heart.
3) Even your feet need to be protected so they can take you safely in God’s path.
4) A shield is to protect all of your vital organs, which are necessary for life. The shield of faith, or believing in Christ, is necessary for you to have eternal life.
5) A helmet is absolutely necessary in battle. When you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, He will give you the helmet of salvation.
6) As a soldier in battle, we all need to be equipped with the tools to protect ourselves. God has given us the tools to be well equipped.
7) The sword of the Spirit. The Bible is our sword. Knowing the Scriptures gives us a powerful tool to defend ourselves against Satan. Remember what Christ did when He was tempted. Every time He was tempted, He quoted a Scripture.
It’s as important to be careful about what you put in your mind as what you put in your mouth. These are the things the Bible tells that we should think about: “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever, is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). God did not tell us to think about death, darkness and evil things. That is what Halloween is all about, isn’t it?
When Halloween comes again you may see some attractive costumes. But remember, you are already dressed in the armor of God and Christ. You don’t want to think about dark, detestable things. You want to think about good and pure things. You just don’t have any room to dress up like anything else. Put on your godly costume— your shining armor!
Student Prayer
Great God in Heaven,
There is no evil in you. Your way is so good, so clean and so pure. Help me to love good, pure, clean and right things as you do. Help me to put on the whole armor of God and shine it up with the good things I do.
In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen.
Daily Devotions
Sunday - Deuteronomy 12:29-32
Monday - Leviticus 18:3-5
Tuesday - 2 Kings 17:15-18
Wednesday - Acts 20:32-35
Thursday - 1 John 3:1-5
Friday - Matthew 22:31-32
Saturday - 2 Corinthians 4:1-4
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
1. State some of the pagan practices associated with Halloween
2. State why adopting the day to honor good people still isn’t acceptable.
3. Tell that God wants us to think about good things rather than darkness and death.
4. Elaborate on things to do to let their armor shine.
Topics & Themes
Armor of God
Halloween
Holidays, Halloween
Ten Commandments
No Other Gods
Worship God
Materials Needed
Bible, YEA Students’ and Teacher’s books, attendance and memory verse charts, songbook, CD, CD player, construction paper, newsprint pad and marker, drawing paper, crayons, scissors, glue
Preparation
Do some research on the origins of Halloween to ensure its freshness in your mind as you teach the lesson. The popularity of the Harry Potter books and movies have added to interest in the spirit world. Keep in mind that some Junior students are very attracted by gruesome, disgusting things. The more gross it is, the better they like it.
Find a book with some examples of breastplates, swords, shields, and helmets to show your class. Give them interesting history about these pieces of armor. A full-sized poster of someone wearing armor will help students visualize how a person was protected from the weaponry of the time. The correlation to Christ’s protection of us from Satan’s schemes should be more easily made from that point.
How to Teach This Lesson
Brainstorm - with students about things they associate with Halloween. Plan to write what they say on the newsprint pad. Listen carefully to what they say without condemning them.
Share your research - After students have exhausted their ideas, share your research with them. “Although Halloween has become a night of rollicking fun, superstitious spells, and eerie games which people take only half seriously, its beginnings were quite otherwise. The earliest Halloween celebrations were held by the Druids in honor of Samhaim, Lord of the Dead, whose festival fell on November 1” (Halloween Through Twenty Centuries, by Ralph Linton, page 4).
Trick or treat - During Samhaim, or Halloween, the Druids believed that the dead would play tricks on mankind and cause panic and destruction. To appease the spirits of the dead the country people would leave delicious treats of food and fruit to satisfy the wandering spirits so they would not cause them or their household any harm. Even up until the turn of the century it was a custom in Ireland to have a procession led by a man in a white robe wearing a horse-head mask. The purpose was to get contributions from farmers. If the procession didn’t get liberal gifts, the farmers were “tricked” with the threat of a curse that would ruin next year’s crops! Trick or treat today is a continuation of that pagan custom. Why wouldn’t God want you to trick or treat? Explain that God’s way is to give. He says “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Ask: How do you think trick or treat is like stealing?
Jack-o’-lantern - It is said to have come from the carved out turnips and beets used to carry embers from the bonfire back to their homes to relight the family hearth.
Costumes/masks - The Celts disguised themselves in hideous costumes and masks made from animal skins and heads and they blackened their faces with soot. They hoped to blend in with the demonic ghosts and spirits so they would not be noticed and possessed. What kind of costume does God want you to put on? Why does God want you to put on the whole armor of God? (So that when the evil day comes God will protect you.) Would you say that Halloween is an evil day? What are the pieces of the armor that God wants you to put on and how can they protect you?
The belt of truth - Telling the truth is the right thing to do. There are consequences for lying.
Breastplate of righteousness - God’s com- mandments are righteousness. They are for your good. They will protect your heart from evil.
A shield of faith - You must have faith in Jesus Christ to have eternal life.
A helmet of salvation - When you accept Christ as your Savior, He will give you the helmet of salvation.
The sword of the spirit - The Bible is our sword. Knowing the Scriptures is a very powerful tool against Satan. What did Jesus do when He was tempted?
You are what you think - What is it that God wants us to think about? Why? How will thinking about good things help your armor to shine?
Memory Assignment
Type the following Scripture verses and make enough copies for every student to have one: Leviticus 23:4-7, 15-16, 23-27, 33-36. Explain to students that they will be expected to recite these verses on the day the Christmas lesson is taught, which will be about the 25th of December.
Review Questions
1. Name some pagan customs associated with Halloween.
2. How does God feel about adopting these customs?
3. What costume does God want us to wear and what are its pieces?
4. Why is it important to put on the full armor of God?
5. How is Halloween different from the thoughts God wants us to have?
Teacher-Directed Activity
Before class, enlarge and make copies on separate sheets of construction paper of the pieces of armor in the Students’ book. Have students draw a self-portrait on drawing paper and color it. Help them make it the right size for the armor to fit. Then paste their drawing on a piece of construction paper. Next, have them cut out the pieces of armor and glue each one in the appropriate place on their self-portrait, then write the memory verse as a caption at the bottom of the paper.
REACH Activity
Back to the Bible: Choosing God
Your YEA lesson and list of Daily Devotions cite scriptures which tell how God feels about participating in pagan practices. Read through these verses: Deuteronomy 12:2, 29-32; Deuteronomy 18:10-12; Leviticus 18:3-5; 2 Kings 17:14-18; Deuteronomy 4:2.
You may not see anything wrong with celebrating Halloween. But if God says not to participate in pagan practices, that’s a good enough reason for not doing it! We choose to follow God. We believe that He loves us and only wants the very best for us! He gave us His only Son to pay the penalty for our sins. Now He tells us not to participate in something. Is celebrating Halloween so important that you are willing to disobey and displease God - after all that He has done? Some people say that God doesn’t really care - that your celebration of Halloween doesn’t have anything to do with the pagan origins. But it’s still connected with those pagan beginnings. There are still very evil things which happen on that night. A Christian’s goal should be to please God first - and that means staying away from Halloween.
Write about this in your Bible notebook. Then talk about your conclusions with your family. The discussion will help prepare you if you are asked why you won’t participate in a Halloween activity.
Journal Jot: Satan’s Schemes
Satan always attacks where we are weakest. Think about it: temptations are only temptations if you might be sucked into them. For example, I am not tempted in the least to eat rattlesnake or mouse or shrimp. Some people may consider them delicacies, but the idea of putting them in my mouth is totally repulsive to me. They are not a temptation. But I may be tempted to do something unGodly in another area.
Why are people tempted to participate in Halloween? Here are a few comments:
* It’s just something fun for the kids. We want to let the kids have fun.
* What harm is there in dressing up? It’s just a little fun.
* We can do a trunk or treat event at our church. It’ll bring people in so we can share the gospel.
* God wants us to have fun and rejoice. This is a good opportunity to have fun together.
* I don’t let my kids dress up as something evil; we only dress in fun costumes.
Add other comments you have heard to the list. Then respond to them in your Bible notebook. Is there any good reason to involve yourself in a pagan celebration when God says not to?! Write about this.
Word Study: Schemes - methodeias (G3180)
This word means scheming or trickery, wile, lie in wait. It’s a compound word from the Greek meta and the Greek hodeuo. Meta is a pronoun which means with or implying change. Hodeuo means to travel. Together, then, the compound word methodeias means that a change occurs to intentionally move away from truth. [Source: https://biblehub.com/greek/3180.htm]
How does this idea of scheming or trickery relate to the observance of Halloween? Write this word and your thoughts in your Bible notebook.
Just Toolin’ Around: The Full Armor of God
Using a Bible concordance or other reference tool, research the full armor of God. For example, find 3 - 5 verses which talk about righteousness. Where does it come from. In your Bible notebook, write down the scripture citation and a quick note about the verse. Do the same for each one of the pieces of armor. Then read Romans 13:14 (especially in the NIV). Where do we find the full armor of God? How do we put it on? Be sure to record all of this in your Bible notebook.
Did you Know? God’s Clothing
Read Isaiah 59:17. God also has righteous as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on His head. What other two pieces does God wear? “God put on the powers of a fully equipped warrior. God not only forgives sin; he opposes it with all His might.” [Source: ESV Study Bible. Crossway Bibles, 2008. p. 1349]
Write a response paragraph to these verses (Isaiah 59:17 and Ephesians 6:11-17) in your Bible notebook.
Stretch It Out: The Full Armor of God
Using Ephesians 6:13-17, draw a self-portrait. Add all of the pieces of the full armor of God. Label each piece and find a scripture reference (other than Ephesians 6) for each piece. Add color with your favorite coloring tools. Display your self-portrait in your room where you will see if every morning as you get dressed - as a reminder to mentally put on the full armor of God every day.
Music Notes: A Christian Home
This hymn is on page 138 of the CEM Hymnal. The text was written in 1965 by Barbara B. Hunt (1916 - ?); the music, known as Finlandia was written by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) in 1899. There is no information about Barbara Hunt or the origins of the text; there is abundant information about Jean Sibelius and his lifelong passion for music.
As you sing this song, take note of the words. To whom is the hymn addressed? What are the specific requests for a Christian home? In your Bible notebook, make a list of the characteristics Barbara Hunt envisioned in a Christian home. Then grade your home on how well it compares to the ideal. What can do you to improve your home?
Questions?
Remember to write any questions that you have in your journal. That way you will remember to ask your parents, teacher, or minister.
Song
“I Am A C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N” is on page 52 of
Kids Classics Collection.
Closing Prayer
Ask for a volunteer to lead in prayer asking for God’s help in keeping their armor shining.
Printable Pages
