The night’s darkness was filled with the eerie shrieks of laughter, such as none but the evil spirits could expel from their foul mouths. It really wasn’t Halloween, but it was a time, they had thought, for rejoicing. Unearthly fires sprang up from within their dark domain, flickering eerie images of yellow and orange upon the cavern walls. With a joyous shout one creature clutched onto a newly departed soul and dragged him into the lake within, filled with not water, but fire. The soul screamed at the torment and the evil creatures laughed. One by one they cackled their stories, long, overly told stories, of tormenting some human, of creating such a fear in their hearts as to make them mad. Yet, as old as these stories were there were new ones, always new stories of mankind facing all manner of evil, and at times thinking these things good things…until the end. Ah, the end. That is what it was all about. Promise a man riches and fame and he’d do anything to get it. Theirs was to tempt mankind to do the most unseeming things to reach the goals that temptation and lust put in their hearts to grasp. Would someone murder to be rich? Oh of course. Many were the stories of those who had done so. Would they murder to become famous? Yes, even then there were cases that proved that point. Would they take their bodies, made to be sacred by the Creator, and lie down in the filth around them for profit or to earn what they might to pay off another lust? Oh, yes, of course they would. Yellow eyes peered greedily through the darkness as the laughter of the insane leapt from their lips.

This was a wonderful time, a joyous time of counting and recounting the souls who were lost for all eternity and those who were bound to join them in due season. This was, in fact, the immortal casting of what Halloween is truly about. Halloween isn’t about pumpkins and dress up. It’s not about tricks or treats, nor even horror stories that they might tell one another. True Halloween, that is its essence, was the celebration of the torture of mankind, their total loss to fear, that look upon their faces when at last, after death, they realized the truth…they had believed a lie and now the penalty would be separation from their very Creator. Yet, this time things were different. This time things were even more demonically grand than ever, for this time they had killed the Son of the Father.

“He calls Himself the King of the Jews,” one spirit cackled out sarcastically.

“If King He is, then let Him come down and prove that to us,” another added.

“No, no. He couldn’t do that. Not that could He?” A roar of laughter rippled through the caverns, shook the gates of the prisoners whose only view was of that lake of fire before them, or pure darkness.

“No, He could never do that,” came a voice, unlaughing, unflinching, a voice clear as the choicest diamond and full of authority and power.

The laughter turned to shrieks of terror as these demons tried to find shelter and hide. A light, brighter than the Sun, shone from this person who spoke. At last there were only a few left to stand against the intruder, for so he must be. No one comes here unless bidden by them…unless.

“He could not do that,” the intruder continued, “because to come off of that cross would have been to defeat all that I set out to do. You mustered up your demon hordes and then the peoples to put Me on that cross. Now I am here and you must deal with Me.”

“Who are you!” asked a slithery thing that seemed like a snake and yet like a dragon.

“I am He of whom it was spoken to you a long time ago, ‘And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel’.”

“Impossible!” the serpent-like thing replied. “We killed you!”

“I have died, and you had your hand in seeing that was done, but do not think you have won.”

“I will handle this,” stated a dark creature, full of scales. “For I am Hades. I am the Grave. You belong to me.”

“I belong to no one but Myself. Begone demon. Your power has no hold over Me, nor them that put their trust in Me.”

Hades shuddered and shrank away into the darkness.

“Maybe the Grave has no hold on you, but I do,” said another creature, more hideous than the other. “I am Death. And you belong to me.”

“As I said,” Jesus continued, “I belong to no one but Myself. Death begone, for you are destroyed and have no hold on Me, nor on those who put their trust in Me.”

And so hearing these words Death slithered away and joined his fellow demons, hiding in the shadows of the Abyss.

“Now,” the Lord said, “It is just you and I. Long you have battled against the will of My Father. Long you have enslaved the people of this world. Behold, you who have ‘bruised’ My heel and had Me handed over to those to have Me crucified, My heel has indeed been bruised. Yet there is another part of that prophecy that deals with you and I am here to see that it is accomplished. For I have come for two things.”

“What?” the devil asked. “What have you come for?”

“I have come to crush your head, as is the will of the Father. And I have come for the keys by which you enslave mankind in these wretched halls.”

“If you think you can do so then you are greater than your Father.”

“You speak foolishly. You know the words of Scripture. You know that the Father and I are One. One cannot be greater than itself. And you know also that what I do I do by His power.”

“Such power the great one must have accrued over these many years. For he could do nothing to me except cast me out of his presence.”

“Fool! You were cast out, not because the Father was unable to crush you, but that in the fullness of time you should be crushed for the salvation of mankind. That time has come.”

“What weapons do you bear, oh son of god?”

“This!” He said and thrusting His hands forward towards Satan blood flowed yet from those nail-pierced hands.

“No! Not that. The blood of humans I could endure and do thirst after, but your blood…”

“My blood is the death of you.”

So saying the demon swooned and fell to the floor. Jesus, the Anointed of God, raised a pierced foot and slammed His heel down upon the serpent’s head. Then, singing a joyous tune that no mortal can sing, He reached over and tore the keys of Death and Hell from the lifeless form at His feet. He then went to those prison cells of those chosen by God, those who believed in His Word, even in this dreadful place, and unlocked their doors. He preached the Good News to them therein and truly did He lead the captives free.

Hell is still a cavernous place. One which shall fold in upon itself and be thrown into that Lake of Fire, which was prepared for the Devil and his angels, but has been increased to receive all who have been led astray. The demons still lurk. They still tempt. They still have power in those who allow them to have power. Yet to those who walk in the Spirit of God, those who are born anew by the Blood of the Lamb, they have no power. They are shadows awaiting their final destruction. So, you demon brood, remember your destination. Happy Halloween.