GOD'S SABBATHS WHICH CONSTANTINE OUTLAWED

BET EMET MINISTRIES

Hebrew For "The House Of Truth"

Craig M. Lyons Ms.D., D.D., M.Div.

bennoah1@verizon.net

THE NON-JEW AND HIS RETURN TO GOD'S SABBATHS WHICH CONSTANTINE OUTLAWED

Answer for yourself: Why don't we as Christians and followers of Jesus and "the Christ" keep and observe the Biblical Holy Days in the Christian Church today?
We can begin to look at Constantine to find the loss of the Biblical Holy Days and the Sabbath for the non-Jew.
Let us learn an important truth from 2 Thess. 2:3

"Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition who apposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped so that he sits as God in the temple of God."

Let us look no further than Constantine to be one of many who fulfills this passage. As far as the history of christianity is concerned, Constantine was one of the most influential men that ever lived. From the Writings of the Apostles (Gospel’s), until Martin Luther nailed his theses to the church door in 1517, there was no single person that so changed the course of church history as Constantine did. Indeed, his influence was so vast that it continues to tower over Christendom in this, our own time. Both in church customs, doctrines and in church government, christianity owes sunday and a lot more to Constantine’s intervention.
It may be news to you but Constantine began to change the Biblical Holy Days, forsaking the Shabbot and assigning Sunday as God's day. He outlawed the 7 Biblical Festivals and Feasts of God as well. He replaced them with pagan holidays derived from Sun Worship which find their origins with men. If we look at the Shabbot this should not be surprising to us for after all, the Gentiles (pagans) were already used to Sunday worship due to their background in "Sunday" - "Sun" worship. The logic of Constantine was very simple: "As more and more Gentiles came into the faith, why make them learn of God's Holy Sabbath and His Laws?" The root for all these changes comes from his intense antisemitism and hatred of the Jews as we find in his Easter Letter.
At the beginning of the 4th century, a monumental event occurred for the Church. In AD 306, Constantine became the first Christian Roman Emperor. At first, he had a rather pluralistic view and accorded Jews the same religious rights as Christians. However, in AD 321, he made Christianity the official religion of the Empire. This signaled the end of the persecution of Christians, but the beginning of discrimination and persecution of the Jewish people.
Already at a council in Elvira (Spain) in AD 305, declarations were made to keep Jews and Christians apart, including ordering Christians not to share meals with Jews, not to marry Jews, not to use Jews to bless their fields, and not to observe the Jewish Sabbath.
Imperial Rome, in AD 313, issued the Edict of Milan, which granted favor to Christianity, while outlawing synagogues.
Then, in AD 315, another edict allowed the burning of Jews if they were convicted of breaking the laws. As Christianity was becoming the religion of the state, further laws were passed against the Jews:

• The ancient privileges granted to the Jews were withdrawn.
• Rabbinical jurisdiction was abolished or severely curtailed.
• Proselytism was prohibited and made punishable by death.
• Jews were excluded from holding high office or a military career.

These and other restrictions were confirmed over and over again by various Church councils for the next 1,000 years.
In AD 321, Constantine decreed all business should cease on "the honored day of the sun." By substituting Sunday for Saturday as the day for Christian worship, he further advanced the split. This Jewish Shabbat / Christian Sunday controversy also came up at the first real ecumenical Council of Nicea (AD 325), which concluded Sunday to be the Christian day of rest, although it was debated for long after that.
Answer for yourself: What should this tell us? Simply that up until the early 4th century non-Jewish believers in God were taught to keep and observe the Sabbath along with the Jews!
Overnight, Christianity was given the power of the Imperial State, and the emperors began to translate the concepts and claims of the Christian theologians against the Jews and Judaism into practice. Instead of the Church taking this opportunity to spread its Gospel message in love, it truly became the Church Triumphant, ready to vanquish its foes (first it was the Jews and later it would be Gnosticism and any who would dare to disbelieve the imperial religious doctrine).
After 321, the writings of the Church fathers changed in character. No longer was it on the defensive and apologetic, but aggressive, directing its venom at everyone "outside of the flock," in particular the Jewish people who could be found in almost every community and nation.

1Thes 1:9 9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; (KJV)

The above passage refers to Non-Jews who turned from idols to serve the living God of the Jews. They had just come out of idolatry. And that was fine when gentiles first entered the faith. They didn't know the Law, that they had a Covenant with God or that God expected of them to observe and keep His "appointed times" and Holy Days" like the Sabbath. But they could learn. They attended the synagogues, on Shabbot and observed "ALL" of the Jewish Biblical Holy Days. But Constantine and others made sure they did not continue to learn the Ways of God. He made sure that everything Jewish was removed from the then "existing" church.
You might want to look up the word "gentile". It means pagan. It means anyone outside Judeo Christian faith. Webster's dictionary states: "Gentile....anyone belonging to a non Jewish nation; anyone who is not a JEW OR A CHRISTIAN." Yet Christians today claim the title of Gentile. This is part of the Lie that Constantine started and it obviously continues today. If you are a believer in the God of Israel through Yeshua then you are no longer a Gentile. You are grafted in to the Olive tree, which is Israel. And that being so then you should resemble Israel in your worship!

Rom 11:24 24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? (KJV)

Answer for yourself: Have you ever noticed that any reference to Yeshua and the early church being a part of Judaism brings accusations of "Pharisee" "Legalist" and after that comes "one who would stone Christ" and finally "Christ Killers". This kind of talk brought us the Inquisition, the Crusades and the Holocaust.

CONSTANTINE'S COUNTERFEIT JESUS

A terrible deception has occurred and the vast majority of 2.5 billion Christians haven't a clue. Today in Gentile Christianity we have accepted a Constantine Jesus instead of the Jewish Messiah. Through Constantine's clever ruse of "replacement religion" we have centered in Christianity today not a Jewish Messiah but a Gentile Messiah. This person will look for all the world like the Messiah pictured in Christian paintings. He will look extremely "Gentile". This false messiah has and will continue to infiltrate the church. He will speak of Easter and Christmas and Sunday as if they were God's Holy Days. He will not allow Sabbath worship. He will declare Sunday as the Sabbath Day. As long as you worship the "Gentile Jesus" you won't have to worry about persecution. Nobody is going to bother you. You will be safe in your church and deceived the false comfort provided by errant theology. All this because you believed The Lie. The lie that you are separate from Israel. The lie that says the Olive tree is dead. The lie that says the Law is dead. The lie that says you are somehow better than Israel because you will be ‘taken out' of the world in the day of Jacob's trouble. And the lie that says the Commandments of Almighty God are passed away. The lie says that you, as a Gentile Christian believer, have replaced Israel and that you are "the New Israel".