One Night in Bangkok - -- In AD 306, Constantine became the first Christian Roman Emperor.

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.
I

n 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.