....From this it is evident that as corrupt and degrading as was the worship established by Jerobaoam, that of the sun was far worse. Ethbaal was a priest of Baal and Astarte... Jezebel brought with her into Israel the worship of Baal and Astarte,-- the male and female sun, -- and established it to such an extent that in a few years there were four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and four hundred of Astarte, and only seven thousand people in all Israel who had not joined in the wicked worship. Elijah began a reformation, but the worship and the gods introduced by Jezebel remained in some measure till the reign of Jehu, who gathered every worshiper of Baal to ageneral assembly in honor of Baal, and slew them all. "And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them. And they brake down the image of Ball, and brakedown the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day. Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel and that were in Dan." 2 Kings 10:26-29.
Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, married Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat king ofJ udah, and with her, sun worship through Baal and Ashtaroth was introduced into the kingdom of Judah; for Jehoram "walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab; for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the Lord." 2 Kings 8:18. This worship of Baalim continued till the time of Hezekiah, who "brake the images [sun images] in pieces, and cut down the groves [Ahseras, representations of Ashtaroth], andthrew-down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin." 2 Chron. 31:1.
By Manasseh, however, this worship was all restored in its fullest extent; "for he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them. Also he built altars in the house of the Lord whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be forever. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son Hinnom: also he observed times and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made in the house of God of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever." 2 Chron. 33:3-7. T
his image which he set in the house of the Lord was rather a double image of Baal and Ashtaroth, which he put up above the altars of Baal in the house of the Lord. The cloisters about the temple were used as stables for the horses which were dedicated to the sun. By the side of the temple he built houses for the priests and priestesses of the Baalim, where the women wove hangings for the figures of Astarte. Happily, Manasseh was succeeded by Josiah, who annihilated this whole system.
Yet by the time that Zedekiah reigned, there was again a serious lapse not only into certain forms of sun worship, but into the open worship of the literal sun. Ezekiel was among the captives in Babylonia, and by the Spirit of God he was taken in a vision to Jerusalem, and was caused to see the abominations that were being practiced there. "and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them Stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up." Again he was told to turn, and he would see yet greater abominations than this that they were doing. He was then brought " to the door of the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north : and, behold, there sat women weeping] for Tammuz." And he was told to turn yet again, and he should see greater abominations even than this. "And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of thetemple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, and they worshiped the sun toward the east." Eze.7:16.... this much is certain, that, in the estimate of Jehovah, as bad as was the worship of Astarte, and however much it provoked to jealousy; as bad as was the worship of all manner of abominable beasts; as bad as was the worship of Tammuz; yet worse than all these, even though in them were embodied some forms of sun worship -- more abominable than all these was the setting of the face toward the east, in the worship of the sun itself. This was to turn the back upon the Lord; to leave him and his worship behind; and, in worshiping the visible sun, to choose all that was included in all the forms of its worship that might be known. This was open apostasy -- the renunciation of all that was good and the acceptance of all that was bad.
Now, aside from the lascivious rites of Bacchus and Hercules, and beyond the fearful orgies of Cybele, this very form of worship prevailed in the Roman empire. The worship of the sun itself was the principal worship of the Romans in the time of Constantine.
To Sol Deus invictus -- the sun, the unconquerable god -- were attributed the world-wide conquests of the Roman power. The greatest and most magnificent temple that ever was builton earth, except only that built by Solomon, was erected by Antoninus Pius, emperor of Rome, at Baalbek, in honor of the visible shining sun.
But it was in Constantine that.. the sun found its most worshipful devotee. As emperor of Rome he had to show some deference to the other gods, and therefore on the medals which were issued in honor of his victories, there were the figures of Jupiter and Mars,as well as of Hercules and Apollo. Up to the period of his war with Maxentius, A. D.312, "all that we know of Constantine's religion would imply that he was outwardly, and even zealously, pagan...The medals struck for these victories are covered with the symbols of paganism. Eusebius himself admits that Constantine was at this time in doubt which religion he should embrace." Milman.
Thus as emperor, and to satisfy the prejudices of the people, some respectful deference was shown to other gods, but "the devotion of Constantine was more peculiarly directed to the genius of the sun, the Apollo of Greek and Roman mythology; and he was pleased to be represented with the symbols of the god of light and poetry.
The sun was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and protector of Constantine." -- Gibbon. In the time of Constantine, and in Constantine himself. the worship of the sun occupied the imperial seat, and was the imperial religion of Rome.
And scarcely were the last of the apostles dead when the evil appeared in its practical workings. No sooner were the apostles removed from the stage of action, no sooner was their watchful attention gone, and their apostolic authority removed, than..certain bishops, in order to make easier the conversion of the heathen; to multiply disciples, and by this increase their own influence and authority; began to adopt heathen customs and forms.
When the canon of Scripture was closed, and the last of the apostles was dead, the first century was gone; and within twenty years of that time the perversion of the truth of Christ had become widespread. In the history of this century and of this subject the record is, -- "It is certain that to religious worship, both public and private, many rites were added, without Constantine... the most devout worshiper of the sun as the supreme and universal deity, with the avowed purpose, as expressed in his own words, "First to bring the diverse judgments formed by all nations respecting the Deity to a condition, as it were, of settled uniformity." In Constantine...the apostate, paganized, sun worshiping form of Christianity -- met its long-wished-for instrument. In him the two streams met...a new, imperial, and universal religion was created....
The reign of Constantine the Great forms one of the epochs in the history of the world. It is the era of the dissolution of the Roman empire ; the commencement, or rather consolidation, of a kind of Eastern despotism,with a new capital, a new patriciate, a new constitution, a new financial system, a new, though as yet imperfect, jurisprudence, and, finally, a new religion." -- Milman. The epoch thus formed was the epoch of the papacy; and the new religion thus created was the PAPAL RELIGION. " ......
http://www.whitehorsemedia.com/docs/THE_TWO_REPUBLICS.pdf
