The Seven Laws of Noah & Christian Faith

[Humble_Disciple]

Judaism has never expected that Gentiles follow the Mosaic law. Instead, we are under the Noahide Law, which was reaffirmed in the Acts of the Apostles' Council of Jerusalem.

In Judaism, the Seven Laws of Noah (Hebrew: שבע מצוות בני נח‎, Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach), otherwise referred to as the Noahide Laws[1][2][3] or the Noachian Laws[1][4] (from the Hebrew pronunciation of "Noah"), are a set of imperatives which, according to the Talmud, were given by God as a binding set of universal moral laws for the "sons of Noah" – that is, all of humanity.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

According to the Jewish law, non-Jews (gentiles) are not obligated to convert to Judaism, but they are required to observe the Seven Laws of Noah to be assured of a place in the World to Come (Olam Ha-Ba), the final reward of the righteous...

The seven Noahide laws as traditionally enumerated in the Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 56a-b and Tosefta Avodah Zarah 8:4,[3][5][11][12] are the following:[1][3][4][5][6]

Not to worship idols.
Not to curse God.
Not to commit murder.
Not to commit adultery, bestiality, or sexual immorality.
Not to steal.
Not to eat flesh torn from a living animal.
To establish courts of justice.

According to the Talmud, the seven laws were given first to Adam and subsequently to Noah.[1][2][5][13] However, the Tannaitic and Amoraitic rabbinic sages (1st-6th centuries CE) disagreed on the exact number of Noahide laws that were originally given to Adam.[2][4][5] Six of the seven laws were exegetically derived from passages in the Book of Genesis,[1][4][5][13][14] with the seventh being the establishment of courts of justice...

In the history of Christianity, the Apostolic Decree recorded in Acts 15 is commonly seen as a parallel to the Seven Laws of Noah.[2][76]

The Jewish Encyclopedia article on Paul of Tarsus states:

According to Acts 13, 14, 17, 18 [...], Paul began working along the traditional Jewish line of proselytizing in the various synagogues where the proselytes of the gate [e.g., Exodus 20:9] and the Jews met; and only because he failed to win the Jews to his views, encountering strong opposition and persecution from them, did he turn to the gentile world after he had agreed at a council with the apostles at Jerusalem to admit the gentiles into the Church only as proselytes of the gate, that is, after their acceptance of the Noachian laws (Acts 15:1–31)".[78]

The article on the New Testament states:

For great as was the success of Barnabas and Paul in the heathen world, the authorities in Jerusalem insisted upon circumcision as the condition of admission of members into the Church, until, on the initiative of Peter, and of James, the head of the Jerusalem church, it was agreed that acceptance of the Noachian Laws—namely, regarding avoidance of idolatry, fornication, and the eating of flesh cut from a living animal—should be demanded of the heathen desirous of entering the Church.[79]

The 18th-century rabbi Jacob Emden hypothesized that Jesus, and Paul after him, intended to convert the gentiles to the Seven Laws of Noah while calling on the Jews to keep the full Law of Moses.[73]
Seven Laws of Noah - Wikipedia

There had to have been a moral law before the Torah was even given. That's all the laws of Noah are, the universal laws that preceded the Torah. The Council of Jerusalem reaffirmed the laws of Noah that Gentiles needed to follow.

 

[HTacianas]

Judaism has never expected that Gentiles follow the Mosaic law. Instead, we are under the Noahide Law, which was reaffirmed in the Acts of the Apostles' Council of Jerusalem.

You're on the right track. See Isaiah 2:3, in part:

For out of Zion shall go forth the law,

The law went forth from Zion to the entire world. There is also an oddity in Josephus's The Jewish War. He wrote of the Jews of his time:

"...an ambiguous oracle that was also found in their sacred writings, how, about that time, one from their country should become governor of the habitable earth."

Josephus applied it to Vespasian, who went on to become Emperor of Rome. But by that time "one from their country" was already becoming "governor of the inhabitable earth". It coincided with the the law going forth from Zion. But what law? See Hebrews 6:

Heb 6:20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Melchizedek was "priest and king" during the time of Abraham. Abraham lived under the Noahide covenant, under the Noahide law, before the Secondary Law of Judaism. The Noahide law was the law that went forth from Zion with the spread of the gospel.

 

[Humble_Disciple]

Jehovah's Witnesses, in forbidding blood transfusions, completely misinterpret Acts of the Apostles on abstaining from blood:

Acts 15:21 does not apply to blood transfusions when understood in its historical and religious setting. It is not understood by the majority of Christian religions to be a binding command, nor was it understood as such by Pastor Russell. As already shown, the Noahide law on blood did not forbid eating blood, but was about showing respect when killing an animal. Blood transfusions do not involve taking life.
Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower's changing stance on blood transfusions

 

[TzephanYahu]

Incorrect.

The Apostles were confirming Torah in their letter of Acts 15, more specifically Leviticus 17 and 18, with the commands in that order. It seems they followed this order after all sins were forgiven and wiped clean, as detailed in Leviticus 16. This then leads to the greatest of the commands later in Leviticus 19:18, following the aforementioned chapters.

Genitles only needing to follow the Noahide Laws is a deception. Yahweh's Torah is for all Israel and Christians join Israel, through Messiah, being grafted into them.

But you're right in saying "Judaism" expects this. This is a mandate in their upper echelons.

 

[Humble_Disciple]

But you're right in saying "Judaism" expects this. This is a mandate in their upper echelons.

It seems like you are alluding to a conspiracy theory that the Noahide laws are for world domination. Michael Brown, a Messianic Jew, has corrected that dangerous belief:

Aren't the Noahide laws mentioned in the Book of Jubilees?

 

[TzephanYahu]

I don't really listen to Michael Brown. I can't see what the fuss is over him.

But conspiracy or not, the Jews would surely appreciate Gentiles following the Noahide Laws rather than not at all. And they would surely prefer Christians follow these instead of the Torah - which they think cannot be followed without the guidance of their elders and their supplementary writings to "interpret" it. But this is the jealousy which Yahweh said He would provoke them with.

As for Jubilees, I might be wrong, but I don't believe there is any passage that states that the Noahide Laws are all that the gentiles, who join themselves to Israel, need to follow. In fact I believe it teaches the Torah is eternal ans even followed by the angels in the heavens. But please share a passage if you know of one as I'm no scholar.

But if any Christian finds the "Noahide Laws only" teaching appealing, they are inadvertently testifying their stance against Torah. Now, whatever they may feel about Torah is their personal choice. But to translate that following the Noahide Laws equals true obedience would be gross error. They are simply trying to shortcut faithfulness under the illusion of obedience and to ease their conscience.

I'm not saying that's you by the way. I mean the people who are building on this sand foundation. They have made themselves as followers of Noah rather than followers of Messiah.

Peace

 

[Humble_Disciple]

One is welcome to agree or disagree with the concept of the Noahide laws, but the idea that it's some global conspiracy to take over the world is one of the worst antisemitic conspiracy theories I've ever heard. In this video, Michael Brown, a Messianic Jew, thoroughly rejects that conspiracy theory:

 

[ripple the car]

I do wonder a bit about this… I think Chabad used to push this pretty hard, and of course, many in that movement regard Schneerson as the Messiah, and are pretty hateful towards any Jews who regard Jesus as the Messiah. Just a thought.

I also don’t believe that the Noachide Laws have anything to do with the Council of Jerusalem, as that was a gathering of Jewish Christians, and the Noachide movement is pretty anti-Christ. Literally.

 

[The Liturgist]

I do wonder a bit about this… I think Chabad used to push this pretty hard, and of course, many in that movement regard Schneerson as the Messiah, and are pretty hateful towards any Jews who regard Jesus as the Messiah. Just a thought.

I also don’t believe that the Noachide Laws have anything to do with the Council of Jerusalem, as that was a gathering of Jewish Christians, and the Noachide movement is pretty anti-Christ. Literally.

But Noah was not anti-Christ, and the laws adopted at the Council of Jerusalem are basically those of Noah. So the fact that some Chassidic Jews are trying ti promote the Noachide Laws and also refuse to accept that their Rebbe did actually die, and have even implemented bizarre psuedo-Eucharistic rituals, is irrelevant.

To say we should just reject the laws of Noah, which do apply to gentiles in ways the Torah does not, because of Chabad’s use of them to promote their doctrines, is analogous to saying we should reject the New Testament because Mormons use it to promote their doctrines.

Noah was a Holy Prophet, and His Ark was a typological prophecy of the Church, which is the Ark of Salvation, and of the Virgin Mary, in that it was akin to a womb containing the life that would be the Future, in the case of Noah, the elect survivors of the Great Flood, and in the case of Mary, our Lord, God and Savior, who as Christ Pantocrator, judges us and elects those who will not die a second death for eternity in the Lake of Fire.

 

[ripple the car]

But Noah was not anti-Christ, and the laws adopted at the Council of Jerusalem are basically those of Noah. So the fact that some Chassidic Jews are trying ti promote the Noachide Laws and also refuse to accept that their Rebbe did actually die, and have even implemented bizarre psuedo-Eucharistic rituals, is irrelevant.

To say we should just reject the laws of Noah, which do apply to gentiles in ways the Torah does not, because of Chabad’s use of them to promote their doctrines, is analogous to saying we should reject the New Testament because Mormons use it to promote their doctrines.

Noah was a Holy Prophet, and His Ark was a typological prophecy of the Church, which is the Ark of Salvation, and of the Virgin Mary, in that it was akin to a womb containing the life that would be the Future, in the case of Noah, the elect survivors of the Great Flood, and in the case of Mary, our Lord, God and Savior, who as Christ Pantocrator, judges us and elects those who will not die a second death for eternity in the Lake of Fire.

Well… I think everything summed up in the Noachide Laws are essentially either spelled out or inferred in the New Testament, too. The Noachide Laws are kind of an invention / theory put forth by Talmudic Rabbis, whose writings and ideas tend to post-date the Apostles.

And, frankly… from what I can see, brother, the Noachide Laws are meant to be “Judaism for Gentiles” and minus Christ. They are almost shared with Gentiles as an unspoken alternative to the Gospel. But the Jewish Message for the world is Christ, not Noah. Just saying.

 

[Andrewn]

The seven Noahide laws as traditionally enumerated in the Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 56a-b and Tosefta Avodah Zarah 8:4 are the following:

1. Not to worship idols.
2. Not to curse God.
3. Not to commit murder.
4. Not to commit adultery, bestiality, or sexual immorality.
5. Not to steal.
6. Not to eat flesh torn from a living animal.
7. To establish courts of justice.

Seven Laws of Noah - Wikipedia

As mentioned above, the above laws were only enumerated in the Talmud, which was written significantly later than the New Testament. So, these laws are not a source for the Jerusalem Council laws, although both sets of laws are based on the Torah.

There is nothing new in these 7 laws that they add to the NT, the latter is far superior in its morality. And there is nothing objectionable in the 7 laws, either. We follow them not because they were mentioned in the Talmud, but because they were mentioned in the NT and they make sense. They are also good principles for non-Christians to follow.

To make them into a religion "instead of Christianity" is a different issue altogether.