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Answer for yourself: What does Judaism say about non-Jews, their responsibilities before God, and their path to the World to Come otherwise know as Heaven?
Answer for yourself: What does God demands of gentiles to get to Heaven/world-to-come?
Answer for yourself: What are the "Noachide" laws?
Bet Emet Ministries is dedicated to learning and fulfilling "the Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach" (the Seven Laws of Noah, also known by the following: The Seven Laws of the Children of Noah, The Seven Noachide [Noahite, Noahaic) Laws, or the Seven Universal Laws of Ethics and Morality.
The Seven Laws of Noah, which are part of the Covenant of Everlasting Life (the Covenant of the Rainbow), are the basic requirements God has mandated to all the descendants of Noah (Gentile believers).
The Seven Laws of Noah are a Guaranteed World Peace Plan. Noahism is the world's oldest doctrine; it is Biblical and was recognized by "Chazal" (the Sages of blessed memory). The observance of the Seven Laws of Noah is taught by orthodox Judaism today and can be found to be taught by James and the Apostles to all the Gentile Churches over 30 years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus (see Acts 15). Let us not forget that James (Jesus' pastor for his church) made the statement that Gentile adherence to this Covenant and Laws was both "necessary" and "seemed good to them and the Holy Spirit."
Acts 15:28-29 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. (KJV) Acts 15:28-29 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. (KJV) Acts 15:28-29 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. (KJV)
The above verses is a paraphrase and restatement in summary form of the Covenant and Laws of Noah!
The Rabbis in "Tractate Sanhedrin [57a]" derive from the Torah the six broad categories of laws that God forbids all of humanity:
This gives rise to the common expression of "seven" laws. According to the standard computation, these break down into 66 laws that non-Jews are obligated to observe. According to the Rambam, in order to merit the World to Come, non-Jews must observe these obligations specifically because they were commanded by God through the Torah (and not just on the basis of reason).
A common question asked by Christians is "What are these laws?". The following is a condensed version of a summary of the laws and categories.
These categories are felt to be implicit in God's commandment to Adam and Eve in Gen. 2:16-17:
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
This implies the prohibition of blasphemy. As it says in Lev. 24:16, "He who blasphemes the name of THE LORD (Hashem) shall die."
This is a reference to idolatry for it says in Ex. 20:3 "You shall have no other Elokim before me".
This is a reference to laws of justice for it says in Gen. 18:19, "For I have known him so he will COMMAND (Yitzaveh) his children after him to keep the way of the Lord and righteousness and justice."
This is a reference to the prohibition of murder. God explicitly commands Noah (Gen. 9:6), "If one sheds the blood of THE MAN (Ha Adam), by man shall his own blood be shed."
This refers to sexual misconduct or adultery, as the prophet Jeremiah (3:1) says, "Saying if a man divorces his wife..."
This is an implicit prohibition of theft. It shows that permission is needed to take something that is not explicitly yours.
This implies that there are things which may not be eaten (the limbs of a live animal).
From this are derived the following 66 laws:
(1) against stealing; (2) against committing robbery (3) against shifting a landmark; (4) against cheating; (5) against repudiating a claim of money owed; (6) against overcharging; (7) against coveting; (8) against desiring; (9) a laborer shall be allowed to eat of the fruits among which he works (under certain conditions); (10) against a laborer eating of such fruit (when certain conditions are not met); (11) against a laborer taking of such fruit home; (12) against kidnapping; (13) against the use of false weights and measures; (14) against the possession of false weights and measures; (15) that one shall be exact in the use of weights and measures; and (16) that the robber shall return (or pay for) the stolen object.
(1) to appoint judges and officers in each and every community; (2) to treat the litigants equally before the law; (3) to inquire diligently into the testimony of a witness; (4) against the wanton miscarriage of justice by the court; (5) against the judge accepting a bribe or gift from a litigant; (6) against the judge showing marks of honor to but one litigant; (7) against the judge acting in fear of a litigant's threats; (8) against the judge, out of compassion, favoring a poor litigant; (9) against the judge discriminating against the litigant because he is a sinner; (10) against the judge, out of softness, putting aside the penalty of a mauler or killer; (11) against the judge discriminating against a stranger or an orphan; (12) against the judge hearing one litigant in the absence of the other; (13) against appointing a judge who lacks knowledge of the Law; (14) against the court killing an innocent man; (15) against incrimination by circumstantial evidence; (16) against punishing for a crime committed under duress; (17) that the court is to administer the death penalty by the sword; (18) against anyone taking the law into his own hands to kill the perpetrator of a capital crime (this point is disagreed upon by different writers: "The Noahides are not restricted in this way but may judge singly and at once."); (19) to testify in court; and (20) against testifying falsely.
(1) against anyone murdering anyone.
(1) against (a man) having union with his mother; (2) against (a man) having union with his sister; (3) against (a man) having union with the wife of his father; (4) against (a man) having union with another man's wife; (5) against (a man) copulating with a
beast; (6) against a woman copulating with a beast; (7) against (a man) lying carnally with a male; (8) against (a man) lying carnally with his father; (9) against (a man) lying carnally with his father's brother; and (10) against engaging in erotic conduct that may lead to a prohibited union.
(1) against eating a limb severed from a living animal, beast, or fowl; and (2) against eating the flesh of any animal which was torn by a wild beast ... which, in part, prohibits the eating of such flesh as was torn off an animal while it was still alive.
(1) against entertaining the thought that there exists a deity except the Lord; (2) against making any graven image (and against having anyone else make one for us); (3) against making idols for use by others; (4) against making any forbidden statues (even when they are for ornamental purposes); (5) against bowing to any idol (and not to sacrifice nor to pour libation nor to burn incense before any idol, even where it is not the customary manner of worship to the particular idol); (6) against worshipping idols in any of their customary manners of worship; (7) against causing our children to pass (through the fire) in the worship of Molech; (8) against practicing Ov; (9) against the practice of Yiddoni; and (10) against turning to idolatry (in word, in thought, in deed, or by any observance that may draw us to its worship).
(1) to acknowledge the presence of God; (2) to fear God; (3) to pray to God; (4) to sanctify God's name (in face of death, where appropriate); (5) against desecrating God's name (even in face of death, when appropriate); (6) to study the Torah; (7) to honor the scholars, and to revere one's teacher; and (8) against blaspheming.
The term "Noachide" describes groups, generally founded by rabbis, for the purpose of making non-Jews aware of their obligations according to Torah. These groups observe the commandments in the seven categories, and do not follow the tenets of non-Jewish religions.
Literally, B'nei Noach means "the children of Noah." Something wonderful happens when Christians begin serious study into their Christian faith. They find the truth that lies behind their Gentile traditions. They find out that God never called them to be "Christians" but really Godfeares as defined in the New Testament in several places. The term "noahide" is a term used to describe non-Jews who have become "God-fearers" (like the Gentile Cornelius in Acts 10). Let us not forget that Cornelius is a picture of a Gentile believer after Christ; accepting upon themselves the "Seven Laws of Noah," the Covenant of Everlasting Life as referred to by James in Acts 15 as things "necessary" for Gentile to be grafted into Israel without having to undergo full conversion.
True B'nei Noach and Godfearers have left the idolatry and blasphemy of their Gentile Roman fathers and many teachings of Gentile Christianity which contain them and have repented of such apostasy once learning the truth upon their own studies. They have turned to the God of Israel, accepting "Torah at Sinai," and the authority of Rabbinic/Talmudic (Orthodox) Judaism (the true faith as espoused by Yeshua).
It is a return to the Abrahamic faith - the "faith" that Abraham observed prior to his "bris milah" (Covenant of Circumcision which takes on a transition toward what would later be known as Judaism). In fact, it is the world's oldest religious doctrine. I have been personally amazed as my studies into comparative religions and Egyptology over the years have shown me that the Covenant of Noah was know to these nations and adhered to by the earliest of mankind as seen in the oldest existing religious documents that exist to mankind today. This is not just a "Jewish" thing but the pinnacle of the oldest Divine Revelation of God to mankind recorded on this planet...known earlier to Adam and then Noah. This is as good as it gets and we can be assured that in the Covenant of Noah we have the purest form of Divine Revelation possible without the corruption of man-made religious endeavors. Added to that is Jesus and James endorsement of the same in Acts 15 in fulfillment of the Great Commission to take to all the world nations (Gentiles):
Matt 28:20 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (KJV)
We see the fulfillment of this in Acts 15 and Acts 16 as carried out by Jesus' faithful Apostles. We should take special pains to make sure we understand their decisions and rulings concerning how the Gentiles come to God let alone be "grafted" into the Israel of God.
The non-Jewish peoples of the world have a religious duty, an obligation which, if fulfilled, will bring peace and harmony to the world and will give the Righteous Gentile a share in the "Olam haBa," the blessed World-to-Come.
God gave Mankind two paths by which the unity of man can be realized. Judaism is one path, and Noahism is the other path. This we know, and this we are aware of, because Judaism has preserved the knowledge and instruction of the path of the righteous Gentile - the Seven Laws of the Children of Noah (also known as the Seven Laws of Noah, or the Seven Noachide Commandments). Therefore, it is incumbent upon the non-Jew to become aware of what his religious duty is and how to fulfill it. In order to accomplish this, one must realize that God has ordained the rabbis and the sanctity of rabbinic authority as the means of protecting and teaching this ancient doctrine.
Answer for yourself: Why must we accept the rabbis and the sanctity of rabbinic authority?
Because there is no source outside the Talmud and the later rabbinic teachings that delineate the Seven Commandments of the Children of Noah. Only from the Jews do we learn what our religious duty is, and how to fulfill it through the observance of the Seven Noahide Laws.
Fulfilling the Seven Laws of the Children of Noah requires a fundamental knowledge and understanding of certain precepts and principles, i.e. the non-Jew must have the realization of the One True God, blessed is He; that God's holy Torah was given to all mankind; that ethics and morals must become part of life; and lastly, humanity must bind together in the unity of man-kind. Thankfully, this unity will allow all people, both Jew and non-Jew, to approach God in peace and harmony, and will bring peace to Yerushalayim.
The non-Jew has a specific spiritual role and purpose in this world, and a specific purpose for his very creation and existence. Through the faithful observance of the Seven Noahide Commandments one can fulfill that purpose - striving with the Children of Israel (the Jews) to perfect this world; the essence of our existence as co-religionists and the fulfillment of our created purpose will bring revealed Godliness onto this world, and God will, so to speak, have great satisfaction in His creation.
The realization of, and faith in, the One True God is necessary for the non-Jew. Once the non-Jew has belief in the God of Israel, then he will realize he has been commanded to keep Seven Universal Laws and Ethics based on a belief in God. The Hebrew word for commandment is "mitzvah," plural: "mitzvot." The Seven Laws of the Children of Noah are "mitzvot" for all mankind; even the Jews must observe them, for they are part of the 613 "mitzvot" God commands for Israel.
The Seven Noahide Laws are part of the Covenant of Everlasting Life (the Covenant of the Rainbow) - they are the basic requirements God has mandated to all the descendants of Noah, the observance of which will ensure a civilized and peaceful world. Whether the non-Jew chooses to observe the "Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach" (the Seven Laws of the Children of Noah) is another issue - the issue of free will.
God created man with the intrinsic attribute of free will. Man has the free will to choose to keep God's commandments. Some choose to keep His commandments, and others choose not to keep His commandments. The choice of some to not observe the Seven Noahide Laws does not negate the Laws' existence, nor the Godly requirement to observe and keep them. Man is ultimately responsible for observing God's commandments, and will receive merit for observing them, or will receive punishment for failing to keep his duty. The key is to keep the commandments because God commanded them; therein lies our reward.
For example, one can choose not to commit homicide because he feels it is ethically the right thing to do. This does not give him Godly merit - he enthrones himself as the supreme judge, judging whether a certain act is ethically right or wrong. This type of person is denying God, replacing Him, God forbid, with his own idol - himself. This, of course, is forbidden by God. We must choose to do what God wants. There is a teaching: Greater is the one who is commanded and does something, than the one who is not commanded and does it. Doing what God commands is the only thing that matters.
Once the non-Jew recognizes the unity of God, and recognizes that the observance of the "mitzvot" is what unites mankind, he will then understand how he can cleave to God and have a share in the "Olam HaBa...Heaven." There is a well-known thought that says,
"When a person becomes separate from sin and takes up the yoke of Heaven (through accepting his Covenant with God...the Covenant of Noah and observance of it's Commandments in this instance), [then that person becomes Mine]."