Every once in a while (actually a lot of the time now) I come across an issue that is being promoted in the Body of Messiah that produces a red mark in the middle of my forehead. While I understand and accept the world has gone moonbat crazy, what keeps popping up amongst believers truly baffles me. We have the Scriptures and the Author of those Scriptures actually indwelling us yet there is a plague of biblical illiteracy within the Body and no application of the principles clearly laid out in the Bible which results in a people devoid of sense which ought to be common. It is to weep.
Lately, I have heard a lot of chatter about the Noahide Laws and how professing believers actually subscribe to them, believing them to be God’s will. The 7 Noahide Laws or laws of Noah are what orthodox Jews believe to be how Gentiles or non-Jews can be pleasing to God. Of the seven commandments, according to the Talmud, 6 were given to Adam and one to Noah. They are:
Do Not Deny God
Do Not Blaspheme God
Do Not Murder
Do Not Engage in Incestuous, Adulterous or Homosexual Relationships.
Do Not Steal
Do Not Eat of a Live Animal
Establish Courts/Legal System to Ensure Law Obedience
Seems reasonable. Five are more or less within the 10 commandments and who wants to eat a live animal anyway? So what is the problem? There are in fact several. To begin, it is never advisable to take something at face value. We always must look deeper. Check the fine print as it were. In order for us to understand whether these laws are of God, we need to go through several steps of analysis. Many theological errors that people hold to come from intellectual laziness because they can’t be bothered doing their due diligence. You think the enemy is going to make it easy to see what he’s doing? As the quote from Dune so succinctly put it “Observe the plans within plans within plans.”
First of all, what is the source of the 7 Noahide Laws? As we said, they are found in the Talmud. Right there we have a problem. The Talmud is in essence a commentary on the Torah. Translated “doctrine” It is called the Oral Torah or law and is believed to have been given to Moses in its entirety on Mt. Sinai that Israel carried with it and passed down from generation to generation (no small feat for something that is 24 volumes). It is an expansion on the commandments using metaphors, opinions and midrash (story telling) to supposedly help Jews understand how to keep the commandments. Most orthodox Jews today hold the Talmud in higher regard than the Hebrew Scriptures themselves. Although the Talmud in actuality began to be formed during the Babylonian Exile, it was codified or written down starting about 220 CE for the next 3 centuries, well after the birth of Messianic Judaism.
The rabbis of today are the successors to the Pharisees, the only surviving sect of Judaism other than the Way or the Messianic movement after the destruction of the Temple. The Sadducees were without purpose once the Temple was gone as their primary function was to run the Temple system. The Zealots were wiped out in the first rebellion against Rome, culminating with the suicide of over 900 remaining holdouts at Masada in 73. The Essenes who produced the famous scrolls at Qumrum on the Dead Sea and who quite possibly were Yeshua’s audience for His Sermon on the Mount very likely became part of the believing community as His message confirmed the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah. Every other major faction had disappeared. With Israel’s defeat and Jerusalem’s destruction all but a sure thing, Yochanan ben Zakkai, a leading rabbi and pacifist had his disciples fake his death and he was escorted out of Jerusalem in a coffin to escape the Zealots who ruled the city and would not accept any compromise or surrender. He sought a meeting with the Roman general Vespasian. Zakkai told Vespasian he had a vision he would soon be emperor. He asked him to allow him to start a yeshiva (Jewish seminary) in Yavneh, a couple of hours away from Jerusalem. Vespasian promised that if the vision came true, he would honour the request. He assumed the throne the following year.
With the destruction of the Temple, Judaism either could accept Yeshua as the Messiah or start a new faith without the sacrificial system and blood atonement, which is what rabbinic Judaism did. In doing so, it explicitly rejected Yeshua and Christianity beginning with ben Zakkai. Indeed, one of the Talmud’s main objectives is to stress the difference between Judaism and Christianity. It is the source of much hostility toward faith in Messiah and Messiah Himself even today. The Talmud refers to Yeshua as “Yeshu” which is an acronym for “may his name and memory be blotted out.” That’s just for starters. He is also referenced as being a sorcerer, having illegitimate parentage and as being condemned for eternity to boil in excrement. The authors and compilers of the Talmud have much to answer for.
The fact that the source of these Noahide Laws is a collection of rabbinic commentary should already give one who seeks after the Lord pause. While there are some nuggets of the truth in the Talmud, it leads Jews away from Messiah rather than toward Him.
Of greater concern though is that when you look closer at the commandments there are great discrepancies with the word of God. How they are dealt with and what this means for Christians will leave no doubt who inspired them.
The blaspheming law seems to have been pulled right out of Ex 20. That is essentially what using the Name of Lord in vain means. The devil so to speak is always in the details. Again, we have to look at the source and according to Rabbinic Judaism, believing in a triune God and that the Messiah is divine and called God Himself is blasphemy. Within Judaism, even saying the sacred name of God, the Tetragrammaton YHWH is considered blasphemous. Under the Noahide Laws, you would be guilty. The biblical and Talmudic penalty for blasphemy? Capital punishment. Furthermore, within the seventh commandment of establishing legal courts in every city and province, the Jewish Encyclopedia tells us that it only requires one witness to bring a charge and only one judge to pass sentence.[i] The Torah states in Deut 17:6 and is affirmed in the Brit Chadasha (New Covenant) that only on the testimony of two or three witnesses may someone be executed. Deut 19:15 reiterates “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.” Even the wicked Jezebel who conspired to murder Naboth stuck to Torah and got two witnesses to falsely accuse him of cursing God and the king. Under the Noahide laws, it would have been even easier.
The scariest part though of all of this is what type of capital punishment is used to enforce these laws. It is not stoning as was usually commanded in Torah. It is beheading. That should make everyone shudder. All of a sudden, a bunch of events in Scripture come into alignment. Now we see it’s not just Islam that will use this gruesome form of execution during the Tribulation Period; it will be the orthodox Jews who help establish the New World Order.
“Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Yeshua and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years.” – Rev 20:4
The 7 laws of Noah are already being used to set up the Anti-Christ system. Violate any one of them and on the testimony of one witness and one judge, all of whom will be part of the Beast system and we will be summarily executed. And lest you think we are not already well on our way to that becoming a reality, on Mar. 26th 1991, George H.W. Bush, President of the United States signed Public Law 102-14 which states “Whereas Congress recognized the historical tradition of ethical values and principles which are the basis of civilized society and upon which our great Nation was founded; Whereas these ethical principles have been the bedrock of society from the dawn of civilization when they were referred to as the Seven Noahide Laws; Whereas without these ethical values and principles the edifice of civilization stand in serious peril of returning to chaos;”
George Bush Sr., a key architect of the New World Order and high-ranking member of the Illuminati signs into U.S. law recognition of the 7 “natural laws.” I thought the U.S. was founded on the 10 commandments? As the U.S. Constitution continues to be shredded, these laws will rise up and take its place, setting the stage for mass persecution, detention and beheadings of those opposed to the Anti-Christ.
“It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them” – Rev 13:7
As further proof that these laws are being put into place to go after Christians, while many in Christianity believe Torah is for the Jews but Gentiles are not subjected to it (taking Acts 15:20 out of context), within Orthodox Judaism it is prohibited for a non-Jew to observe Torah, including the Shabbat. For instance, in the Rambam’s (Moses Maimonides) Mishneh Torah, it says in Melachim Milchamot 10:9 “Similarly, a gentile who rests, even on a weekday, observing that day as a Sabbath, is obligated to die. Needless to say, he is obligated for that punishment if he creates a festival for himself. The general principle governing these matters is: They are not to be allowed to originate a new religion or create mitzvot for themselves based on their own decisions. They may either become righteous converts and accept all the mitzvot or retain their statutes without adding or detracting from them.” Rashi considered the Shabbat an exclusive gift to the Jews (despite God setting aside the seventh day when only Adam dwelled on the Earth) and the Talmud which borrows from Kabbalah considers the Shabbat the bride of the Jewish people and gentiles keeping it is tantamount to adultery (Sanhedrin 58b). Messianic Gentiles will be beheaded, not only for proclaiming Yeshua as the Messiah but for keeping Shabbat.
He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. – Dan 7:25
While we understand that the 7 Noahide Laws are satanic in origin and will be used to persecute believers in the end times, what of the idea that there are different expectations or commandments for the gentiles? While there are those in Christianity who erroneously believe the Torah has been done away with (see article on this http://alttnmessianic.com/no-longer-under-the-law/), there are others who believe the Torah may be fine for Jewish believers but gentiles are not expected to keep it. Is there validity to this notion? As with all questions of this nature, the Bible itself has the answer.
First of all, no right-thinking parent has different rules for their children. Showing favouritism or partiality is a sure-fire way to breed resentment and conflict in the family. Jacob illustrated that quite admirably with his treatment of Joseph. While there may be different expectations of our ability to meet those rules based on age, maturity, etc., everyone has the same rules to follow. Certainly God wouldn’t distinguish between Jew and Gentile. Paul affirms that in Gal 3:28. Furthermore, the Council at Jerusalem in Acts 15 affirmed that we don’t burden the gentiles with all of Torah when the come to faith but rather they will learn Torah as they go to the synagogue every Shabbat to worship. Jewish people had 1500 years of experience with the Torah and would be expected to be more obedient as they knew more but eventually the Gentiles would catch up. Finally though, Torah itself explains what God expects of the nations who come to believe in Him.
Ex 12:49 – “The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you.”
Lev 24:22 – “There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the LORD your God.”
Num 9:14 – “You shall have one statute, both for the alien and for the native of the land.”
Num 15:15-16 – “As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the alien who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the alien be before the Lord. There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you.”
Num 15:29 – “You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the sons of Israel and for the alien who sojourns among them.”
Since every gentile believer is now part of the Commonwealth of Israel (Eph 2:12), he is expected to worship Israel’s God as Israel was commanded. If God says pig is unclean (harmful) for one child (the Jews), it must have the same effect on everyone else. If the Shabbat was when Adam, Enoch, Noah and Abraham were expected to worship the Lord before being codified by Moses, why would there be a different day for the believers after Yeshua’s death, burial and resurrection? There isn’t. We all approach the Father in the same manner: through His commandments that He gave Israel to be a light to the nations.
With most of the devil’s schemes, on the surface they seem good. What we find out though is that they are meant to ensnare us and lead us to our destruction. So will be the 7 Noahide Laws. Instead of bringing about righteousness, they will be used for evil by the enemies of God to destroy those who remain faithful to Him. Stay watchful.
So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Yeshua. – Rev 12:17
Rabbi Darryl Weinberg