Here I am, away on a personal holiday with my wife. We have taken a small weekend trip to visit one of our favorite destinations, the Golden Isles off the coast of Georgia, Jekyll Island to be exact.
It is 5:30 am and I am up, awake and what is on my mind? The Sheva Mitzvos – 7 Noahide Laws.
The Past
Rabbi Lazer Brody of Breslev Israel teaches that we should not be ashamed of our past, for it is where the Creator wanted us at that time.
In Rabbi Shalom Arush’s book, The Universal Garden of Emuna, he teach that emuna can be broken down to three levels. Level one is the ‘Basic Level’: This level of emuna is, “The firm belief that everything comes from God by way of perfect Divine Providence, even the tiniest and most seemingly insignificant event. This is what the Creator wants.”
The firm belief that everything comes from God by way of perfect Divine Providence
With that being said, I was born and raised in the Worldwide Church of God founded by Herbert W. Armstrong. We were what I have called, a non-traditional Christian denomination. Our core beliefs were, that Saturday was the Sabbath, we did not observe traditional Christian holidays – our holidays were found in the list of festivals in Leviticus 23 and we refrained from eating unclean meats. A common thread found in our founder’s and preacher’s sermons was the subject of the Kingdom of God.
I would have to say that it was there that the foundation of having a kingdom mentality was formed. It would not be until I learned the 7 Noahide Laws and made a conscience decision to observe them because the King has asked us to, that the reality of the Creator’s Kingdom became an everyday present reality.
The Depth Of Our Responsibility
Many that come out of religions like Christianity are drawn to Judaism. It has a lot to offer, for one, it offers a worship system with many familiarities – a place to worship, worship services, community (a major attraction for those leaving one community of belief for another) and the list goes on.
Like everyone else, when we had our first visit with the rabbi, he tried to convince us that becoming Jewish wasn’t for us that all we had to do was remain a Bnei Noach and keep the 7 Laws. Without even investigating them, we rejected them, making the claim that they were not enough – we wanted the whole package of the Jewish worship system called Judaism. We wanted to attend synagogue, become a part of the people of Israel – we spent right at seven years preparing ourselves for this transition.
As I have brought out in other blogs, the week of Pesach/Passover 2016 we came to the conclusion that converting was not the will of the Creator for our lives. We stepped back into the batter’s box so to speak to take another swing and this time we hit a home run..
When we took the time to examine what the Creator had prepared for us, the non-Jewish nations, we discovered that there is a lot of work to do in the Kingdom; without taking on someone else’s task. In our walk with the Creator we have our share to do and it will fill every day of your life if you are serious about it.
Now I want to look at just two areas of the Sheva Mitzvos, to show you the depth of our responsibilities before the King.
Prohibition of Blasphemy
The basic understanding of this prohibition deals with the issue of cursing the Creator or any of His Names.
Shimon Dovid Cowen in his book, The Theory and Practice of Universal Ethics -The Noahide Laws, brings out a deeper understanding of the prohibition of blasphemy. He shows us that certain behavior toward others can cause us to transgress this prohibition.
Discrimination against another person based on their race, gender or nationality is a form of violation of this prohibition.
Every human on the planet is created in the image of the Creator, as the Sages of Israel instructs us; contained in every human being is a Divine Spark, a piece of the Creator is in everyone.
Negative treatment toward someone’s race, gender or nationality is negative treatment toward the Creator. You cross over to blasphemy by degrading the very part of Creation that bears His image. Thus you are attacking the image of the Creator.
When we come in contact with another person we are given the opportunity to observe this prohibition and many other laws in the Sheva Mitzvos system of law.
Tehillim 145:13 tells us that the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom spanning every generation.
For the non-Jewish gentile nations the Sheva Mitzvos are the laws of the Kingdom. Israel has their laws and we have ours, together they are part of the Glory of the Creator in the world.
Prohibition of Theft
This prohibition is very extensive, in reality it and all its sub commandments touch pretty much every part of life.
One of the attractive points of Torah Judaism is that there is nothing in life that is not regulated. There is a mitzvos for about everything, from tying your shoes to going to the bathroom. For those seeking a system of service of the Creator they are drawn to this way of life.
As I have stated, for the majority of those converting to Torah Judaism, they have not done their due diligence in studying the Sheva Mitzvos. I was one those, rejecting something I had no clue about. Personally, I told a rabbi that I felt that the conversion process should include at least a years study of the Sheva Mitzvos so that their decision is an educated one and not purely an emotional one.
I want to place a thought in front of you to show you the depth of this one prohibition. I want you to see how this one thought can drastically change your life for the sake of the Kingdom that you were born into.
Here we go, I have saved the best for last.
When you walk out of your home, leave the domain of your sanctuary, your little world and step out in to this vast world, the domain of the Kingdom of God – everything and everyone must be treated with a certain respect. When you leave your domain, everything you come in contact with, belongs to someone else!
This is the depth of the Sheva Mitzvos system of law.
Once we grasp this then we can understand the decree the Creator placed on Nineveh (see my blog, Nineveh a Lesson for America). Through this we become aware, that the Creator has been more upset with us over how we treat one another than just about any other sin.
The prohibitions of blasphemy and theft touches every detail of life and at plain sight, this is only two of seven.
By studying and observing the Sheva Mitzvos system of law you will develop a Kingdom mentality – you will be living within the will of the King and keeping the laws of His Kingdom.
Terry W.Hayes
ben Noach
2/2017
Emuna Trek 
No wonder I feel like you and I could really talk……you come from WWCOG. I used to listen to Herbie W., and we were members of COG International for several years. At the same time, my kids and I were exploring Messianism. They all went back to traditional Christianity, but I have dabbled on the fringes of all that for a long time. Hmmmm. Funny the paths our lives take.
I agree that the prohibitions of blasphemy and theft include an obligation to respect others. I wish to add two things:
1) the primary reason for the prohibition of blasphemy is the obligation to fear and honor God.
2) Torah Law forbids transgender operations and gender altering hormone drugs. Whining about gender discrimination cannot change this.
I feel that the lack of ritual and assembly in being a Noahide often leads enquirers away from it. In the U.K we have no communities at all. It’s very isolated being Noahide here
Here has been my experience.
We too have experienced the loneliness factor as well. My wife and I both were very active in the churches we attended, I was once and assoc. pastor. After leaving the system, we experienced what I call a ‘worship void’. That can be very difficult for many people because they are used to the community the church offers.
On the other hand, if the life of being obedient to the commandment is treated like just another religion then yes, there is going to be a craving for some kind of assembly to replace the old one that you left. Then it becomes nothing more than another form of church hopping.
Our assembly is the people around us, the observance of the 7 Laws are not communal in nature, they are personal commands the Creator has given each of us. The communal part comes in how we treat those around us with the commandments being guide.
I hope to be touching more on this in my next blog.
I wonder why Reform and Conservative Judaism seems to have nothing to say about the 7 Laws ?
We are not to rely on anyone else to provide explanations of any part of Torah aside from Orthodox Rabbis.
Give a bit more explanation to your comment.
We are not to rely on anyone else to provide explanations of any part of Torah, whether for Jews or Gentiles, aside from accepted Jewish Torah scholars, for they alone, as students of the earlier Torah Sages, are the authorities who explain the Oral Torah. The accepted Jewish Torah scholars are the Jewish Sages and faithful Orthodox Rabbis, whose responsa and teachings may be cited by laypersons (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2011, p 28).
I figured that was what you were referring to. However I am not sure why you brought this up on this blog, if it is about the quote I used from the book ‘The Theory & Practice of the Universal Ethics – The Noahide laws, it’s author is a respected rabbi in Australia and the book has the approval of Rabbi Moshe Weiner and he has an approbation letter in the book.
You seem to have misunderstood me. I commented on Keith Chopping’s wondering about Reform and Conservative Judaism by explaining that we need to rely on Orthodox Rabbis.
OK, my bad, I was checking from my phone and did not notice that.