Noahide Nations World Conference

This is a new group to me, not the teachings/teachers of the Noahide Laws, but this group in particular…never heard of it until today. Even after reading a few articles on this movement, I’m still not sure what it would be classified as except a false religion (or cult?): that being based on the denial of Jesus as the Messiah. At first I thought it was a part of the Hebraic Roots movement, but it doesn’t quite appear to be so. According to the website its comprised of Jewish Torah scholars and committed Gentile Noahites working together. Their goal appears to be to bring all people and Nations under submission to the Noahide Laws:

This many-faceted movement is demanding that entire nations submit to a set of principles variously termed the Noahide Laws, the Moral Law, Natural Law…(see Under The Law)

Conference details:

The World Conference of the Noahide Nations will be a time of discovery, a source for new friendships and an opportunity to forge lasting ties between the Jewish people and Noahides?ties that can strengthen us as individuals and encourage us to face the historic challenges of global change. The most important purpose for this conference is to bring that which has been prophesied into reality.

We are living in extraordinary times. Our world is plagued with violence, moral decay and diminishing human dignity. Yet, we find ourselves blessed with an unprecedented outpouring of knowledge that is both timeless and technological. It is a kind of flood that is both spiritual and material. We are poised on the brink of destruction or greatness. It is our hope and belief that mankind is approaching the latter, fueled by innovative discoveries and a growing awareness in the deep riches of the Torah knowledge. The melding of these resources coupled with a heightened sense of the need for community is the underlying theme of the most ambitious conference to date.

****

From their website, NoahideNations:

Who are Noahides? (Just an excerpt)

• Briefly, just what is B’nai Noah?

Most simply put, B’nai Noah, or “children of Noah,” is the Talmudic way of referring to all humankind. According to the Bible we are all descendants of one man, namely Noah, after the Flood, and are thus “Children of Noah” (Genesis 10).

• You say this concept is in the Talmud. Is it also in the Bible?

Yes, but not by that name.

• Is this a religious Faith one can believe and follow?

Not in itself, there is more. Connected to the idea of being a descendant of Noah are the Noahide Laws which express the basic outlines of a full and dynamic relationship with God.

• You say the Noahide concept involves a whole Way of life. Can you explain this more?

Following these laws, even if they are expanded into whole categories, does not sound like enough to satisfy the spiritual needs of people? What about prayers, worship, holydays, customs and traditions? Do the Noahites have these?Definitely yes. Noahites are involved, in co-operation with leading rabbis in Israel and the United States in developing prayers, ceremonies, and rituals which are appropriate to them as Gentiles who have attached themselves to the One God of Israel. They are not seeking to begin a new religion. This is forbidden in the Torah. But neither are they seeking to simply “imitate” the Jewish practices. This would only confuse matters further. Most Noahites have turned away from some of the standard holy days of the West, such as Christmas and Easter, with their pagan associations. There is much in the Sacred Calendar of Judaism that is applicable to all humankind. The Sabbath day is first mentioned in Genesis 2, where it is sanctified as a day of rest, a memorial of the creation for humankind. Israel’s Sabbath observance, according to later halacha is another matter. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is certainly a day when all human beings, Jew or Gentile, can assemble in a spirit of repentance and reconciliation. Indeed, all the festivals of Israel can be remembered and honored in ways appropriate for Gentiles, but in solidarity with the Jewish people. The Noahites, with orthodox rabbinic input, are developing marriage ceremonies, prayers, and holy day rituals which are appropriate for all humankind.

Frankly, what is happening in our day in somewhat new. We are in a new situation, one we hope, through the grace of HaShem, will lead to Messianic times. In other words, much of this is right now being worked out in many nations in co-operation between Jewish Torah scholars and committed Gentile Noahites. This is in the spirit of Isaiah 2 and 11, which tells of the nations coming to Jerusalem to learn the “Way of HaShem,” leading to Messianic times when the earth is filled with the knowledge of HaShem as the waters cover the sea (see Zech 14:9). Obviously the whole world is not to literally become Jewish. But all nations can be taught of God and learn the Way of God for this planet. The Noahide concept is a beginning of that great goal.

• So, does that mean that this Noahide movement is actually rather new? Is it even, perhaps, what we might call a cult or sect?

No, it is quite old! After all, recall, this is the Faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Job, and even Abraham (before his circumcision). You could not find a religious Faith on this planet with older roots than the Noahide one! You would hardly call the religion of these Patriarchs a “cult.” It is the very foundation of Western ethical and moral values.

Also, from an historical point of view, the early Gentile participants in the movement that arose around Jesus the Nazarene were actually participating in a version of the B’nai Noah concept. In other words, early Gentile “Christianity,” might be more accurately classified as a messianic B’nai Noah movement, despite the later heretical developments within Christianity which made Jesus a second deity. B’nai Noah when properly understood instructs Gentiles to turn directly to the One God as He is revealed in the pages of the Scriptures. This is clearly reflected in Acts 15 and Paul’s instructions to his Gentile converts in letters like 1 Corinthians (see chapters 5-10) and 1 Thessalonians. He instructs the Gentile believers in Jesus as Messiah in the seven Noahide Laws. These were made binding on the Gentile converts by none other than Jacob (James), brother of Jesus, and leader of the Nazarene Sect. They were among the “Godfearers” who attended Jewish synagogues to learn Torah as it applied to them. There was nothing for the first 50 years of the movement that resembled what we call “Christianity,” as a separate Hellenistic religion distinct from Judaism. The movement was thoroughly Jewish, but with Gentiles invited to participate on the basis of the Noahide concept without conversion to Judaism.

• What is the attitude then, of the current B’nai Noah movement toward Christianity?

The B’nai Noah movement is definitely not Christian. It is larger than all world religions.

***

Also see;

Noahide Concision

THE LAWS OF THE NOACHIDES

THE SANHEDRIN (which links to this group)

The Hebrew Roots Movement

Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Philippians 3

About these ads