peace4all said:
ok.
Just from my view, it seems so oddd to list something that way. its like
"santa will think your a good boy if you fold your clothes, clean your room, vaccum the rug, and don't murder people"
3 go together,t he 4th is like, totally out there.
but ty for clearing that up
Not odd at all....the Messianic Christians were aware of the list as well as the Gentile proselytes....the new Christians needed a little help with the list....Here is a good explanation from a Messianic website that explains the 7 Noahide Law....4 of which are found in Acts 15, but you have to tie the 4 in with the 7. Actually, the 613 Laws in the Torah are the 4 refined, or fine tuned.
The laws for Gentiles as found in Acts 15 and 21 are from the Noahide Laws God gave to Noah after the landing of the Ark....
http://www.betemunah.org/noachide.html
and an excerpt from that site.....
.....The Rabbis in Tractate Sanhedrin 56b derive from the Torah the six broad categories of laws that HaShem forbids all of humanity:
1. Killing
2. Stealing
3. Committing Sexual Immorality
4. Eating the flesh of a living animal
5. Serving idols
6. Blaspheming against HaShem
They also derived one positive category of laws:
1. Establishing a system of legal justice
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 Olam HaBa, the World to Come, Gentiles must observe these obligations specifically because they were commanded by HaShem through the Torah (see Bereshit (Genesis) 9).[2] The Rambam thus regarded anyone who observed these laws as one "assured of a portion in the Olam HaBa."
.............
and, also from the site.....these 7 Gentile laws are refined to 66 laws in the 7 catagories......
ecerpt continued.....
........
From these seven laws our Sages derived the following 66 laws:
1. MURDER:
(1) against anyone murdering anyone.
[Some say that this also prohibits Lashon HaRa, evil speech.]
2. THEFT:
(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.
3. ILLICIT INTERCOURSE:
(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.
[Some have suggested that this list should also forbid intercourse with a woman who is Niddah. The Shulchan Aruch also has a chapter about adulterous thinking and discharging one's seed in vain, which is also forbidden.]
4. LIMB OF A LIVING CREATURE:
(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 it was torn off an animal while it was still alive.
5. IDOLATRY:
(1) against entertaining the thought that there exists a deity except HaShem;
(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 [Sorcerer, Soothsayer, Magician]; and
(10) against turning to idolatry (in word, in thought, in deed, or by any observance that may draw us to its worship).
6. BLASPHEMY:
(1) to acknowledge the existence of HaShem;
(2) to fear HaShem;
(3) to pray to HaShem;
(4) to sanctify HaShem's name (in face of death, where appropriate);
(5) against desecrating HaShem'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.
7. JUSTICE:
(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 Noachides are not restricted in this way but may judge singly and at once.");
(19) to testify in court; and
(20) against testifying falsely.
In addition to these sixty-six laws, there is evidence to suggest several more laws that also apply to the Gentiles. Since the Bet HaMikdash (Temple) was a house of prayer for all of the nations, it follows that the Ger Toshav would also have a siddur to follow along during the prayers.
..............end of excerpt.
These I believe were what the Gentiles were to observe....Ideally (In Acts), they were to observe the 4 laws and work there way up to observing Torah law. In other words....they were to progress from 4 to 7 to 66 and onward.
anyone can plainly see that if we all followed the 66 Gentile laws, the world would be a better place.....
