Where Do I Belong? By Hiram Rosa
© 2007 Hiram Rosa and the First Covenant Foundation
I have been hearing this question from others who have come to where I am today: what is expected of truly monotheistic Gentiles or non-Jewish people, people whom we associate with the title B’nai Noach?
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The Torah has many teachings for us. One of which is that by finding out what G’d IS NOT, we get closer to Him. Even though we find the Seven Laws explicitly listed in Israel’s Talmud (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin - “Courts” - folio 56), they are part of the Torah’s larger context. We learn from the context what is expected of humanity. This is a starting point for us to achieve a higher connection to our Creator.Â
In other words, we are not to just remain content with the listed Seven Laws, we need to go further into the understanding that these laws can yield. These seven principles are only main headings for general laws and values. Once understood, in association with their Divine connection to the Creator who revealed them, they reveal other commandments and connections that can logically be classified under each heading (see the First Covenant Association’s main book, The Rainbow Covenant).Â
Here’s an example of how this system works. If you don’t commit the Noahide - that is, the universal, prohibited - crime of theft, what do you do? You get a job and become productive so you don’t need or feel inclined to steal. But theft constitutes taking anything that is not yours. This would include different forms of theft - for instance, kidnapping, dealing falsely in business, lying for your own personal gain, etc. This demonstrates that things are not so simple and that G’d provides us with ways to make ourselves better people and more pleasing to Him.
There is always more that we can do to please Him, in other words.      Â
The question of “where do I belong?†is moot - not capable of being decided - because we can only be where G’d put us. The issue is how one decides to accept His authority in our lives in order to attain a closer relationship with Him. We can only do this by first having correct ideas about Him. Then we can start to see how everything we do in our lives affects our spiritual and our physical outlook.
We live on two planes, the physical and metaphysical, the seen and the unseen. The Seven Laws for the Gentiles - actually, for all humanity - is the starting place to reach a higher connection to G’d. We become unclean by our intentions followed by our actions, but we can rise to cleanliness with our words of repentance and by correcting our actions. The Seven Laws help us moderate our intentions within, so we can control our actions. When we learn this lesson of self-control we become able to discern good from evil and know when we are about to be tempted to do that which we know is against G’d’s will.
We can’t start trying to live by the Seven Laws by just casually trying to find out what they are and how to fulfill them. One needs to study each of the seven general topics or headings, in order to find out what is constituted in that one heading.
You will find out that the more you learn about each law, statute and lesson that constitutes the main principle, you develop a better, stonger connection with that Law. Thus, you are more able to fulfill it.
The initial step is to realize these are Divine laws. Secondly, that they are for your spiritual, as well as physical, benefit. By spiritual, I mean the ability to connect more to G’d, not by emotional acceptance, but by intellectual understanding of why G’d gave us these wise laws and statutes, which will yield a great emotional connection as well.
Maimonides - Rambam - posits three reasons for learning the Ways of the Torah:
We should study them to attain correct ideas about G’d.
To attain a higher moral level of life.
And to learn how to overcome injustice and make the world more just.
Please consider this three-part consideration when studying the Laws. Don’t forget, the first two relate directly to G’d, while the last relates to our fellow human beings. In the three we have the whole man!     Â
In summary, from the Scripture, the Book of Ecclesiastes 12:13 - 14
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
I guess still consider myself to be a Christian in many ways- a follower of the teachings of Jesus. My “version” of the New Testament includes the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Thomas. And inside of these, I mainly look at the teachings of Jesus, not any biographical data (which varies from Gospel to Gospel, except Thomas, which is a collection of sayings). I’m not sure what to make of the Pauline writings, but he seems to refer to a spiritual or conceptual Christ (rather than a physical, flesh-and-blood Christ) because he seems to be the originator of Jesus worship. This is all supplementary to the Torah, the true Bible. I can’t deny that the Christians have many, many wonderful writings. Yes, they can be contradictory, but I’d be foolish to ignore them out of spite. I don’t have a fixation on Jesus worship, so I can safely come to terms with Christianity (this has been, and is, an ongoing process). What helped me was when I read, “The Unknown Sanctuary,” the autobiography of Aime Palliere (a Catholic Noahide, of all things).
I’m torn. I want everyone to worship my G’d - to know Him by His Name as He revealed it to Israel. I don’t trust the teachings of other schools, which give short shrift to Israel and G’d’s Torah.
So I appreciate Hiram’s approach to Torah. Hiram wants to plug in directly to Israel’s knowledge of G’d. But here there’s Robert. I know him - we’ve spoken, and he’s written here before. He values Torah. He appreciates the Plan that makes Israel a “people of priests.” He’s read Rainbow Covenant. He knows all about Noah’s Laws. But he also considers himself “a Christian in many ways.”
I wish this didn’t bug me. I wish there were millions - hundreds of millions or billions - more like Robert. People who appreciate Israel and Torah but who still have the capacity to appreciate wisdom from other sources.
My understanding of the Noahide Laws make me think that Robert’s approach to these things is fine.
But, but. . . something in me says that one either accepts or rejects the Torah - that is, the truth about the Torah and the peculiar role of Israel in the world. If one accepts them, G’d and His Torah are everything. If one doesn’t accept them, if one rejects any substantial aspect of them, one necessarily rejects much of what Israel is and much of what the Torah is.
I’d like to hear from others on this subject.
I’ve been undergoing a bit of a transformation the past few weeks and months, coming to grips with Christianity as it were. I used to see it as a man-centered religion based around, of all things, a Jewish man. Attached to it were all kinds of obscure and often contradictory beliefs, such as the virgin birth, original sin, substitution of the atonement, et cetera. None of that worked for me because I knew that’s not how G’d acted. Ever.
So, I was kind of frustrated, and threw Christianity into the trashcan (the good and the bad). But, every once in a while, I’d peek inside because, for some reason, I couldn’t get away from it. I don’t think it had to do very much with Jesus. Superficially, it did, but deeper down was the message of the Bible. Jesus is an elusive figure, and the Christian literature presents a confusing and strange picture of him.
I don’t consider the Christian literature to be at fault. How can you blame Christians today for inheriting a religion from their predecessors? What’s really wonderful is that there are now so many Christians who’re seeking better answers than the ones they’ve had. Many of these Christians are led over to Judaism, and some of them break away to become Noahides or Jews. Most of them stay inside of Christianity, hopefully with a better and correct understanding of the Bible. While I’ve been looking at the Noahide laws and Judaism for a couple of years, my heart still seems to be called to Christianity in a lot of ways.
That’s not so bad. I now know a great deal more than I ever did before, and I know what to think of Jesus (a man), the New Testament and other Christian literature (supplementary but in no way making obsolete the Torah), the Christ concept (the divine spirit in all of us that years to awaken to G’dliness), and so forth.
RW.
Hm, it sort of occured to me that I might be seen as advising the New Testament and other Christian lit. as being additions to the Bible in the fashion of orthodox Christianity (the New Testament et al. replacing the Torah). I’m not advising this approach at all! There’s only one true Bible, and the New Testament it isn’t. Whilst I consider most Christian lit. to be suspect of error (intentional and unintentional), it’s also a tremendous asset, too. I now approach the New Testament with more than a bit of caution, because I know firsthand all of the errors that it contains…
RW.
Robert/Michael,
Bare with me a moment, if you please!
Before we start, I’d like say that in my mind and, hopefully, the mind of others, we are only trying to live life according to the Torah teachings that are found within the mesora of B’nai Ysrael. I hope no one ever thinks that they can create a new religion based on the Seven Laws. That would go against Torah teachings. The Torah is for all of humanity and so are the Seven Laws and items of perfection within the Law for Israel for the Gentiles. If I’m wrong, please correct me.
The issue you both have raised, I originally had covered in the original form of this post. It was; however, a bit obscured by my other points, so after much consideration, desided to take it out.
I will now bring this up a new.
The issue you both are dealing with is the issue of whether a Christian can be considered a Torah Noachide, meaning a monotheistic one according to Torah, or not. The truthful answer is yes and no.
Yes, because like Robert, if one disassociates, once and for all, from the idea of the “divinity” of Jesus and acknowledges that the G’d of the Torah is the only G’d, then he is not into “strange worship”. That person will then come to the next step; which is, what to do with Jesus himself. Now, the fact that he does have some items of truth in his “sayings” means that those items can be studied. However, they should be measured up against the Torah. If they fall short, they can’t be accepted. If, however, they are within Torah lines, they can be accepted as Truth. So, then, people will ask their selves if they are still truly Christian or just followers of the “sayings” of Jesus. If anything, the NT claims about Jesus, can be supported by the Torah, then, that can be seen as truth. If anything; ie-divinity and messiahship, can’t be supported, then one has to disassociate their self from that. It will be something that that person will have to decide on by their self. All anyone can do is help them see what the Torah says. They will decide on the rest..
Now, the NO part of the answer has to do with those who still see Jesus as Messiah and as a “divinity”. This issues are not Torah based; therefore, should be questioned by those individuals. What happens, however, is the fear that they will loose “salvation” takes over them and they are not willing to let go. That, however, can only be done away with by G-d’s words in the Torah and the individuals commitment to study those words. A great passage was brought to my attention yesterday by Jack.. (which BTW I had not read any of this until this morning)
Proverbs 2:1 - 9 (KJV) 1My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 2So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 3Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; 5Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. 6For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. 7He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. 8He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. 9Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.”
The focus here being verse 6 because it tells us where we get the wisdom from.
Robert is obviously a monotheistic Noachide that finds, in what he knows, kernels of truth. This, if he chooses, can be used to further undergo the study of the Torah. He can call himself a Christian if he wants to, that doesn’t take away what he already knows. What he can’t do is be a Christian based on the teachings of Christianity, which he admits. This makes him, in their eyes, not be a Christian at all. To him, however, he is a Christian by the standards of the old original group because they were not into worshiping Jesus. They saw him as their Rabbi, much like Hillel or Shammai, which lived during the same periods. Even then, however, he is not fully as Christian as other Christians are, for, the way the old group of Jesus followers saw their selves was merely another form of Judaism that thought they had the Messiah during their time. (sound familiar)
My father has branded me “lost” because he found out that I don’t claim myself to be a Christian at all. He was disappointed to hear me say that Jesus didn’t die for anyone’s sin and that I am the only one responsible for paying for my own sin and that the Torah teaches that.
He loves me, I love him; however, I can’t accept the claims found in the NT about the person known as Jesus.
I can’t call myself a Christian, that doesn’t mean that Robert can’t. I see where Robert is and how he views things. This seperates him from the other Christians. His view is more of him being a person who finds interest in the words of Jesus and, to some extent, that’s fine. The Gospels contain some things that are completely not Torah based, but in the areas of Truth, they are. Those, he can use for what they can teach him; however, there is more that he will need and find in the Torah. In the words of Hillel, “The rest is but commentary..”
In other words, the issue is that we have to find out for ourselves by studying and to remember the main goal is the acknowledgement of G’d and our relationship to Him and others based on His words and not the words of others.
Best wishes to all,
Hiram
Hiram,
“The Gospel in Brief,” by Leo Tolstoy does a wonderful job of condensing the account of Jesus’ life, ministry, and death into a readable format. It’s similar to the so-called Jefferson Bible by Thomas Jefferson, whereas both men removed any supernatural elements and claims to Jesus’ messiahship (divinity) from their respective narrations.
What emerges is, at least in Tolstoy’s case, is the story of a rural Galilean teacher of uncommon wisdom. When one becomes aware that a Galilean wasn’t the same thing as a Judean, and of the differences thereof between the two populations (the Gospels themselves make it clear that Jesus had a grudge against the Judean temple establishment), then it becomes even clearer that the whole picture isn’t being seen about Jesus.
If I remember, the Galileans were mixed descendants of the Northern Kingdom (Israel), which had its own religious rites. I surmise that Jesus followed some form of this belief, not all of which would agree with Jerusalem.
I really can’t say much else about Jesus. He’s a central figure in the mind of many Christians. He becomes an important figure because of what he wasn’t:
“And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, G-d.”
That certainly doesn’t sound like any messianic claim to me, but rather the self-deprecating comment of a man who also said:
“‘You shall love the Lord your G-d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22: 36-40)
Here, Jesus agrees (for once) with the Jerusalem orthodoxy. Notice, that he never contradicts the Law only except in what he sees as minor circumstances (dietary and cleanliness laws, activity on the Sabbath, et cetera). For Jesus, devotion to G-d supersedes all other laws (and the Law itself if it conflicts with his two commandments of love of G-d and neighbor/self). He was seen as an oddball back then. I don’t know how this guy from Galilee ever got promoted to being the fulfillment of messianic prophecy; Messiah is supposed to keep the Law, down to the smallest mote, but Jesus ate with dirty hands, didn’t wash the cup and plate, worked on the Sabbath, and so forth.
And, there’s also the fact that nothing that Jesus said or did was new under the sun. Miraculous powers or wise sayings are no proof of divinity; if this was true, we’d all be worshipping Moses.
R.
Maybe uncommon wisdom is a bit too much; Jesus had an odd sort of wisdom. I think it depends on how you read into him; I prefer the Thomasine gospel to others, which presents Jesus as a teacher of gnostic-style wisdom about how to find the Kingdom of God within. Maybe that’s why it wasn’t lost, because it didn’t agree with traditional beliefs.
R.
Robert,
Like I said, these insights are good beginings for someone that is where you are at.
All I can do is encourage that you find out where he got his insight from. When you research his sayings you find who he quotes and where it’s found…
Happy studies my friend…
I know where this inspiration comes from. Socrates called it the daimon, and Epictetus called it “the voice of God within” that everyone possesses (but which is ignored by most). I’m on secure footing ( I hope), but I do need to study the Bible more. But, even here, I am in no hurry, because I have the remainder of my life left ahead of me. I don’t see the need to hurry, because God is never far from my thoughts at all.
You might wonder, how could that be if I admit that I don’t study the Bible as much as I should? It’s a matter of lifelong instruction, and a person who is truly devoted to God will be a student of the Word for all of his or her days. I’ve told myself this, and I could spent the rest of myself studying Torah and not even plumb its depths.
As to the New Testament, I know that Jesus lifted plenty from the Torah, but his words are usually taken out of context by the Christians to mean something else than what they really do…
R.
That voice is our conscious. That conscious is led by G’d when properly exercised…
see my other post on the other section we’ve been talking in
I hold to the view that a good, sound conscience is identical to the voice of G-d. It’s literally what separates humans from all other forms of life, that we have this capacity to hear the Creator because He is part of our very being:
“Then the Lord G-d formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7)
R.