07-08-2015, 04:31 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-08-2015, 04:34 AM by Director Michael.)
Thanks for your careful reading of the text in "The Divine Code." Here is a more precise translation of the cited ruling from Rambam in Laws of Kings 8:11, which we will use instead in the next edition of the book, G-d willing:
"...The Holy One, blessed be He, commanded them [the Seven Noahide Commandments] in the Torah, and informed us through Moses our teacher that Noah's descendants had been previously commanded to fulfill them."
This means that post-Sinai, the "Seven Noahide Commandments/Mitzvot" are specifically Torah Commandments/Mitzvot, based on the Torah (both its Written and Oral components) having been given by G-d through Moses.
When G-d commands a person (either directly, or through some intermediate means such as the words or written message of a true prophet) to do something or not to do something, then the fact of G-d's having commanded that thing establishes an obligation upon the person to act accordingly because G-d is King (the Sovereign, i.e. the Boss) over that person.
Likewise, the person is then obligated to fulfill that command from G-d specifically within the context of its having being commanded upon him by his King (the Holy One blessed be He). If he does it for some other reason, then he is not fulfilling it exactly as G-d intended, which is that he should do so in obedience to G-d.
If G-d decides to send this command through a prophet, this means that He is obligating the person to accept that prophet's words (and not some other words or ideas from somewhere else) as that command to him from G-d.
The degree to which G-d will reward the person is dependent upon the degree to which he fulfills all the dimensions of that Commandment/Mitzvah. Partial fulfillment will result in a partial reward. If a Gentile follows some rules of conduct which he calls (for example) "Laws of Noah," but not because of the truth that they were commanded to Him by G-d through Moses as Mitzvot of the Torah, with certain critical details that are known specifically and only from the Torah, then he has not totally fulfilled his full obligation of obedience to G-d.
Of course, any degree to which a Gentile will comply with G-d's Seven Noahide Commandments is needed and worthwhile for both practical and spiritual reasons, even if it is not in full compliance and obedience.
"...The Holy One, blessed be He, commanded them [the Seven Noahide Commandments] in the Torah, and informed us through Moses our teacher that Noah's descendants had been previously commanded to fulfill them."
This means that post-Sinai, the "Seven Noahide Commandments/Mitzvot" are specifically Torah Commandments/Mitzvot, based on the Torah (both its Written and Oral components) having been given by G-d through Moses.
When G-d commands a person (either directly, or through some intermediate means such as the words or written message of a true prophet) to do something or not to do something, then the fact of G-d's having commanded that thing establishes an obligation upon the person to act accordingly because G-d is King (the Sovereign, i.e. the Boss) over that person.
Likewise, the person is then obligated to fulfill that command from G-d specifically within the context of its having being commanded upon him by his King (the Holy One blessed be He). If he does it for some other reason, then he is not fulfilling it exactly as G-d intended, which is that he should do so in obedience to G-d.
If G-d decides to send this command through a prophet, this means that He is obligating the person to accept that prophet's words (and not some other words or ideas from somewhere else) as that command to him from G-d.
The degree to which G-d will reward the person is dependent upon the degree to which he fulfills all the dimensions of that Commandment/Mitzvah. Partial fulfillment will result in a partial reward. If a Gentile follows some rules of conduct which he calls (for example) "Laws of Noah," but not because of the truth that they were commanded to Him by G-d through Moses as Mitzvot of the Torah, with certain critical details that are known specifically and only from the Torah, then he has not totally fulfilled his full obligation of obedience to G-d.
Of course, any degree to which a Gentile will comply with G-d's Seven Noahide Commandments is needed and worthwhile for both practical and spiritual reasons, even if it is not in full compliance and obedience.