If you spend much time on X (which I do not recommend), or are generally aware of political drama (but I repeat myself), then you might have heard rumblings recently about the Noahide laws. Youtube videos and influencers have been abuzz with hot takes on what is either something totally benign or something that is another sinister Jewish plot to control the world. So which is it? And are the Noahide laws biblical? And why are we talking about this?

The main reason for this recent controversy is twofold. First and foremost is a comment made at a TPUSA college event. There conservative Jewish podcaster Ben Shapiro answered a question about faith and religion. A student asked him what it would take for him to convert to Christianity, and Shapiro graciously responded to him. In the course of his answer Shapiro mentioned that in Judaism, unlike in Christianity, the goal is not to convert people. Rather, all non-Jews who follow the seven Noahide laws will make it to heaven. The other factor that has contributed to this is that there is a major Noahide conference happening in Israel. 

Most people have never really heard of the Noahide laws, and when people don’t know about something, it can quickly become suspicious. And when people don’t understand something and it’s Jewish, things often go from being viewed as suspicious to being viewed as downright sinister. So let’s explore what these laws are, whether they are biblical, and how we should think about them.

The Purpose of the Noahide Laws

It’s easy for us to assume that other people think about and look at the world the same way we do. It’s easy for us to look at other religions and think that they have the same basic goals that we have. For Christians, that means spreading the gospel. We want people to get saved and to become Christians. So it would seem natural to us that Jewish people would want us to convert to Judaism. But that actually isn’t the case. They don’t care if you become Jewish, and in most cases would probably discourage it. 

Now once again, it would be easy to read that through our religious understanding and miss what that means for them. You see, we believe that everyone who is genuinely Christian will go to heaven and those who are not Christian will go to hell. So when you hear that Jewish people don’t care if you convert to Judaism, it can be easy to misread that as saying, “The Jews think everyone but them is going to hell and they don’t care.” But that’s not what they believe. Judaism believes that one day God will come to earth and set up His kingdom. Israel will have a place of prominence in this kingdom, but they won’t be the only ones there. They believe that the righteous from the nations will be there as well. (By the way, where did they get such a crazy idea? From passages like Isaiah 2, Micah 4, and Zechariah 14.) 

So in Judaism, those who are Jewish must follow the Mosaic law found in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. By one standard count, that’s 613 laws. But those are unique to Israel since they are in a covenant with God and have been uniquely chosen by Him. Once again, we often transfer our understanding onto this language and think this means that Judaism is teaching only Jewish people are saved since they are uniquely chosen by God. But in the Old Testament, election doesn’t mean who’s saved and who’s not. Election is rather about being chosen for a specific task. God’s choice of Israel might give them special privileges, but it also entails heavy responsibilities. Particularly the 613 commands. This means, then, that if you aren’t Jewish you aren’t expected to keep those. For me to eat pork isn’t a sin in the eyes of Judaism, because I’m not Jewish. 

But if you’re not Jewish, what are you supposed to do? If you don’t have to keep all 613 laws since you aren’t in a covenant with God, what is expected of you? This is where the Noahide laws come in. Named after Noah, these are the laws that are expected of all people, and must be kept if someone wants to be right with God according to Jewish theology. This became clear to me in a conversation with a Jewish friend who made the comment “Why would anyone want to be Jewish and have to follow these 613 laws? You only have to follow 7!”

The Seven Noahide Laws

So let’s look at what these highly controversial laws are. What is it that Judaism thinks should be expected of all people? Well, since I am not Jewish, I’m going to be relying on other sources. So using these resources, here’s a Gentile’s quick summary of these laws:

1. Don’t worship false gods or idols.
2. Do not curse God.
3. Do not murder.
4. Do not eat the limb of a living animal.
5. Do not steal.
6. Do not commit sexual immorality.
7. Establish courts of justice.

Now, some of these are open to some interpretation. The first law in particular could be interpreted to include or exclude Christians. No doubt there are some Jews who would look at my belief in the trinity and decide that I am violating this list on that basis. I’m not bothered by that, since I believe that those who reject Jesus will ultimately face condemnation. But there are other Jews who would not see a belief in Jesus as a failure to keep the Noahide laws. Ironically, Shapiro himself has said that he believes most sincere Christians will qualify “to go to heaven” in our lingo or “to be a part of God’s global kingdom” to use OT and NT language. 

Are the Noahide Laws Biblical?

It depends on what you mean by biblical. Nowhere in the Bible are these seven laws specifically listed for the Gentiles to follow. This list comes from various texts found in rabbinic writings, and have come to be systemetized over the years. Of course, most of them are just simply selections from the Ten Commandments. The two more interesting ones are the prohibition against eating limbs taken from living animals and establishing courts of justice. The first is based on God’s instructions to Noah about eating animals (Genesis 9:4). The courts of justice reflect the strong concern for justice throughout the Old Testament. So yes, these commands are biblical in the sense that they come from the Bible, but the Bible nowhere gives these as a list of requirements for Gentiles.

Obviously, I am not Jewish. I do not think that the Noahide laws are enough to be a part of God’s coming kingdom. I believe that the kingdom the Jews expected is still coming and that Jesus will be the King of that kingdom. Only by believing in Him will one be allowed into that global kingdom predicted in the OT and promised by Jesus. 

But there’s nothing secretive or dark happening here. There is no secret Jewish conspiracy to rule the world or force their Judaism on anyone. In fact, it is ironically just the opposite. These laws are the answer to a very obvious question, “According to Judaism, what do non-Jews need to do to be acceptable to God?” As is often the case, the online fury over this issue is all heat and no light. A little bit of light and the fury quickly fades.