I doubt one Jehovah's Witness in a thousand has ever heard of the Noahide Laws as such. It isn't part of the Watchtower teaching.
There are good reasons for that.
Noah and family were not Jews, Israelites or Mosaic Law covenant parties because they were long BEFORE such things even existed.
They were the new progenitors of the human family and represented what we might well call GENTILES as a category.
What was Jehovah expecting from these 8 souls (and their progency from the flood's end forward?) behavior-wise so that they might
become "righteous" in His eyes?
Read:
The Seven Laws of Noah (Hebrew: ??? ????? ??? ?? Sheva mitzvot B'nei Noach), often referred to as the Noahide Laws or Noachide Code, are a set of seven moral imperatives that, according to the Talmud, were given by God to Noah as a binding set of laws for all mankind. [ 1 ] According to Judaism any non-Jew who lives according to these laws is regarded as a Righteous Gentile and is assured of a place in the world to come (Olam Haba), the Jewish concept of heaven. [ 2 ] Adherents are often called "B'nei Noach" (Children of Noah) or "Noahides" and may often network in Jewish synagogues.
The seven laws listed by the Tosefta and the Talmud are [ 3 ]
The Noahide Laws comprise the six laws given to Adam in the Garden of Eden, [ 4 ] and a seventh (eating flesh from a living animal), which was added after the Flood of Noah.
- Prohibition of Idolatry: You shall not have any idols before God.
- Prohibition of Murder: You shall not murder. ( Genesis 9:6 )
- Prohibition of Theft: You shall not steal.
- Prohibition of Sexual Promiscuity: You shall not commit any of a series of sexual prohibitions, which include adultery, incest, bestiality and homosexual acts.
- Prohibition of Blasphemy: You shall not blaspheme God's name.
- Dietary Law: Do not eat flesh taken from an animal while it is still alive. ( Genesis 9:4 )
- Requirement to have just Laws: Set up a governing body of law (eg Courts)
Gentiles were always (before Jesus, during and afterward) judged righteous by these instructions.
The Noahide Laws preceded Israel and the Covenant. Only the Jews were under the law (because it was a Covenant).
Historically, some rabbinic opinion holds that not only are non-Jews not obligated to adhere to all the laws of the Torah, but they are actually forbidden to observe them.The blood transfusion issue is a distortion as offered by the Watchtower.The Jerusalem ruling as to what behavior was required of Gentile converts was a RE-statement of the existing old Noahide Law which had NOT CHANGED AT ALL in thousands of years!It was forbidden to eat a living animal and it was forbidden to murder.Abstain from blood means nothing more than this.Preserving life (in a life OR death situation medically) trumps any other considerations of doctrine because without LIFE there is no value to anything and there is no service, worship or righteousness possible.Watchtower policy is not PRO-life.It does not concern itself with protecting the flock from life-threatening injury or death.Watchtower policy is a Pharisee obsession with RULES. And worse: wrong interpretation of rules, at that!Abstain from bloodSHED is not the same as "Don't save an injured person's life by giving them donated blood which does not kill the one donating it."The Nohide Laws were pro-righteousness, pro-life and not a burden on anybody.Watchtower Laws are only concerned with exercising authority to the point of preventing the preservation of life.Jesus himself was accused of breaking the Law by HEALING on the Sabbath, was he not?He demonstrated the proper attitude when a conflict arose between a RULE and a LIFE.Pity the Watchtower ignores Jesus' demonstration of that understanding!Terry
