This was sent to me by Bismark in the Baptist Board PM. I'm not sure why he did not post it but I don't see any harm in putting forth to debate:
Must you acknowledge Absolute Authority of Rabbis (=modern-day Pharisees)?
Sponsored by Israel, there is a burgeoning Noahide movement emerging in the world today. The word Noahide refers to the covenant of Seven Noahide Commandments given by YHWH-God to Noah after the flood, and sealed by the sign of the rainbow (Gen 9).
The Plain Reading of Genesis 9:1-5 specifies
(1) "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth" (vv.1,7)
(2) Stewardship of all animal life (v.2)
(3) Authorization to eat meat, but not with blood (vv.3-4)
(4) Prohibition of murder, of either man or beast (vv.5-6)
However, the rainbow has seven colors, and Rabbinic interpretation of these and other passages has developed the Noahide Covenant into a set of seven laws. All Goyim ("Gentiles") are Children of Noah, and are thus bound by YHWH-God's authority to obey the Commandments of the Noahide Covenant — as interpreted by the Rabbis.
Goyim ("Gentiles") who obey the Noahide Commandments, as interpreted by their Rabbis, are called "Righteous Gentiles" and "God-Fearing".
The principal introduction, intended for a Goyim ("Gentile") audience, is The Path of the Righteous Gentile by Chaim Clorfene and Yakov Rogalsky. These authorities write:
Quote:
By observing the Seven Noahide Commandments, a Gentile fulfills the purpose of his creation and receives a share of the World to Come, the blessed spiritual world of the righteous.
The hurdle that must be cleared in preparation for observing the Seven Noahide Commandments is the acceptance of the idea that mankind's way to the Father is through the rabbis. Rebellion against the sanctity of rabbinic authority and tradition has been with us since those first days in the Wilderness of Sinai when the followers of Korah led a revolt against absolute rabbinic authority, as we learn in the Torah...
"And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them and their houses and all the men that were for Korah and all their wealth. And they went down, they and all who were for them, alive into the pit; and the earth closed over them and they disappeared from the midst of the congregation" (Num 16:32,33).
The lessons of the Torah are eternal as wee see by all those down through the ages who have emulated the actions of Korah and his band.
When God gave the Torah to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai, the people all accepted the written Torah willingly, but God had to lift the mountain over their heads and threaten to drop it on them to persuade them to accept the Oral Torah, that is, the rabbinic interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures. If the Jews had difficulty in accepting the Oral Torah as no less divine than the scriptures themselves, how much more difficult must it be for non-Jews. But accept the rabbis they must, for the source of understanding the Seven Noahide Commandments is found in the Talmud and the later rabbinic writings, and nowhere else...
This [is] the true universal religion in which Israel, the Jewish people, is the priest and the Children of Noah, the righteous Gentiles, its faithful laymen.
Now, Jesus says in Matthew 23:2-3, "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe".
Therefore, all Goyim ("Gentiles") must acknowledge the absolute authority of the Rabbis, and be "faithful laymen" to Israel and World Jewry ("the Jewish people"). Resistance to absolute Rabbinic authority will mark you as a "Son of Korah" bound for "the pit" of sheol (hell), and will deny you any share in the World to Come. As with Korah, your doom will be a witness to your sin.
The learned Jewish scholar, Walter Ziffer [1], echoes this further, proudly saying that Jews were intimately involved in the Russian Revolution, progressive movements, and are deeply concerned about the "proper behavior" of Gentiles.
I have quoted, directly and exactly, to the point of preserving capitalization, the words of Chaim Clorfene and Yakov Rogalsky, written under the guidance of Rabbi Mendel Feldman. Rabbi Feldman says, in the preface, "the authors, both of whom I know to conscientious and God-fearing, have done a praise-worthy job". Thus, their words speak with absolute Rabbinic authority.
Therefore, it would seem that Christians are duty-bound to acknowledge the absolute authority of the Rabbis, and obey them appropriately.
Reference:
[1] http://www.krusch.com/bethisrael/