The Divine Code Daily Dose

[Hrvatski Noahid]

If someone convinces a person that he should serve another person or thing as an idol, but the one who was misled has not yet served it, then even he accepted verbally and said, "Yes, I will go and serve it," both of them are still exempt from punishment for their words.<sup>34

34</sup> See Rambam, Laws of the Worship of Stars (and Idols) 5:5; although the proselytizer is liable to punishment by a Sanhedrin court, that precept for Jews does not apply to Gentiles (see Minhat Hinuh Commandment 462) (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 51).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

A self-proclaimed prophet who convinces others to serve idols is liable. Whether he says, "This idol told me to serve it," or "G-d told me to serve idols," or words to this effect, he is a false prophet who has persuaded others to go astray.<sup>35

35</sup> Rambam, Laws of the Worship of Stars (and Idols) 5:2 (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 52).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

Even if he prophesies in G-d's Name to serve an idol only for a specific time, and even if he performs miracles and says that G-d commanded that people must serve the idol for only a short time, he has spoken unfaithfully toward G-d, as it says,³⁶ "and the sign or the wonder comes about, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us follow the gods of others...' - do not hearken to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of a dream, for the L-rd your G-d is testing you... The L-rd, your G-d, shall you follow and Him shall you fear; His commandments you shall keep and to His voice shall you listen... And that prophet or that dreamer of a dream shall be put to death, for he has spoken fabrication against the L-rd your G-d."

³⁶ Deuteronomy 13:3-6 (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 52).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

Thus this person has come to contradict the eternal prophecy and Torah of Moses, and it is clear that he is a false prophet. All the apparent miracles he performs are just magic and sorcery.³⁷ The case of someone who says this in the name of G-d is not judged by a Noahide court, as explained below in topics 2:8-9. If he gives this false prophecy in the name of an idol, it is within the jurisdiction of a Noahide court to judge him.

³⁷ Rambam, Laws of Foundations of the Torah 9:1 (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 52).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

Likewise, a self-proclaimed prophet who prophesies in the name of idols and says, "This idol or star told me that it is a commandment to do such and such," or "not to do such and such" - even if he cited a correct Torah law - is liable for committing the sin of false prophecy (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 52).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

It appears that one who prophesies in the name of an idol, i.e. by saying his prophecy in its name, is a main component of the idol worship itself. Since Gentiles are forbidden to practice idol worship or its offshoots, this false prophet is therefore liable. It appears from Rambam, who places this law in Laws of the Worship of Stars (and Idols) and not in Laws of Foundations of the Torah, that this is a part of the Torah law pertaining to idol worship. This is also clear because one who prophesies in the name of idols actually accepts them, and is liable like one who says to an idol, "you are my god." (See topic 3:23 in Part II, and Ramban on Deut. 13:2; 18:20) (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 52).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

Even if he prophesies in the name of an idol but gives instruction to do a permitted mundane act or not to do so, or only predicts the future, he is nevertheless one who prophesies in the name of idols.<sup>39

39</sup> This is included in the command (Deut. 18:20), "But the prophet ... who will speak in the name of the gods of others..." The general topic there (from Deut. 18:14-22) is speaking about two things: one who prophesies to do something as a temporary commandment, or to do some mundane act that is permitted to be done. Since, as explained above, this false prophet accepts the idol, it does not matter what he says in its name. Even if he relates a true command from G-d, which would appear to be a statement of truth, Rambam explains that it is still false prophecy if it is being said in the name of idols (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 53).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

It is forbidden to arrange a discussion or a debate with one who prophesies in the name of idols (or with one who prophesies in the name of G-d to serve idols; both have the same status as a false prophet), and he should not be asked to perform a sign or a miracle. If he makes a sign or a miracle on his own, one must not pay attention to it or think about it. Anyone who thinks about these so-called miracles, debating if they are true, is a sinner, since the false prophet obviously denies a foundational principle upon which everything in Torah depends, as it says,⁴⁰ "If a prophet or dreamer of a dream shall arise among you, and he will give you a sign or wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes about, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us follow other gods, ... and we shall serve them!' - do not hearken to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of a dream ..."<sup>41

40</sup> Deuteronomy 13:2-4.

⁴¹ Rambam, Laws of the Worship of Stars (and Idols) 5:7 (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 53).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

Likewise, a Jew or a Gentile⁴² who claims that G-d sent him to add, remove or change a commandment from those that G-d gave through Moses (the 613 Jewish Commandments and the Seven Noahide Commandments), is a false prophet.

⁴² See Rambam, Laws of Foundations of the Torah 9:1. It is clear from Rambam that all of these types of false prophets intend to contradict the Torah of Moses in some way, whether they prophesy in the Name of G-d or in an idol's name, or to change the Torah-based faith, and therefore they are liable. However, G-d will never send a prophet to command the nations to change their Torah laws even temporarily, whether the prophet is a Jew or a Gentile. However, it is possible for one to be sent to instruct a permitted action; see Laws of Foundations of the Torah 7:7, and Iggeret Teiman, p. 147 (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 53-54).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

This applies even if he says that G-d sent him to explain the observance of a commandment in a way that differs from the tradition that was received from Moses,⁴³ or that G-d sent him with a message that one of these commandments was only meant for earlier times, but nowadays G-d has changed or nullified it. He is liable for this false prophecy, since he is contradicting the prophecy and Torah that Moses received at Mount Sinai, which G-d promised that He will never change or nullify, or replace with a new doctrine.

⁴³ See Rambam, Laws of Foundations of the Torah 9:1 (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 54).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

It appears to be clear that this ruling also applies if the person prophesies a correct explanation known in the Oral Torah, because after it was given to Moses, the Oral Torah does not reside in the Heavens (Deuteronomy 30:12), and G-d promised that He would not inform us of a matter of Torah Law in a prophecy (Deuteronomy 17:11), so it follows that the person is a false prophet (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 54).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

After Moses received the commandments from G-d, the definition of their observance was entrusted to the Sages of Israel in the Oral Tradition, and it left the context of any further prophetic revelation, as Moses taught: "For this commandment that I command you today, it is not hidden... it is not in the heavens... it is very near to you" (Deuteronomy 30:11-14; Tractate Bava Metzia 59). Subsequent prophets were sent to exhort people to keep the Torah, but not to add, change or nullify any of its commandments (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 54).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

A person who prophesies in the name of G-d, but lies in his prophecy, is in the category of a false prophet, as it says,⁴⁴ "But the prophet who says something in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, etc., ... that prophet shall die. If you will say in your heart, 'How can we know the word that G-d has not spoken?' What the prophet will speak in the Name of G-d and that thing will not occur and not come about - that is the word that G-d has not spoken; the prophet has spoken with willfulness; you should not fear him."

⁴⁴ Deuteronomy 18:20-22 (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 54).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

More specifically, a false prophet can be identified if he prophesies that a good event will come about and it does not come to pass, or if only part of the good that was promised comes to pass. This is because any good that G-d proclaims publicly (through a true prophet) will not be nullified, even if it is conditional, and this is a valid test for a false prophet (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 54).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

However, if a prophecy is given about punishments that will come, but they do not happen, the failure of this to occur does not nullify the possible validity of the prophet. For example, if a person declared as a prophecy that a certain person would die, or that in a certain year there would be a famine or a war, and the negative event did not occur, this is not proof that the prophet is false. Because the Holy One, blessed be He, is slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and forgiving of evil, it is possible that the person or the group of people repented and the sin was forgiven.<sup>45

45</sup> Or the retribution was delayed, as in the case of King Hezekiah, who was granted an extension of his life for fifteen years (Isaiah ch. 38) (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 55).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

This occurred for the Gentile city of Nineveh, as written in the Book of Jonah. The prophet Jonah declared to the people that G-d would destroy their city, but the people repented from their evil ways (and made restitution to those whom they had wronged), and because of this G-d relented from destroying them.<sup>46

46</sup> Rambam, Laws of Foundations of the Torah 10:4 (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 55).

[Noachide]

This occurred for the Gentile city of Nineveh, as written in the Book of Jonah. The prophet Jonah declared to the people that G-d would destroy their city, but the people repented from their evil ways (and made restitution to those whom they had wronged), and because of this G-d relented from destroying them.<sup>46

46</sup> Rambam, Laws of Foundations of the Torah 10:4 (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 55).

They broke their houses and took out the stolen bricks. I cannot imaigine people today doing that.

[Hrvatski Noahid]

They broke their houses and took out the stolen bricks. I cannot imaigine people today doing that.

Not many would do that.

[Hrvatski Noahid]

A person is a false prophet, and he is liable, if he prophesies in the name of G-d what he has not heard in a prophetic dream or vision, or if he hears a prophecy in the name of G-d from another person and then tells others that this prophecy was spoken to him by G-d.<sup>47

47</sup> Rambam, Laws of the Worship of Stars (and Idols) 5:8-9 (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 55).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

The laws regarding a false prophet also apply to Gentiles, as written in Iggeret Teiman, p. 149: "If a prophet stands up from among the Jews or the other nations and calls people to the religion of Moses (including calling Gentiles to observe the Noahide Code), and like Isaiah and Jeremiah and their kind, he does not add or subtract from them, we ask him for a miracle. If he gives one we believe him, and he is instated on the level of a prophet for us. However, if one thing is missing from his words, he is (a false prophet)" (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 55).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

But if one merely says falsely that he had a predictive dream that was fulfilled, without claiming that it was shown to him by G-d, or by some idolatrous power, he is not acting in the manner of a false prophet. Rather, he is merely lying and deceiving, which is forbidden in general as immoral conduct (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 55).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

Even though a Gentile who prophesied falsely is liable in the judgment of Heaven, the Noahide Code does not include a commandment to judge false prophets,⁴⁸ and therefore a Noahide court does not judge them. Rather, they are to be judged by a Jewish Supreme Sanhedrin when the required conditions are met.

⁴⁸ Responsa Tzafnat Pane'ah, Part II, ch. 138 (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 55-56).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

Rambam writes, in Laws of the Worship of Stars (and Idols) 5:9, that a Jewish false prophet was judged only by the Supreme Sanhedrin. It is unclear if this also applies to a Gentile false prophet. Even though a Noahide court cannot judge a false prophet, we can say - according to Rambam's statement in Laws of Kings 10:9 - that if he makes a new religion, the court can warn him that he is liable, and that he must stop this sinful behavior. And if he continues to be a stumbling block, they may remove him like any false proselytizer, for the benefit of society (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 56).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

The prescribed penalty can only be administered by a valid Jewish Supreme Sanhedrin of seventy-one Sages, if there is one that is meeting next to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, as these are requirements for trying the case. The Supreme Sanhedrin abandoned the Temple Mount forty years before the Second Temple was destroyed, and as a result of the Roman persecutions, there ceased to be a valid Sanhedrin several generations before the Talmud was concluded. The institution of a valid Sanhedrin of seventy-one Sages will be renewed in the Messianic Era (may it come speedily, in our days) (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 56).

[Hrvatski Noahid]

When there is no valid Jewish Supreme Sanhedrin, or if for any other reason they cannot judge the case, if a Gentile prophesies in the name of G-d to serve idols, or to change one of the Seven Noahide Commandments or to make a new religion, a Noahide court may judge this false proselytizer if the situation requires. If he only prophesies in the name of G-d falsely, but does not say to add to or change any of the Torah's commandments, but instead he speaks about permitted things, it appears that we may only warn him and trouble him, to convince him to stop. However, we also inform him that he is liable to death by the Hand of Heaven, and that he will be judged by G-d (the Divine Code by Rabbi Moshe Weiner, Ask Noah International, 2018, p 56).