Israel are the Jews, the descendants of the Patriarch Jacob.
They are commanded to fulfill the 613 Commandments of the Torah. The
Children of Noah comprise the seventy original nations of the world and
their branches.
They
are commanded concerning the Seven Universal Laws, also known as the Seven
Laws of the Children of Noah or the Seven Noahide Laws. These Seven
Universal Laws pertain to idolatry, blasphemy, murder, theft, sexual
relations, eating the limb of a living animal, and establishing courts of
law.
Can such a
Gentile decide to become a full convert to Judaism? Absolutely. But,
according to the School of Hillel, they should never be forced to convert
or to proceed beyond those areas they choose. Taking this into account
let’s look at the “Jerusalem conference” in Acts 15 and understand what
this discussion was all about.
Acts
15:3
15:3
And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice
and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they
caused great joy unto all the brethren.
What
were the gentiles being converted to? Remember at this time in history
there was no such thing as a separate religion known as Christianity.
These were Gentiles being converted to a belief in Judaism,
although they were NOT full converts.
4 And
when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of
the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done
with them.
5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which
believed, saying, That it was