The covenant with Noah still in force? And what about the Great Commission?

[Silas]

In the Jewish and Christian tradition/scriptures, God makes a covenant with Noah and blesses him after the flood. Noah's sons become the fathers of tribes and nations, with Japeth going north into what many believe was Anatolia, Greece, or Europe. The seven Noahide laws within this covenant were not for the Jews, because that tribe didn't even exist yet--they were for all peoples.

In the Christian tradition, Jesus makes an "new and everlasting covenant" (Luke 22:20) with his believers, but his followers were Jews. Elsewhere in the NT, Jesus claims he has been sent only to the "lost sheep of Israel" (Mat 15:24). Those lost Jews were in the dispersion, and there are several references to this in the NT:

“Then the Jews said to one another, 'Where does He intend to go so we won’t find Him? He doesn’t intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, does He?'” (John 7:35)

“James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ:To the 12 tribes in the Dispersion.Greetings” (James 1:1)

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ:To the temporary residents dispersed in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen” (Peter 1:1)

So when Jesus commands his followers to go out and make disciples of all nations (the Great Commission) in Matthew 28:18, is he speaking of the Jews in the dispersion? Or is he speaking of everyone?

Because if the Covenant with Noah is still in effect, the people in foreign lands who are descended from Japeth are still living under it!

I'd like to get some Muslim perspective on this (or anyone else who wants to comment)

 

[anatolian]

In Islam we believe Quran is the continuation of all the covenants of the past prophets with all mankind. Covenants of these past prophets were for their own people for a specific time. So the answer of your question, as far as I understand, no we are not under the law of Noah. Quran renewed it. Children of Israel are not under the law of Moses and Jesus either.

 

[Ümit]

I agree with brother anatolian. The Quraan renewed all the previous covenants because it comes for all mankind.
However, the 7 Noahide laws are still active. This seems contradictory to my previous sentence, but let me explain.
Prophets can come with two types of laws:
1) General laws that apply to everyone and are always active, independent of time;
2) Specific laws that apply to a specific group of people / civilization living in a specific timeframe.

I did a quick google search on the 7 Noahide laws:
Not to worship idols.
Not to curse God.
Not to commit murder.
Not to commit adultery or sexual immorality.
Not to steal.
Not to eat flesh torn from a living animal.
To establish courts of justice.

These are all general laws and are also included in Islaam, and therefore still active.
Every prophet came with these rules, not just Noah.
To give you an example:
Kain murdered his brother Abel and committed a major sin.
This means that "not to commit murder" was already an active law in Adams lifetime...long before Noah.
And it will be always active.

The great commission is more or less replaced by doing dawah..."to invite people to Islaam"
We still inform, educate, enlighten people with what we believe as the truth.
We do not have the duty to convince or convert people into Islaam...just to expose the truth, so people can see and decide for themselves.