FIRST: A little Bible lesson for the Dan Corners of this world:

NOTE: Throughout this article all "Old Testament" scriptures were borrowed from Stern's Complete Jewish Bible; all "New Testament" scriptures came from the Aramaic English New Testament.)

BOTTOM LINE UP-FRONT: Mr. Corner, we highly recommend you take some time to read our article about the Book of Galatians in which we have refuted many Christian ideas! Yeshua was the Word and the "Living Torah" prophesied in the "Old Testament." If you deny the "Living Torah" then you need to deny the entire "New Testament" as well because you've effectively nullified your "Jesus"! Check out our indepth explanation and then read on:

Jeremiah 31: 31 "Here, the days are coming," says ADONAI, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Isra'el and with the house of Y'hudah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day I took them by their hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt; because they, for their part, violated my covenant, even though I, for my part, was a husband to them," says ADONAI. 33 "For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Isra'el after those days," says ADONAI: "I will put my Torah within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Please notice that YHWH did NOT make His New Covenant with the Gentiles or the "Christians"; He made it with the Houses of Israel and Judah - both of which were Torah observant! Now let's see what the "New Testament" tells us about Yeshua's being the "Living Torah":

John 1: 1. In the beginning was the Miltha. [1] And that Miltha was with Elohim. And Elohim was that Miltha. 2. This was with Elohim in the beginning. 3. Everything existed through His hands, and without Him, not even one thing existed of the things which have existed. 4. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5. And that light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.

1 John 1: 1. WE announce to you that which was from the beginning which we have heard and have seen with our eyes, looked upon, and handled with our hands, that which is the Word of Life. 2. And the life was manifested, and we have seen and do testify and announce to you the life which is eternal; which was with the Father and was revealed to us. 3. And what we have seen and heard, we make known to you also that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Y'shua the Mashiyach.

1 John 2: 7. My beloved, I write no new commandment to you, but the old Commandment which you had from the beginning; and the old Commandment is the Word which you have heard. [2]

[1] Miltha has no direct English equivalent. It can mean 'Word', 'Manifestation', 'Instance' or 'Substance' among other things. In this context, it may best be left untranslated.

[2] "Elohim is light", (1 John 1:5); therefore, it can be argued that at Creation when YHWH said, "Let there be light", Genesis 1:3, that He in effect brought a part of Himself out to accomplish the creative act. The "Word" does this same feat, Psalm 33:6; John 1:1; a few lines earlier we read the "Word of Life." We have also seen before the direct linguistic relationship between the Hebrew and Aramaic roots for "Light" and "Torah" such as: "Your word (davar) is a lamp to my feet, a light (aur) to my path." Psalm 119:105. "For the commandment is a lamp. The teaching is a light (aur), and the way to life is the rebuke that disciplines." Proverbs 6:23.

What makes this citation in Proverbs most profound is the word mitzvah (commandment), since tradition commonly calls the revelation at Sinai the Ten Commandments when in fact the Tanakh uses davarim (words)! Keep this in mind while considering 1 John 2:4. "He who says I know Him and does not keep His Commandments (poqadona) is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word (miltha) in him, verily is the love of Elohim perfected; hereby we know that we are in Him." 1 John 2:4 (Lamsa).

Aramaic could not make a more forceful point. The fact is, poqadona and miltha are exceedingly close matches for their Hebrew counterparts mitzvah in Proverbs, and davar in Psalms. However, it is in this next passage that the full measure of John's brilliance is shown: "My beloved, I do not write a new commandment to you, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard from the beginning." 1 John 2:7 (Lamsa)

The Commandment is the Word, which comes from the beginning. We must now realize that to translate this as "his Commandments" is wrong, but "His Commandments" is correct. "His Commandments" is the WORD which came from the very beginning of time. Many fail to understand this truth: It is impossible for Torah to have passed away during the lifetime of the Shlichim if John himself writes about the Word they have heard from the beginning. What else could this WORD be, except the living Torah!

Now, let's challenge some of Dan Corner's unbiblical assertions!

Dan Corner writes:

Certainly one of the biggest controversies in New Testament Christianity centered around the necessity of Gentiles being circumcised for salvation. Along with that unholy concept went the belief that the Jewish holy days and Sabbaths as well as the dietary laws were to be observed, as in Moses' day. This not only became the subject of the Jerusalem church council (Acts 15), but different sections of the New Testament itself were also later written to correct this major problem and false, deadly teaching.

In our modern day, these same kinds of lethal teachings that caused such havoc in the early church have once again become popular and Christians are getting deceived and troubled by them all over again.

The Messianic Response:

If there are any "lethal teachings", then they are clearly being perpetrated by Dan Corner who, like most Christians, chooses to ignore the first two-thirds of the Bible. He hasn't seemed to grasp the concept that, if it weren't for the "Old Testament", the world wouldn't have a "New Testament". He concentrates so much on the "New Testament", that he seems to have completely forgotten that the "New Testament" is a continuation of the "Old Testament" in which God revealed Himself as YHWH (Yahweh) who was later to be known as "God the Father" after He sent His Son Yeshua (Jesus) to die as our final Sin Sacrifice. Messiah Yeshua (whose Hebrew Name means "Salvation") came to koom ("establish/confirm") Torah (God's original teachings); not to "abolish" it. Yeshua Himself said:

Matthew 5: 17 Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete ("koom": establish/confirm). 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah - not until everything that must happen has happened.

Has "everything that must happen" happened yet? Have heaven and earth passed away? If not, then God's Torah must still be valid - which means we shouldn't be ignoring the basis of our belief which is outlined in the "Old Testament", specifically, in the five books of Moses which comprise the Torah, which contains all of God's instructions for "right" and "wrong" and "good" and "bad"! Without these instructions, man wouldn't have a clue as to how to live and we would ALL be heathens living in the proverbial wilderness.

The Hebrew word "Torah" is usually translated into the English word "Law", which is a great misunderstanding of what "Torah" truly is. "Torah" does NOT mean "law"! Torah is YHWH's DIVINE teaching and instruction which leaves room for correction; whereas "law" is a set of rules from a government that are binding on a community, and violation of the rules require punishment. God said His Torah would stand forever (Psalm 119:89). He gave us His Torah so that we would know how to live according to God's standards.

People like Dan Corner need to be reminded that Yeshua is but one aspect of God who, without the "Godhead", would not exist! (And YHWH is certainly not a "trinity"!) While YHWH revealed Himself as a man who was fully Deity and fully human during His time on earth, Yeshua was admittedly the "Son", not the Godhead. (Can God have a mother and be born and die? Think about that! He also revealed Himself through a burning bush, a pillar of cloud and pillar of fire, and He even spoke through a donkey, but that didn't make any of them the "Godhead".) YHWH sent Yeshua - the only "revelation" of Himself that had an actual Name - to be the final SIN SACRIFICE who would abolish the need for animal sacrifices and through His atoning blood redeem us from our own sins so that we might have eternal life. He was not someone who came to abolish YHWH's original teachings, and He even said so!

In order to properly understand Yeshua, it is imperative to understand the "Old Testament" in context. (We have placed "Old Testament" in quotes because it's a man-made term; God gave us "covenants", not "testaments".) It is also imperative to understand the difference between "Torah" and "law". It is imperative to understand that, while God gave us a New Covenant through Yeshua (Hebrews 8:8-12; cp. Jeremiah 31:30-33) He did NOT give us a new Torah, nor did Yeshua ever negate Torah. For an indepth explanation, please see The Original Commands.

Dan Corner writes:

Perhaps for some, the draw to such Jewish "Christian" groups has resulted because true Christians are recognizing how sadly lacking the typical churches are and desire to change. Hence, their sincerity is being exploited because of their lack of Scriptural understanding and the misleading arguments used by such teachers.

Also, at least some of these same groups in our day that magnify the Mosaic law seem to correctly reject the false doctrine of eternal security. Hence, people that are correctly leaving the Baptist and Calvinistic congregations to look for one that rejects eternal security sometimes fall prey to this different type of deception.

In our day such false groups might refer to themselves as Messianic Restoration, Sacred Name, Hebraic Root or some other similar description exalting Old Testament Jewish worship, holy days, customs, etc. They also seem to magnify the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) and even sometimes ludicrously claim the New Testament was written in Hebrew.

One of their actual deceptive web sites that stresses the importance of the Torah for us today declared the following:

Since the Bible was written by Hebrews, it is critical to understand their ancient culture and to learn about the many unique Hebrew words, expressions, and idioms found in Scripture.

That is their distinctive which they present to set themselves apart and above others. They teach such Hebrew information is critical. If that is so, one must wonder why weren't the new Gentile Christians taught such by the Lord's disciples after they came to salvation in the New Testament?

The Messianic Response:

Dan is absolutely correct when he suggests that "the draw to such Jewish 'Christian' groups has resulted because true Christians are recognizing how sadly lacking the typical churches are and desire to change". However, our sincerity is NOT being exploited due to "lack of Scriptural understanding"; but, because "the church" is simply off the mark in their refusal to acknowledge the importance of God's original teachings.

No one is saying that Torah "saves". If Torah "saved" then Yeshua would not have had to die. But, what's wrong with teaching the world the truth that Torah has not been "abolished"? Why do Christians get so "bent out of shape" whenever Messianic believers try to show them that God said His words would stand forever? What's wrong in learning about God's "Old Testament" feasts? They are, after all, His "appointed times" - each with MAJOR significance because they ALL foreshadow Yeshua - who has so far fulfilled only the first four of the seven Biblical feasts, and it follows suit that the next one should be the "rapture"! What's wrong with teaching that "Christmas" and "Easter" are man-made feasts that are steeped in paganism? Why would God be happy to be offered "strange fire" (Lev. 10:1-2) via man-made holidays?

Messianic believers "ludicrously claim the New Testament was written in Hebrew"? Perhaps Dan Corner needs to be reminded that Yeshua was a Jew who spoke Hebrew and Aramaic, and that all His disciples were Hebrew speaking Jews who WROTE in Aramaic (a dialect of Hebrew) and Hebrew!

Competent Bible scholars agree that the New Testament is a Hebrew book about Hebrew theology which is about the God of the Hebrews and the Hebrew Messiah - which was written in both Greek and Aramaic. Hebrew is said to be a divine language because it was shaped by the need to express God's will. However, Greek owes its roots to paganism....If you'll remember, Paul's letter to the Hebrews was written to Jews in the Hebrew language and translated into Greek by Luke's own polished style of Greek.

As to Corner's question "why weren't the new Gentile Christians taught such by the Lord's disciples after they came to salvation in the New Testament?" one must wonder why he can't seem to grasp that the First Century "Christians" WERE COMPLETELY Torah-observant! They attended SYNAGOGUES on the SEVENTH DAY and kept the Biblical feasts without fail. (More on this later.) It was the Catholic Church that later came along and erased any mention of Torah, the seventh day Sabbath, and the Biblical feasts. The evangelical churches blindly followed suit.

Dan Corner writes:

The Messianic Jews, Hebraic Root, Sacred Name, Yeshua people also seem to undervalue the New Testament Scriptures, especially from Acts 10 on. They also commonly refer to the Messiah as Yeshua (or Y'shua) and sometimes, for some of these groups, openly admit their ludicrous belief that the holy name of Jesus is pagan or blasphemy.

The Messianic Response:

Sorry, but the above allegation is a huge "DUH!" Here's a question for Dan: Your mother named you Dan. Should the world begin calling you George or Harry? Let's take that a step further: Do you also want the world to celebrate your birthday on a day OTHER than when you were born? Well, that's exactly what "Christians" have done to Jesus who was, according to the Biblical feasts, born on the first day of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, which is always in the September/October timeframe....

Yeshua was a Torah observant, tallit wearing, synagogue attending, Sabbath and feast-keeping, kosher Jew, who observed the Jewish holy days of Passover, Tabernacles, and Pentecost. His mother gave Him the Name of Yeshua (which is Hebrew for "Yahweh is Salvation"). The Name "Yeshua" isn't that hard to pronounce, so why did it have to be changed to "Jesus" in the first place? (Perhaps God allowed it because in these end times the word "Jesus" would be used as a cussword, which allowed His REAL Name to remain unscathed....)

Call Him whatever you wish - that's between you and God - as long as HE knows who you're talking about and as long as you are living your life according to HIS wishes! But DO NOT trash Jews or Messianic believers for wishing to call Him by His given Name!

Dan Corner writes:

Moreover, they are very similar to the Seventh Day Adventists regarding the Saturday being their Sabbath and attack Sunday as being a counterfeit replacement which began in the 4th century....They teach one is to observe the Saturday Sabbath, but they themselves are not observing this command as given to Israel (just like the Seventh Day Adventists are not)!

The Messianic Response:

Seventh Day Adventists and Messianic Judaism have NOTHING in common, except for their observation of the seventh day Sabbath. If someone isn't observing the seventh day Sabbath, then they are in violation of the Fourth Commandment.

You won't find anything in the Scriptures that references the changing of the Sabbath to Sunday. Some argue that Constantine was responsible for changing the Sabbath because he hated the Jews. No matter who instituted Sunday worship, in Yeshua's time, both Jews and Gentiles alike, regularly attended the synagogue for worship on the seventh day, and the fact that interested Gentiles in Antioch requested further instruction of Paul "on the next Sabbath" is irrefutable evidence that no separate Sunday (1st day) meetings were being held there by those early Christians: The Gentiles were willing to wait an entire week, till the next Saturday, for a meeting because they knew that Paul and his companions did not normally meet for worship on a Sunday. Acts 13:42-44 tells us that, on the next Sabbath (Saturday) almost the whole city arrived for the meeting. Furthermore, the fact is, neither the Father nor the Son has ever claimed the first day as His own in any higher sense than He has each or any of the other laboring days. Neither of them has ever placed any blessing upon it, or attached any sanctity to it.

The Bible tells us God expressly reserved the seventh day to Himself, placing His blessing upon it, and claimed it as His holy day. (Genesis 2:1-3.) Moses told Israel in the wilderness of Sin of the sixth day of the week, "Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord." Exodus 16:23. (Please see Sabbath Truth.)

Dan Corner writes:

....These groups like to stress the fact that Jesus' disciples observed Sabbath rules and regulations such as stated in Luke 23:56, but will never declare the rest of the truth that Christianity was in a period of transition and change, which slowly started to reveal itself more and more especially from Acts 10 with Jewish Peter receiving a three-time message from heaven of correction about his fallacious view of the Gentiles: (Dan Corner goes on to cite passages such as Acts 10:10-16, Acts 10:28, and Acts 11:1-18 to prove that "the law" was abolished and that, thanks to Jesus, Gentiles did not have to follow food laws or anything else that smacked of Torah....)

The Messianic Response:

Corner, like many others, has totally misunderstood the above Scriptures because he is viewing them from a "Greek" perspective. In Malachi 3:6, God declares that He does NOT change. In Leviticus 11, God outlines exactly what HE deems clean and unclean as far as meats go. God never, ever changed His mind! Let's take a look at just part of the misunderstood Book of Acts, Chapter 10:9-16:

Acts 10: 9: On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: 10: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, 11: And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: 12: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 13: And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. 14: But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. 15: And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. 16: This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.

In this experience YHWH is teaching Peter, and all who later read the chapter, a great spiritual truth: that true believers in the Most High - of whatever nation - who were previously regarded as 'unclean dogs,' are now totally acceptable to YHWH. Their previous unbelief had made them unclean: they were then likened unto dogs, pigs and snakes in the Almighty's eyes. But, because of their new-found faith in the Messiah they are now clean. They are now clean and wholly acceptable to the Most High and should also be accepted and welcomed by every strict Jew. Believing Gentiles, in other words, are now part of YHWH's flock. They are His sheep. They are no longer to be regarded as dogs, swine or other unclean beasts. Because of their faith in Yeshua (Jesus) they have been cleansed through and through by God Himself and are now clean and holy. This symbolic drama on the rooftop was given to teach the Apostle Peter and subsequent generations of Believers that faith in Yeshua the Messiah purifies the vilest sinner, no matter from what nation he/she comes.

This passage is not to be taken as a lifting of the divine ban against eating unclean animals. Reptiles, dogs, cats, mice, swine, rabbits, shell fish, lobsters, prawns etc. are still unclean for human consumption. They should not be eaten. These unclean creatures symbolize unbelief: and unbelief pollutes a person, and makes him/her unclean. Unclean creatures are still unclean; just as unbelievers remain unbelievers until such time as genuine faith in God purges their uncleanness.

Because of these facts unclean meats should not be eaten; especially in view of the coming Day of Judgment. Remember the divine warning:

Isaiah 66:16 For ADONAI will judge all humanity with fire and with the sword, and those slain by ADONAI will be many. 17 "Those who consecrate and purify themselves in order to enter the gardens, then follow the one who was already there, eating pig meat, reptiles and mice, will all be destroyed together," says ADONAI. (CJB)

...According to the Scriptures, believers are allowed to eat the flesh (but not the blood or the fat) of clean animals: animals that chew the cud and are cloven footed. Clean animals include cattle, sheep, goats and deer. Animals such as the pig, the horse, the rabbit, the mouse and the snake are unclean. They do not have those two qualifying points. Fish which have scales and fins are clean. Shell fish are unclean. Birds of prey are unclean. See Leviticus 11 for further details.

When an unbeliever, of whatever race, accepts the Saviour and is washed in his cleansing blood, he/she then becomes clean and is henceforth acceptable to Yahweh the Almighty God of Israel. Cornelius the Gentile became a believer, and was cleansed through his faith in the Saviour's blood. Cornelius became clean and was acceptable to the Most High. That was the lesson God was teaching Peter in the experience recorded in Acts 10. In no way was the Almighty reversing His law regarding clean and unclean animals.

Unclean animals are still unclean. Dogs, cats, pigs, rabbits, rats and mice have not been cleansed. They are still unclean animals: and eating their flesh will bring down judgment on the eater....

Dan Corner writes:

The ignorance/prejudice of the early Jewish Christians at this point towards all non-Jews [Gentiles], was starting to change:

Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts (Acts 11:19-23).

The Messianic Response:

The "ignorance/prejudice of the early Jewish Christians"??? It is moronic to insist the early believing Jews were "Christians"! Yeshua didn't come to bring "Christianity" - He came to bring news of Yahweh's Kingdom and rules, not to change the rules! How very idiotic of Dan Corner to even suggest such a thing! We at The Refiner's Fire challenge Dan Corner to prove that these "Jewish Christians" taught anything but the Good News of Messiah AND Torah! The early "Jewish Christians" were at least smart enough to comprehend what Torah was and to KEEP it!

Dan Corner writes:

Then we read of the explosive events leading up to the important council at Jerusalem: (Corner then goes on to cite Acts 15:1-2 and Acts 15:5-6 to show how wrong "their dangerous false message about circumcision" was, and he tries to use Acts 15:7-11 to show that Peter was speaking out against it....)

The Messianic Response:

Some important facts to remember about the BIBLICAL perspective on circumcision:

• The everlasting covenant Yahweh made with Abraham and his descendants was - 'to be our God!' Faith in Yahweh and His divine Messiah, Yeshua, makes one a child of Abraham. (Gen.17:7, Gal:3:7 and 29)
• Physical Circumcision is the SIGN of the everlasting covenant. Abraham and his male descendants were subsequently circumcised. (Gen.17:11)
• Physical Circumcision signifies holiness, faith and obedience, the signs of a new creature. (1 Cor.7:19, Gal.5:6, Gal.6:15)
• There are millions of circumcised males on earth today, but by no stretch of the imagination can we say that they are all holy and obedient to Yahweh! This is why Paul warned men not to do it unless they were absolutely serious about belonging to God!

It is extremely difficult to try to explain "circumcision" according to what the Bible says. First, we must understand Acts 15:1-30 in light of the Hebrew Tanach ("Old Testament") that when the Gentiles/strangers (gerim) became believers, contrary to popular belief, they had to do exactly as God's "Chosen" did (Numbers 15:13-16)! If they became one with Israel they had to keep the feasts and the commanded Seventh Day Sabbath, and eat only kosher foods! Now here comes the sticking point: In order to keep the feast the gerim who were no longer gerim but Israelites, were required to keep the feasts - but yet, in order to keep the Passover feasts they had to be circumcised (Exodus 12:43-44). Same God, same rules!

Dan Corner writes:

Please note: The only message the Gentile Christians needed to be concerned about was to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.

In other words, the Hebrew Christians that were present and wrote the vast majority of the New Testament's 27 books (Peter, Paul and James) never said a single word about the necessity of the Gentile converts observing the Jewish feast days, the Saturday Sabbath, dietary laws, circumcision, etc. In fact, they actually opposed that concept by only issuing the aforementioned requirements. This is irrefutable evidence that the Holy Spirit leading and directing them is not the same guiding force behind the Jewish Messianic Restoration Movement (Hebraic Roots or Sacred Name) groups of our dark hour. The message of Acts 15 is critically and vitally different. In fact, it is a death blow to their theology.

The Messianic Response:

No, Dan, YOUR teachings are a "death blow" because you have misunderstood the Bible and are pushing your erroneous GREEK mindset with its false assumptions down the collective throat of the world! We suggest you thoroughly study the following articles: Are Gentiles Required to Keep Torah?.

Dan Corner writes:

Though the people of the Jewish Restoration Movement believe Jesus is the Savior, their adamant adherence to the false teachings that were discarded, especially in Acts 15 and the book of Galatians, is very dangerous. They must be steadfastly opposed in our day just as they were by the Lord's apostles in first-century Christianity.

I have read from one of those teachers in effect that salvation is a free gift and we are saved by grace, but after we get saved be must obey; and part of our obedience is observing the Jewish feast days, Saturday Sabbath, dietary laws, etc. If one doesn't obey these he will lose his salvation or show his faith is dead and not a saving faith at all.

While it is certainly true that a real Christian can lose his salvation, one will never find in the New Testament that it can occur because of failure to observe the Saturday Sabbath, Jewish feast days, dietary law, etc. Moreover, never in any of the New Testament lists of sins that will send one to hell are such cited. See Rev. 21:8; 1 Cor. 6:9,10; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:5-7; Mk. 7:20-23; etc. Please remember that vital truth.

The Messianic Response:

At last, Dan Corner is right about one thing: Torah does not save us; our salvation lies ONLY in the blood of Messiah. However, Torah is still God's rules for righteous, holy living! Without Torah man would have NO BLUEPRINT for moral, holy living. Since Yeshua and His disciples "walked in Torah", and since the early "Christian Hebrews" walked in Torah BECAUSE it is God's original teaching and instruction, then what makes Dan Corner think he should be exempt?

So, in response to Dan Corner, we have written a response to the Book of Galatians and also Romans and Romans 2 - and yes, we've also explained what Acts 15 means IN CONTEXT!

Dan Corner writes:

He also openly taught their message was a different gospel:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel???which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ (Gal. 1:6,7).

The direct context of those stirring words was aimed at people back then who stressed observing special [Jewish] days and months and seasons and years (Gal. 4:10), Jewish customs (Gal. 2:14), the law (Gal. 2:16; 3:2-5; 3:10-12) and circumcision (Gal. 5:2-4). This is exactly like some of the Messianic Restoration, Messianic Jew, Hebraic Root, Yeshua people of our day. The same deceiving demons back then that caused all that trouble are still around today.

The dangerous false teachers declaring these things were the same type that Paul and Barnabas tangled with that resulted in the Council of Jerusalem. Those false teachers were Jews themselves and knew the truth about Hebrew customs, holy days, etc. and this is what was opposed by the Lord's followers.

The Messianic Response:

Many people tend to forget that Paul was a Jew whose teachings NEVER contradicted Torah (God's original teachings/instructions). If he had, he would have rendered Scripture contradictory.

Acts 21:15-21 - which was written after Paul had written the Galatians - clearly reveals Paul was Torah observant. It is commonly misunderstood that Paul's teachings - especially the idea that Paul said in Galatians, "if one is led by the Spirit, he or she is not under law..." - that the authority of the law has been abolished for believers in Yeshua and that the Torah has been superseded. Many people are confusing legalism (man's requirements) with Torah observance.

When Paul speaks of being "under the law" or the "works of the law", he is speaking against legalism, and not against the Torah. There is no Hebrew word for the concept of "legalism" or "legalist" so Paul was hindered in his attempt to explain to the Gentiles that legalism was not what God intended. Paul was not teaching against Torah observance by believers of Yeshua; rather, he was being careful in his language to make it clear that Torah was not given by God to be used in a legalistic manner.

Some people insist that there is no explicit text in the New Testament that commands us to "walk in Torah" or in any way continue to adhere to any of the commands of the old covenant. However, Romans 3:31 clearly says: 31 Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law....

For an indepth study about the writings of Paul from a BIBLICAL perspective, please see Book of Romans.

Dan Corner writes:

In a different book, Paul wrote:

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day (Col. 2:16).

The Messianic Response:

Paul was a Torah observant Jew, just like the Messiah! This does NOT mean Rav Sha'ul was negating Torah. He was warning about the opinions of men concerning these things - NOT giving permission to transgress or dismiss them. Who is in charge here concerning "clean and unclean" foods - the mere man Paul, or Yeshua who was YHWH's Divine Messiah?

Gentiles are called to enter into the Malchut (Kingdom) Elohim to follow Mashiyach and observe Torah; this is not about the consumption of unclean food. Y'shua casts demons into a herd of swine Matthew 8, Mark 5, Luke 8. Swine meat is unclean, demons are unclean; Y'shua destroys both. Neither Paul, nor Peter, nor any of the other Apostles ever ate unclean animals; followers of Y'shua don't eat unclean foods. The Hellenized Christian church endorsed eating unclean foods, because non-Jews have always eaten it as a cultural normative.

It is a continuum of pagan culture. Isaiah 66:17-24 clearly prophecies of a rebellious people who dine on swine's flesh, eat mice and choose to defy the Word of YHWH and His Mashiyach. Gentiles must not assume that these teachings single them out as unclean; Yehudeans are equally as unclean when choosing to defy YHWH and His Mashiyach (see Haggai 2:14; Ezekiel 44:22; Ezra 9:10-10:1; Isaiah 30:6-12; 65:2, 3; Jeremiah 5:22-31).

It is very important to differentiate between that which is Kosher according to YHWH, and religious "tradition." If unclean food is prohibited for Jewish followers of Y'shua, it is also prohibited for non-Jewish followers; the Kingdom of Elohim is not divided. If unclean food has been proven unhealthy, then it is unhealthy for Jewish and non-Jewish bodies alike; there is One Mashiyach and One Torah.

Dan Corner writes:

Jesus Himself Canceled the Mosaic Dietary Law

The dietary clean and unclean food laws that Moses wrote of were first discarded by the Lord himself:

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'" After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods 'clean.') (Mark 7:14-19).

The Messianic Response:

Oyve! In effect, Dan Corner is accusing Jesus of being a hypocrite, since He Himself was kosher! A CAREFUL reading of that Scripture would show the problem that arose was related to Messiah's disciples not washing their hands, not about food! Perhaps Dan should try to learn all about clean foods in order to see what Yeshua REALLY said!

Dan Corner writes:

Furthermore, all Christ-rejecters are God-rejecters. In other words, the Christ-rejecting Jews do not have God even though they were special and God's chosen people in the Old Testament:

No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also (1 John 2:23).

The Messianic Response:

It's people like this illustrious Dan Corner who, with their severe lack of "Old Testament" knowledge, have kept Jews from coming to Messiah for the last two millenia! They keep harping on how the Jews will go to hell unless they believe in Jesus - totally expecting the Jews to leave their God who repeatedly warned them against having "other gods" (see Exodus 20:3, Judges 6:10, Hosea 13:4). And, let's face it: Dan Corner's version of "Jesus" makes Him sound like "another god" because He in no way resembles the Salvation who was foreshadowed throughout the Tanach/"Old Testament"! Yeshua was a JEW, not the effiminate-looking, blond adonis "Malibu Jesus" who hangs on a cross, dead as a doornail in every Catholic Church and many Christian churches. Yeshua was Torah-observant in every way, keeping the Seventh Day Sabbath and the feasts which all foreshadow Him!), and He NEVER ONCE stated that Torah was to be abolished, ignored, or "nailed to the cross". He nailed out past SINS to the cross; nothing else....

Jews are supposed to drop THEIR God and simply accept the beliefs of "Christians" such as Hitler who have tried to annihilate them for two thousand years? Sorry, Dan, but those "Christ-rejecting Jews happen to "have God" a lot more than many Christians who warm the pews in "ear-tickling" mega-churches that haven't got a clue about what GOD ACTUALLY SAID! At least most Jews know who Yahweh is; they had Him LONG BEFORE the pagans and heathens of the "Old Testament" did! And, unlike the pagans, Jews have been trying to please YHWH since time immemorial. You can't just come out of the blue and shove "Jesus" down their throats, especially since you're simultaneously insisting they drop everything Yahweh commanded since Abraham, and expect them to start believing in a god concocted out of the "New Testament" who in NO WAY resembles the Messiah who was foreshadowed throughout the Tanach/"Old Testament"!

Granted, since Yeshua's death, the Bible is clear that no one will get to heaven unless they believe in the shed blood on the cross. But, to say that Jews don't have God is an outright lie that begs repentance. The "Old Testament" tells us that Enoch (Gen. 5:24) and the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 2:1-11) were both taken into heaven - and you can be sure neither one of them ever once uttered the name of Jesus!

Dan Corner writes:

Furthermore, all who hate Jesus also hate the heavenly father. (The Jews hated Jesus so much they wanted him dead and successfully plotted this very thing):

He who hates me hates my Father as well (John 15:23).

The Messianic Response:

The Jews hated Jesus so much they wanted Him dead??? What an arrogant statement! That statement alone shows a real need for Dan Corner to return to seminary - this time, to learn the Bible WITH the help of the Holy Spirit instead of just his own limited, human mindset....

Let's get something straight right now: The Pharisees saw Yeshua as a threat and wanted Him out of the way, but WHO was it that actually nailed Him to the cross? It was the pagan ROMANS! It was our SIN, Dan! If Yeshua had NOT chosen to allow Himself to be nailed to the cross by "the world", then YOU would be in a world of hurt because you would NOT have salvation! YOUR SIN nailed Yeshua to the cross! He WILLINGLY laid down His life for you....

If you were to look at this realistically, you'd realize we all should be thanking God that He allows us to have free will - because it was that free will that eventually led the rabbis to want Yeshua dead. Without His atoning death on the cross - thanks to the choice of MAN - the entire world would end up in hell, not just us "evil, Christ-rejecting Jews"....

Dan Corner writes:

While it is a fact that Christ-rejecting Jews do not have God, and even hate God, it is also fact that God's truth declares the Jews (just like all others) who reject Jesus' Lordship in their personal lives are on the road to hell and are children of the devil. In fact, Jesus bluntly told some Jewish people this very thing (Corner goes on to cite John 8:33-44 to prove his point)....

The religious Jews by natural birth had the devil as their spiritual father, even though they thought God was their spiritual father. Their being of the natural ancestry from Abraham didn't make them special, honored or privileged, as far as being God's children. Regardless of one's ancestry, a person can only become God's child by repenting and extending a trusting-submitting and obeying faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus directed those straightforward words at the Jews. Again, the Lord Jesus never taught the Jews were children of God and special, as they were in the Old Testament, because they were natural descendants of Abraham (or were circumcised) and neither should we.

The Messianic Response:

As we stated above, Corner's "Jews don't have God" statement is totally ludicrous, not to mention anti-Semitic.

It is absolutely astounding what Corner is trying pass off as God's Truth. His teachings are anti-Semitic and parallel the rantings of Hitler who also spewed hate speech when it came to the Jews.

Here's a little history lesson, Dan: Whether YOU like it or not, "the Jews" always were and always will be God's CHOSEN! There is not one shred of evidence that Yahweh has turned His back on "the Jews" and replaced them with "the church"! Why would He replace His CHOSEN with a bunch of people who refuse to OBEY His "Forever" commands or use the Sacred Names of God while they're munching on pork and shellfish? Why would He replace His CHOSEN with those who can't even keep His commanded Seventh Day Sabbath or the feasts which all foreshadow Yeshua?

Deuteronomy 7:6-8: For you are a people set apart as holy for ADONAI your God. ADONAI your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his own unique treasure. 7 ADONAI didn't set his heart on you or choose you because you numbered more than any other people - on the contrary, you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 Rather, it was because ADONAI loved you, and because he wanted to keep the oath which he had sworn to your ancestors, that ADONAI brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from a life of slavery under the hand of Pharoah king of Egypt.

Genesis 12:2-3 - "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

The entire Bible is about the Jews and Israel. EVERYTHING that is happening in the world centers around the Jews and Israel. One of God's major end times prophecies was fulfilled through the Jews when the Holocaust spawned sympathy which resulted in the Jews regaining control of their promised Land in 1948 - and in one day, just exactly as Isaiah prophesied!

Dan Corner writes:

At the very beginning of the New Testament the false concept that the sin-embracing Jews were special in God's eyes, because they were descendants of Abraham, was fiercely opposed. John the Baptist was first to combat this faulty and deadly concept:

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: ???You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire??? (Matt. 3:7-10).

John the Baptist was a Hebrew yet taught that stirring truth because it was God's truth.

The Messianic Response:

"Sin-embracing Jews"? "God's truth?" Dan, YOU weren't so "lily-white" yourself, or Jesus wouldn't have had to die for you! How dare you stand in judgment of the Jews! Can YOU get to heaven on your own, you unbelievable pompous, arrogant hypocrite?

Again, if you had a clue about how to read and understand the Bible, you would have been able to comprehend that John the Baptist wasn't talking about Jews in general; he was talking to the "religious leaders" who were going through the motions of being "Godly" yet weren't paying attention to what God had actually SAID. If John the Baptist were alive today, he would be saying the same things to church pastors and all those who think they have a working knowledge of the Bible, yet are in fact "lukewarm"....

Dan Corner writes:

He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit (Gal. 3:14).

The blessing given to Abraham comes to the non-Jews (Gentiles or Greeks) through faith in Christ Jesus. Natural ancestry doesn't help or hinder. It is by faith in Messiah Jesus that we receive the promise of the Spirit and become God's children. Do not be deceived by those that magnify Jewish feast days, ancestry, customs, the Saturday Sabbath and try to get you to observe the law of Moses. They might claim they are just like the early Christians but they are not as has already been proven.

The Messianic Response:

It would be wise to remember that Yeshua haMashiyach our Messiah was a Torah observant Jew who KEPT the Sabbath and the feast days. Since He did, what makes Dan Corner or anyone else think they don't have to do the same?

Folks, challenging every single allegation on Dan Corner's very redundant article would make this challenge longer than Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace". We've responded enough to show that he doesn't know what he is talking about when it comes to the Bible. He's a typical Christian who adheres to the much-misunderstood writings of Paul and believes himself to have the market cornered on Truth. HUGE MISTAKE! His allegations border on anti-Semitism, and it's clear that he has a severe dislike for Jews and anything Jewish. Ironic that he would still choose to worship the God of the Jews!

Our desire is for everyone who reads this to consult the Holy Spirit (and not the teachings of Dan Corner!) while trying to decide and understand what the Bible really says. Dan Corner doesn't understand the meaning or importance of Torah, and his teachings are therefore completely off the mark. While Jewish customs and traditions (just like the PAGAN Christian customs and traditions) mean nothing in the grand scheme of things, God's TORAH stands forever and is NOT to be ignored.

Our Messiah Yeshua HaMashiyach was a Torah-observant Jew who never in any way tried to negate Torah. So, why has man decided that it's worthless? Without Torah, none of us would know good from bad or right from wrong.

So, who are you going to believe? Yeshua, or lukewarm, Bible-illiterate Christian "teachers" like Dan Corner who have never even figured out that sin is transgression of the Torah (Leviticus 4:13, 1 John 3:4)? With "teachers" like Dan Corner, it is no wonder the world thinks believers in Messiah Yeshua are certified kooks and weirdos!