Spiritual Characteristics
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Day of Atonement
Part One v3
Background Instructions
Spiritual Characteristics
Transcribed from Video
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In this is love, not that we loved YHWH, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the atonement for our sins. (Jn 4:10 HBR)
We are in a series of presentations that will highlight and go into a four part series of the Day of Atonement from a scriptural basis. This time we will go into the background, the scriptural instructions primarily what we find in the Book of Leviticus, and will be looking at the spiritual characteristics of this Day of Atonement also known as Yom Kippur.
Background of Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur is about forgiveness of our transgressions. The covering of our guilt and the reconciliation that we now have through Yahushua Messiah, what a blessing to have his blood to cover our sins.
We no longer have the blood of bulls and goats, we have a New Mediator who is Yahushua and we are reconciled through him. This day points directly to His sacrifice and is also a day that we will look into from a historical standpoint when the priest went into the Holy of Holies in the original physical Temple.
There was reconciliation provided to the sins of Israel on the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur through the sacrifice that the High Priest offered. The fundamentals of this day are all about fasting and repentance. It’s about my repentance and not looking at someone else’s and how much they need to repent. It’s about the prayers that we offer to YHWH and the reconciliation that we have through the blood of Messiah.
Interestingly, there is not an agrarian basis, at least what I see in the scriptures relative to Yom Kippur. I guess it would be obvious to those that know of this day that Yom Kippur is a day of fasting so there isn’t really a need for any agrarian basis of the day. There is no food talked about and not any farming analogies that seem to come to mind when we look at this day. This is all about our direct involvement, communication and relationship with YHWH. Starting with the New Testament in the Book of Hebrews Chapter 9 we see the new contract foundation.
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission G859=freedom, pardon, liberty. It was therefore necessary that the patterns G5262=adumbration (shadowed in outline) of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these Through Yahushua (added).
(Heb 9:22-23 KJV)
The word remission means there is no pardon, no freedom or liberty without the shedding of blood. Originally it was the animal’s blood and now, one time, it was Yahushua’s blood.
This section in Hebrews 9 is about comparing the original Temple service and Levitical system to the better Melchizedek order, the higher Melchizedek order and the better sacrifice that he brought. Notice that it was necessary that the patterns that were set in the Old Contract or Testament were simply a shadow or an outline. They were looking and pointing forward to a better heavenly set of circumstances that Yahushua would bring because He was a better sacrifice. This scripture looks into the way the old was, and then compares it to the way the New Testament through Yahushua, has been brought and provided to us.
Background of the Rabbinic tradition
Rabbinic traditions are interesting to look at because it’s not that any of that is wrong, some of these rabbinic traditions have wiggled their way into the Hebrew Roots movements. I want to talk about some of the traditions that we will see if we look into this particular Holy Day. The one big rabbinic tradition that starts out is the “ten days of repentance”. If you look into this you will find that the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur, as it is called in Judaism, is the culmination is something called ten days of repentance. That’s started on Rosh Hoshana the first day of the seventh month.
Certainly there is a controversy about Rosh Hoshana actually being a part of the original calendar system. The culmination of the ten days of repentance is the Day of Atonement. The first day Yom HaDin, known as Tishri 1 and Tishri of course is the Babylonian name for the seventh month Ethanim. Ethanim is the month you will find in 1 Kings Chapter 8. I rarely use the name Tishri because it is really Ethanim, but they are talking about the same month. Tishri 1 is thought of as the Day of Judgment and that is seen that when looking into the Memorial of Trumpets. “The Day of YHWH”, and “In That Day” is the judgment that occurs in that day when Yahushua comes back to put down the world’s governments.
“The Days of Awe” is also another name for this Day of Judgment or Yom HaDin, Yom is day and HaDin means judgment. This day, not only from a rabbinic standpoint but from a scriptural standpoint is about physical self-denial. It’s about taking an account of one’s life, looking at your life and how you are living. Am I, or are we pleasing to YHWH? I think this is actually a theme that we will develop more as we proceed. It’s not just a day of fasting, we have a responsibility when we do fast, and we will look into what an acceptable fast to YHWH is as move along.
HaDin is a most solemn Holy Day and from Judaism the most holy day of the year. In fact, the Jews extend the scriptural requirement which is to fast from sunset to sunset; they have added an extra hour to it. They make it a 25 hour fast in the rabbinic tradition, and I’m guessing they are making sure that they cover the 24 that is legislated. They also have a tradition on this day that I didn’t know about until recently. You find some of the rabbinic tradition point to this day of Yom Kippur was when the second set of commandments was delivered at Sinai and this was considered the atonement for the golden calf. Of course the first set was broken as a result of the sin of the Israelites and the golden calf incident.
From a rabbinic tradition this second set of commandments that Moses went up the mountain to acquire from YHWH was on the Day of Atonement. I don’t think that pan’s out from a timeline standpoint incidentally; since this is something that we have looked at closely. The second set of Commandments seems to be within an eighty day window from the original time that the Israelites came to Mt. Sinai which would have been the third month.
I think it’s a little short, by the time the second set of commandments came around was a little shorter than the Day of Atonement, but that is one of the traditions that the rabbinic tradition has delivered. There is a tractate in the Talmud and the Mishnah and it’s called “Yoma”, so if you look in the index you will see one of the tractates is “Yoma” and that word means “the Day”. You find out some interesting details, I got some of these traditions from Yoma in the Mishnah.
There is a lot of information from the rabbinic standpoint in the Mishnah and Talmud about what this day is and the traditions that go along with it. Of course these are largely oral traditions handed down by the elders. Yahushua took the Pharisees to task on this because many of their traditions were in lieu of the worship of YHWH and the understanding that there would be a Messiah. It’s all useful from a historic standpoint but it needs to be taken with a little bit of skepticism. Also, the people, both historically and today wear white clothes on this day when they go to the Synagogue. It signifies purity and cleansing and that comes from Isaiah Chapter 1 which says:
Come now, and let us reason together, saith YHWH: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
(Isa 1:18 KJV)
This scripture is the justification for wearing white and getting rid of your dirty garments and as I say, your gown with the gravy stains on it, my wife Linda and I joke about it although it is a serious conversation. We don’t want any marks or stains on our white gowns.
The long blast of the shofar is blown at the end of the day signifying the Last Trumpet. That has scriptural basis that we looked at in Leviticus 25, and blowing of the shofar on the Jubilee which the Jubilee is declared on the tenth day of the seventh month which is Day of Atonement. The blast of the shofar from a traditional standpoint is a reminder of the Torah at Mt. Sinai and the triumph over sin for the past year.
After this day completes in Judaism the people feel they have been atoned for the whole past year. It’s also a day of looking forward to the future Messianic age. The rabbis have missed the point that the Messiah has already come, they are still looking for Messiah to come the first time so they have missed that. There is somewhat of a dilemma associated with this day because Judaism requires blood and they understand that blood is necessary from the Torah to atone for their sins. The problem is that the Temple has been torn down. In 70 CE Titus overcame Jerusalem and took the Temple down to the ground, even tearing the big stones down.
There was no more opportunity for animal sacrifice going way back to 70 CE. That presents a real dilemma for Judaism today because there isn’t a way to sacrifice for blood. Plus, they have missed the Messiah whose blood covers them and us and all of the believers. That dilemma is, what do they do to atone for sins since they have no blood sacrifice? What has evolved out of that is atonement by good deeds. The rabbinic structure has had to come up with some pretty interesting work-arounds on what they do without a Temple in terms of atoning for sacrifice. They have turned it into a good deeds arrangement.
Leviticus 17 gives us insight on this because the rabbinic tradition understands what it says.
For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Lev 17:11 KJV)
Obviously that can’t happen anymore since 70 CE, and Judaism and the rabbinic traditions that have developed have had to deal with that. Fundamentally, this is a big dilemma, if you were rabbinic oriented what do you do about it without the Messiah.
Day of Atonement is the same as Yom Kippur in Hebrew
In Hebrew we actually see three occurrences of this term “Day of Atonement” in the Masoretic Text, specifically in the King James Version of the scriptures. It might be in a fourth or fifth location if you use a different translation. I tend to use the King James as a common reference point. Not that it’s better, it’s just well understood and the supporting documentation mostly is keyed these days to the King James particularly Strongs Concordance.
The Day of Atonement is found in three places in the Masoretic Text, and the first place you find it is in Leviticus 23 which is the instruction chapter for the Holy Days.
Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day (Yom) of atonement H3725=kippur: (This is where the term Yom Kippur comes from) it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto YHWH. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement H3725=Kippur, to make an atonement H3722=Kawfar for you before YHWH your Elohim.
(Lev 23:27-28 KJV)
This chart does a comparison on the Holy Days. It compares Sabbaths, Shabbathon, and Holy Convocations. The Shabbat of course is the seventh day of the week. The other Shabbat that you see in the scriptures is the Day of Atonement. None of the other Holy Days are mentioned as Shabbat, they are Shabbathons or if they aren’t mentioned as a Sabbath or Shabbathon, they are mentioned as a Holy Convocation. This Day of Atonement is to be kept and honored as a regular weekly Sabbath would be without any food.
The second location that you see referencing the Day of Atonement is in Leviticus 25 and this is the Sabbatical and Jubilee chapter that explains the requirements.
Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, (Day of Atonement) in the day of atonement H3725=Kippur shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. (Lev 25:9 KJV)
Actually, you see the three uses in these two scriptures, in the first one in Leviticus 23 you see the Day of Atonement twice in that scripture. Leviticus 23 has two usages and Leviticus 25 has the third.
The word Atonement by itself, and if you would look in Strongs, you would find out that there are eighty one matches for the word Atonement. Forty nine of those eighty one or the vast majority of the word Atonement occurs in the Book of Leviticus. To take a look at the word is useful.
We think of Atonement as we have grown in our spiritual understanding when you first started keeping Atonement, it was a fast day. That’s all good and well, it is a fast day and yes, we do fast but that’s incidental in the scheme of what is really important.
This Day of Atonement is about expiation, and if you look up the meaning of expiation, it’s an act of making amends or reparation for guilt or wrong doing. Now it starts to get down to me, my act to make amends or reparation for a wrong doing, or compensation for a wrong deed.
Originally it was the blood of animals that was used to compensate for sins but now the blood of Yahushua is the only alternative we have for the reparation of our guilt and wrong doing we can’t compensate for our sins. Think of the word Kippur, expiation or Atonement as a noun. It’s like a thing and the associated word that goes along with it is Kawfar.
If you look in Strongs you will find that Kippur has associated with it as its base this other word H3722 = Kawfar. Kawfar is the action part of this particular Holy Day. Kawfar is to cover, specifically with bitumen. Bitumen is what they pave roads with; it’s an oily substance so this was a way of humbling themselves in some circumstances. I’m not suggesting that’s what we do today.
To cover one-self with bitumen or this tar like substance is the basis of the word Kawfar and figuratively it means to expiate or condone, and of course the figurative use is more about what we apply in its usage. It’s to placate or cancel, to appease, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, purge away is a useful way to think about this, put off and of course the word itself make reconciliation. The verb to do reconciliation is how we would commonly translate it into English. We see the word both in the Hebrew Text and Greek.
Kawfar is about annulling or disannulling and also about reconciling. I like the terminology that you find if you look up reconcile in the dictionary. It says to restore friendly relations and when we sin we have chosen to ignore YHWH and do our own thing, ignore and break his law. That breaks the relationship that we have with him. His Spirit leaves us much like in Ezekiel Chapter 11, if you have read through that section 10 – 12. YHWH’s Spirit left the Temple just before the downfall of the Southern Kingdom of Judah when Nebuchadnezzar came to town. That is described in Ezekiel in a great amount of detail.
Today we are the Temple and when we fall away YHWH’s Spirit leaves our Temple. We don’t want that to be a permanent situation. We have the ability to restore friendly relations through Yom Kippur, through this reconciliation process. We become compatible again and note this; we make one account consistent with another. It’s not YHWH that becomes inconsistent, it’s us, because we go out of alignment and become inconsistent and need a way to cover that.
The word Kawfar is the word that really addresses how this works. Hopefully you see that the Day of Atonement and the atonement process itself is about covering, about forgiving and restoring a right account with YHWH.
Kippur Usage = H3725 Used in Eight Occurrences
If we look up just the word Kippur, the word that we commonly use as atonement or reconciliation, we see there are eight usages of it. I will address all of them so there is good understanding of this word.
The first time you see Kippur is in Exodus 29, this isn’t about the Day of Atonement, it’s about the consecration of the priests and the sanctification of the alter. This would be an administrative command in the Torah.
And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement H3725=kippur= =expiation, make amends: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement H3722=kawfar=cancel forgive, pardon for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it. Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy. (Exo 29:36-37 KJV)
You can see the words, kippur and kawfar are used in this early scripture. Everyday a bullock for a sin offering for making amends, and you shall cleanse the altar when you have achieved and are allowed to be forgiven and pardoned for it. You need to keep that all in mind.
Exodus Chapter 30 is actually some legislation that is about the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur and is about the alter specifications.
And Aaron shall make an atonement H3722=kawfar (a forgiveness or a pardon) upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements H3725=kippur: once in the year shall he make atonement H3722=kawfar (forgiveness or pardon) upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto YHWH. (Exo 30:10 KJV)
By looking at these examples I think you see how these words are used and what they mean. It’s about the procedure that is being talked about and is the way that sin is forgiven. It’s a lengthy and detailed process that YHWH gave them in the Torah, in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. It shows how that once a year they can atone or be forgiven for their sin.
Also, in Exodus Chapter 30 we see there is another administrative kind of legislation and it has to do with the redemption of the men that became of the age of majority. YHWH had Moses put on a Temple tax on the men of majority after they were 20 years old and that is what the following scripture is about.
And thou shalt take the atonement H3725= kippur (The redemption) money of the children of Israel, (It is used in a different sense, it’s not about sin, it’s about the Temple tax) and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before YHWH, to make an atonement H3722=kawfar for your souls. (Exo 30:16 KJV)
To make atonement for your souls or forgiveness for your souls, but the word is being used in terms of a Temple tax.
The next example is in Leviticus 23 and it’s about Yom Kippur, and its Holy Day instructions.
Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement H3725=kippur: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto YHWH. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement H3725=kippur, to make an atonement H3722=kawfar for you before YHWH your Elohim. (Lev 23:27-28 KJV)
Because the scripture above in Leviticus had two examples, the next one is the Jubilee proclamation.
Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement H3725=Kippur shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. (Lev 25:9 KJV)
Numbers Chapter 5 has a Levitical instruction about the restitution of wrong doings, or restitution of trespass between brothers and sisters.
But if the man (Who was trespassed against – the victim) have no kinsman to recompense H7725=restore the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto YHWH, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement H3725=kippur, whereby an atonement H3722=kawfar shall be made for him. (Num 5:8 KJV)
So you see the noun and the verb in the above scripture being used. What this scripture is about is of the restitution required between two neighbors for example, for something that happened and the neighbor that was the victim died and had no kinsman that could accept the recompense or the payment, then that went to the Temple. Fundamentally that is what this scripture is saying.
The last item is about Holy Day offering in Numbers 29 and it applies to Yom Kippur.
One kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the sin offering of atonement H3725=kippur, and the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering of it, and their drink offerings.
(Num 29:11 KJV)
I think that is all of them, if you go look I think you will find that H3725, kippur has these usages in the Old Testament and of course there is a Greek equivalent to this that we will get to later. In terms of the Old Testament this is what you will find.
Background and the Origin of Atonement
Atonement is called Yom Kippur and when you start understanding it and by looking into the Hebrew meaning of it you will see that the words Kippur and Kawfar are rich in meaning in understanding of what this day is about.
The word Atonement appears to have its origin with William Tyndale and it’s a concatenation of “at” “one” “ment”. Tyndale is an interesting study as he was certainly one of the early reformers and was right behind Martin Luther in terms of his timeline. I think they just barely overlapped in terms of their life, and Luther lived a little before Tyndale.
William Tyndale lived fundamentally at the end of the 15th going into the early part of the 16th century (1494-1536) and he was a reformer. What that means is that he was trying to make the case that the Roman Church had developed error and corruption up to that point in time.
Tyndale was a master linguist, I think he spoke eight languages; certainly English was one of the main ones because he lived in England, or Great Britain. He is credited with the first modern translation of the scriptures into English, and did it directly from the Greek and Hebrew Text.
A lot of information about that can be found if you do a search on William Tyndale, and some of the highlights that I have found about him are that he was the first one to use the printing press to mass produce this English Translation. There were a couple of earlier English Translations but they were not done on a printing press so Tyndale gets the credit.
Tyndale was also quite an author as he wrote a number of treatises. One of them is the Obedience of a Christian Man and the other one is the Practyse of Prelates. What you find when you look into the Obedience of a Christian Man is arguing against the hegemony of the Roman Church.
Tyndale wanted the king of England to protest the Roman Church and it turns out that King Henry the 8th of England at that point in time, didn’t go to much for the Roman Church himself because he couldn’t get a dispensation to divorce Catherine of Argon . The King liked the treatise that Tyndale wrote on the Obedience of a Christian Man because it spoke against the practices of the Roman Church particularly the authority of the Pope.
The problem is that the Practyse of Prelates, the second document that Tyndale wrote was about divorce and remarriage. King Henry didn’t like that because in one case Tyndale’s writing supported him, but in another it didn’t. The end result is that Tyndale was at odds with the King of England and the end result was that he was martyred.
If you haven’t looked into it, it may be a surprise to you to find that one of the words that we use today is “Passover” that is one of Tyndale’s creations. “Atonement”, “scapegoat” and “mercy seat” are also and it happens to be that three of the four of these obviously is associated with the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur.
Passover is one that Tyndale put these words into our vernacular. He also coined into English quite a list of one line phrases:
My brother’s keeper
Knock and it shall be opened unto you
A moment in time
Fashion not yourselves to the world
Seek and ye shall find
Ask and it shall be given you
Judge not that ye be not judged
The word of God (Jehovah) which liveth and lasteth forever
Let there be light
The powers that be
The salt of the earth
A law unto themselves
It came to pass
The signs of the times
Filthy lucre
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak
Live, move and have our being
Do you recognize these? Tyndale used Jehovah in his writings and was changed to God by the King James translators. It is quite a list of phrases that we find particularly in the King James Translation. Some of these have obviously been re-written in other translations but Tyndale is largely the one that gets the credit. Some of these go back to German and Martin Luther by the way.
Tyndale is the one that is usually credited because he brought them into the English language. He was also credited with using the word Jehovah, and if you look in Strongs you will see that H3068 which is the Tetragrammaton, is translated Jehovah. That goes back to Tyndale and interestingly enough if you do a little searching on Jehovah in the King James Version, you will find that there are four remnants of his translation of Jehovah which are: Exodus 6:3, Psalms 83:18, Isaiah 12:2, and Isaiah 26:4.
Following is the scripture in Psalm 83 so you can see that it is there. What has apparently happened is that Tyndale’s Translation has been modified but he used the name “Jehovah”, of course by this point in time in the 1500’s the French influence for the “J” had come into being so Yahovah is probably what he started with. Jehovah is how it came out in English. Psalms 83 is an interesting scripture.
That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth. (Psa 83:18 KJV)
That scripture is word for word out of the King James and our practice is to correct what are nearly 7,000 translation errors. The word Jehovah is probably fine but has been translated and replaced by “God” or most of them “the Lord”. This was done by the translators and they took the name of YHWH to disuse. We want to put it back into use, so that is why we will modify it to what it originally was but there is a lot of controversy about which is the right version.
William Tyndale was arrested by the Roman Church in Antwerp in 1535 CE. He was convicted of heresy and executed in 1536 CE. The Roman Church finally prevailed and got rid of him. The last words that he said, translated into English were, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes”, and I’m guessing he really said “Jehovah open the King of England’s eyes”. His work is significant and most influential in what we have today in the modern translations and it was adopted by King James’ project team dating back to the 1600’s.
After his death King James put a project team in place called the Hampton Court Conference and it was from 1604 to 1611, a seven or so year project. It started out with 54 participants, but there were only 47 actual signatures on the final document.
King James had his team translate the Old and New Testaments, the 39 books of the Old and the 27 books of the New into English. King James’ project team used the text, and you can see the vast majority of the texts are from Tyndale. 39 books or 70% of the Old Testament and 27 books or 80% of the New Testament came from Tyndale’s original English Translation. Also, this project team incorporated 14 books of the Apocrypha, the pseudepigrapha books that are added in between the Testament. That is a little bit of background and history.
Instructions
I chose the first one to look at is in Exodus Chapter 23 and of course that is when the Israelites first came to Mt Sinai. If you have studied the Covenant study with us, you will know this scripture, for the purpose of the timeline, was the first version of the covenant that was given. It is the first one that the Ten Commandment stones were broken by Moses. This is the early set of legislation, the first being the set that YHWH gave the Israelites before the Levitical system started to set in after the golden calf incident.
Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before YHWH Elohim. (Exo 23:17 KJV)
Of course one of those times of year is the fall time and the fall season includes the Holy Days starting with the Memorial of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day.
The Day of Atonement, keep in mind, we generally reference that as a noun but we also on that day need to not only observe the day but we need to make Atonement or do something. It’s a verb, so it requires our action. We see this develop in Leviticus 23.
And YHWH spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement H3725=kippur=expiation (the act of making amends or reparation for guilt or wrongdoing): it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto YHWH. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement H3725=Kippur, to make an atonement H3722=Kawfar=to cover, disannul, forgive, pardon, make reconciliation (Ask for forgiveness and reconciliation) for you before YHWH your Elohim. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a sabbath (Just like the weekly Sabbath) of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath. (Lev 23:26-32 KJV)
This is a scripture that says it’s from even to even; it’s intended to be a 24 hour window. If you want to keep it for 25 or 26 or even 48, that’s up to you but the instructions say even to even and it’s clear when it starts, it’s the even of the ninth to the even of the tenth.
Leviticus Chapter 16 has some additional instruction for us. These statutes and legislation in Leviticus were given to Moses so that he could tell the Children of Israel after the golden calf incident. This was the second major ascent up to the second forty day fast that you see in the scriptures. When you study this out, you will see that it will be during the time that the Israelites stayed at Mount Sinai. They stayed for eleven months and this would have been later in their stay, not earlier.
And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: For on that day shall the priest make an atonement H3722=Kawfar for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before YHWH. It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. (Lev 16:29-31 KJV)
The priest did this ritual on the original Days of Atonement, Yahushua provides the one time sacrifice for us now, but we have work to do. We accept Yahushua’s blood but we have to cleanse ourselves as well. That is part of what the day is about. We sometimes think in the springtime that Passover is a day to look at ourselves and yes it is. So is the Day of Atonement, this is another example and we need to be doing it more than just twice in the year. The days that surround this Holy Day is a good time to look inward.
Action required in doing our part to be reconciled to YHWH
We ask YHWH and He forgives and He is merciful and gracious but Atonement is a day of reconciliation and we are to reconcile. Reconciliation requires active participants not just one, YHWH is going to do his part but we must do ours. Reconciliation requires two active participants.
Atonement is a day to make amends, and we are to make amends not only with YHWH but with our brothers and sisters and neighbors if we have some issue that have been on-going. Making amends requires two active participants so if you are making amends with YHWH you have work to do. If you are making amends with your neighbor or brothers and sisters you have work to do. It’s a day of repairing wrong doing, and we are to repair our wrong doing. Repairing wrong doing doesn’t start with you, it starts with me and I’m the one that has to initiate the repair. We want reconciliation which is both parties agreeing that the past is the past, but we can’t just sweep things under the carpet, we must do our part.
Results
When we do this our debts are annulled by YHWH and we are restored to a perfect state. The friendly relations are renewed with YHWH and we are back in a good relationship. When I (we) sin, and we all sin, I know that I’ve fallen away from YHWH, and I know that His Spirit is distant from me. If I sin often enough His Spirit will leave just like it left the Temple in Ezekiel Chapter 11 and when the Israelites and Judah sinned often enough they went into captivity and exiled. YHWH took His Spirit from the Temple and He will take His Spirit from our Temple also if we don’t repent, change and reestablish the friendly relationship with Him and renew our relationship with YHWH. The result is that our account is put back in good standing.
Spiritual Characteristics
I think the important part of this day is the fact that it is the Day of Atonement and reconciliation, but we must look inward also. There are a few scriptures to look at with this thought in mind. The first one is in 2 Chronicles chapter 7, and this chapter is about Solomon dedicating the Temple that he and all of the thousands of laborers just finished. The dedication of the Temple is mentioned but in the interaction YHWH is telling Solomon during this event:
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; (That applies to us today, we need to humble ourselves and pray and seek YHWH and turn from our wicked ways) then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. (2Ch 7:14-15 KJV)
This is an interesting set of promises, he will hear, he will forgive, and he will heal their land. Take a look around here, what is going on in this world that we live on? The land needs healing, is there forgiveness of sins that is needed? The problem is, people aren’t calling his name, they aren’t humbling themselves, they aren’t praying, they aren’t seeking his face plus they are not turning from their wicked ways which is the reason they don’t do the first three parts of this equation to start with.
This is really an admonition on the society we live in today but specifically to you and me, YHWH will open his eyes and ears and attend to our prayers when we have this state of mind of humility and prayer, and also turning from our wrong ways. 2 Chronicles is significant and I think it’s noteworthy to say it’s “my people”, so apply that today. Does YHWH have his people that believe in Yahushua? These are his people, if these people will call his name. What is YHWH’s name? It’s YHWH or some variation of that, so we want to be called by his name and humble ourselves and it’s people that he is talking to. Not everybody outside of the assembly, it’s the people inside and also the greater assembly. In this verse are the tribes of Israel that Solomon, as he dedicated the Temple spoke to. It’s another interesting characteristic:
I intreated thy favour with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word. I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments. (Psa 119:58-60 KJV)
Are we making haste to keep YHWH’s commandments? Is that paramount in our life? Seek first the Kingdom of YHWH and all these other things will be added is says in Matthew 6:33. Interestingly, Psalm 119 is a part of a much greater set of verses and if you read through Psalm 119 it has an anonymous and seems to be David that is writing it, but I’m not sure that is the case. Something of interest, if you haven’t discovered, is acrostic. Acrostic is a pattern that contains the 22 characters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the stanzas in this, what is the longest chapter in the Bible, and the longest set of verses, it’s divided up into groups of eight stanzas. If you look at the eight stanzas the first of the eight, all of the Hebrew words start with the letter Aleph. The whole alphabet is used, one character sequentially through this series of verses in Psalms 119. This acrostic pattern that it has is interesting.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. (Mat 23:27-28 KJV)
Whited sepulchers, what an admonition, you look good on the outside; you dress nice, you’ve got thousand dollar suits. These whited sepulchers at certain points in time particularly the Holy Days, these sepulchers in the first century were whitewashed so people knew what they were. What was inside these tombs? Dead man’s bones and they were rotting, so if you went inside it would smell terrible. If you looked under the covers it was worse so Yahushua is leveling quite an admonition comparing these Pharisees to whited sepulchers. They looked good on the outside but are full of hypocrisy on the inside. We have to look at ourselves and ask if we have any part of this whited sepulcher analogy in our life, we need to look inward and repent.
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Yahushua Messiah is in you, except ye be reprobates G96=unapproved, worthless, rejected literally or morally? But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates G96=same. Now I pray to YHWH that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates G96=same. For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. (2Co 13:5-8 KJV)
Oftentimes we use the phrase to “examine yourselves” at Passover, but it is equally appropriate any day of the year. Reprobates used here means unapproved or worthless. This scripture says not to just look good on the surface, it’s the whited sepulcher thought.
A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. (Jas 1:8 KJV)
I call a double minded man a dual man or woman. They are people that say one thing and do another; they promise one thing and do something else. They make good conversation and say righteous things and have righteous language but in reality they have all kinds of hypocrisy and wrong directions and ways in their life. They don’t repent and they think they are fooling a lot of people but in reality they are fooling few.
Change our behavior
One of the scriptures that is always foremost in my mind when I think about changing behavior is Romans Chapter 12.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Elohim, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto Elohim, which is your reasonable G3050=logikos=rational, logical service G2999=ministration, worship. And be not conformed G4964=in union, fashioned alike, conform to the same pattern to this world: but be ye transformed G342=renovation (remodel, repair, restore, upgrade) by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of YHWH. (Rom 12:1-2 KJV)
“The reasonable” translation in Greek is logikos, so it’s a logical service, and service means administration, ministration or worship. This verse says “and be not conformed” this means in union with, fashioned like, or conformed to the pattern of this world. It’s easy to be conformed though. It’s easy to be “in union with or fashioned like the pattern” in this world. But instead be transformed. I remember discovering the meaning of some of these words several years ago. The word transformed was a surprise to me when I first discovered it was metamorphoo.
Metamorphosis is what happens when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly and I’m sure there are many more examples in the insect and animal world where something like that happens but this word “transformed” is what we do, we are to be metamorphosed, transformed or transfigured by the renewing, the renovation of our mind which means to repair, or restore. How do you renovate or renew something?
I’ve been renovating our garage and when you renovate you have to tear it down to bare walls. You have to tear out all of the old insulation and wiring and get it down to the bare foundation. That is what this is talking about, you have to have a new mind, your new mind is only to be controlled through YHWH’s Spirit, not your own. Your new mind is controlled by YHWH’s Spirit; He is the one that gives us our thoughts, discernment, and understanding. We are transformed by this metamorphosis process. The word metamorphosis has a total of four occurrences. It may be surprising that this is the word transfigured also. It is used in two of the Gospel accounts. The first one is in Matthew 17.
And was transfigured G3999=metamorphoo=change, transfigure before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. (Mat 17:2 KJV)
Yahushua was being transformed right before them, the same transformation that we are to have with our minds.
And after six days Yahushua taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured G3999=same before them. (Mar 9:2 KJV)
One of the scriptures I have gravitated to recently is in 2 Corinthians.
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of YHWH, are changed G3999=same into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of YHWH.
(2Co 3:18 KJV)
We are looking into a glass of YHWH and we are transformed, metamorphosed. If you think about what this means, it is stunning. It is as if YHWH’s Spirit is right in front of us and YHWH’s Glory is transformed to us through His Spirit, through the glass of the Glory of YHWH that is talked about in this scripture. Going on in James:
Draw nigh to YHWH, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. (Jas 4:8 KJV)
You dual man, quit being a dual man and be a single minded man. Be single in spirit and in direction and in the life that you lead.
Ask YHWH for forgiveness
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. (Mar 11:25-26 KJV)
Remember the model prayer; forgive me as I forgive others.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1Jn 1:8-9 KJV)
Spiritual Characteristics
O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low. Help us, O Elohim of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away H3722=Kawfar=to cover, disannul, forgive, pardon, make reconciliation our sins, for thy name’s sake. (Psa 79:8-9 KJV)
YHWH does his part but we have to do our part. Ezekiel 45 has an interesting set of sidelines to it.
And it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare H6213=make, do, become, bear, bring forth the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation H3722=same for the house of Israel. (Eze 45:17 KJV)
Many commentaries and presentations that I have heard different pastors give think that this is talking about sacrifices in the Millennium. Perhaps it is, but it’s hard to imagine why there would be sacrifices in the Millennium when Yahushua has given His blood one time for all as it says in Hebrews Chapters 9 and 10.
When you look at this, it’s interesting because it says he shall prepare, so the princes part is to give offerings. he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering – I think the princes part, the “prince” is Yahushua. Now there are some that think perhaps the prince is King David, but I suspect because of the context it is talking about, the prince is Yahushua.
The time that this was written Yahushua was still a prince, he hadn’t given his life but he has now. Dating back to Ezekiel’s time Yahushua was the prince in the terms of looking forward. The prince shall prepare, make, do, become, bear, and bring forth the sin offering. That had not happened yet when this was written in prophecy and prophetic terminology in Ezekiel 45.
This is looking at the future still from today; it’s looking at the millennial time when the Temple would likely be rebuilt, and it’s a much grander scale Temple than has ever been built. It appears to be a Temple of the future. The prince will make, do, become or bring forth the sin offering and the fact is that he did that in 30 CE which was after this was written.
The terminology, to make reconciliation that is used is the same as making atonement, so when we see the peace offerings to make reconciliation for the House of Israel. That is the same word which is Kawfar. Kawfar is an atonement event that is being talked about.
I can’t help but see the Jubilee connection in this. I won’t dwell on it now other than to say why I think it is a Jubilee event. You have to go back to Ezekiel Chapter 1 and the first couple of verses say:
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of Elohim. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity, (Eze 1:1-2 KJV)
This is the first opening statement in Ezekiel’s prophetic dialogue. One of the things he says is that it came to pass in the thirtieth year. The question is the thirtieth year of what? Notice that it’s the thirtieth year; a lot of commentaries say that it’s his birthday. He became a High Priest on his thirtieth year, but I don’t think that’s what he’s talking about. It’s the thirtieth year of something and it is also the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. King Jehoiachin’s captivity goes back to the same time, the second deportation of Nebuchadnezzar of the Southern Kingdom and Jerusalem specifically dating back to 597 BCE.
It turns out that when Jehoiachin was taken captive, Ezekiel was taken too. Ezekiel uses the markers of dates a good time markers throughout his entire book. For example he says it’s the thirteenth year, or he says it’s in the tenth, or the ninth. You see that when you go through the first half of the book that it’s talking about Jehoiachin’s captivity. Jump forward to Ezekiel Chapter 40 and it starts what is known as Ezekiel’s vision, the Millennial Temple vision.
In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of YHWH was upon me, and brought me thither. (Eze 40:1 KJV)
It says, in the twenty fifth year of Jehoiachin and Ezekiel’s captivity and that it’s in the beginning of the year beginning in the tenth year that YHWH brought me to this vision. There are a couple of things about this, and we won’t dwell on this because it’s an opportunity for a whole presentation.
Back in Ezekiel 1, if it was the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, and now it is the twenty fifth year, there are twenty years in between so if we go back again in Ezekiel 1 and see that it is the thirtieth year of something we see that it’s the fiftieth year of something. It doesn’t say that but by deduction and logic you can safely make that assumption.
The fiftieth year is the Jubilee and the time marker says it’s the beginning of the year. There is controversy about what year it’s talking about. Is it talking about the beginning of the year talking about Abib or in Ethanim? I think it’s talking about Ethanim because the word beginning is Rosh and “Rosh” means the head. The word year is “Shanna” and I suspect that is where the terminology for Rosh Shanna comes from. I don’t think it’s from the Akitu Babylonian Ceremony that some have suggested. The beginning of the year is this month, not necessarily the first day that is the beginning of the year, but the beginning of the year starts this month because the end of the year happens in this month of Ethanim, or Tishri.
The end of the year is the Feast of Tabernacles. That always happens in the month of Ethanim. This all adds together in my view and I may be wrong but it adds together to be Atonement. Notice Ezekiel says that the hand of YHWH was upon me. The hand of YHWH is upon is during this day when we are repentant. I suspect that is getting at. In any case it’s about making reconciliation and we see that in some of the scriptures we see in Ezekiel Chapter 45.
Fasting
Because this day is about fasting so we find a scripture commonly known in Isaiah 58 and we will use the Complete Jewish Bible. It gives us a little different prospective and I think It’s good. The CJB is one of the translations that we compare to often in our research.
Shout out loud! Don’t hold back! Raise your voice like a shofar H7782=curved horn, trumpet! Proclaim to my people what rebels they are, to the house of Ya`akov their sins. “Oh yes, they seek me day after day and [claim to] delight in knowing my ways. As if they were an upright nation that had not abandoned the rulings of their Elohim, they ask me for just rulings and [claim] to take pleasure in closeness to YHWH, [asking,] ‘Why should we fast, if you don’t see? Why mortify ourselves, if you don’t notice?’ “Here is my answer: when you fast, you go about doing whatever you like, while keeping your laborers hard at work. Your fasts lead to quarreling and fighting, to lashing out with violent blows. On a day like today, fasting like yours will not make your voice heard on high. “Is this the sort of fast I want, a day when a person mortifies himself? Is the object to hang your head like a reed and spread sackcloth and ashes under yourself? Is this what you call a fast, a day that pleases YHWH? “Here is the sort of fast I want — (Listen up) releasing those unjustly bound, untying the thongs of the yoke, letting the oppressed go free, breaking every yoke, sharing your food with the hungry, taking the homeless poor into your house, clothing the naked when you see them, fulfilling your duty to your kinsmen!” Then your light will burst forth like the morning, your new skin will quickly grow over your wound; your righteousness will precede you, and YHWH’s glory will follow you. (Isa 58:1-8 CJB)
I probably should just make a list of six or seven items that YHWH said that he wants us to do. You might get the perspective that he wants us to do this on the Day of Fasting, you certainly could, and I’m not saying this scripture is necessarily about Atonement. It’s about whenever you fast, and more about your general attitude about these matters before you fasted. Why you fast certainly, I’m not suggesting these are the items that you do during the Day of the Fast but these are about the attitude that we have had that have led up to your fast. In other words, don’t be a dual person or double agent.
Then you will call, and YHWH will answer; you will cry, and he will say, “Here I am.” If you will remove the yoke from among you, stop false accusation and slander, generously offer food to the hungry and meet the needs of the person in trouble; then your light will rise in the darkness, and your gloom become like noon. YHWH will always guide you; he will satisfy your needs in the desert, he will renew the strength in your limbs; so that you will be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. You will rebuild the ancient ruins, raise foundations from ages past, and be called “Repairer of broken walls, Restorer of streets to live in.” “If you hold back your foot on Shabbat from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call Shabbat a delight, YHWH’s holy day, worth honoring; then honor it by not doing your usual things or pursuing your interests or speaking about them. If you do, you will find delight in YHWH — I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Ya`akov, for the mouth of YHWH has spoken.” (Isa 58:9-14 CJB)
Notice in the previous verses it says your wounds will be healed quickly, it’s like when you hurt yourself working and if you take care of it right away and try not to wound it again, it generally heals right away. That is what YHWH is saying here, that your wounds will heal, it’s a metaphor, your physical wounds to your spiritual wounds, or the false ways that you have heal quickly.
“If you hold back your foot on Shabbat from pursuing your own interests on my holy day”; could specifically be talking about Atonement. Remember, this is an intermission Shabbat, and the alternative is that we would be talking about the weekly Sabbath.
We love Shabbat; we say here at home that we are Shabbating. If you honor it by not doing your usual things or pursuing your interests or speaking about them, are worldly interests what you focus on? That which is left in the world? Remember Romans Chapter 12 says we are to leave the things of the world, the process and the procedures and the elements and concerns of the world behind. Not just on Shabbat, it’s generally in our daily life. It says “for the mouth of YHWH has spoken.” That makes it a done deal; this is a good scripture to read before we have the day of fast.
While looking at this particular scripture, I discovered a Scottish Psalter. There was a group of Puritans that used the Psalms of David and put them in meter, and they also took this particular scripture in Isaiah dating back to the 15th or 16th century.
The Puritans wanted to give the Church of England some scholarly devotions and poems that they had created. Of course it was the Puritan attempt to help clean up the Church of England which had become corrupted and the Protestant Reformation was an attempt to that.
The Puritans were maybe not as prevalent as the protestant groups were at this point in time but nevertheless the Puritans wanted to restore things to the best that they understood the scriptures to say.
This particular Psalter was part of what I discovered when I looked into Isaiah 58 and it’s somewhat made into poetry.
Attend, and mark the solemn fast
which to Yahweh is dear;
Disdain the false unhallowed mask
which vain dissemblers wear.
Do I delight in sorrow’s dress?
Saith he who reigns above;
The hanging head and rueful look,
will they attract my love?
Let such as feel oppression’s load
thy tender pity share:
And let the helpless, homeless poor,
be thy peculiar care
Go, bid the hungry orphan be
with thy abundance blest;
Invite the wand’rer to thy gate,
and spread the couch of rest.
Let him who pines with piercing cold
by thee be warmed and clad;
Be thine the blissful task to make
the downcast mourner glad.
The, bright as morning, shall come forth,
in peace and joy, thy days;
And glory from Yahweh above
shall shine on all thy ways.
Atonement Points to Yahushua
It’s not just about an Old Testament ritual of a couple of goats, yes that is a pointer, and it’s a shadow, but Atonement points to Yahushua. Romans Chapter 3 is something to pay attention to and when you read this, and you get down to the later scriptures, there are several “he’s” and “his”, there are pronouns used and depending on the version you use you will see that it may be somewhat confusing. Who is “he” and who is “his”? I’ve gone through this several times and it appears that “he and his” is generally referring to Yahushua, but take a look yourself. When you read this, note that I have added in the small superscript font the translation that is what I believe to be “his, him and he”.
But now the righteousness of YHWH without G5565=at a space, separately the law (separately from the law) is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of YHWH which is by faith of Yahushua Messiah unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of YHWH; Being justified freely by his YHWH’s grace through the redemption G629=ransom in full that is in Messiah Yahushua: Whom YHWH hath set forth to be a propitiation G2435=an atoning victim, the lid of the ark (propitaire=Latin verb to appease through faith in his Yahushua’s blood, to declare his Yahushua’s righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance G463=self restraint, tolerance of YHWH; To declare, I say, at this time his Yahushua’s righteousness: that he Yahushua might be just, and the justifier of him us which believeth in Yahushua. (Rom 3:21-26 KJV)
Read this scripture with the “he or him” replaced with YHWH or Yahushua
But now the righteousness of YHWH without the law (separately from the law) is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; and when you see this terminology “the law and the prophets” it’s code word to say it’s talking about the coming of Yahushua. A lot of people see this and don’t see the word “prophets” they just think that it’s witnessed by the law. It’s witnessed by the law and prophets. Even the righteousness of YHWH which is by faith of Yahushua Messiah unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of YHWH, it doesn’t mean if you are a Believer or not, all have sinned and come short of the glory. Obviously this applies to those that have accepted Yahushua.
Being justified freely by YHWH’s grace through the redemption G629=ransom in full that is in Messiah Yahushua: Whom YHWH hath set forth to be a propitiation, here is the first example of the Greek terminology for Atonement. Propitiation, an atoning victim, it also means the lid of the ark. It’s interesting because in Latin the word is “propitiare”, and it means to appease. Through faith in Yahushua’s blood, to declare Yahushua’s righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance G463=self restraint, tolerance of YHWH; To declare, I say, at this time Yahushua’s righteousness: that Yahushua might be just, and the justifier of us which believeth in Yahushua.
Also, we see this word for reconciled used in 2 Corinthians: there are a couple of terms used for “reconciled” and one of them is katallagay and the other is katallaoso.
Therefore if any man be in Messiah, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (We have been renovated) And all things are of YHWH, who hath reconciled G2644=katalloso=to changed mutually, compound a difference us to himself by Yahushua Messiah, (things have changed mutually, we have repented and YHWH has forgiven) and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation G2643=katallagay=exchange, adjustment, restoration to divine favor, atonement ; To wit, that YHWH was in Messiah, reconciling G2644=same the world unto himself, not imputing G3049=take an inventory, estimate their trespasses unto them (Who are in Messiah); and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation G2643=same . (2Co 5:17-19 KJV)
The word Atonement is translated differently in the Greek, Kawfar and Kippur would be the equivalent. This atonement that we are partaking of points to Yahushua, it’s only through him.
Do Your Own Homework
My mantra is to do your own homework and not believe what I say. Just take a look, it’s certainly fine to accept what has been said but go prove whether these things that have been said are so.
For we have not followed cunningly devised G4679=Sofidzo=to render wise with deliberate deception, continue plausible error=sophist fables, when we made know unto you the power and coming of our Master Yahushua Messiah, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2Pet 1:16 KJV)
Sophism (Merriam Webster) – an argument apparently correct in form but actually invalid; especially such an argument used to deceive.
All scripture is given by inspiration of YHWH, and is profitable G5624= helpful advantageous for doctrine G1319=instruction, learning for reproof G1650=admonish, conviction for correction, G1343=equity of character or act, justification. (2Ti 3:16 KJV)
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy G5385=Jewish sophistry and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rediments of the world, and not after Messiah.
(Col 2:8 KJV)
And this I (Paul) pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve G1381=test, discern, examine things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Messiah. (Php 1:8-10 KJV)