Day 9- 40 Days Of Teshuvah To Yom Kippur

#8 For the sin that we have sinned before You with knowledge and deceit

Knowledge is a powerful tool and a dangerous weapon when misused.

Knowledge is good if used correctly to bless others, but also bad if that knowledge is used to destroy lives and deceive people.

Knowledge can puff us up with pride or humble us. It can be used to build others up, or tear them down.

What are we doing with the knowledge God has given us regarding His Torah/teaching and instructions. Are we using it as a weapon to hurt, or are we using that knowledge to bring healing to the body of Messiah.

Do we choose to deceive others even though we have knowledge of The Truth.

Are we puffed up with Pride because of the knowledge or degrees we have attained in life and let others know what we have achieved. Or do we thank God that we were blessed enough to be able to afford the schooling to give us knowledge so we can be an assest to our Country or Community. Or do we look down our noses at others who God is using but who did not have the means in life to obtain the education you have.

So how are we to use the Godly knowledge God has blessed us with?

Jas 3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
Jas 3:14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
Jas 3:15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
Jas 3:16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
Jas 3:18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

H1847-Knowledge Hebrew Understanding Word Studies From The Complete Word Study Dictionary
ַדַּעת
da aṯ: A feminine noun meaning knowledge, knowing, learning, discernment, insight, and notion. The word occurs forty of its ninety-one times in Proverbs as one of the many words associated with the biblical concept of wisdom. The root meaning of the term is knowledge or knowing. In Pro 24:3-4, it is the third word in a chain of three words describing the building of a house by wisdom, the establishment of that house by understanding, and finally, the filling of the rooms of the house by knowledge. The word describes God's gift of technical or specific knowledge along with wisdom and understanding to Bezalel so he could construct the Tabernacle (Exo 31:3 Exo 35:31 cf. Psa 94:10). It also describes the Israelites when they lacked the proper knowledge to please God (Isa 5:13 Hos 4:6). God holds both pagan unbelievers and Israelites responsible to know Him. On the other hand, a lack of knowledge also describes the absence of premeditation or intentionality. That lack of knowledge clears a person who has accidentally killed someone (Deu 4:42 Jos 20:3, Jos 20:5).

The word is also used in the sense of knowing by experience, relationship, or encounter. For example, Balaam received knowledge from the Most High who met him in a vision (Num 24:16) the knowledge gained by the suffering Servant of Isaiah justified many people (Isa 53:11) and to truly know the Holy God leads to real understanding (Pro 9:10). This moral, experiential knowledge of good and evil was forbidden to the human race in the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:9, Gen 2:17). But the Messiah will have the Spirit of understanding in full measure as the Spirit of the Lord accompanied Him (Isa 11:2).

The term is also used to indicate insight or discernment. God imparted discernment to the psalmist when he trusted in God's commands (Psa 119:66). Job was guilty of speaking words without discernment (lit., words without knowledge, Job 34:35 Job 38:2).

God alone possesses all knowledge. No one can impart knowledge to God, for His knowledge, learning, and insight are perfect (Job 21:22) He alone has full knowledge about the guilt, innocence, or uprightness of a person (Job 10:7). God's knowledge of a human being is so profound and all-encompassing that the psalmist recognized that such knowledge is not attainable by people (Psa 139:6).

Some knowledge is empty and useless (Job 15:2), but God's people and a wise person are marked by true knowledge of life and the divine (Pro 2:5 Pro 8:10 Pro 10:14 Pro 12:1). Knowledge affects behavior, for persons who control their speech have true knowledge (Pro 17:27). While the preacher of Ecclesiastes admitted that knowledge may result in pain (Ecc 1:18), he also asserted that having knowledge is, in the end, better, for it protects the life of the one who has it (Ecc 7:12), and it is God's gift (Ecc 2:26).

*Journal - Food For Thought

Ask Yourself:

Did I use knowledge of a certain situation to deceive others?

Did I use knowledge to deceive myself, i.e. did I rationalize away my bad actions?

Did I use knowledge to circumvent the spirit of the law?

Did I use knowledge to show off and impress others?

Did I use knowledge to embarrass someone and belittle them?

Exploring the "Al Chet" Prayer by Rabbi Shraga Simmons (Aish Hatorah)