Study #9: ZAYIN

OUR SECRET WEAPON: SPEAK BLESSINGS INSTEAD OF CURSES

ZAYIN can have a negative connotation.

The Hebrew word that means ENEMY is ZAR ( composed of ZAYIN and RESH ):

1. ZAYIN = weapon
2. RRESH = head of a man

Thus ZAR ( ENEMY ) is a “man armed with a weapon”.

In the Old Testament, the false prophet Balaam is such an enemy. His weapon of spiritual warfare was to rain down “prophetic curses” much like the propaganda used by warring nations or disputing politicians in what we call “the media wars”.

1. Balaam at first told the messengers of King Balak that he could not curse the children of Israel: ” I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do good or bad of my own mind, but what the Lord says, that will I speak”
( Deuteronomy 24:12 ). Instead of cursing Israel, God only allowed his tongue to bless Israel ( Numbers 24:5 ).

2. But – for the love of money – he taught King Balak the devious tactic of getting the children of Israel to curse themselves – by sending his women to seduce the Israelites, to cause sin to bring about the downfall of Israel through a terrible plague ( Numbers 32:15 )

3. However, Baalam himself reaped what he sowed. His diabolical teaching on curses boomeranged on him. He was ironically slain by a sword – a symbol of ZAYIN ( Numbers 31:7 ).

Father God, James warns us of the tongue: “But no man is able to tame the tongue. It is an unruly, evil, filled with deadly poison”. The enemy like Balaam used it to curse Israel though he failed by God’s intervention. But let us move in the opposite spirit and speak blessings instead. Let us remember the words of Christ Himself: ” But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” ( Matthew 5:44 ). To nullify curses therefore we speak blessings instead. Thus we quench the fiery darts of the evil one with the Water of the Word of God ( Ephesians 5:26 ).