HEBREW WORD STUDY – PLAGUE OF WORDS – MEDEVAR מדבר Mem Daleth Beth Resh

Psalms 91:6-7: “Of the plague that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that devastates at noon. (7) A thousand shall fall by your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; it shall not come near your.”

Come on, are some you still fretting over our new President?   Let’s jump back in time a little here and find out where we are to really put our trust.   Israel was threatened with invasion by the Assyrians.  They were demanding payment of heavy tribute, particularly the gold and silver that the Israelites used in their worship.  King David refused to let anything sacred fall into the hands of the enemy.  This did not set well with many in the kingdom. They felt they should give the enemy what they wanted to insure some measure of safety.  You see the Assyrian army was invincible.  They were on the cutting edge of warfare.  They had chariots that could only be pulled by horses that took 20 years to breed.  No other nation, including Israel had such chariots.  Even if they did it would take 20 years to breed the horse to pull them. The people of Israel were nervous and they looked to their king whom they put their trust in to protect them.  What was their king’s response?  Psalms 20:7: “Some trust in chariots, but WE will trust in the Lord.”  Like, you know, who is this “we” business?  “Ok, for you David to trust in the Lord, but if I am about to get my head loped off, I would like something a little more tangible to trust in.”

In Psalm 91:6 David explains the reason behind his fanaticism.  He speaks of a plague that walks in darkness.  No, this is not a plague like we just went through with Covid.  The word used in Hebrew here for plague is midevar which simply means to speak.  If you ever take a trip to Israel you may find the phrase Midevar ‘aggelith very helpful (do you speak English).  This plague is a plague of words. The plague we are experiencing to day is just as dangerous if not more than the Covid. Many more have died and been killed by this plague more than from the Covid virus.  Just read about what led up to WWII and other wars. Wars often start with a plague of words. Fights start with a plague of words.  This midevar could also be criticism, or fearful words, words of doomsayers etc.   In it’s Semitic root the word devar which means words spoken from the heart or words that may pierce the heart.  We hear the news on the economy, the threats of terrorism, or the Covid virus and we seek tangible safety nets.  

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David, however, declares in Psalms 91:7 that a thousand will fall at your side.  The word thousand is Aleph.  That, of course is the name of the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  As a noun it means a friend.  It is someone who you are familiar with. When the threats or bad news comes or a plague hits or layoffs are threatened, and a thousand, or those with whom you are familiar are speaking words of fear from their hearts, their words will fall by your side.  The word side is sadad. It is where the Arabic word Saddam comes from meaning adversary. The Mem in front of the word is the preposition from.  From your side or from you will flow words in opposition to those coming at you and the threats, words, or plagues will fall. Fall is napel in Hebrew which is in a Hiphil form.  They will be caused to fall, terminated, or drop.  

“Ten thousand at your right hand.” Here the word for ten thousand is revavah which simply means numerous,  The word also has the concept of leadership.  The Resh and double Beth indicates those in power or leadership who strike at your heart.  This is even a greater threat than negative words from friends or those you are familiar with. For these are negative words coming from someone in leadership or who can exercise power over you, like a boss or governmental official or even a pastor. I have known pastors who called for tithes and church attendance by putting fear into their congregation.  They will tell their people that if they don’t attend church or give their tithes unfortunate things will happen to them. They cannot expect God’s protection. They turn church attendance, tithing, service in the church and loyalty to them as the pastor as a sort of talisman that has some magic power or influence on God.  Salvation is a gift, mercy is undeserved and grace is favor. There are no magic formulas to get God’s favor, you have all the favor He can give you.  If leaders are giving words which threaten our peace, or our security in God, then God promises these words will not come near us. They will only come if we let them, but God is there to protect us from these words or medevar.

There are two people who have the ability to hurt us the most, our friends and our leaders.  They have to power to hurt us because we trust in them. Unfortunately, power corrupts and since our leaders and friends are human, as David so painfully learned, they can let us down, they can take advantage of our trust in them and that is the ultimate hurt. I am not saying we must not trust our leaders and friends, we must just let our friends be friends, our leaders be leaders, trust them as far as we can but always remembering that our ultimate trust belongs to God, then if our friends or leaders fail, it won’t hurt us that bad for we know they are only human like us.  David as a king and leader had good advice: “Don’t put your trust in me, put it in the Lord.”

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