HEBREW WORD STUDY – INVESTMENT – LAVAH לוה   Lamed Vav Hei

Isa 56:6-7  “Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices [shall be] accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.”

As I read this passage my spirit was quickened when I read; “Also the sons of the stranger that join themselves to the Lord.”  God promises that these sons of strangers, non-Jews, will be allowed on the holy mountain he will make them joyful in the house of prayer. It is curious that the only conditions are to join themselves to God, to serve Him, to love Him and not to profane the Sabbath. There is nothing in there about keeping all the ceremonial and dietary laws. 

One of the benefits is that God will make you joyful in the house of prayer.  When was the last time you attended a prayer meeting and felt joyful?  If it was boring, dutiful and you kept looking at your watch wondering when Brother Bunkie would stop preaching a sermon in his prayer, then maybe you need to examine these conditions so the next time you attend a prayer meeting you will be so joyful, you won’t want to leave.  Believe it or not, such prayer meetings exist, I know I have attended such meetings. 

Ok, that first condition to getting some joy in a prayer meeting is to join yourself with the Lord.  Now, tell me, who would not want to join themselves with the Almighty God of the Universe. That is being well connected.  But, what does it mean to join yourself with God and just how do you go about it?

The word for join in Hebrew is lavah which means to intertwine.  It is also the word for repaying a debt.  When you take on a debt you are taking possession of something that is owned by someone else as a loan with the intention of giving it back. Now consider that with your relationship with God.  You lavah with God you are allowing Him to take possession of you to use whatever way He wishes.  You are on loan to Him.  Your gifts, finances, health, family, everything God is asking that you loan it to Him.  Then maybe it is the other way around.

Still, it is a good investment.  In fact, I believe the word invest is a much better rendering for lavah. Many people who start a business often take everything they own and sell it or take a loan on it and invest it into that business with the hope that it will one day repay.  A friend who is taking accounting classes recently told me that on the average it takes three years before a business will begin to pay off.  That is tough, to invest everything you own in a business and then wait three years for a return on that investment.  Yet, people every day are doing this with the dream of having a possible independent source of income.  In fact business people will tell you that unless you are willing to invest your money, time and life, take risk into a business it does not stand much chance of succeeding. 

I was in a business class one time and the professor looked over the fifty-odd students in the class and declared, “There is not a person in this class that could not be worth millions of dollars in just three years. But most, if not all of you, will not be millionaires for one reason and one reason only.  You do not want to make money bad enough. Oh, you want money, but do you want it bad enough that you sacrifice everything you own and love to obtain it?  Are you willing to make that your primary and only focus in life?   Not many do and as a result not many will be millionaires.”   

You know something, I think that the professor gave the best definition of the word lavah (join) that I have ever heard.  To become a millionaire in three years you must entwine yourself into the purpose of making money, you must devote everything, your finances, time, family, free time, social life, and just every part of you to the task.  That is what lavah join means.  That is what it means to join yourself to God and if you do that He promises to make your next prayer meeting joyful. 

That word joy that is used in this verse is simcha, it is also a word for feasting.  To the ancients, the happiest times are when they are feasting.  Even today when we celebrate we also serve food.  We love to eat, we love to feast.  That joy you feel when you are with friends ordering your favorite meal, I mean it just doesn’t get better than that. That is the joy that you will feel in a prayer meeting when you lavah join yourself entwine every part of your being, your finances, your social life, your hobbies, everything with God.