Hebrews: Those Who Cross Over
Notes
Transcript
Historical Background
Historical Background
There’s some discussion on the author of Hebrews. Some say Paul, Barnabas, Apollos, or Priscilla. No one really knows but the earliest church fathers taught that Paul wrote it in Hebrew for the Hebrews. Eusebius refers to Clement of Alexandria who confirmed without question that Paul wrote it. For that reason, we’re going to also assign the author as Paul.
It was written before the destruction of the temple in AD 70, probably around 50-64 AD. Whomever wrote this letter was in Italy. Jewish Christians were the target audience, and at that time, the majority of Christians were Jewish. In fact, it started as a Jewish sect of Judaism and over time evolved into a separate faith apart from the law.
The issue at the time the letter was written is that Jewish believers expected the Lord to return very, very soon. The delay coupled with persecution caused many of them to wonder if they should return to Judaism. This letter addresses the overwhelming superiority of Christ and warns them of the dangers of returning to the Law, something that was passing away.
Jesus is the theme of Hebrews. He is the language of god. When God speaks to us now, he speaks in the “vocabulary of Jesus Christ” (The Passion).
He is greater than the law, the angels, the system of temple worship, and greater than any high priest or religious structure. Because our royal Priest gave his sacred blood for us, we now have unrestricted access to the holiest place of all. With no veil and nothing hindering our intimacy with God, we can come with an unbelievable boldness to his mercy-throne where we encounter enough grace to empower us through every difficulty. We find our true life in his presence.
Simmons, B. (Trans.). (2017). The Passion Translation: New Testament (Heb). BroadStreet Publishing.
Those Who Cross Over
Those Who Cross Over
The name Hebrews means “those who crossed over.” As we studied in our holiness series, the Old Testament always foreshadowed the greater realities of the New Covenant. This is no different. Let’s take a peak into what the name Hebrew means for us today starting with the first place it’s used.
13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram.
At this point in Abram’s life, he has left Ur of the Chaldeans (an ancient name for Babylon) and his nephew, Lot, went with him. Both families got too big and their servants started fighting each other; therefore, Abram told Lot to choose what land he wanted and he’d take the remainder, which demonstrates incredible trust in God’s promises. Lot chose Sodom and Gomorrah. At this point, God tells Abram that he’s inherited all of the land of Canaan (Gen 13).
A war broke out between kings and one of them was the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah. In the midst of the fighting, Lot and his family were captured. Someone who escaped the battle came and told Abram “the Hebrew.” He rescued Lot and then had his infamous encounter with Melchizedek.
As stated, Hebrew means “those who crossed over.” It came to represent an ethnicity of people. Hebrew is traced back to Eber, who was of the lineage of Shem, the first to call on the name of the Lord. Eber is in the root letters of Hebrew.
But why does the it mean what it means? The name Hebrew is particularly tied to crossing rivers. When Terah, Abram’s father, left Ur with his family, they had to cross the Euphrates. They made it to Haran, and there Terah died. When God called Abram to leave Haran, he had to cross over the Euphrates again. But I believe spiritually, it refers to him leaving his past life and embracing the new and foreshadowed the born-again experience.
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
From that point forward, you see the Hebrews crossing waters. But before they could cross over, they had to be passed over representing the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world.
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ 4 Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.
This is God picking a fight. I don’t have time to get into all of the original language, etc. of the phrase, “Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart,” but let me say this: Pharaoh’s heart wouldn’t have been subject to hardening unless it was already deceived and hardened. God didn’t harden his heart to reject Him. He had already made that decision; therefore, God used it to destroy his kingdom. Same with the religious leaders in Jesus’ day. You see, it wouldn’t be justice for God to harden someone’s heart for no reason. However, He will use someone with a heart already hardened to further His purposes. And just like Pharaoh fell into his own trap due to his hard heart and rebellion, so the religious leaders became pawns to the enemy to crucify the Lord to the enemy’s demise.
19 And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.
During the night, the Angel of God, which is a pre-incarnate form of Jesus protected their rearguard.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
24 Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. 25 And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.”
While the cloud is protecting the Hebrews, the Lord rolled the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land. In the morning, Pharaoh’s armies see that the children of Israel had “crossed over” and they pursued them. I love this. God “troubled (confused) the army” and took off their chariot wheels. Do you know they have discovered ancient Egyptian chariot wheels in a certain spot of the Red Sea in 1993?
Listen to what Paul said about this event.
1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
Their crossing over was considered a baptism. Crossing a river symbolically stands for deaths to self and moving into the Promise Land. Like the Jordan River cross over by Joshua and the Israelites to take the Promise Land, which I’ve discussed many times and the prophetic picture it is of the end of the age. But listen to this one verse:
16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
The waters “rose in a heap very far away at Adam.” This is clearly referring also to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. And we are also those who have crossed over from death to life!
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
The word “buried,” here refers to being buried with someone else! Baptism means “to dip” and has the idea of immersion, which is why immersion is used in Protestant versus sprinkling. It’s a representation of our death in Christ but also is a decree or act of loyalty to the one true God. And since we’ve been raised from the dead BY the glorious might of Father, we should walk in newness of life. Walk is “to live and behave in a customary manner. Newness is “renewal.” What’s interesting about this word is it’s not referring to “an experience similar to the past, but a qualitatively different one. I.e. our new life shouldn’t look anything like the old! And life is a “blessed life…that satisfies, being INDWELT by God but not necessarily favored by circumstances.” I.e. your life is satisfying not because of your circumstances but because of Who lives inside of you!
We, as Christians, are those who have cross over from death to life and Christ dwells in us!