Cross-Over People

Olive Tree, Mt. Skopa, Jerusalem

The other night I had the privilege of eating dinner with an acquaintance who is becoming a good friend.  She, like me, is in Christian ministry, although her path has led her through a much more Hebraic Christian journey than has my evangelical Christian path.  (She has studied Hebrew, for example.  I admit to being a bit envious of that.)  Her story is amazing.

At any rate, I asked her about her Jewish ethnic roots and, to my surprise, a strong Jewish ethnic background was not present.  I was surprised, because I had just assumed her path into Messianic Jewish studies was due to an ethnic connection.  That was a wrong assumption on my part.

I believe having Jewish roots would be a tremendous gift, and have long felt that way.  I got a bit excited when I learned I have a Jewish ancestor, way back several generations.  (You may recall I talked a little about this in a previous post.)  It fascinates me, this matter of heritage.  I met a friend last month whose family traces roots back to the Middle Ages.  What a history!

A couple days ago I was reading from a book called The Book of Mysteries, by Jonathan Cahn.  (I've mentioned that book here in the blog previously also.)  One of the devotionals in the book explores the meaning of the Hebrew word "Hebrew", which is the forename of the Jewish people.  In Hebrew, the name "Hebrew" is "Ivri", and the plural is "Ivrim", (or Ivriim).  Ivri is from the Hebrew root word, "avar", which means "to cross over".  The word Ivri was used to describe Abraham, how he crossed over the Jordan River from Mesopotamia to Canaan.  Abraham was the Father of the Ivri, the Father of Those Who Cross Over.

The Israelites crossed over from slavery, bondage and death to freedom and new life when God delivered them from Egypt.
They crossed over the Red Sea on dry land, a miracle "of biblical proportions" (sorry... couldn't resist....)
They also, later, crossed over the Jordan River into the Promised Land.
The Hebrews are the Cross Over People.
Who would not want to be a Hebrew?

It is possible to be a spiritual Hebrew, however, even if not by human blood or ethnic designation.  How does one become a spiritual Ivri?

By following Yeshua Mashiach (Jesus Messiah).  He spoke of this in His conversation with Nicodemus.  "Unless a man is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven." (John 3:5) Being born again means leaving one land behind and entering another, crossing over, if you will.
In 1 John 3:14 the apostle describes this as  "passing from death unto life".

Through Jesus, the King of the Cross Over People, we pass from the dead life of our sins to life eternal.  Jesus is our example.  He who had no personal need to physically be born or die...He who was sinless and had no need to be "born again"....He still gave us the perfect model to follow.  He passed from eternal existence into human flesh at His Incarnation, from human life into physical death....and then rose again, passing from death into life.  Being the only One who could do that, He became the King of the Ivri.  And accordingly, we, who put our faith, our trust, in Him - - we are given the power to cross over ourselves, through the Holy Spirit He puts into our hearts.

In Romans 11 Paul spoke about those of us who are not Jewish in ethnicity being "grafted in" to the olive tree of faith.  (Zola Levitt Ministries, referenced in Sources, gives an excellent explanation of the metaphor of the olive tree in scripture.) . The Church of Jesus Christ does not distinguish between Jew, Greek, Norwegian, American Indian, Vietnamese, Aboriginee.....all are equally invited to become Cross Over People, spiritual Ivrim.  The ground is level at the foot of the cross.

Have you crossed over?


Sources:

Cahn, J. (2016). BOOK OF MYSTERIES(1st ed.). Lake Mary, FL: FRONTLINE, p.27.

http://www.aish.com/sp/ph/The-Word-Hebrew-Insights-into-the-Hebrew-Language.html

https://www.levitt.com/essays/olivetree