Crossing Over Into the Kingdom (From The Only Levite You Know)
|
|
"So odd of God to choose the Jews" as the saying goes. The response from the Jews is very unfortunately typical - "Not so odd. The Jews chose God"
More often than not they chose to ignore him, to complain to and about him, to.... well you know the story. The 40 year journey in the desert with clothing that never wore out could have been accomplished in 11 days if they had just been a bit more chill and even appreciative of the whole thing. The original generation that was freed from Egypt never made it to the promised land. God had enough and allowed the next generation under the leadership of Joshua to cross over into the promised land. The original Israelis emancipated from Egypt died in the desert. So it is a bit of a stretch for the Jews to say they chose God. Let's get on with or at least towards the main point of today's bulletin.
|
When you look at the Old Testament, Exodus, and so forth, us as Christians, we need to look at it from a messianic perspective. What does this mean to our lives as Christians now in 2026? This being in Genesis 14 verse 13, the word Hebrew is derived from the verb meaning to cross over or pass through, such as crossing the Euphrates River to Canaan, or crossing through, or crossing over, or passing through the Red Sea. Now then I saw the word cross, and I'm like, nah, it couldn't be. But I'm just going to check it just to make sure. The root meaning of Hebrew, *ivri*, holds significant messianic resonance, symbolizing spiritual transition from worldly systems to God's covenant. Bingo. A journey of faith, separation from idolatry, and embracing a new divine purpose mirroring the concept of spiritual transformation through Christ, who enables believers, Jesus does, to cross over into the kingdom of God.
---
### The Meaning For Our Lives: Exodus 13–15
|
|
* **The Hebrews Complaining to Moses:** The Israelites were afraid. Moses, why did you bring us out here? We've got the Red Sea in front of us and Pharaoh's army behind us. And how often is there an invitation to Christians to feel like, wow, I was doing better. My life was better. But my actual life was better, and I got into this trouble, and I'm always in trouble now. That was the Hebrews complaining to Moses. That's where that all started. So don't do that.
|
|
* **Active Remembrance Over History:** Remembering God's power, the command to observe Passover, and the consecration of the firstborn isn't just history. It's a call to actively remember God's saving acts in our own lives to fuel faith and gratitude today. It's a call to remember that if we follow the dictates of God, of Jesus, then we can be spiritually free.
|
|
* **The Slaves to Guilt and Loss:** We learn radical dependence on God in Exodus. Where we develop perseverance, transforming us from former slaves to sin, addiction, despair, guilt. You know, I just went through this whole thing of the sadness of having lost a cat of 15 years. The sadness that's understandable, but the guilt that so many cat owners feel when they have to put their baby to sleep, that is not a luxury that we can afford if we believe in the words of Jesus. We just don't get to feel guilty. We know we're guilty, but on the Cross, Jesus replaced us as a substitutionary recipient of the sentence. Jewish guilt is legendary. Especially Jewish mothers in NYC. Even more geocentric to Brooklyn. We don't get to sit with guilt. It must be allowed to pass through us. Jesus did not die so we can heap new guilt upon ourselves.
|
|
* **The Peace That Surpasses Understanding:** The Red Sea crossing highlights God's ability to conquer overwhelming obstacles. In my case, a year ago, a temperature of 106, and a lot of other things that were going on. And while I was waking up and being told what terrible condition that I was in, I was feeling the peace that surpasses all understanding. So that's God in action in my life. The sufferings? He replaced them with faith, power, and a sound mind.
|
|
* **Ambivalent in the Hospital Bed:** The parting of the Red Sea is a new creation moment, symbolizing God's power to bring life out of chaos, a theme echoed in Jesus' resurrection. As I lie there in that hospital, they're telling me how bad that I'm doing, and I'm like, am I going to die? I was kind of ambivalent. I was more concerned about my mom and my cats than I was. I figured I would be fine. I just wasn't expecting to die that day. And I didn't, because of the Lord.
|
|
* **Saved Physically From Death:** Death is a very real thing. We've lost some people in our church community in the last year or so, and some were saved physically from death. Some elder people who were central to the present church and its more history going back decades. In my case and others God said, nope, you still need to be here. You're needed here. Clayton, I'm looking at you. And Nancy, and a number of others. Goldie. Others who have made Beach Church the home of Grace on the oceanfront of Virginia Beach.
|
* **Passing Down the Faith:** The obligation to teach these stories to ensure to children, now I'm looking at you, Angel, and Gigi, that the wonder of God's deliverance isn't lost. It's so important to not forget about the deliverance of the Israelis by God from slavery in Egypt, because it has everything to do with our current deliverance from slavery to idolatry and all the rest of it, in Jesus's name. Yet not I, but through Christ in me. That is the self that is Jesus in us.
---
### Messianic Significance
|
|
* **The Messianic Meaning of *Ivri*:** The word Hebrew is derived from the verb meaning to cross over or pass through. This root meaning holds massive messianic resonance, showing how Jesus is the ultimate bridge that allows us to pass through judgment and cross over from death to life.
|
|
* **The Substitutionary Sacrifice:** The principle of faith that foreshadows Christ, substituting sacrifice for freedom. Jesus replaces us as a substitutionary recipient of the sentence for our acts, entirely wiping away the worldly guilt and sin that once held us captive.
|
* **The Resurrected New Creation:** The parting of the Red Sea is a new creation moment, bringing life completely out of chaos. This points directly to Jesus’ resurrection, which offers us total redemption from spiritual death and cements our unique identity in the kingdom of God.
---
### Classic Commentaries Corner
"The true Hebrew is one who has crossed over—one who has left the idols, the ease, and the bondage of Chaldea or Egypt behind to venture into a land he knows not, purely on the bare word of God. Every true believer in Christ is an Ivri, having crossed the great gulf that separates a dying world from the living kingdom of God." — John Wesley
|
|
"To look back longingly at Egypt when difficulties arise is the tragic tendency of the flesh. We forget that the wilderness, with all its terrors and hospital beds, is the very place where God breaks our reliance on human strength to give us a peace that completely defies human explanation." — A.W. Tozer
|
|
"In the parting of the Red Sea, God did not merely make a path; He created a new world for His people. When Christ rose from the dead, He became our ultimate Red Sea crossing, bearing our entire sentence as a substitute so that guilt is drowned forever, and we are brought safely into a new creation." — Matthew Henry
|
"When the Israelites cried out in fear, Moses told them to 'stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.' How beautifully this illustrates the gospel of grace! The work of deliverance belongs entirely to Christ; our only part is to cross over by faith through the opening His power has made." — Adam Clarke
---
### Corroborating Scripture
|
* **John 5:24** — *"Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life."* **(Discernment)**
* **Colossians 1:13–14** — *"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."* **(Character)**
* **Isaiah 43:2** — *"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you."* **(Armor)**
* **2 Corinthians 5:17** — *"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"* **(Transformation)**
* **2 Timothy 1:7** — *"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and a sound mind."* **(Perseverance)**
* **1 Peter 2:9** — *"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."* **(Holiness)**
* **Matthew 7:14** — *"But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."* **(Narrow Way)**
---
PRAYER FOR WHOMSOVERS
Dear Lord, teach us how to live. Please teach us not to grumble but to be grateful, not to be demanding but to be devotional, not to be stiff-necked but to be steadfast and faithful. Remind us that the Red Sea got closed behind us, our enemies got "drownded" and there is no going back. Please remind us You are with us and we are to be always focused on you even while we live through the "already but not yet" times. Remind us always to be faithful servants and be joyful in your peace and love. In the precious name of Jesus all the people say "Amen!"
|
|
|
When one is reading the Bible they want to know God better. What if they walk away with the wrong understanding or in confusion and what if it is not their fault unless they can be blamed for never studying Hebrew? Linguistic shifts from Hebrew to Greek (Septuagint), then to Latin (Vulgate), and finally to English and myriad other languages have caused some of the most enduring theological and cultural misconceptions in history.
What if "helper" as used to describe the role of Eve towards Adam meant something else entirely?
What if Cain was not cursed but blessed with protection and we have all misunderstood because of translation errors?
What if a lot of things...
I advise you that this is a VERY deep rabbit hole. You have been warned.
Let's start with just a few that will be more enjoyable than some others.
One more word of advisement - these translations are not written in stone either. There is 1000s of years of
often tumultuous discussion on some of these and many more.
|
Here is where you can find peace. It is where I am finding it. Oddly it is from a Roman Catholic but even a broken clock is right
twice per day.
When we let go of the need for human answers to perfectly align with our Western legal logic, the riddles themselves become deeply satisfying. They remind us that the Creator of the universe is far larger than our dictionaries, our translation errors, or our theological debates.
|
|
Qaran (קָרַן) (not Quran)
|
• Original Meaning: To shine or emit rays of light .
• Mistranslation: St. Jerome translated this in the Latin Vulgate as cornuta—meaning "horned" .
• Result: Centuries of art depicting Moses with physical horns, leading to historically damaging antisemitic tropes .
Chata'ah (חַטָּאָה)
|
• Original Meaning: To miss the mark (as an archer missing a target) or to make a mistake .
• Mistranslation: Translated broadly to English as "sin" (which carries heavy connotations of moral depravity and rule-breaking) .
• Result: The belief that every mistake or shortcoming is an intentional, punishable moral transgression .
Hesed (חֶסֶד)
|
• Original Meaning: Unfailing love, loyalty, and covenantal devotion.
• Mistranslation: Usually simplified to "mercy" or "lovingkindness."
• Result: The misconception that God's Hesed is passive forgiveness, rather than an active, fierce, and binding promise of loyalty.
|
|
Ezer (עֵזֶר) (ladies you might want to have the Kleenex handy for this one)
|
• Original Meaning: A strength, rescuer, or a lifesaver (often used to describe God). (Used in Gen 2 for "Eve" but never after for her)
• Mistranslation: Translated into English as "helper" (historically interpreted to mean an assistant or subordinate).
• Result: The common but erroneous modern belief that women were created merely as secondary assistants to men.
|
•'Owth (אוֹת)Original Meaning: A sign, pledge, token, or beacon of a promise.
• Mistranslation: Translated into Latin as a physical brand and into English as a "mark" of shame.
• Result: The prevalent modern belief that God physically branded Cain with an permanent curse, when in reality, the 'owth was a divine guarantee of absolute protection to ensure no one would kill him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
