The first place we have reference to the word “Hebrew” in the Bible is in Genesis 14:13 where it mentions “Abram the Hebrew.” The word “Hebrew” in the Hebrew language is עברי (Ivrie). The root letters mean to “pass through” or to “cross over.” The Lord called Abraham (as he was known later, after God changed his name) out of Ur of the Chaldeans, he crossed the Euphrates river, and he settled in Harran for a while.
Historians tell us that Ur, in Abraham’s time, was a big place. It had an advanced culture and it is rich in history. They estimate there were about 24,000 people living there at the time and that it was thriving. It had marketplaces, schools, libraries, and things that we, today, wouldn’t necessarily think about being there. Many of the people were wealthy and had big homes, gardens, and conveniences. But it was also a place with large stone temples for idol worship. They worshipped the moon-god, Nanna. They brought gifts to him and even paid their taxes in a “sacred area” near the temple because they believed him to be their guardian and protector. So this was Abraham’s NORM. This was the culture he was raised in. This was his hometown.
God then called Abraham out of his father’s household (his father was an idolater). And when Abraham was seventy-five years old, he set out from where he was living in Harran headed to the land of Canaan. He crossed back over the Euphrates again to get to Canaan. (You can go here and see a map of Abraham’s journeys. And if you look back at this blog post, we talk about when the Lord changed Abram’s name to Abraham.) At the time, to get his family and his entire household (servants, livestock, etc) across a RIVER safely would have been a rather large, and one can imagine time-consuming, undertaking. They didn’t just load up the fam in the station wagon, cram the tents and the goats in the Uhaul and head across the nearest bridge, y’all. It would have taken some planning and preparation. 
The bottom line is that Abraham was known as the “one that has traversed,” or “crossed over” — the first Hebrew. God brought him out of the idolatrous culture where he was raised and made a covenant with him. (Genesis 12:2-3, Genesis Ch15) God told him that his offspring would be plentiful as the stars in the night sky, and that He would give Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan. God brought Abraham through the crossings and blessed him. Over the course of their history, the children of Israel had 2 more Biblical water crossings that were notable – the Red Sea and the River Jordan. God delivered Israel out of slavery in Egypt and he parted the Red Sea so that they could cross safely. He did this in order to save them, to get Egypt and the slave mentality out of them, and to prepare them for their inheritance (the Promised Land of Canaan). After that miraculous deliverance they rebelled, and it took 40 years for them to be able to come out of the desert, the dry place, cross the Jordan and be in the Promised Land that God had given to Abraham. God parted the waters for them then too. And 
just like with Abraham, God was guiding them to cross over to a better place.
The riverbanks represent two different mindsets. Idolatry, slavery, and sin on one side — God’s deliverance, the fulfillment of His promises, and His divine plan on the other. God told Joshua to put away the gods from “beyond the river” (Joshua 24:3-15 ESV) and “choose you this day whom you will serve.” It doesn’t matter what kind of culture, family, background or community you were raised in. It doesn’t matter what side of the tracks or the river you are from – God is calling you out of it! He is a God of CROSSINGS! He is guiding you to CROSS OVER into the place that He has for you! The Word says (Romans 11:17) that even though we are WILD SHOOTS, we are grafted into the vine, y’all! He has made us HEBREWS, traversers, crossers — and He wants to bring us across into what He has planned for our lives.
If you have been dabbling in sin and rebellion, choose whom you are going to serve. He is calling you to PUT AWAY the gods from beyond the river! Pray and ask God where He wants you. Because He doesn’t CARE where you’ve BEEN, but he is ALL ABOUT where you are GOING. Load up the young’uns in the station wagon, or the camel or whatever you’ve got, and head to the river. Let Him bring you ACROSS and see what He has in store for you on the other side.
Isaiah 51:10 Was it not You who dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep; Who made the depths of the sea a pathway For the redeemed to cross over?
Psalm 106:9 Thus He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up, And He led them through the deeps, as through the wilderness
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