The
Epistle
to
the
Hebrews
is
one
of
the
two
greatest
theological
treatises
of
the
New
Testament.1 This letter is, in a real sense, the “Leviticus”
of
the
New
Testament,
detailing
how
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
is
both
the
fulfillment
and
the
successor
to
all
that
had
gone
on
before.
The extreme dilemma of the Jewish Christians—especially
while
the
Temple
was
still
standing—was
their
extreme
predicament.
They
had
been
drawn
from
a
divinely
appointed
religion,
with
divinely
appointed
priests
officiating
in a
divinely
appointed
Temple,
accomplishing
a
divinely
ordered
service,
all
of
which
had
been
ennobled
throughout
their
entire
history.
How could believing priests and Pharisees
remain
“zealous
of
the
Law”?
This
letter
was
clearly
aimed
at
the
people
who
were
now
Christians
but
had
come
out
of
Judaism.
It
focuses
on
the
background
that
they
came
from,
and
tries
to
demonstrate
how
Jesus
was
a
fulfillment
of
those
things;
in
fact,
he
superseded
those
things.
Jesus
is
the
very
fulfillment
of
the
Old
Testament.
The author of Hebrews had three main objectives:
1)
Combat
possible
apostasy
(Heb
2:1-4;
10:19-25);
2)
Encourage
them
to
press
on
to
spiritual
maturity
(Heb
5:11-14;
10:32-39);
and,
3)
Comfort
them
in
their
persecutions
(Heb
11:1-12:3).
His
method
was
to
highlight
the
superiority
of
the
Messiah
to
the
three
pillars
of
Judaism:
angels,
Moses,
and
the
Levitical
priesthood.
The
contrasts
were
not
between
bad
and
good
(both
are
from
God);
but
between
good
and
better.
He
deviates
from
his
logical
arguments
to
include
five
major
warnings—which
offer
some
interesting
insights.
Authorship
Who wrote the book of Hebrews? Hebrews is an
unsigned
book
and
there
are
many
theories,
but
the
available
evidence,
we
feel,
seems
to
justify
a
Pauline
ascription.
Apollos? Some suggest that Apollos wrote this epistle, although
there
is
not
much
evidence
to
support
the
theory.
Furthermore,
Apollos
was
from
Alexandria,
and
yet
even
in
Alexandria
in
the
earliest
times
the
book
was
associated
with
Paul.
So,
if
Apollos
was
the
author,
somehow
he
didn’t
even
convince
his
own
hometown.
Barnabas? Others ascribe the book to Barnabas, but here again
there
is
no
evidence
to
support
this
theory.
There
are
some
spurious
writings
(that
are
not
regarded
as
authentic)
that
were
attributed
to
Barnabas,
but
their
style
is
so
different
from
the
Epistle
to
the
Hebrews
that
if
one
can
conclude
that
the
writings
attributed
to
Barnabas
were
at
all
indicative
of
Barnabas’
style,
he
clearly
didn’t
write
the
Epistle
to
the
Hebrews.
Paul? There are many stylistic reasons that point to its
Pauline
authorship.
Paul’s Special Mark
If one recognizes that there were apparently forgeries
of
Thessalonians
letters
being
circulated,
then
several
passages
become
clearer.
Thus
at
the
end
of
that
letter,
Paul
includes
a
sort
of
special
mark,
a
token:
The
salutation
of
Paul
with
mine
own
hand,
which
is
the
token
in
every
epistle:
so I
write.
2 Thessalonians 3:17
Note how Paul is emphasizing that he has signed
the
letter
with
his
own
hand
(most
were
probably
drafted
by
an
amanuensis
or
secretary).
He
would
include
a
sign
at
the
end
so
they
would
know
that
the
letter
was
really
from
him.
So what is this signature or style item that is included
in
every
letter?
The
grace
of
our
Lord
Jesus
Christ
be
with
you
all.
Amen
(2
Thess
3:18).
And
how
does
Hebrews
end?
Grace
be
with
you
all.
Amen
(Heb
13:25).
Why
is
this
so
impressive
of
Paul’s
style?
Because
the
word
“Grace”
does
not
even
appear
in
the
other
epistles!4
The Trilogy on Habakkuk 2:4
The key verse in Habakkuk is: The Just shall
live
by
faith
(Hab
2:4).
This
verse
became
the
primary
banner
that
inflamed
the
Reformation.
It
would
seem
that
Paul
penned
a
deliberate
trilogy
on
this
very
verse:
Who are “The Just”? The Book of Romans answers
the
question
(Cf.
Rom
1:17).
How
then
“Shall
[they]
Live”?
Galatians
shows
how
we
are
to
live—called
out
of
religious
externalism
(Cf.
Gal
3:11).
“By faith...” What is the epistle on “faith”?
This
Epistle
to
the
Hebrews
(Cf.
Heb
10:38)!
As a former systems engineer and technologist in
the
information
sciences,
I
tend
to
favour
evidences
that
reveal
an
architecture
and
integrity
of
design,
and
it
is
this
unique
characteristic
of
the
entire
Bible
that
has
been
the
foundation
of
our
ministry.
Thus, it is the apparent trilogy of Romans, Galatians
and
He-brews,
dealing
specifically
with
Habakkuk
2:4,
that
causes
us
to
lean
strongly
on
the
inference
that
Hebrews
was
authored
by
Paul.
(If
it
should
turn
out
that
it
was
by
another,
then
this
very
design
becomes
an
even
more
impressive
“fingerprint”
of
the
Holy
Spirit!)
Other Stylistic Evidences
In Romans 8:35-39, Paul lists a number of things
that
can't
separate
you
from
the
love
of
Christ.
He
lists
seven
things,
and
then
10
more,
for
a
total
of
17.
In Hebrews 12:18-24 we find a similar list: Again
there
are
seven
things,
and
then
10
more,
for
a
total
of
17.
And
in
Galatians
5:19-21
there
is
also
a
list
of
17
things.
(Again,
it
is
Romans,
Galatians,
and
Hebrews
that
evidence
a
similarity
of
style.)
Paul also favored the Greek word, uio,j huios,
“sons,”
rather
than
a
similar
Greek
word,
te,knon
teknon,
which
other
writers
use,
which
means
“children.”
The
“witness
of
the
Holy
Spirit,”
discussed
in
Romans
8:16
and
Hebrews
10:15
also
hints
at a
common
authorship.
And
in
Hebrews
13:18,
the
writer
says,
“Pray
for
us.”
There
is
only
one
epistle
writer
that
makes
that
specific
request:
none
other
than
Paul.
The Role of Timothy
In
Chapter
13
of
Hebrews,
there
is a
reference
that
notes
that
the
writer
of
the
Epistle
to
the
Hebrews
was
accompanied
by
Timothy.
We
know
from
a
number
of
epistles
that
Timothy
accompanied
Paul.
We
do
not
have
any
record
of
him
accompanying
anyone
else.
While
that
does
not
mean
that
Timothy
exclusively
accompanied
Paul,
we
do
not
have
any
evidence
of
him
accompanying
any
other
writer.
Why Anonymous?
So if Paul did write the book, why would
he
keep
it
anonymous?
From
Acts
9:15
we
know
that
Paul
was
the
apostle
to
the
Gentiles.
While
the
Gentiles
were
his
primary
mission
field,
he
also
had
an
intense
burden
for
his
own
brethren.
Looking
at
Paul’s
life,
it
is
clear
that
Paul
would
sooner
or
later
write
an
epistle
to
the
Hebrews.
So why would he write one and keep it anonymous?
Because
every
time
he
tried
to
address
them
there
were
riots.
He
never
recovered
the
confidence
of
the
Jewish
side;
they
reputed
his
apostleship
and
also
feared
his
attack
against
their
ancient
rituals
and
ceremonies.
Nowhere in the book of Hebrews does Paul assert
his
apostle-ship,
unlike
his
other
epistles,
but
instead
he
builds
his
entire
thesis
uniquely
from
basic
Jewish
arguments
from
Old
Testament
passages.
He
exalts
Christ,
not
his
own
apostleship.
There
are
reasons
in
the
text
that
we
could
infer
that
the
book
was
probably
written
after
Paul’s
first
imprisonment,
but
before
his
second
arrest.8 It was clearly written prior to the destruction
of
the
Temple
in
70
A.D.
The
impending
destruction
of
the
Temple
may
have
been
one
of
the
reasons
that
God
had
Paul
show
them
how
they
needed,
as
Christian
believers,
not
only
to
accept
Christ,
but
to
come
out
of
Judaism.9
Peter’s Testimony
Peter also seems to allude to this letter in 2
Peter
3:15-16:
And account that the long suffering of our Lord
is
salvation;
even
as
our
beloved
brother
Paul
also
according
to
the
wisdom
given
unto
him
hath
written
unto
you...
2 Peter 3:15
Peter here ascribes a letter written by Paul to
the
Hebrews.
But
the
other
13
Pauline
epistles
all
went
to
Gentile
churches.
So
if
Hebrews
was
not
written
by
Paul,
then
there
is a
missing
letter
written
by
Paul
to
the
Hebrews.
As
also
in
all
his
epistles,
speaking
in
them
of
these
things;
in
which
are
some
things
hard
to
be
understood,
which
they
that
are
unlearned
and
unstable
wrest,
as
they
do
also
the
other
scriptures,
unto
their
own
destruction.
2 Peter 3:16
Here Peter is commenting on Paul’s letter, saying
that
Paul
had
written
some
things
that
were
hard
to
understand
(indeed,
the
difficulties
in
Hebrews
6
and
10).
Pressing On To Maturity
The primary focus of this letter to believers is to
press
on
to
spiritual
maturity.
For
anyone
serious
about
their
spiritual
growth,
both
the
Epistle
to
the
Romans
and
the
Epistle
to
the
Hebrews
are
absolutely
essential
to
thoroughly
understand.
Is
there
any
priority
or
commitment
that
is
more
important—or
urgent—in
your
own
life?
Pray
about
it.
