Why Was Hebrews Written?

137 finished before Paul’s case went to trial (late 62 or early 63). This would imply that Mark reached Rome soon after Paul did (in AD 61). Since Paul’s book of Hebrews, written while he was in Rome, seems to correct some of the harsh anti-Judaic rhetoric and misguided theology of the Epistle of Barnabas, it implies that Paul had access to it before he wrote Hebrews (AD 62-63). And the fact that his epistle to the Romans also seems to correct some of the defective theology of Barnabas, there is a good chance that Paul had already seen the Epistle of Barnabas, or at least knew what Barnabas was teaching among the churches, before he wrote his epistle to the Romans in AD 58. See the Masters Thesis of Ed Stevens which deals with this in greater detail (Redating the Epistle of Barnabas).

Further evidence that this is the correct dating for Hebrews comes from its similarities and connections with the book of Revelation. It is very significant that the similarities between Hebrews and the Apocalypse do not show up in Hebrews until late in the book (chapters 12 and 13). This gives us a clue as to when the book of Revelation was written in relation to the book of Hebrews, and vice versa. The book of Hebrews was probably started before a copy of the Apocalypse reached Paul. Then later in 62, after Paul received a copy of the Revelation, he included some material in chapters 12 and 13 of Hebrews which show his awareness of Revelation. Paul would have received his copy late in the writing process of Hebrews, probably after the first eleven chapters were already finished. That explains why the similarities with the book of Revelation do not show up in Hebrews until chapters 12 and 13, just as Paul was putting the finishing touches to Hebrews in late 62 or very early 63.

Paul added the final verses to Hebrews (13:22-25) just after his release, and before he left Italy to travel with Timothy toward Colossae in the Spring of AD 63. The epistle was evidently sent via courier to his network of churches in Greece, Macedonia, and Turkey. When Timothy returned, they left Rome to go visit the churches addressed in his other prison epistles and this epistle of Hebrews. As we noted above, it seems pretty likely that Mark was the courier for the epistle to the Hebrews. We will discuss that in more detail below. So the book of Hebrews appears to be Paul’s last big book that he wrote before his shorter pastoral epistles and his death about the time of the Neronic persecution.

Why Was Hebrews Written?

The “why” question is always a very important question to answer, since we need to know why a book was written in order to understand what it means. It is just as important as knowing who wrote it, to whom it was written, when and where it was written.

When Paul went to Jerusalem at the end of his third missionary journey, he had to address the concerns of the law-zealous Jewish Christians in Jerusalem who accused him of teaching the Diaspora Jews to not circumcise their children, nor walk according to the customs of Moses and the Law (Acts 21:17-26). This accusation was probably not surprising to Paul. He had already addressed similar issues in some of his epistles. Furthermore, when he visited Corinth at the end of his third missionary journey, just before going to Jerusalem, he must have discovered what Barnabas was teaching to Diaspora Jews about forsaking Moses and all the customs including circumcision. That may have been what prompted him to write the epistle to the Romans right there at Corinth, in which he clarified the Jewish Christian’s relationship to the Law. And since Paul had been associated with Barnabas just eight years before this, many of the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem would have assumed that Paul was teaching the same thing as Barnabas. So, it would have been no shock to Paul when he was questioned by his fellow apostles and elders in Jerusalem to explain why he was supposedly teaching Diaspora Jews to forsake Moses, just like Barnabas was. He had an excellent answer to that question in his epistle to the Romans, which was written just before he came to Jerusalem.

Anyone who had listened to Paul knew that he did not teach any Jews (Diaspora or Palestinian) to abandon the Mosaic Law and cease circumcising their children, since he himself also “walked

138 orderly, keeping the Law.” His epistle to the Romans would easily set the record straight on that. However, the book of Romans did not address the sacrificial issues and typological aspects of the Christian faith, so Paul needed to write something like the epistle to the Hebrews to further clarify the relationship of the Jewish Christian to the Temple and sacrificial system. Once he got to Rome and got his defense ready, he could then write the epistle of Hebrews. It was probably the arrival of Mark in Rome which stimulated Paul to begin writing Hebrews. Mark would have brought the Epistle of Barnabas with him. Reading that would have provoked Paul to finally set the record straight on the rest of the matters not covered in his epistle to the Romans. All the Hebrew Christians throughout the Roman world would now have a good explanation of their relationship to the Law, circumcision, the covenant, the Temple, and the sacrificial system. This would clear up the confusion caused by Barnabas’ teaching, and answer their unbelieving Jewish critics who were using Barnabas’ teaching as an excuse to blaspheme, ridicule, condemn, and persecute the Church.

Paul indeed taught some similar ideas as Barnabas, but it was not the same. And the confusion about it forced Paul to clear up those differences in his two epistles to the Romans and Hebrews. Some commentaries on Hebrews suggest that the book of Hebrews seems to have been written as a corrective to the Epistle of Barnabas. Hebrews has many statements which correct and counter- balance the extreme anti-Judaic polemic and hyper-allegorical hermeneutic of Barnabas. This idea is explored in much more detail in my forthcoming Masters Thesis (Redating the Epistle of Barnabas). Of course, that was not the only reason nor even the main reason why Paul wrote the book of Hebrews, but it does appear to be one of the reasons, and it fits right into the main purpose of the book.

The major reason for the epistle to the Hebrews appears to be to clarify the relationship of the Jewish Christians to the Law, the Old Covenant, the Temple, the Priesthood, and the Sacrificial system, and to show how all of that had been fulfilled by Christ at the Cross, the Resurrection, and Pentecost. Those Jewish Christians needed to have this covenant change clearly spelled out for them, so that they could successfully navigate the soon-coming passing away of their old covenantal world and the arrival of the New Jerusalem and better things in the perfect heavenly country.

At the end of the Epistle, in Hebrews 13, Paul urges those Jewish Christians to go out to Christ outside the gates of the earthly city, in order to meet with Christ in the new heavenly city that was about to come (Heb 13:13-14). While life under the Mosaic Law was good, it was not the better things that were promised under the New Covenant. The Best Things were to be found in Christ, into whom the Gentiles were also being grafted. Paul wrote the book of Romans to get the Gentiles to embrace the Jewish Christians as the natural branches of the rich olive tree into which they had been graciously allowed to partake. Those Gentiles needed to unite with their Jewish brothers and be one body of Christ. And the Jewish Christians needed to accept the Gentiles as fellow heirs of the coming kingdom.

Paul wrote the book of Hebrews to help the Jews understand the nature of that soon-coming kingdom which had been promised to them throughout the Old Testament Scriptures. The Jewish Christians were in danger of failing to draw near to the better things that were about to arrive. Hebrews seems laser- focused on keeping the remnant of faithful believing Jews attached to the Olive Tree, as well as enticing a few more unbelieving Jews to be regrafted into the Olive Tree from which they had been cut off, so that they would not miss out on the better things that were about to arrive. Paul was trying desperately to “fill up” the full number of true Israel before the unbelieving fleshly Israelites were destroyed and their old covenantal system passed away. Paul was urging them onward, to draw near to Mount Zion, and not shrink back into Judaism and be destroyed. The better things were just about to arrive. “In a very little while, He who is coming will come.” Do not be one of “those who shrink back to destruction” (Heb 10:3739). Persevere in Christ to inherit those better things. Paul’s heart’s desire was for their salvation. Everything he did as apostle to the Gentiles was to move his Jewish brethren to jealousy and thus save some of them, so that ALL (who are a part of the True) ISRAEL would be saved. The book of