Hebrew Letters (NT)

<-----GOSPELS----->	<------HISTORY----->	<-------------CHURCH LETTERS-------------->	HEBREW LETTERS

Matthew	Acts	Romans	I Timothy	Hebrews
Mark		I Corinthians	II Timothy	James
Luke		II Corinthians	Titus	I Peter
John		Galatians	Philemon	II Peter
		Ephesians		I John
		Philippians		II John
		Colossians		III John
		I Thessalonians		Jude
		II Thessalonians		Revelation

Unlike the nine Church Letters all written by Paul, these Letters were written by several people. However, with the exception of Hebrews, which is anonymous, and the book of Jude, we will observe an interesting relationship among the remaining writers. The names of James, Peter, and John are all mentioned together in one place by Paul where he says,

(Galatians 2.9)
and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

NKJV

Consequently, these disciples had a mission primarily to the Jews whereas Paul’s was principally to the Gentiles. Accordingly, the opening verse of Hebrews is clearly addressed to the Jews. James is sent to "the twelve tribes scattered abroad"; Peter writes two Epistles to "the sojourners of the Dispersion"; and John implies a Jewish reference in such statements as (III John 7) and (Revelation 2.9, 3.9). Moreover, all of them are cast in a decidedly Jewish context, so they are appropriately named the "Hebrew Letters".

Although none of these Letters are written directly to the Churches per se, they do treat a diverse set of Christian related subjects, from doctrine, to the new Covenant’s relation to the Law, to practical Christian living, to end-of-age apostasies, to apocalyptic events leading up to the Lord’s return. Since they were written mostly during that Apostolic period of the book of Acts, we should recognize that they were at least intended for those first Century Jews who had accepted Jesus as the Messiah but were still in the process of making a difficult passage from the Old Covenant of Law. In this regard, they explain to a Jew knowledgeable of the Old Testament just why the new Covenant of Grace is necessarily the fulfillment of the old Covenant of Law.

For more detail on these Hebrew Letters, go to HEBREW LETTERS (TOPICAL DETAIL), or continue to sample the other sections pertaining to the topical organization of the New Testament. If you have not yet reviewed the topical organization of the Old Testament, just return to GOD'S REDEMPTIVE PLAN and select the Old Testament topical path.