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Epistle to the Hebrews
From A Storehouse of Knowledge
The Epistle to the Hebrews is one of the letters collected in the New Testament. It is of unknown authorship. The letter is addressed to Jews, and explains Christianity from a Jewish point of view. Since (in Christian theology) the coming of Jesus marked the end of the phase of history where the Jews were God's chosen people, some explanation was required as to why this was actually a good thing from the Jewish perspective; the Epistle to the Hebrews attempts to resolve this complex problem.
Compared to the other epistles, Hebrews is quite long. It makes many subtle doctrinal arguments, often drawing on apparently minor parts of Jewish scripture; one notable example is its use of Melchizedek from Genesis 14:18-20 to explain how Jesus' ministry is preeminent over the Levite priesthood.
Hall of Faith
After showing how the New Covenant of Christ's blood is superior to the Old Covenant, the author exhorts his readers to preserve their faith. He refers to many heroes of faith from the Old Testament:
- All who understand that God created the universe
- Abel
- Enoch
- Noah
- Abraham
- Sarah
- Isaac
- Jacob
- Joseph
- Moses and his parents
- The Israelites who passed through the Red Sea
- Joshua and the Israelites who marched around Jericho
- Rahab
- Gideon
- Barak
- Samson
- Jephthah
- David
- Samuel
- Many others whom the author does not name.
"Therefore," he concludes, "since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw aside everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."
| Books of the Bible | |
| Old Testament | |
| Pentateuch (Torah) | Genesis • Exodus • Leviticus • Numbers • Deuteronomy |
| History | Joshua • Judges • Ruth • I Samuel • II Samuel • I Kings • II Kings • I Chronicles • II Chronicles • Ezra • Nehemiah • Esther |
| Wisdom Literature | Job • Psalms • Proverbs • Ecclesiastes • Song of Solomon |
| Major Prophets | Isaiah • Jeremiah • Lamentations • Ezekiel • Daniel |
| Minor Prophets | Hosea • Joel • Amos • Obadiah • Jonah • Micah • Nahum • Habakkuk • Zephaniah • Haggai • Zechariah • Malachi |
| New Testament | |
| The Gospels | According to Matthew • According to Mark • According to Luke • According to John |
| History | Acts of the Apostles |
| Pauline Epistles | Romans • I Corinthians • II Corinthians • Galatians • Ephesians • Philippians • Colossians • I Thessalonians • II Thessalonians • I Timothy • II Timothy • Titus • Philemon |
| General Epistles | Hebrews • James • I Peter • II Peter • I John • II John • III John • Jude |
| Prophecy | The Revelation to John |
